The Georgia Straight - Pipeline Standoff - Feb 6, 2020

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Volume 54 | Number 2715

RENDEZVOUS

French film fest begins

STRAIGHT WHITE MEN Staging loaded ideas

SHAKIRA AND J.LO

Super Bowl double standard

Pipeline Standoff

With LNG prices crashing in Asia, Smogelgem and other Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are trying to thwart the largest private-sector infrastructure project in Canadian history

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FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 3

CONTENTS

February 6-13 / 2020

6

COVER

Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs could stymie Canada’s largest private-sector infrastructure project .

By Charlie Smith Cover photo by Michael Toledano

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13 FOOD

The new Say Mercy! restaurant marries Italian and southern barbecue with swoon-worthy results.

By Gail Johnson

15 ARTS

We talk to the codirectors of Straight White Men, a bold new play that isn’t the brutal parody you might expect.

By Janet Smith

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24 MOVIES

The Rendez-Vous French Film Festival hits 26 years of bringing top-notch product to Vancouver’s cinephiles.

By Adrian Mack

24 MUSIC

A Black Halos reunion at the Rickshaw proves that, indeed, time does heal almost all wounds.

By Allan MacInnis

EV E RY E N C O RE RE WA RDS M E M B E R W I L L REC E I V E A SC R ATC H CA RD O N M O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 17 T H F RO M 9A M TO M I D N I G H T. RULES APPLY. PRIZES ARE DETERMINED BY ENCORE DIAMOND LEVEL STATUS. MUST BE AN ENCORE REWARDS MEMBER TO RECEIVE SCRATCH CARD. PRIZES FOR HOTEL AND FOOD EXPIRE 30 DAYS AFTER REDEMPTION. ALL OTHER PRIZES MUST BE REDEEMED ON FEBRUARY 17TH. ONE (1) PER ENCORE REWARDS MEMBER. WHILE QUANITITES LAST. FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. BLACK OUT DATES MAY APPLY. VISIT PLAYERS CLUB FOR DETAILS.

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Indications are the Rolling Stones are headed to Vancouver.

CTV journalist Peter Akman no longer working after tweet.

Instagram posts show Zack de la Rocha using personal trainer.

Madonna fans sue the singer over late concert starts.

Fresh St. Market: “New concept” grocery store opens this week.

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FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 5

FEATURE

Chiefs helped by markets in LNG fight

T

by Charlie Smith

here may not be a peaceful conclusion to the ongoing dispute over the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs didn’t reach agreement with the B.C. government in their 11thhour talks to de-escalate the conflict over the $6.6-billion megaproject.

“While we were not successful in finding a resolution to the current situation, we continue to remain open to dialogue with the Wet’suwet’en leadership on this issue,” Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser said in a February 4 statement. “We hope that the paramount need for safety stays the top priority for all parties.”

The hereditary chiefs are from five Wet’suwet’en Nation clans: Gilseyhu, Laksilyu, Tsayu, Laksamshu, and Gitdumden. According to Chief Smogelgem, a.k.a. Warner Naziel, of the Laksamshu, he and other hereditary chiefs are “sick and tired” of the provincial and federal governments preferring to talk to people who will say yes to them rather than to the group of chiefs who won a landmark victory in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1997. The Delgamuukw ruling established the existence of Aboriginal title over portions of 58,000 square kilometres in north-central B.C. “We have to stand up for our traditional territories,” Chief Smogelgem says in a hereditary chiefs’ video posted on YouTube. “We have to make sure that we are the ones that make decisions on them. If we say no to any kind of development because it would impede on our ability to take care of our future generations, then that’s going to be the answer.”

His perspectives are echoed by others in the video, including Chief Kloum Khun, also of the Laksamshu.

He says that the power of hereditary chiefs comes not via elections but through the consensus of clan members. “The position takes us into the feast hall speaking with authority with all of the clan members and your clan in mind, and a total trust that we’re acting on the best behalf of our clan and our nation,” he says.

The 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline is part of the largest privatesector infrastructure project in Canadian history, according to the federal government—a $40-billion expenditure that will lead to billions of dollars in direct government revenues and 10,000 jobs at the height of construction. It includes the large LNG Canada liquefied-natural-gas plant in Kitimat

In the midst of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs’ battle over the CGL pipeline, Asian LNG prices crashed. Photo by Carla Lewis

along with a terminal to export up to 26 million tons of LNG per year.

By October 2018, when the project received the green light from Royal Dutch Shell and its corporate partners, LNG prices had surged in Asia, reaching US$11.40 per million British thermal units. Some analysts anticipated that they would rise even higher. But since then, LNG prices in Asia have plunged to a record low of US$3.51 per million BTUs on northeast Asia’s benchmark Japan Korea Marker.

The decline is being blamed on the coronavirus outbreak in China and increasing competition from renewable sources of power.

Wet’suwet’en traditionalists, like Karla Tait, director of clinical healing at the Unist’ot’en Healing Center, thinks that Royal Dutch Shell and the other LNG Canada investors should give up on the project. “It’s not economically viable,” Tait told the Straight by phone from the facility along the pipeline route. “I can say that from the cost [of the project] and the price of LNG in the market.”

Moreover, she emphasized that the hereditary chiefs are “steadfast” in their opposition. “We’ve never approved this project, because it’s environmentally unsound,” Tait said.

