Tag: theatre

BIRTH

Posted: Jun 22 2012

Produced by 75 Cent Productions

Birth

JULY 19-21 & 26 – 28, 8PM

Directed by Rebecca Ryan

BIRTH is a funny, touching and eye opening look at the midwives, doctors and mothers who have shaped the way we give birth today. Based on historical figures and modern day testimonials BIRTH celebrates the shocking and many times hilarious characters who have built the modern birth experience. Written by up and coming playwright Rebecca Ryan, BIRTH is a carefully crafted dramedy that informs while it entertains. It is a playful and thoughtful ride through a history we all share and an experience we all have taken part in.

2012-2013 EARLY BIRD SUBSCRIPTIONS

Posted: Jun 06 2012

If you haven’t bought your Pass for our 2012/2013 Season, now’s the time!

Early bird prices are on until July 31!

Check out what we have coming up for the season here.

As a bonus, pay an extra $20 for tickets to see our summer show, Good Timber: Songs & Stories of the Western Logger!

Look for our Early Bird brochure around town or check out the page here for more information.

Buy your pass online now or call us at 604.689.0926!

 

Healing through Humour: The Progressive Polygamists and This is CANCER

Posted: Jun 06 2012

Presented by Two Wrongs That Write Productions 

June 22, 23, 29 & 30, 8pm at the Firehall Arts Centre

Tickets $20 through Firehall Arts Centre Box Office at 604.689.0926 or online

This is CANCER

This is CANCER by Bruce Horak and Rebecca Northan just completed a sold out run for the second consecutive year at this year’s Edmonton Fringe Festival and a sold out run of its hold over. It also received 5 star reviews across the board for the second consecutive year.


CANCER – a deluded, egotistical ASS – goes on his own journey of denial, anger, bargaining and acceptance when he discovers that the whole world hates him.

CANCER gives the cabaret performance of a lifetime! In this one-man, satirical cabaret Bruce Horak (Two-time Betty Mitchell Award Winner: This is CANCER and Evil Dead: the Musical) brings Cancer to life. A cancer survivor himself, and one of Canada’s only legally blind actors, Bruce brings a fresh and funny perspective to a disease that too many of us will face and that so many of us could use a good laugh at.

Directed by award-winning director/performer Rebecca Northan (Betty Mitchell Award: Blind Date, Canadian Comedy Award: best Sketch Group, Gemini and Dora Ward nominee: CTV’s Alice, I think), This is CANCER will leave you wondering how you could fall in love with such a deadly performer.

“This is Cancer is as genius as it is absurd…Allow this remarkable show to spread all over your body.”
– Edmonton Journal 2010 – 5 stars

“One of the weirdest and most brilliant shows the Fringe has ever seen.”
– Edmonton Sun

_____

The Progressive Polygamists

The Progressive Polygamists by Emmelia Gordon and Pippa Mackie have returned after a 5 star, “Best of the Festival” Fringe tour.

What would it be like if your best friend was your sister-in-law, AND your husband’s wife? Join sister wives, Mercy Eve and Eden Grace, in this satirical comedy about what it is really like to share a husband and live together in a polygamist sect.

“It’s startling what a treasure trove of humour the ladies unearth from the secretive commune, which marries off teenagers to much older men.” -Star Phoenix.

Through song, fast paced skits, jump rope, and confessions the Progressive Polygamists shine a new light on this topical and controversial community.

“This satirical jab at the real-life hyper-relgious polygamist commune of Bountiful, B.C., is about as entertaining as a social statement can be.”
– Saskatoon StarPhoenix

“Each performance, one of comic genius”
– Plank Magazine – 5 stars

“A relevant comic triumph.” 
– Saskatoon StarPhoenix 2011 – 5 stars

 

Firehall Fact #29: Ours Shows

Posted: Mar 30 2012

There have been thousands of shows performed at the Firehall Arts Centre. As of this post, we have had +/- 7000 performances here – that’s around 230 a year!

Each production has been special, but there are certain ones that strike a special chord with audiences and keep them coming back for more.  Some of our most popular shows have included:

  • The Stone Angel, based on the novel by Margaret Laurence during the 1993-94 Season
  • The  1995-96 Season play by Edmonton playwright Marty Chan based on his experiences:Mom, Dad, I’m Living with a White Girl, which delved into culture and inter-racial relationships
  • Urinetown, The Musical, produced in the 2005-06 Season
  • Banana Boys by Terry Woo told the story of five Chinese Canadian young men as they struggle with identity and and living within two cultures during the Firehall’s 2007-08 Season
  • Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth by Drew Hayden Taylor was first on the Firehall stage during the 1997-98 Season, and came back by popular demand the following year
  • J.J. McColl’s Menopositive was first produced in the 1997-98 Season, but was so popular it has come back four times!
  • Chelsea Hotel sold out houses this year, and will be remounted next season!

People connect with the work done at the Firehall Arts Centre. The shows we present or produce are relate-able in some way; whether it’s a play about finding your place and identity, or a musical about growing older, the Firehall chooses work that shares a truth the audience can feel a part of.

