The Arts Club Theatre Company begins its 2026-2027 season with the B.C. Premiere of Arun Larka’s Heist. Playing at the Stanley BFL Canada Stage until October 18, from the moment the opening credits (yes, onscreen credits) the audience realizes we’re in for something unique.
Calgary-based playwright Arun Larka has imbued Heist with the DNA of memorable crime thrillers like; Ocean’s Eleven, The Italian Job or Usual Suspects – filled with light, fast-paced dialogue the play is a dynamic, crime-thriller with enough twists and turns to keep audiences on edge. A family of thieves – a conman and a thug, are brought together with a cat burglar and a hacker, by the boss with the big ideas but is he really the BIG boss? When one caper goes wrong will the family fall apart, stand strong or turn on each other – or all of the above?
Director Andrew Kushnir must be applauded for creating a stunning production, assembling near perfection from a collection of ingenious parts; with Arun Larka’s smart and witty, albeit convoluted, script brought to life by a stellar cast of Vancouver’s finest artists; Patti Allan, Charlie Gallant, Tainui Kuru, Alexandra Lainfiesta, Andrew McNee and Jennifer Tong, each one producing scene-stealing worthy performance that never pilfers, only builds on the team’s camaraderie.
The Creative Team’s output brings even more to the productions puzzle; Ryan Cormack designs another superb Arts Club set which combines with Projection Designer Wladimiro A. Woyno Rodriguez and team’s high-tech multimedia projections and graphics to give the production its exceptional film-like quality.
Like any great action caper, the show also delivers fights (Jonathan Hawley Purvis, fight director), romance (intimacy director Lucy Goebel), acrobatics (with Peter Boulanger on Performer Fly-System Design & Rigging) and accents (Alison Matthews, Dialect Coach). All the parts paint an amazingly engaging production, that is so full of action, fun and light-hearted humour, you’ll want to watch it more than once to catch every intricate piece of the play.
If this beginning is how the Arts Club’s 2026-2027 season will continue, we have much to look forward to this year. Don’t miss Heist, playing until October 18, 2026 at The Stanley BFL Canada Stage, 2750 Granville Street.
Visit artsclub.com for more show details, tickets and showtimes, including special performances; Sunday Salon, 30-minute talk at 1:15pm ahead of the September 27th, 2pm matinee, Talkback Tuesday, 15 minutes with the artistic team after the October 6th, 7pm show, and VocalEye Performances, Sunday, October 11th, 2pm show or Friday, October 16th, 7:30pm show.