As the curtain closes on our 2024–2025 Reflection Season, we’re filled with gratitude—for you, our community of supporters, and for the incredible artists and teams who brought these stories to life on our stage.
This year, we invited audiences to peer into the theatrical mirror and explore themes of memory, transformation, and resilience. Together, we journeyed through intimate solo performances, music-infused history, and bold theatrical visions:
We began with the evocative physical storytelling of Empty-Handed from The Biting School, and were moved by Brendan McLeod and The Fugitives’ powerful blend of song and verbatim theatre in Ridge.
The winter brought wonder with Ann Mortifee’s Reflections on Crooked Walking, a magical, all-ages musical that once again drew audiences into its imaginative world of friendship, mystery, and discovery.
Photos from L to R: Empty Handed by Luciana Freire D’Anunciação, Ridge by Mike Savage, ROCW by Jon Benjamin
In January, I remember… offered a deeply personal journey from celebrated choreographer Joe Laughlin. Blending movement and memory, the piece traced his four decades in dance with honesty, vulnerability, and joy—reminding us all that it’s never too late to follow our passions or rediscover the things that make us feel alive.
February’s Women of the Fur Trade by Frances Koncan—a witty and powerful Indigenous reimagining of Canadian history—was a season standout, playing to sold-out houses and packed school group matinees. With sharp satire and fearless humour, the play challenged colonial narratives and invited audiences to see the fur trade era through a bold feminist and Indigenous lens, all while keeping us laughing throughout.
April brought the irresistible energy of A History of Motown, starring the incomparable Krystle Dos Santos. With sold-out shows and buzz that spread like wildfire, the theatre was electric—it felt like a true celebration. By popular demand, we’re thrilled to be bringing it back this August for an encore run.
Photos from L to R: I remember… by Michael Slobodian, WOTFT by Jon Benjamin, Krystle Dos Santos by Rebecca Roberts
May started with The Frontliners by Zahida Rahemtulla—a moving, timely story of community and crisis. We ended our season with Michelle Thrush’s transformative solo work Inner Elder, a powerful personal journey that left all of us laughing and reflecting.
Through it all, you showed up with heart and curiosity, and helped shape our season. Thank you for being part of what makes Firehall special.
Stay tuned for the announcement of the Firehall’s Elbows Up Almost All Canadian 2025-2026 season!
Photos from L to R: The Frontliners by Sarah Race and Michelle Thrush in Inner Elder by Ben Laird
For 43 years, we’ve been igniting the stage with powerful stories, bold performances, and unforgettable moments – productions like Chelsea Hotel, Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout, Urinetown: The Musical, The Unnatural and Accidental Women, and many more. This season has been no exception! So far, we’ve brought you Women of the Fur Trade—a show so popular we had to extend it for an extra week. And we’re not done yet!
CHELSEA HOTEL | 2024 by Sarah Race
ERNESTINE SHUSWAP GETS HER TROUT | 2009 Kim Senklip Harvey and Tracey Nepinak by Emily Cooper
WOMEN OF THE FUR TRADE | 2025 Kate Besworth, Kaitlyn Yott and Danica Charlie by Jon Benjamin
THE UNNATURAL AND ACCIDENTAL WOMEN | 2000 by David Cooper
Thank you for supporting live theatre and the artists who bring it to life. Today, we celebrate the magic, the movement, and the voices that shape our world.
On December 31st through the generosity of Firehall donors, just over $90,000 or 180% of our matching campaign goal helped us ring in the New Year with great optimism! The campaign initiated with the support of a $50,000 donation from the very generous and recently appointed Order of Canada member, David McCann and his husband, Alex Kochanko, is an epic achievement for the Firehall and we are so grateful. Thank you all so much.
We are in in the process of preparing your donation receipts and will have them in the mail over the next few weeks. Due to the postal strike any donation that may be in mail and received prior to February 25, 2025 can be used for your 2024 Charitable Donation Filing. More information can be found -> here.
We look forward to welcoming you back to the Firehall in 2025 for more great performances as we work to keep the lights shining brightly for the arts in our community. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and for helping make artistic dreams come true.
Secure your 2024 end of year tax receipt and help the Firehall reach our goal of $50,000 in an unprecedented matching campaign for a total of $100,000 vitally needed funds to sustain and grow this venerable, vulnerable theatre.
With just under 4 weeks left until the close of 2024, we are slowly inching our way forward. But we have a long way to go and every little bit helps!
Your donations are vital to realizing our mission of creating productions and bringing presentations to the Firehall stage that reflect our community’s heritage, humanity, and identities while helping us keep the doors of this wonderful 1906 heritage Firehall open.
