As part of TJ Dawe’s solo show MEDICINE, we are excited to announce that the Firehall will be hosting a series of free talkbacks with Dr. Gabor Maté following select performances. TJ Dawe’sMedicineis the funny, at times heartbreaking and enlightening story of the playwright’s experience on an ayahuasca retreat led by Dr. Maté. >>Read more.
Shows on the following dates will include special post-show discussions with TJ Dawe & Gabor Maté:
Jan 14, 15, 17 8PM | Wed Jan 15 1PM | Tues Jan 21 8PM |Dates subject to change
ABOUT Gabor Maté
A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. He is the author of several books, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. A documentary about Gabor Maté’s therapeutic use of ayahuasca aired on CBC’s The Nature of Things in November 2011. drgabormate.com
We are excited to announce we will be hosting dance technique classes with Canadian dance icon Peggy Baker at the Firehall Studio in the lead up to her show coalesce & armour. Attend one day or get a discount pass to attend all five! Space is extremely limited as class sizes are very small.
$50 5-Day Pass (only 20 passes for sale) | $12/$15 per day (CADA members / Regular).
REGISTER NOW! Call 604-689-0926 to register or BUY A 5-Day PASS online now.
QUESTIONS? Email or call our Box Office: 604-689-0926.
Peggy Baker brings the richness, depth, and immediacy of her physical practice into play in a class driven by dynamism and musicality, and focused on the expressive and kinetic potential of our bodies. The work unfolds fluidly, and with refreshing shifts of focus, through a wide range of vivid and invigorating movement explorations that address essential issues of impulse and action. Fundamental to her material and methods are the influence of neuro-muscular specialist Irene Dowd, teacher Christine Wright, and choreographers James Kudelka, Molissa Fenley, Paul-Andre Fortier, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, Tere O’Connor, and Doug Varone. Ms Baker is artist-in-residence at Canada’s National Ballet School and artistic director of Peggy Baker Dance Projects, established in 1990.
We invite you join us for a good old fashioned Holiday Party to celebrate another successful year for the Firehall Arts Centre and get into the festive spirit with some seasonal refreshments and hors d’œuvre. We will kick off proceedings with our AGM at 7pm sharp followed by a party!
All members have voting rights at the AGM – if you need to join or renew, you can do so in person at the door (membership is just $10).
What are you waiting for? Get on your party shoes and come on down to the Firehall!
‘Wait for me, daddy’ by Claud Detloff. New Westminster, 1940.
As Remembrance Day nears, here at the Firehall, we have been giving a great deal of thought to not just remembering the sacrifice of Canadian peacekeepers and soldiers, but also on some level understanding the impact of war on those who return and their families. With over 80,000 veterans in Canada, People Like Us, the new Firehall production, tells the story of just one veteran, but the issues it raises about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, illness and getting benefits are battles many returning veterans face.
Director Sarah Rodgers has been working hard to bring to life this moving story of a Canadian family dealing with the human cost of the first Gulf War. She is no stranger to the impact of war – she grew up with a father who was a World War II veteran and as an artist has directed the highly successful production of Billy Bishop Goes To War.
Her father Denis Rogers, who is now 90 years old, served in World War II as an engineer for the British Army working on the Lancaster Airplanes based in Rome. He, like many others, saw the planes fly off and not return, losing many friends and fighter pilots. “Like many vets from the World Wars he did not speak of his time there,” says Rogers.
Sarah’s father Denis Rodgers
She was attracted to working on People Like Us because of the issues around veterans in Canada today that it raises. “I found it an utterly compelling story and a dreadful secret that needed to be exposed. I hope that people realise veterans need our support not just from the First and Second World Wars but from more modern wars,” remarks Rodgers.
Rogers likes to observe Remembrance Day by reading the Rudyard Kipling play ‘My Boy Jack‘ out loud to casts if in rehearsal or to her family. “It is a stunning poem by Rudyard Kipling who had to work very hard to get his son into the First World War as he had poor eyesight and was refused three times. Kipling basically sent him to his death.”
Here are Sarah’s suggestions for remembering the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers and veterans in the lead up to Remembrance Day:
“This play [People Like Us] is a bracing reminder that war can be many different kinds of hell, even for people like us. LEST WE FORGET.” Jerry Wasserman, The Province
People Like Us runs til November 16. You can read more or buy tickets here. We will have poppies available in the lobby.
