FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20th, 2002
PuSh International Performance Series
Backgrounder
In January 2003 an exciting new international performance series will be launched. PuSh. Rumble Productions partners with Touchstone Theatre to present and promote a collection of brave new theatre works in various venues throughout the city. Together, the partnership on this much-anticipated series represents an unprecedented promotional alliance and the potential for significant impact on Vancouver audiences for the performing arts.
The landscape of Vancouver's theatre scene has changed dramatically over the last ten years. Today one can point to dozens of original and Canadian works being produced and presented in the greater Vancouver area. Site-specific production, imagistic and movement-based theatre, the inclusion of slides and video projections, and live musical scores are just some of the experimentation and innovations that now characterizes the local independent scene.
This new-found vibrancy has created an insatiable appetite for the new, for the alternative, for the innovative and the groundbreaking. PuSh speaks to this need with theatre of the highest caliber that gives expression to and reflects upon the world around us. One of a kind, edgy, daring, sophisticated, provocative and hip — these are the qualities that best describe PuSh.
Mission
- Present the very best in cutting edge, contemporary theatre
Showcase the innovations of internationally recognized Canadian artists and their work
Promote Vancouver as a destination for Canadian and international touring companies
- Link Vancouver with a national and international network of presenters
Rumble’s Artistic Producer Norman Armour and Touchstone’s Artistic and Managing Director Katrina Dunn have developed strong reputations as capable and daring presenters. As a new initiative, PuSh has linked up with a Canada-wide network of alternative theatre presenters. This growing network is comprised of companies who, like Rumble and Touchstone, are also creators and producers. They include: Calgary's One Yellow Rabbit (High Performance Rodeo), Edmonton's Workshop West (Kaboom) and Catalyst Theatre (Blind Dates), Toronto's da da kamera (Six Stages Festival), Montreal's Thèâtre La Chapelle and Usine C, Quebec City's Les Productions Recto-Verso, and Dartmouth's Eastern Front (On the Waterfront).
Here in Vancouver, the PuSh series will involve twenty-one performances presented over a three-month period. Audiences will be offered single tickets (ranging from $16-$24) and an affordable series pass ($45), and the opportunity to take in critically acclaimed work from Montreal, Calgary and Sidney, Australia. Satellite events, such as post-performance artist talks, roundtable discussions, workshops and other events will allow the general public and artists to interact and share perspectives on theatre practice, contemporary experience, and the challenges and opportunites inherent in touring.
As presenting activity within the city continues to grow and expand, Vancouver become a desired point of destination for other Canadian and international presenters. This will prove to be one of the most influential forms of networking for Canadian artists who are either presently committed to, or are considering the potential benefits and challenges of, touring their work.
JIMMY (Montreal)
Infrarouge Theatre
written, directed and performed by Marie Brassard
Marie Brassard's Jimmy is a virtuosic, solo performance in which she plays a multitude of characters exploring the dream life of the enigmatic Jimmy. Jimmy took the Festival des Amériques by storm, earning rave reviews and ecstatic audience response on its international tour, and was acclaimed as one of the most powerful Canadian works to come along in many years. The Vancouver presentation by this long-time collaborator of Robert Lepage will feature performances in both French and English.
January 14-19, 2003 8:00 pm
Studio 16, 1545 West 7th Avenue
Présenté en français les 15 et 19 janvier.
(French performances, January 15 & 19)
Post-performance artist talk Thursday, January 16
Single tickets $20 / $16 PuSh series passes $45
Ticketmaster: 604.280.4444
SHADOWS (Australia)
written and performed by William Yang
with composer and musician Colin Offord
produced by Performing Lines
William Yang was originally a visual artist and photographer, but has been taking the alternative theatre circuit by storm for the last seven years with his unique photo monologues. Along with his photographs, Yang is a storyteller whose powerful images and ideas have moved audiences all over the world. An Australian of Chinese descent, his new show Shadows explores his relationship to the aboriginal population of Australia and the German immigrants. This intelligent and deeply moving monologue will have special resonance in multicultural Vancouver. Shadows was co-commissioned by the Sydney Festival, the Adelaide Festival and the Perth International Arts Festival.
January 28 to February 1, 2003 8:00 pm
Roundhouse Community Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews
Post-performance artist talk Wednesday, January 29
Single tickets $20 / $16 PuSh series passes $45
Ticketmaster: 604.280.4444
Exhibition of William Yang's photography
January 10 to February 9 at Centre A
849 Homer Street – Wed-Sat: 11–6; Sun 12-5.
DREAM MACHINE (Calgary)
One Yellow Rabbit
by Blake Brooker and David Rhymer
staged by Denise Clarke
starring Denise Clarke, Andy Curtis, Onelea Gilbertson, Michael Green, and Brad Payne
music performed by Jonathan Lewis, Richard McDowell and David Rhymer
set design by Chris Cran, lighting design by Cimmeron Meyer, assistant directed by David van Belle
In the straight-laced 1950's the Beats (including Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac) coined terms like "rat race" and "do your own thing." At the centre of the Beat circle William Burroughs and his mentor Brion Gysin worked tirelessly to build the enigmatic Dream Machine, a device that used flickering light to radically alter brain waves and plunge the user into a waking dream state. Their story forms the basis of OYR's hallucinogenic musical about this group of notoriously wild outsiders whose spiritual quest changed popular culture forever.
March 26 - April 5 8:00 pm
Vancouver East Cultural Centre,
1895 Venables
Rumble Productions and Touchstone Theatre gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, City of Vancouver – Office of Cultural Affairs, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Antennae du Québec à Vancouver, New South Wales Ministry for the Arts, The Printing House, Tom Lee Music, Georgian Court Hotel, Ramada Inn and Suites, Radio Canada, L’express pacifique and Georgia Straight.
PuSh is part of a Canadian network of presenters. The PuSh series is presented in partnership with High Performance Rodeo (Calgary), Six Stages Festival (Toronto) and Usine C (Montreal).
High Performance Rodeo (Calgary)
http://www.oyr.org/
Six Stages Festival (Toronto)
http://www.sixstages.com/toronto2003/intro.html
Usine C (Montreal)
http://www.rideau-inc.qc.ca/diffuse/fiche/USINEC.htm