We still have 70% to go, please help us get there – everything counts!
Why I donated to the Firehall Arts Centre Matching Campaign:
“The Firehall Arts Centre is a vital endeavour in an old part of Vancouver. I love that the heritage building stage provides a venue for emerging playwrites and performers to explore history, the human condition and our current situations. Two recent favourites, This is How We Got Here sensitively explored grief and Vimy showed a human side to WWI through word and song. The venue is just the right size for post performance Q&A. It was at the Firehall panel that I heard author Michelle Good call for SFU to rescind Turpel-Lafond’s honorary doctorate. That felt like history unfolding. Whenever I go to the Firehall I learn something new, and I have fun.”
On our second week we reached 20% of our matching campaign and it’s all thanks to you!
Your donations are vital to realizing our mission of creating productions and bringing presentations to the Firehall stage that reflect our community’s heritage, humanity, and identities while helping us keep the doors of this wonderful 1906 heritage Firehall open.
We still have 80% to go, please help us get there – everything counts!
“The Firehall Theatre is unique for artists as well as audience members. Strathcona neighborhood exemplifies diversity, community, and challenge. We have attended and appreciated many performances from the beginning, over 40 years ago.”
It’s the Opportunity of our lifetime – please help us reach $50,000 in an unprecedented Matching Campaign.
At an incredibly crucial time, the Firehall Arts Centre has received a financial commitment from an extraordinary couple – David McCann and Alex Kochanko. Between now and December 31, they will match all donations up to $50,000. That is $100,000 – life changing, theatre changing money.
“Alex and I are thrilled to support the Firehall Arts Centre, who have been championing the arts in the Downtown Eastside for over 40 years. Their steadfast commitment to creating opportunities for First Nations, culturally and gender diverse artists never wavers and their values and artistic merit are exemplary. We hope this donation spurs an outpouring of ongoing support for the Firehall Arts Centre to continue with their extraordinary programming and opportunities for all.”
Your donations are vital to realizing our mission of creating productions and bringing presentations to the Firehall stage that reflect our community’s heritage, humanity, and identities while helping us keep the doors of this wonderful 1906 heritage Firehall open.
Your gifts will allow us to:
ensure our productions are financially accessible for all through our complimentary tickets to social services groups, pay what you can performances and deeply discounted tickets for student groups
provide opportunities for emerging theatre and dance workers to be a part of our productions and presentations as we employ approximately one hundred creative artists each year
continue our legacy of supporting the arts in the Downtown Eastside during a very challenging time in the community
All donations will receive a full tax receipt and our never ending gratitude.
Help us match David and Alex’s donation by supporting us; any amount contributes to the future of the Firehall and the artists who perform in our intimate and beloved theater.
The Firehall is a registered charity: Registration #119232965 RR 0001
Have you yet to “Walk the Vog?” Or have you been walking the Vog for years but find yourself needing a new, coveted creation? Now’s the time! Come join us at legendary Fluevog Shoes on Thursday, September 26th in Gastown for a fabulous evening of wine, canapes and, of course, Fluevog Shoes!
The generosity of the Fluevog brand knows no bounds. For any regular-priced footwear* bought during this incredible evening, Fluevog will donate 50% of all sales back to the Firehall Arts Centre.
This is a free event, but for planning purposes, please let us know if you (and how many) plan on attending.
The Firehall’s Artistic & Executive Producer, Donna Spencer, is pleased to share some highlights of the upcoming 2022-2023 season, which sees the organization celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Recently honoured with a Lieutenant Governors Arts and Music Award, The Firehall is entering its fourth decade of diverse, innovative and interdisciplinary programming, with a notable history of championing new and marginalized voices in the arts.
When I moved to Vancouver in 1990, The Firehall really represented to me the place where people of colour and people of ethnic minorities could have their work taken seriously.”
– Hiro Kanagawa
“The DTES has always been a place of transformation for myself, my family, and our stories. As we have transformed, so has the land that my great grandmother called home. The Firehall Arts Centre has been there for so long, and seen so much of this transformation happen. The Firehall is an integral piece in one of the biggest transformations in my life, and it is the place where our stories first began to have a voice.”
– Rosemary Georgeson
The Firehall’s 40th Anniversary Season is a year-long showcase of what The Firehall does best: provocative performing arts that reflect the diversity of Canadian voices. From Kathak dance to Holocaust history and Hong Kong democracy to young love, the 2022-2023 season will bring a distinct variety of new and old stories to life on The Firehall stage.
