Category Archives: Events

Bah! Humbug! returns

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Bah! Humbug! 2012 – A Woodward’s Seasonal Tradition!

December 15, 2012 | 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM
$20 general | $10 student/seniors

Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre
Goldcorp Centre for the Arts

BUY TICKETS

Directed by Max Reimer

Starring Jay Brazeau, Jim Byrnes & Margo Kane

Featuring over 20 popular & seasonal songs, an audience sing-a-long, seasonal refreshments, and an organic turkey draw!

A contemporary adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Bah! Humbug! parallels the economic disparities between Victorian England and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Reconceived as a reading and musical event where Scrooge owns a pawn shop on Hastings Street, this presentation includes community actors working alongside professional actors from the city. This imaginative production offers a new twist on a cherished classic that celebrates the transformative power of human redemption.

A Woodward’s tradition, each year the family-friendly adapation contains new twists and turns while highlighting the vital issues affecting Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Directed by Max Reimer, Bah! Humbug! features award-winning actor Jay Brazeau as Ebenezer Scrooge, First Nations actor Margo Kane as the narrator, Juno-award winning musician and actor Jim Byrnes as Jacob Marley, and gospel and blues/singer Tom Pickett as Bob Cratchit. Musical performances are diverse and include pop songs, folk, blues, gospel, and industrial rock along with traditional seasonal favourites. This truly is a version of A Christmas Carol like you’ve never experienced before.

A witty, heart-filled production!
–Megan Harris

A fantastic way to get into the spirit of the season!
–Diane Roberts, urban ink

.. one sweet humbug… becoming an annual favourite… a made-in-Vancouver Christmas Carol… Brazeau is a great humbugging Scrooge…Don’t miss it…..
-Jo Ledingham,  Vancouver Courier


 

Witness the Storyweaving

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Vancouver Moving Theatre & DTES Heart of the City Festival
in partnership with the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre
invites you to witness

Storyweaving

Weaving First Nation Memories from the Past into the Future

A multi-disciplinary journey staged in the round.
Honouring First Nations ancestral and urban presence in Greater Vancouver.

Twining together stories, poems and personal memories
With oral histories woven from cultural teachings,
West Coast dances and the ancient bone game of Slahal.

Slahal is as old as time.
It can take everything from you
Or give you what you need….
But do we always know what we need?
The Old One steps upon his medicine wheel. Let the Slahal game begin.

 

A cast of aboriginal artists, elders, dancers and Downtown Eastside community members help an old man – The Old One – open up to his life’s journey, his regrets and hopes, through the teachings of the medicine wheel. His journey home gives voice to experiences of the urban aboriginal community, to voices not heard, to lives left behind.

Over the course of the Old One’s journey, ancestral memories emerge of the history of the Coast Salish area shared by many peoples.  Songs, dances and stories are shared about traditional roles, protocols and ways of seeing and doing.  We hear echoes of the salmon fishing industry’s decline, of families broken up by the residential school system and family members who have disappeared. And we hear stories of resilience:  Aboriginal men and women who arrived in Vancouver looking for work; the founding of the Coqualeetza Fellowship and Aboriginal Friendship Centre; and what it means to be Aboriginal today, meeting the challenges of walking in the world of the ancestors and the world of today.

Storyweaving is about giving voice to those that have lived within and around the Canadian legislation of the Indian Act.  And so many of us moved to the city of Vancouver and found a home here.  Our social justice and educational efforts from the 1950s through to today continue to reflect our passion for life, love, and harmony. Storyweaving is about our hopes for a good future, guided by the principles of our cultural past. – Renae Morriseau, Director

Featuring Bob Baker, Sam Bob, Wes Nahanee, Loni Williams, Mike & Mique’l Dangeli, Marge C. White, Jenifer Brousseau, Quelemia Sparrow, Sue Blue, Brenda Prince, Stephen Lytton, Priscillia Tait and Muriel “X” Williams.

Storyweaving is co-written by Renae Morriseau with Rosemary Georgeson and Savannah Walling, with contributions by Downtown Eastside urban Aboriginal artists and from the 2003 Downtown Eastside Community Play (James Fagan Tait and Adrienne Wong).

May 11-13 & 18-20, 2012
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm (Doors open 7pm)
Sunday Matinees at 2 pm (Doors open  1:30pm)
By donation $0-$20. Limited seating.

Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre
Chief Simon Baker Room, 1607 East Hastings Street

Event Information: 604-628-5672
www.vafcs.org

 

• Click below to view program guide as flipping book

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• Right click link below to download program guide in PDF format

Storyweaving Program

• Read reviews of Storyweaving by John Endo Greenaway and Grace Eiko Thompson in The Bulletin

 

Storyweaving has been made possible with the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, Government of BC through Gaming, City of Vancouver Cultural Services, TELUS, BC Government Service and Employees Union (BCGEU), and media sponsor The Georgia Straight.

 

(l-r) Marge C. White, Muriel Williams, Priscillia Tait, Kat Norris Photo: David Cooper

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storyweaving Project

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(l-r) Marge C. White, Muriel Williams, Priscillia Tait, Kat Norris Photo: David Cooper

The Storyweaving Project

Vancouver Moving Theatre (VMT) and the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival are excited to announce the Storyweaving Project (working title), produced in partnership with the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association.

Between now and early May 2012  VMT and our partners will undertake a series of community building and mentor workshops which will culminate in a full production/event early May 2012 at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre.

The Storyweaving Project is a community-event for here and now to help make sense of urban Aboriginal experience.  Storyweaving is about understanding how the past informs our present, and about learning from the past and the present to move into the future with hope.

This interdisciplinary theatrical presentation combines Aboriginal traditional symbolism of the medicine wheel woven with poems, dances, stories, song, testimonies, personal memories, and selections from the Downtown Eastside Community Play (2003). The script is co-written by Renae Morriseau with Rose Georgeson and Savannah Walling and with contributions from urban Aboriginal artists, James Fagan Tait, and Adrienne Wong.

The lead artists on the team are Renae Morriseau (Script Director), Rosemary Georgeson (Artistic Coordinator), Savannah Walling (Artistic Director), Terry Hunter (Producer) and Sherry Small of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre (Cultural Liaison).

The cast includes Aboriginal performers and elders from the Downtown Eastside community and lower mainland, and groups associated with the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre, including among others: elders Sam George and Marge C. White, Bob Baker, Wes Nahanee, Mike and Mique’l Dangeli and the Git Hayetsk Dancers, and DTES aboriginal community members Sue Blue, Stephen Lytton, Kat Norris, Brenda Prince, Priscillia Tait, Herb Varley, and Muriel Williams.

The Storyweaving Project has been made possible with the support the BC Arts Council Festival Enhancement Program and Theatre Project Program, Government of British Columbia through BC Gaming, City of Vancouver Cultural Services, and TELUS.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot

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In a world obsessed with money, power, and sexual conquest, is a sanatorium the only place for a saint?

The award-winning team that brought you Crime and Punishment in 2005 returns with the world-premiere of a new adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s comic social critique, The Idiot.

The Idiot tells the story of the strange Prince Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin – a person who is entirely and completely good. After four years convalescing in Switzerland, Myshkin returns almost cured of epilepsy and the “idiocy” it created in him. The moment his train crosses onto Russian soil, his adventure with love, truth and the whole rotten saga of human existence begins. He becomes enamored with Rogozhin, who himself is obsessed by Natasha Fillippovna, a beautiful woman with an unfortunate reputation. Scorned by the society of St. Petersburg for his generosity and innocence, Myshkin finds himself at the centre of a struggle fueled by love, jealousy and greed. In the end, it is Myshkin’s very goodness that leads to disaster.

Neworld Theatre (Peter Panties, PodPlays, Ali & Ali) teams up with Vancouver Moving Theatre to bring Dostoyevsky’s feverish comedy to the stage, in a musical adaptation that is both whimsical and haunting — a moral parable that questions the principles of the powerful.

Presented by PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and Theatre at UBC.

Adapted & Directed by James Fagan Tait
Original Music by Joelysa Pankanea

Costume Designer: Mara Gottler • Set Designer: Bryan Pollock
Lighting Designer: Itai Erdal • Wardrobe Assistant: Sydney Cavanagh
Technical Director: John Reilly • Production Manager: Rachel Peake
Stage Manager: Dorothy Jenkins  • Assistant Stage Manager: Susan Miyagishima
Assistant Director: Chelsea Haberlin • Downtown Eastside Manager: Terry Hunter
Movement Consultant: Savannah Walling • Producer: Kirsty Munro 
Associate Producers: Terry Hunter, Savannah Walling

