The Firehall Arts Centre has announces the program line-up for its 2024-2025 season, themed “The Reflections Season” by Artistic Producer Donna Spencer.
“This season, we are inviting our audience family to join us as we look in the theatrical mirror to see reflections of love, laughter and loss,” says Spencer. “With these works on our wonderfully intimate stage, audiences will enter into the worlds of fantasy and fact; stories from Canadian history; and movement and musical storytelling, all while being entertained and learning something both old and new about the world and about themselves.”
October 2-5, 2024, The Firehall’s 42nd season launches with the world premiere of The Biting School’s Empty-Handed. Choreographer Arash Khakpour and company transcend cultural and historical boundaries as they conjure up images of everyday life through the use of live and pre-recorded projections, creating a unique voyeuristic experience to engage the audience, blurring the lines between observer and participant.
Performers: Juolin Lee, Marisa Gold, Hayley Gawthrop, Antonio Somera Jr. & Arash Khakpour Photo: Luciana Freire D’Anunciação
October 26-November 3, 2024, Brendan McLeod and The Fugitives bring music and storytelling to the intimate Firehall stage with Ridge. Set in the trenches of the First World War, The Ridge remembers and reflects on how The Battle of Vimy Ridge, where over 10,000 young Canadian soldiers died, came to play such a significant role in shaping Canada’s national identity. The Ridge was named a Top 10 Arts Event of the Year (2020) by The Globe and Mail, and spawned the JUNO-nominated album Trench Songs.
November 30-December 22, 2024, Ann Mortifee’s Reflections on Crooked Walking, A Firehall Arts Centre production, returns. In this JUNO Award-nominated family musical, four unlikely friends go in search of a magic word that will allow them to escape the games of a mysterious manipulator named Opia and try to follow the lead of a strange presence who keeps encouraging them to open doors to new dimensions in their quest.
January 15-18, 2025, I Remember… from Joe INK productions kicks off the New Year, combining dance, storytelling, and video in an emotional, amusing and relatable reflection on aging. Inspired by choreographer Joe Laughlin’s memories and lessons learned from 40 years as a dancer. His message – to keep moving and to remember… you are never too old to do what you love.
February 8-23, 2025, celebrate Women of the Fur Trade, a Firehall Arts Centre production. Set in eighteen hundred and something-something, somewhere upon the banks of a Reddish River in Treaty One Territory, three very different women with a preference for 21st century slang find themselves stuck in a fort having tea and sharing their views on life, love, and Louis Riel. Playwright Frances Koncan shifts the focus in this powerfully funny satire from the male gaze on history to the power of women and their place in the rapidly changing world of the Canadian fur trade.
March 12-15, 2025, Enemy Lines, a live dance performance co-presented by Powell Street Festival and Firehall Arts Centre. Choreographer Mayumi Lashbrook looks back at the actions taken against Japanese Canadians during WWII when they were suddenly deemed a threat after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Her family, along with over 22,000 Canadians of Japanese heritage, were forcibly moved from the coastline of British Columbia – their lives forever altered. Enemy Lines is a reminder of the fractures of our collective past and the possibilities for our shared future.
April 2-13, 2025, experience the soulful sounds of A History of Motown. The concert production starring the powerful vocals of award-winning singer Krystle Dos Santos, takes audiences on a musical journey through the legendary hits that defined an era and shaped the sound of a generation. From the infectious rhythms of The Supremes to the timeless melodies of Stevie Wonder.
May 1-12, 2025, The Frontliners is another comedic drama from Zahida Rahemtulla (The Wrong Bashir), a Blackout Theatre, Firehall Arts Centre, and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre production. The Frontliners takes audiences to an East Vancouver hotel in early 2016 where three beleaguered employees scramble to find homes for new families from Syria in the midst of a housing crisis.
May 21-June 1, 2025, the Firehall season comes to a close with Inner Elder. Recounting one woman’s transformation from a young girl navigating the shambles of her family life to becoming a Gemini Award-winning actor. Cree artist Michelle Thrush weaves the seemingly disparate anecdotes from her life into a powerful and hilarious testimony that will open your eyes, sear your heart, and have you laughing out loud.
Find more details about the Firehall Arts Centre’s 42nd season online at firehallartscentre.ca. Early Bird passes and single tickets go on sale this Friday, August 16th.