Spencer says, “Our 40th Anniversary Season will continue The Firehall’s legacy of presenting theatre and dance works that stir the soul, enrich the mind, and lift up the voices and stories of the vast range of people who call this place home. I’m excited to share these highlights and look forward to announcing more performances in the coming months.”
The 2022-2023 season kicks off September 21-24 with Khoj – A Contemporary Kathak Dance Extravaganza by Usha Gupta Dance Entourage from Canada. This is a dance form that blends traditional and modern movement through the different forms of the ocean, romance, rhythmic pattern, inner search for spirituality, and finishes with Sufi (divine truth).
The Unbroadcast Life of Mildred Bailey (October 13-16), produced by Red Cedar Theatre and directed by Columpa Bobb, is a new musical performance about Mildred Bailey created by Russell Wallace with music by Tony Wilson. Known as “The Queen of Swing”, “The Rockin’ Chair Lady” and “Mrs. Swing”, Mildred Bailey was one of the first female singers to make a name for herself in the American pantheon of jazz. She captured the subtleties of the 1930s’ African American blues and ragtime music and became the first female jazz singer to perform regularly with a band.
The world premiere of Manami Hara’s new work, Courage Now, runs November 19-December 4. Produced by The Firehall and presented in association with Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (VACT), Courage Now tells the story of Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara, who helped over 6000 Polish and Lithuanian Jews escape the Nazis in 1940. Going against his government orders, he issued more than 2000 handwritten visas, risking both his life and his career. Some of those whose lives were saved have families living in British Columbia today.
From December 14 to 24, The Firehall presents Sanjay Talwar’s A One Man Christmas Carol. We all know the classic story of A Christmas Carol – but we’ve never seen it like this. Actor Sanjay Talwar performs all 40 characters in this piece for a whirlwind one-man show.
Elaine Ávila’s FADO – The Saddest Music in the World returns to The Firehall stage January 14-February 5. This musical, which premiered at The Firehall in 2019 and enjoyed a wildly successful run, tells the story of a young woman confronting her country’s Fascist past and her own identity is interwoven with the heartbreaking national music of Portugal, known as Fado, which means “fate”. FADO – The Saddest Music in the World is produced by the Firehall Arts Centre and Victoria, B.C.’s Puente Theatre.
Zahida Rahemtulla’s The Wrong Bashir, produced by Touchstone Theatre’s Flying Start program in association with The Firehall, runs March 4-12. Bashir Ladha – wayward philosophy major leaning towards nihilism – has accidentally been selected to assume an important religious position, and his parents have dutifully accepted on his behalf. Conflict ensues over Bashir’s reaction to his appointment and the family is taken on a comedic intergenerational ride that forces them to grapple with long-avoided questions of identity and family.
The Firehall, in association with Western Gold Theatre, present the Vancouver premiere of Our Ghosts March 18-April 2. Written by Sally Stubbs, Our Ghosts is a haunting mystery inspired by the disappearance of the playwright’s own father. This theatre production explores the ramifications of official and personal responses to the disappearance of a plane and its pilots. At the heart of the play, however, is a love story and the mystery that defines one woman’s life and, by extension, the lives of her children: the disappearance from the Comox Air Base of a Canadian Forces fighter jet and, with it, Flight Commander Gerald Stubbs.
The Firehall closes its 2022-2023 season with the world premiere of rice & beans theatre production Happy Valley from May 27 to June 4. Created by Sydney Risk Award-winning playwright Derek Chan, Happy Valley is a new performance piece that dissects the historic, political, and cultural context surrounding Hong Kong’s current democratic struggles.
Early Bird Passes for The Firehall’s 40th Anniversary Season are on sale now and available online or by phone at 604.689.0926. Four-show passes start at $79. Single tickets for dance and theatre productions range in price from $25 to $40; and single tickets for musicals range in price from $30 to $45. Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon performances are pay-what-you-can (PWYC).
Due to the ongoing pandemic, dates and performances are subject to change, but patrons will be notified with as much notice as possible.
We talked to the two casts of Mary’s Wedding about theatre in a pandemic, what they’re excited about, and what the play means to them, among other things. If the state of the world has got you down, read on for some inspiration and hope for the future!
Sarah Roa, who plays Mary
How are you doing at this weird time? How has COVID affected your practice?
Sarah Roa: I think that this strange time has opened up my mind towards a better creative artistic practice. I’m more aware of my mental and physical wellness and honor when I need to take a break, as to avoid burn out. Whereas in the before times, I was consistently burning myself out. I am grateful for the challenges that I have faced during this time because it has proven that I am resilient and that theatre is my passion that I will always fight for.