The Ensemble: David Adams, Patti Allan, Cherise Clarke, Kerry Davidson, Luke Day, Craig Erickson, Kevin MacDonald, Andrew McNee, Richard Newman, Kuei-Ming Lin, Stephen Lytton, Tom Pickett, Mike Richter, Savannah Walling, Adrienne Wong and introducing Theatre at UBC BFA-Acting students: Alen Dominguez, Alexander Keurvorst, Emma Middleton, Courtney Shields

Musicians: Joelysa Pankanea, Marimba | Mark Haney, Bass | Molly Mackinnon, Violin

Where:

Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC

When:

 

January 20 to 28 @ 7:30 pm
January 21, 22, 28, 29 @ 2:00 pm
No performance Monday, January 23

Tickets:

 

advance tickets $34 | $30 | $28
at-door tickets  $36 | $32 | $30
2-for-1 Preview January 19 @ 7:30pm
2-for-1 Matinees January 21 & 22

universitytickets.com
604-822-2678

The Idiot is commissioned by Arts Partners in Creative Development and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

Read an interview with director James Fagan Tait and Composer Joelysa Pankanea.

 

Bah! Humbug! returns December 14-18, 2011

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Bah! Humbug! A Spirited Benefit for the Downtown Eastside

Victorian England meets Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) this December with Bah! Humbug!, a theatrical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Reconceived as a staged reading and musical event, this imaginative all-ages production offers a bittersweet twist on a cherished seasonal classic that celebrates the transformative power of human redemption. Bah! Humbug! runs December 14 – 18, 2011 in the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.

Commissioned and co-produced by SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs in partnership with Vancouver Moving Theatre, Bah! Humbug! is a benefit for community-engaged art practice in the Downtown Eastside and the Heart of the City Festival.

Now more than 150 years old, Dickens’ timeless story remains relevant today, especially in light of parallels between the economic disparities of Victorian London and Vancouver’s DTES.

Directed by Max Reimer, Artistic Managing Director of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, the 2011 Bah! Humbug! features award-winning actor Jay Brazeau as the irascible Ebenezer Scrooge, First Nations actor Margo Kane as the narrator, Juno-award winning musician and actor Jim Byrnes as Jacob Marley, and gospel and blues singer/actor Tom Pickett as Bob Cratchit. These Vancouver favourites are joined by a cast of professional and DTES community actors, multiple instrumentalist Joseph ‘Pepe’ Danza, and the Saint James Music Academy Youth Choir. Music direction is by Neil Weisensel, with music drawn from a modern songbook of pop songs, folk, blues, gospel and industrial rock along with seasonal favourites.

“Our adaptation attempts to capture the core of the story and reflect Dickens’ sharp social commentary, without losing its warmth,” says Michael Boucher, Director, Cultural Programs & Partnerships, SFU Woodward’s. “But, in the end, this story is about giving and the resilience of the human spirit. Taking inspiration from Dickens, we’re proud to work in partnership with Vancouver Moving Theatre to benefit the development of a dynamic cultural program in our own community.

“Each year, the adaptation has different creative twists and turns as we continue to highlight vital issues affecting the DTES.”

“Dicken’s vivid portrayal of the plight of community members displaced and driven into poverty during London’s boom years has never been out of print,” says Savannah Walling, Artistic Director of Vancouver Moving Theatre. “Not only is it a haunting ghost story with unforgettable characters and a comic touch, but Dicken’s advocacy for social justice, ethical transformation and generosity of spirit are just as urgently needed today. ‘Charity begins at home,’ Dickens said, ‘and justice begins next door.’”

Bah! Humbug! runs for six performances only December 14-17 (7:30 pm) and December 17-18 (2:00 pm) at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 West Hastings. Tickets are $19 (students/seniors) and $29 (adults) and can be purchased at the Vancouver Playhouse Box Office by phone at 604-873-3311 or online at www.sfuwoodwards.ca

Terry and Savannah win 2009 Mayor’s Award (Community Art)

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Terry, Savannah Rose cropped at Mayors AwardAnnouncement: Vancouver Moving Theatre Society’s Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling receive 2009 Mayor’s Award (Community Art)

Dear Friends and Colleagues:
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Vancouver Moving Theatre Society I am pleased to extend congratulations to Vancouver Moving Theatre’s Executive Director Terry Hunter and Artistic Director Savannah Walling as recipients of the 2009 Mayor’s Award (Community Arts).