We can’t do the work we do without your help. If you donate through Canada Helps before March 31 and take their quick 5 question survey, Capital One Canada will donate another $10 on top of your donation!

If you’d like to donate to our $30 for 30 Campaign through our website, click here!

World Theatre Day

Posted: Mar 27 2012

Theatre can be beautiful, ugly, frightening, funny and everything in between. What it always does is create dialogue.  Whether you enjoyed the last piece you saw or hated it, you were part of that moment.

To celebrate World Theatre Day, go out and support theatre by seeing one of the amazing plays on in Vancouver now:

So much theatre in this city! Go out, explore and enjoy!

 

Hats with feathers will be mandatory in any play I write

 

Firehall Fact #25: The Infamous Black Box

Posted: Mar 26 2012

If you’ve come to the Firehall to see a performance, you’ve noticed the theatre is what we in the bizness like to call a “black box”.  A black box theatre, according to Wikipedia, is an “unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls and a flat floor. It is a relatively recent innovation in theatre.“

Yep, that’s what the Firehall theatre looks like, and it’s been pretty much that way since 1982, which in the grand scheme of things, is fairly recent.

Now, the great thing about having a black box is how malleable and versatile the space is.  Sets are generally simpler than at larger theatres, but because of the technical specifications of the space, can be extremely unique and interesting. Lighting can also play a grander role in a performance in a black box theatre because there is no place for lighting leaks or for it to be diffused.  The theatre itself can also be configured specifically for each new show, a feature impossible in larger, static spaces.

 

This year alone, we have had the theatre capacity go from our regular 136 to 155 and 162 as well as taking it from the regular arrangement of seats in the picture above and reconfiguring it into an L shape for VIMY and a thrust stage for Goodness.

This versatility provides the opportunity to present work to the public in the most interesting way, allowing the audience to interact in the best possible way with the work.

That’s pretty cool.

If you’ve been thinking about donating to our $30 for 30 Campaign but haven’t yet, you still have time! Do it now through our website, give us a call or visit Canada Helps to donate there!

 

 

Firehall Fact #13: Staff Favourites

Posted: Mar 15 2012

The Firehall has a wonderful, talented and inventive staff. We love this place, not only for its wonderful history and good looks, but each staff member has special reasons as to why we cherish being here.

Today, we spotlight Jamie Burns, the Technical Director here at the Firehall.

Jamie has been with the Firehall for six years, and has been TD for the past two. He’s the go-to guy for anything having to do with the theatre and the building, and he’s a sucker for bubble tea.

My name is Jamie Burns and I am the Technical Director here at the Firehall Arts Centre. I have many favourite things about the Firehall: from the huge stone block foundation to the fire pole in the the theatre to the friendly Firehall ghost. But, I have to say my favourite thing is the variety of the shows we put on: from rocking musicals like Chelsea Hotel to dramas like The Blue Light, East of Berlin and Where the Blood Mixes, the shows we produce and present here always bring something new to the table. You never see the same show twice.

To donate to our $30 for 30 Campaign on our website, click here! To donate via Canada Helps, visit them here.

 

 

 

 

Firehall Fact #12 – V6A Pass

Posted: Mar 14 2012

Did you know the Firehall offers a discounted ticket program for residents living in the V6A postal code area?

The V6A Pass is a program designed to provide residents of the Downtown Eastside with the opportunity to attend presentations and productions here at the Firehall Arts Centre at discounted rates.

Remember, we need your help! Donate to our $30 for 30 Campaign through our website or Canada Helps!

 

Firehall Fact #11 – Savage Parade

Posted: Mar 12 2012

In 1992, the Firehall saw a very unique performance that plays in the theatre and in the studio upstairs.

As most of you are aware (if you’ve read the first Firehall Fact, which I know you have), the Firehall Arts Centre used to be a fully-functioning fire station.  Which means there were a number of fire poles placed in convenient places all over the building for firemen to get down to the trucks and gear.  Four of these poles were located in four corners of what is now our upstairs studio, which was then the room in which the firemen slept.

When the fire station was turned into an arts centre, these poles were removed, which left four holes in the floor. Don’t worry, these were covered up.

Until 1992 when choreographer Cornelius Fischer-Credo’s Savage Parade was presented.

The show was comprised of two parts that happened simultaneously in the theatre and upstairs in the studio, and the performers moved between the spaces by using ladders propped through these old fire pole holes. They would also throw props including glitter, lights and shoes through the holes as well.

During intermission, the audience that viewed the show upstairs would move down into the theatre, and vice versa.

In the theatre, the production was moody and dark, taking the public on a journey to a ghostly underworld, while in the land upstairs, audiences were treated to funny, happy (and hilariously off-key) renditions of 70s pop songs and bright, silly performances.

Savage Parade was performed in June and December of that year.

Remember, we need your help! Donate to our $30 for 30 Campaign through our website or Canada Helps!

 

Savage Parade news clipping from the Vancouver Sun, December 18 1992. From the Firehall’s archives.