Emma Ross: I felt really rusty when we started out! I haven’t done a full theatre contract since February 2020. There were a lot of times where I had to remind myself of what makes for a successful and fun rehearsal day for me, and what I can be doing to support the rest of the team in the rehearsal hall.
Tanner Zerr: I would say for the most part I’m doing fairly okay during all this craziness. Staying busy helps, and this show has been keeping us quite busy.
As a young person in our current time, how do you think people have changed since 1914? What remains the same?
Tanner Zerr, who plays Charlie
TZ: Part of the fun of this script for me has been piecing together what life was like in that time frame. People moved, touched, and thought in a very different way. It certainly wasn’t an easy way of life. Personally, I come from a background of farmers who settled on the prairies in the early 1900s, so it’s given me an opportunity to dive into my own family history to try and build my interpretation of Charlie.
Is Mary’s Wedding a love story, an anti-war play, a beautiful dream, or a mashup of all three? Feel free to throw in other things that the play is, for you.
SR: It is a love story; a journey of witnessing two young people falling in love for the first time. It brings its audience by painting many very beautiful portraits and leaves them thinking about the first person they fell in love with. It’s a moment to reminisce innocence, love and the journey out of adolescence.
ER: To me it’s all three, but a love story at its core. I’m still exploring the juxtaposition between the descriptions of serving on the front line versus the journey of falling in love. It’s a reminder to not take our loved ones for granted. It’s a story that Mary tells for Charlie.
The script makes big jumps in time–as an actor how does that challenge you?
SR: It’s thrilling, Mary ages throughout the play from 15-21 years old in very quick bursts. It keeps me on my toes and has me reliving all those moments in my life as a young person.
ER: Physically adjusting myself according to Mary’s age as well as swapping clearly between Flowers, Mary, and narrating has been the biggest challenge in this production for me. Jacob, Donna and I did a lot of text and brain work to identify time jumps and string different timelines and locations together.
TZ: It’s a good challenge as an actor because we have to make sure we keep the characters’ journey clear and know exactly what’s happened or not happened, in each scene. Thankfully, the playwright helps us out because the scenes are structured in way that, although there’s a jump in time, the emotional quality carries over and almost bleeds into the next scene.
Is there anything you would like audiences to know about this piece?
Emma Ross, who plays Mary
ER: I think it’s interesting to note that the story takes place over quite a long time span of 6 years. Charlie and Mary meet in early summer of 1914 and the play ends in 1920.
What about this performance are you most excited about?
ER: I’m really excited to time travel with our audiences! Stephen Massicotte’s text is filled with rich and specific imagery. It’s really fulfilling when I allow myself to let the language transport me. I hope that watching our show will do the same for others.
TZ: I think I’m most excited for the tech. We’ve been working hard rehearsing to make sure the story is in our bodies, but the set, lights, costumes, and sound really brings it together. It puts you right into the world of it, and it informs so much of the performance.
Are there any upcoming performances (Firehall or otherwise) that you are looking forward to?
SR: I was meant to have my first season at Bard on the Beach in 2020. The show is being produced this year and I am beyond excited about it. I will be playing my dream role, Puck in a Midsummer Nights Dream.
Jacob Leonard, who plays Charlie
Jacob Leonard: I really want to see Noises Off with the Arts Club. I have wanted to do a bombastic comedy for a while but don’t necessarily think I have the proper skillset at this point in my career. I think seeing Noises off would provide me with many valuable ideas and lessons about the genre.
ER:Beautiful Man at Pi Theatre, Ominous Sounds at the River Crossing at Touchstone Theatre and Six of One at Studio 58!
What has been inspiring you lately? (Theatre or not!)
SR: Working with children has been very inspiring. I teach drama at the Shadbolt Arts Centre and my youngest group I teach is between 4-5 years old. They are such a delight to be in the room with because they are so engaged and committed to their imaginations. It’s wonderful to watch them play and share my love for acting with them.
JL: I’ve been really inspired by HBO’s Succession. It’s one of those rare TV shows where you wonder how its conception was even possible. The directing, writing, producing and acting all just come together perfectly on some cosmic level or something–I don’t know–that sounds whimsical, but it’s true. Shows like this shouldn’t exist on paper. There is just far too much dedication and talent.
ER: I’m obsessed with Euphoria like the rest of the world, as well as Florence Pugh and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
TZ: it’s inspiring for me to see theatre companies like the Firehall creating work for young actors such as myself. Trying to start your career as an actor in the middle of the pandemic is daunting to say the least, but this show gives me hope, and hopefully it will inspire other people too.