As Remembrance Day approaches, the Firehall that brings to light the hidden impact of war on returning veterans and their families with the moving and poetic new play People Like Us. We’re very proud to be premiering this important new Canadian play about a Gulf War veteran and his fiercely courageous wife, and would like to introduce you to the woman behind it – talented Salt Spring writer Sandi Johnson. Sandi is interested in imaginary work that is socially relevant. She has written two books – ‘The Comfort of Angels’ a fictional work based on her experience of working with Ojibwa Indians in northwestern Ontario and a poetry and line drawing volume ‘The Wonderful Naked Man’, both published by Beach Holme. Nicola Cavendish read People Like Us and was so taken with Sandi’s beautifully poetic writing that she recommended Donna Spencer, the Firehall’s Artistic Producer take a look at the play.
We took a moment in between rehearsals to chat with Sandi about the inspiration for writing People Like Us.
Where did you get the idea or inspiration to write People Like Us?
‘People Like Us’ was commissioned by Maggie Schubart when she was in her nineties. She had a wish list and on that list was a play that would help the cause of peace. Maggie was a social activist who came to Salt Spring with her family during the Vietnam War. She believed that change often happened through arts and culture. The story idea came from Jan Slakov, a friend of Maggie’s who knew a Canadian military policeman and his wife in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
What was it about this particular story that captivated you?
Jan Slakov and Sandi Johnson at the Firehall.
I didn’t meet this couple and the Kate Rourke character is my creation. However, I knew from Jan Slakov that this couple had stayed together after he came home sick from the Gulf. I knew that she’d cared for him and had also advocated for veterans. They suffered loss of health, intimacy, financial security, and especially loss of faith in the military. I was interested in the human qualities that kept them together.
In your research into the Gulf War and Canada’s involvement in it, what did you discover that astonished or shocked you?
There was plenty of material that disturbed me. It was an Arab conflict over oil and it could have remained an Arab conflict. I was disturbed by the flagrant destruction of Iraq, the use of depleted uranium, and especially by the murder of surrendering Iraqis and hundreds of innocent civilians on Road to Basra, also known as The Highway of Death.
Why did decide to tell the story from Gerry’s wife’s perspective?
Gerry’s health was in a downward spiral and his would have been an interior perspective. There was much more opportunity for action in telling it from Kate’s story. She stayed in the time as it was running out, attempting to keep the family together. She rebelled against the poverty and the rules. She tried to save her sensual grace through belly dance.
Sarah Louise Turner as Kate Rourke in People Like Us
Did you talk to many veterans while researching the piece? Are there any particular stories that stand out?
I didn’t talk to many veterans, but I found in Hansard veterans’ submissions to Veterans Affairs Committees. Many times, I read the story of sick veterans asking for help. I found letters, for example to Canadian Blood Services where veterans express concern regarding depleted uranium toxicity.
I heard from a Gulf War Vet by email one day because he’d read online that I’d done a script based on the 1991 Gulf War. I suggested we meet for coffee, and then he told me he was writing from Montreal. I said that Montreal was a long way to go for coffee. I’ve been in touch with another vet who’s very ill. She’s so grateful that someone’s told their story. The Gulf War vets have felt forgotten.
What message would you like audiences to take away from the show?
I’d like them to walk out of the theatre with a very brave Kate Rourke right beside them.
People Like Us previews this Saturday Nov 2, 8pm; Sunday Nov 3, 2pm; Tuesday Nov 5, 8pm; Wednesday Nov 6, 1pm (PWYC) and runs til Nov 16. Previews are all half price ($15). Click here or call 604-689-0926 to buy tickets. There will be a special panel discussion looking at the impact of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on Nov 10 following the 2pm matinee.
Rachel Aberle, Steve Charles, Benjamin Elliott, Marlene Ginader, and Lauren Bowler. Photo by David Cooper.
“It’s written on the walls of this hotel, you go to heaven, once you’ve been to hell”
—Leonard Cohen
The Chelsea Hotelcast are checking out of Vancouver and heading off on a Western Canadian adventure that will see them perform this smash hit show in Saskatoon, Winnipeg and the Lower Mainland. We are excited to be taking this Jessie-nominated show on the road and bringing it back to Vancouver in March next year for an encore run at the Firehall.
Right now the six multi-talented cast members are tuning up their seventeen instruments, warming up their vocal chords and filling the theatre with the sounds of Leonard Cohen’s iconic music as they rehearse for the tour. It’s great to have them back!
If you have friends in any of the below cities, be sure to let them know this eclectic cabaret of loves won and lost is headed their way.
Some of you may recall Bruce Horak from his brilliantly comic show This is CANCER!
