This week, The Cultch announced its 2019/2020 season, which will welcome new initiatives, familiar faces, and as always exciting local, national, and international artists.
Executive Director, Heather Redfern, has programmed 16 productions—plus a new festival—to fill The Cultch’s three stages from October to May, a new holiday show (Holiday at the Elbow Room Café), and three other local world premieres (Kuroko; Kismet, things have changed; and East Van Panto: Pinocchio). “It’s all about experiments. It’s all about trying new things,” says Redfern. “And, for me, from a curatorial perspective, it’s really about how many voices we get, how many artists do we get to hear from? And there’s going to be a lot!”
The 2019/2020 season will kick off with a revolutionary new festival co-curated by Corey Payette (Writer, Director, and Lyricist for Children of God) and Heather Redfern. Raven Transforming Cabaret Festival will contain performance in a multitude of disciplines—dance, music, comedy, burlesque, theatre, etc.—and include a wide variety of Indigenous, local, and international work.
In addition to dance performances in Raven Transforming Cabaret Festival, there will be two world-class dance productions on the Historic stage. Montreal’s’ Tentacle Tribe will redefine contemporary hip-hop in Ghost; and Dancers of Damelahamid, creators of Flicker, will return to the Historic stage with another contemporary reflection of Indigenous identity, Mînowin.
Some familiar faces return to The Cultch with their latest shows. Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (VACT) premieres Kuroko, written by Tetsuro Shigematsu, while puppetry virtuoso Ronnie Burkett brings his newest Forget Me Not—and an opportunity for patrons to hold a one-of-a-kind hand puppet—to a secret location for an entire month in early 2020. In addition, Neworld Theatre will present The Boy in the Moon (in partnership with Rare Disease Foundation), based on Ian Brown’s memoir of life with his son Walker, and Theatre Replacement will present MINE, a collaboration between Maiko Yamamoto and her 11-year-old son. Two esteemed Canadian actors, Jonathon Young and Amy Rutherford, take the stage in Hannah Moscovitch’s Infinity (Volcano Theatre).
Back for a fourth year, the Femme Series will present shows from four fierce feminist companies throughout January and February. New Zealand’s The Dust Palace (creators of The Goblin Market) bring The WonderWombs, which will kick off the series, followed by Musqueam playwright Quelemia Sparrow’s O’wet (directed by Kim Senklip Harvey), The Chop Theatre’s KISMET, things have changed, and 2018 Cultchivating the Fringe winner BIG Sister (Rapid Pitch Productions).
The Cultch continues its ongoing partnerships with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and Diwali in BC. Savage Society’s O’wet and KISMET, things have changed (The Chop Theatre) will be presented in partnership with PuSh, and Jivesh Parasram’s Take d Milk, Nah? will be part of this year’s Diwali in BC. A new partnership, with DanceHouse, will bring the multi-disciplinary Unikkaaqtuat (The 7 Fingers (Montréal), Artcirq (Igloolik), Taqqut Productions (Iqaluit)) to the Vancouver Playhouse. In addition, the recurring partnership with Zee Zee Theatre will bring in Briefs (from the producers of Hot Brown Honey), as well as a wild new holiday show for adults, Holiday at the Elbow Room Café.
Theatre Replacement’s beloved holiday tradition East Van Panto is back for a seventh year. Marcus Youssef and Stephen Drover, writer and director of last year’s hit East Van Panto: The Wizard of Oz, come together again with this year’s East Van Panto: Pinocchio, starring Pippa Mackie as the title character.
With so much to see, The Cultch’s three venues (Historic Theatre, York Theatre, and Vancity Culture Lab) will be the places to be this 2019/20. Season Subscriptions are on sale now, with single show tickets to come, visit thecultch.com for more information