The presentation ceremony, hosted by broadcaster and author Bill Richardson, was held Monday November 16th with Mayor Gregor Robertson paying tribute to the recipients at a reception at the Museum of Vancouver.

The honour follows two recent awards presented last to year (2008) to Vancouver Moving Theatre and its Executive and Artistic Directors:  the City of Vancouver Cultural Harmony Award (Vancouver Moving Theatre), and the British Columbia Community Achievement Award (Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling).

Each Mayor’s Arts Award honouree is invited to select an ‘emerging artist’ in their discipline who demonstrates the promise of the next generation, and the emerging artist shares the Award and the cash prize of $5,000.

Terry and Savannah were delighted to choose Rosemary Georgeson, the Aboriginal Community Director for Vancouver-based urban ink productions. Rosemary worked as a Community Outreach Worker on In the Heart of a City: The Downtown Eastside Community Play (Vancouver Moving Theatre/Carnegie Community Centre, 2003) and was co-writer of We’re All In This Together: The Shadows Project- Addiction and Recovery (Vancouver Moving Theatre with urban ink and the Carnegie and Roundhouse Community Centres 2007).

Ironically, this award comes at a time of major draconian cutbacks in provincial arts and community funding, an impact which will severely impact the innovative work of Vancouver Moving Theatre/Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival, and other arts and non arts based community social profit organizations across British Columbia. To find out more about these cutbacks and what you can to lobby for the reinstatement of provincial funding to social profit organizations please visit www.stopbcartscuts.ca.

Sincerely,

Ann McDonell, President

Vancouver Moving Theatre Society

www.vancouvermovingtheatre.com

www.heartofthecityfestival.com

Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration

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View Programme Guide

JAPANTOWN MULTICULTURAL NEIGHBOURHOOD CELEBRATION
Celebrate the history, diversity, and enduring promise of Vancouver’s Japantown
Saturday, March 28, 2009, 10:00am – 9:00pm
Various venues, including: Japanese Hall, Oppenheimer Park, Chapel Arts, Kalayaan Centre, and the streets of Japantown
INFO: 604-628-5672 or www.vjls-jh.com

Celebrate the history, diversity, and enduring promise of Vancouver’s Japantown in the first Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration (10:00am-9:00pm, March 28). This full day of cultural events and public forums reflects upon the journeys of the past, the diversity of the present, and the promise of the future.

The Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration features concurrent activity at the Japanese Hall, Oppenheimer Park, Chapel Arts, Kalayaan Centre, and in the streets of Japantown. Japantown lies on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish First Nations and is the site of Vancouver’s earliest beginnings. For Japanese Canadians, this neighbourhood is natsukashii, a place that is abundant with memories. The Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration shines the spotlight on the diverse populations that continue to thrive in this historic area.

Share stories of growing up, working and participating in Japantown. View displays of the past, present and future of the neighbourhood. Enjoy music and spoken word performances. Participate in a street procession featuring local groups and an Okinawan children’s choir and attend an afternoon ceremony honouring the milestones and initiatives of the community. Cap off the day with a gala at the Japanese Hall featuring local artists such as Sawagi Taiko, and the First Nations a cappella trio M’Girl, as well as dancers from the Bandou-ryu School of Nihon Buyo from Tokyo.

The Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration is produced by the Powell Street Festival Society, Tonari Gumi, Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall, and Vancouver Moving Theatre, in association with a host of community partners. With this day of celebration, the partners move forward on the City of Vancouver’s Historical and Cultural Review (2008); commemorate the 80th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Japan (2009); explore Japantown’s multicultural past and present; and encourage the current community to voice its hopes for the neighbourhood’s future.

The Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration takes place between 10:00am and 9:00pm on Saturday, March 28, 2009, at locations throughout Japantown. All events are free. For more information, call 604-628-5672 or visit www.vjls-jh.com.

Heart of the City Festival 09

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The 2008 Festival was very successful and we are now working on the 2009 Festival which is scheduled for Wed. Oct 29 – to Sunday Nov. 8 2009. Program events for the 2009 Festival will be posted by mid October 2009 at the latest.

Looking forward to seeing you at the festival!

Terry Hunter
Artistic Producer, DTES Heart of the City Festival

Heart of the City Festival

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Well, the 2008 Heart of the City Festival is shaping up nicely. Most of the shows have been booked and we are finalizing details and finishing touches. Please watch the Heart of the City website for updates and pick up a copy of the programme guide once it hits the streets.