This multi-talented visual and performance artist opens his new show Assassinating Thomson, on Wednesday October 9 at the Firehall. Bruce is legally blind (a childhood illness left him with 9% of his vision) and Assassinating Thomson interweaves his story with the controversial tale of famous Canadian painter Tom Thomson’s unsolved murder. We chatted to Bruce Horak about what inspired his latest show, chasing the ghost of Tom Thomson and meeting the man himself.
What first attracted you to the idea of doing a show about Tom Thomson?
I was commissioned several years ago to write a “complete history of Canadian art” and learned the story of Tom Thomson. I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding his death and felt that it would make a great show. The various theories about who may or may not have done the deed are fantastic.
What is your favourite Thomson painting?
My favourite Thomson painting is called Northern River. I love the colour and the feeling he captures.
This show is well traveled, where else have you toured it?
The show began rehearsing here in Vancouver and then previewed in Calgary in June.
The summer tour began in Ottawa (where it won Outstanding Concept) and then went to Toronto, (Outstanding Performance, Production, and Direction) Winnipeg (Audience Favourite) Edmonton and Victoria (Best new play).
What kind of reactions have you had from audiences to the show?
I have had more than a few audience members who are so fascinated by the story that they rush out to buy books about Thomson, his work, his life, and his death. That’s the biggest compliment I could get. That, and they buy my paintings after the show (which is a big bonus as an artist).
I hear Mr. Thomson himself attended your show. Is that true?!
There is a gentlemen who Blogs as Thomson. He came to my opening show in Ottawa, introduced himself as Tom Thomson and refused to tell me his real name. It was quite an honour to meet him: he told me that I got the story exactly right!
How long have you been painting for? What inspired you to take it up?
I began painting seriously a few years ago. As a Visually impaired person, many of my friends have asked me how I see… Painting is an attempt to share my vision and capture the way I see.
Can you tell me a little about the portraits that will be on display in the Firehall lobby gallery during your show?
The portraits in the lobby are all a part of my ongoing series: The Way I See It. Each one begins with a base tone, which is influenced by the auras I see. The distortions in them are a result of the floaters that I have proliferating my visual field.
Each one is meant to be viewed through my glasses at close range in order to replicate my severe tunnel-vision. It’s quite a challenge to capture how I see, and I’m enjoying the attempt!
Assassinating Thomson is produced by Monster Theatre and runs October 8-19 at the Firehall Arts Centre. Tickets are available online here or by calling 604-689-0926. You can read more about Bruce here.
On Thursday October 3, we are excited to announce we will be hosting a post-show discussion panel after the 8pm performance of You Should Have Stayed Home. This talkback about Civil Liberties, Activism and Surveillance will feature:
The panel will be hosted by former Neworld Theatre Founding Artistic Producer Camyar Chai.
This event is free with you ticket purchase for that evening. BUY TICKETS NOW.
Praxis Theatre have partnered with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association for this show’s national tour. Check out this video to see why they believe this is an important story to tell.
About the Panelists
Micheal Vonn is a lawyer and has been the Policy Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association since 2004. She has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the Faculty of Law and in the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies where she has taught civil liberties and information ethics. She is a regular guest instructor for UBC’s College of Health Disciplines Interdisciplinary Elective in HIV/AIDS Care and was honoured as a recipient of the 2010 AccolAIDS award for social and political advocacy benefitting communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Ms. Vonn is a frequent speaker on a variety of civil liberties topics including privacy, national security, policing, surveillance and free speech. She is an Advisory Board Member of Privacy International. bccla.org
Harsha Walia is a South Asian activist, writer, and researcher based in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. She has been active in grassroots social movements for over a decade, including with No One Is Illegal, Women’s Memorial March Committee for Missing and Murdered Women, Radical Desis and more. She was one of the many leading upto both the Anti-Olympics Convergence and the G20 Protests in 2010, facing arrests and trumped charges at both. Harsha has been named one of the most influential South Asians in BC by the Vancouver Sun and Naomi Klein has called Harsha “one of Canada’s most brilliant and effective political organizers.” Her first book Undoing Border Imperialism is forthcoming in November 2013 by AK Press. Find her @HarshaWalia.
