A Sound Experience Subscribe and save up to 25%
Tickets and info at chancentre.com
Diego El Cigala – NOV 20 Dianne Reeves – FEB 22 Noche Flamenca’s Antigona – MAR 12 Anda Union – MAR 26 Max Raabe and Palast Orchester – APR 9
Brain C H A N C E N T R E AT U B C T E L U S S T U D I O T H E AT R E
WINNER
2015 Pick of the Fringe VANCOUVER
Brain The Beyond Words series is presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and explores the power of words in performance both as an agent of change and as a means of igniting conversation. Up next in the series, don’t miss Chicago’s Manual Cinema on February 7 when they’ll utilize vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live-feed cameras and multi-channel sound design to bring us the beautiful and haunting show Ada/Ava. The Chan Centre gratefully acknowledges the generous support of The Chan Endowment Fund, the UBC Faculty of Arts, The Government of Canada, The Georgia Straight, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Ethical Bean Coffee. Special thanks to our friends at UBC’s Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and AnxietyBC who partnered with us on an informative panel discussion about obsessive compulsive disorder in advance of this performance. A Little OCD? Understanding Compulsions and Intrusive Thoughts was presented on November 9 at the Creekside Community Centre as part of the Chan Centre Connects series.
“theatrical magic” - The New Yorker
Tonight’s performance will be approximately 60 minutes with no intermission. Please remember to turn off your phones, and note that photography and recording is not permitted. Thank you!
Brendan McLeod Brendan McLeod is a Canadian writer, spoken word artist, and musician. He is the author of one novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, a one woman play, The Big Oops, and two monologues, the most recent of which is this award-winning piece on consciousness you are going to see tonight: Brain. He is the founder of The Fugitives, a folk group signed to Light Organ Records, that tours internationally and has been nominated for multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards and a Western Canadian Music Award. He is a former Canadian Slam poetry champion and World Slam runner-up. He has taught spoken word at Langara College, and is an active youth educator with a variety of organizations, including: Wordplay, Prologue,and the Vancouver Biennale. He was the 2012 Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the 2015 Poet of Honour at the Victoria Spoken Word Festival.
Q&A with Brendan McLeod How did you become interested in poetry and performance? When did you discover that this is what you wanted to do? Brendan McLeod: I always wanted to be a writer, though that’s taken multiple forms. I first got into spoken word just by passing a café while it was happening — some guy in a weird hat going off on a microphone. I walked in and listened and was enthralled and wondered if I could do it. So a few weeks later I went to a slam poetry event and tried my hand. What I loved about it off the jump was how quickly you could see if something worked. If an audience member thought something was funny they’d laugh and if they thought it was sad they’d emote and if they didn’t like you they’d scowl. So I really appreciated the instant feedback. It streamlined my editing process. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind Brain?
Manual Cinema's Ada/Ava Chan Centre at UBC Telus Studio Theatre Tickets and info at chancentre.com
BM: I think I wanted to explore mental health in a direct, honest, and upbeat way. I am in favour of any initiative that brings mental health to the forefront, but I’m not sure it’s the kind of issue that benefits from hashtag accounts. If we want to get real as a society about dealing with mental health we have to get more holistic about the way we discuss it. So we have to get comfortable hearing the personal, uncomfortable, gross, devious, hilarious ways it takes hold of people, accustom ourselves to separating those manifestations from the people themselves, and thereby recognize it as a legit illness. I wanted this show to present an opportunity for that. Visit chancentre.com/news to read the full Q&A!
Brain The Beyond Words series is presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and explores the power of words in performance both as an agent of change and as a means of igniting conversation. Up next in the series, don’t miss Chicago’s Manual Cinema on February 7 when they’ll utilize vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live-feed cameras and multi-channel sound design to bring us the beautiful and haunting show Ada/Ava. The Chan Centre gratefully acknowledges the generous support of The Chan Endowment Fund, the UBC Faculty of Arts, The Government of Canada, The Georgia Straight, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Ethical Bean Coffee. Special thanks to our friends at UBC’s Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and AnxietyBC who partnered with us on an informative panel discussion about obsessive compulsive disorder in advance of this performance. A Little OCD? Understanding Compulsions and Intrusive Thoughts was presented on November 9 at the Creekside Community Centre as part of the Chan Centre Connects series.
“theatrical magic” - The New Yorker
Tonight’s performance will be approximately 60 minutes with no intermission. Please remember to turn off your phones, and note that photography and recording is not permitted. Thank you!
Brendan McLeod Brendan McLeod is a Canadian writer, spoken word artist, and musician. He is the author of one novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, a one woman play, The Big Oops, and two monologues, the most recent of which is this award-winning piece on consciousness you are going to see tonight: Brain. He is the founder of The Fugitives, a folk group signed to Light Organ Records, that tours internationally and has been nominated for multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards and a Western Canadian Music Award. He is a former Canadian Slam poetry champion and World Slam runner-up. He has taught spoken word at Langara College, and is an active youth educator with a variety of organizations, including: Wordplay, Prologue,and the Vancouver Biennale. He was the 2012 Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the 2015 Poet of Honour at the Victoria Spoken Word Festival.
Q&A with Brendan McLeod How did you become interested in poetry and performance? When did you discover that this is what you wanted to do? Brendan McLeod: I always wanted to be a writer, though that’s taken multiple forms. I first got into spoken word just by passing a café while it was happening — some guy in a weird hat going off on a microphone. I walked in and listened and was enthralled and wondered if I could do it. So a few weeks later I went to a slam poetry event and tried my hand. What I loved about it off the jump was how quickly you could see if something worked. If an audience member thought something was funny they’d laugh and if they thought it was sad they’d emote and if they didn’t like you they’d scowl. So I really appreciated the instant feedback. It streamlined my editing process. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind Brain?
Manual Cinema's Ada/Ava Chan Centre at UBC Telus Studio Theatre Tickets and info at chancentre.com
BM: I think I wanted to explore mental health in a direct, honest, and upbeat way. I am in favour of any initiative that brings mental health to the forefront, but I’m not sure it’s the kind of issue that benefits from hashtag accounts. If we want to get real as a society about dealing with mental health we have to get more holistic about the way we discuss it. So we have to get comfortable hearing the personal, uncomfortable, gross, devious, hilarious ways it takes hold of people, accustom ourselves to separating those manifestations from the people themselves, and thereby recognize it as a legit illness. I wanted this show to present an opportunity for that. Visit chancentre.com/news to read the full Q&A!
A Sound Experience Subscribe and save up to 25%
Tickets and info at chancentre.com
Diego El Cigala – NOV 20 Dianne Reeves – FEB 22 Noche Flamenca’s Antigona – MAR 12 Anda Union – MAR 26 Max Raabe and Palast Orchester – APR 9
Brain C H A N C E N T R E AT U B C T E L U S S T U D I O T H E AT R E
WINNER
2015 Pick of the Fringe VANCOUVER