Tommy Taylor is a theatre artist, activist and NGO fundraiser living in Toronto. Recently Tommy was assistant director / video designer on Keystone Theatre’s Dora award-winning silent film meets stage project, The Belle of Winnipeg, adaptor/director of Dear Everybody at the CanStage 2009 Festival of Ideas and Creation and winner of the 2010 InspiraTO 10-minute playwriting competition for Sandwich. He was the director of Vancouver based playwright Jordan Hall’s award-winning Kayak at its North American premiere in the 2010 SummerWorks Festival (CBC and NOW critics pick). He is a graduate of the Centre for Cultural Management (University of Waterloo/ CCCO), The Vancouver Film School and Humber College’s Community Arts Development Program.
Tommy was arrested (but never charged) and detained during the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto. He has since turned his account of the experience into You Should Have Stayed Home, one of the top shows at the 2011 SummerWorks Festival, produced by The Original Norwegian and Praxis Theatre. The show is on a cross-Canada tour for Fall 2013, playing in Whitehorse, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
Greg McMullen is a litigation associate with Branch MacMaster. He focuses on class action work concerning privacy and access to information. Greg is the Legislative Liaison for the Class Actions Subsection of the CBA BC Branch. He is also on the Board of Directors of the BC Civil Liberties Association, and authored the BCCLA’s Electronic Devices Privacy Handbook.
PANEL HOST – Camyar Chai
Camyar Chai has worked in theatre and film for over twenty years. He is the founder of Vancouver’s acclaimed NeWorld Theatre. He has worked as a freelance actor, director, and writer as well as engaging in Arts Education. In addition to writing plays, Camyar has also written librettos for opera. An award winning theatre maker, he received his Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of British Columbia.
Like any good protest, this moving account of writer Tommy Taylor’s experience getting arrested at G20 depends heavily on involvement of the local community to have an impact.
We are seeking participants to help to recreate the cramped conditions in which Tommy was imprisoned in a tiny holding cage with 40 other prisoners. Each performance 20-30 people will join him briefly on stage for a 10 minute scene at the detention centre.
This is an essential and powerful portion of the play and requires the participation of concerned citizens of the Vancouver community to be fully realized. This is a volunteer opportunity but free tickets will be given out by way of thank you.
On opening night (Sep 25), we are aiming to get 40 well-known Vancouverites – artists, writers, politicians to join Tommy on stage.
WE’RE HOPING YOU WON’T STAY HOME.
Actors and non-actors welcome! If you would like to join the show, or just learn more about the opportunity, email:participate@praxistheatre.com
“The rich people have their lobbyists and the poor people have their feet.”
– Nathalie Des Rosiers, General Counsel of Canadian Civil Liberties Association speaking at a post-show panel at after You Should Have Stayed Home at the 2011 SummerWorks Festival.
Over the last few months a crew of artists have been working away to transform the Firehall’s courtyard and bring it to life with a stunning mural on the back wall. This towering piece of art is part of the City of Vancouver’s ‘Year of Reconciliation’ project and is based on the cultural links and connectivity of three distinct cultures that all converge in Vancouver’s historic heart: Aboriginal, Chinese and Japanese. The convergence of these groups is portrayed in a woven design with symbols, narratives and text from each culture. The mural was conceived with input from each of the three communities.
The mural artists are Jerry Whitehead, June Yun, Eri Ishii and Gerald Pedros, with mentored artists Marissa Nahanee, Christine Cheng and Mayuka Hisata (pictured to the right). –
Coordinators for the mural were Richard Tetrault and Esther Rausenberg (Creative Cultural Collaborations Society). This project was generously supported with funds from the City of Vancouver.
This coming Saturday afternoon we will be hosting a special public event in the courtyard to launch the mural. We hope you can join us to see the full mural in its glory and find out more about what went into its collaborative creation!
About the Panelists
Tommy Taylor is a theatre artist, activist and NGO fundraiser living in Toronto. Recently Tommy was assistant director / video designer on Keystone Theatre’s Dora award-winning silent film meets stage project, The Belle of Winnipeg, adaptor/director of Dear Everybody at the CanStage 2009 Festival of Ideas and Creation and winner of the 2010 InspiraTO 10-minute playwriting competition for Sandwich. He was the director of Vancouver based playwright Jordan Hall’s award-winning Kayak at its North American premiere in the 2010 SummerWorks Festival (CBC and NOW critics pick). He is a graduate of the Centre for Cultural Management (University of Waterloo/ CCCO), The Vancouver Film School and Humber College’s Community Arts Development Program.
Greg McMullen is a litigation associate with Branch MacMaster. He focuses on class action work concerning privacy and access to information. Greg is the Legislative Liaison for the Class Actions Subsection of the CBA BC Branch. He is also on the Board of Directors of the 