“Our Wet’suwet’en laws would never support a project as destructive as this.

We’re just in too delicate a position at the headwaters of the Wedzin’kwa [Bulkley and Morice rivers]. Our whole society is structured around our salmon runs and access to our territories. So it’s at odds with our values.”

Tait is not alone in seeing the LNG Canada plant as an economic loser.

We never approved this project, because it’s environmentally unsound – Karla Tait

Carbon Tracker lead analyst Andrew Grant wrote a September 2019 report analyzing capital investments in fossil-fuel projects called Breaking the Habit: Why none of the large oil companies are “Paris-aligned”, and what they need to do to get there.

Grant told the Straight by phone from his office in London, England, that there are about US$6.5 trillion in projects on the books over the next 10 years. Collectively, he estimated, they would contribute to a global average temperature increase of 2.7 ° C since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to keep the global average temperature increase over that time to below 2° C. Under an ideal scenario, the average temperature rise would be kept below 1.5° C to prevent feedback loops from kicking in—such as melting of Arctic ice, large escapes of methane from the Arctic, and large-scale release of carbon dioxide from oceans, which could cause runaway global warming.

Grant said that something has to give—and it could very well be B.C.’s

marquee LNG plant and related infrastructure. He explained that if the world is to contain the average global temperature increase to between 1.6° C and 1.8° C, the fossil-fuel sector will have to cut its capital investments by about US$2 trillion.

“Even if you assume that as a benchmark—and then add a bit of a margin of error—we find that the LNG Canada project still doesn’t sort of make economic sense in a lowcarbon world,” Grant said. “In other words, the supply costs are sufficiently high that even with a bit of increased demand for LNG going forward, it’s outcompeted by other projects that are either in the market or may be built.”

In October 2018, Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a news release that growing demand for LNG in Asia, and the company’s “significant integration advantages”, meant that LNG Canada would deliver a return in the neighbourhood of 13 percent. This month, however, van Beurden told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe program that concerns about the coronavirus are not helping global energy markets.

“It is a very concerning development; a lot of people will be anxious,” the Royal Dutch Shell CEO said, “and, of course, we are monitoring very closely what is happening.”

In 2016, the Brattle Group published a report saying that suppliers of North American–produced LNG required a price in the range of US$10 to US$11 per 1,000 BTUs to be profitable.

The current price isn’t close to that.

“There is a real possibility of a significant shift towards more renewable power generation in some of the key

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Asian markets targeted by the LNG industry,” the Brattle Group stated.

“While the current shares of wind, solar, and gas in China are each less than 5% of China’s total electricity generation, all three sources of electricity generation are projected to increase substantially over the next 25 years as the share of coal generation as a percentage of total generation is projected to decline significantly from around 75% today to roughly 50% by 2040.”

U.S. author Jeremy Rifkin, an adviser to the European Union and Chinese energy executives, goes even further in his new book, The Green New Deal: Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse by 2028, and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth. He bluntly writes that declining prices of wind and solar power— along with rapid adoption of these technologies by the EU and China— have obliterated the “commercial case for the continued introduction of large-scale natural gas projects”.

Yet the B.C. government has offered LNG Canada $6 billion in incentives, and the Trudeau government has offered $275 million in subsidies. Canada is the fourth-largest producer of crude oil and the fifth-largest producer of natural gas in the world. So if Rifkin is right, it could have tremendous economic ramifications for this country.

The value of the Canadian dollar has traditionally moved with the international price of oil. If fossil-fuel prices bottom out for years, it could drive down the dollar, create problems for the Canada Pension Plan, and drive up food prices because so much of what Canadians eat is imported.

The rapid take-up of renewable energy worldwide prompted the founder of Victoria-based Ecopath Planning, Eric Doherty, to suggest that the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are helping Canada by opposing the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

“What they’re doing could really be saving us in a really big way from going down a dead end with the very highest cost fossil-fuel energy,” Doherty told the Straight by phone.

He said there’s a common misconception that fossil fuels are a path to easy riches. “But things have changed,” he stated. “What we’re now looking at is really the bottom of the barrel— particularly on both the tarsands and LNG in B.C. We’re very, very high-cost producers in a time when only the lowest-cost producers will likely survive.”

Doherty cited several reasons for see page 9

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8 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020

from page 6

dramatic change in energy markets over the past decade, including highvoltage undersea cables promoting more grid integration and greater connectivity to low-cost renewable hydropower and solar power. There have also been big advances in short-term battery storage for renewable power, as well as greater reliance on hydroelectric dams for long-term power storage.

He added that air-sourced heat pumps can lead to significant reductions in natural-gas use in the building sector.

“All we need is a plateau in consumption to bankrupt these [LNG] projects,” Doherty said.

One of the world’s more imaginative energy and environmental researchers is Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.

He has developed road maps for 143 countries, including Canada, to transition to 100-percent-clean, renewable energy for all purposes.

In a phone interview with the Straight, Jacobson said the climate crisis makes it “socially irresponsible” for Canadian federal and provincial governments to promote fossil-fuel projects. “All this is doing is contributing to increasing emissions,” he said.

“It’s making it much more difficult for the whole world to fight the rapid increase in climate damage that’s occurring and will occur into the future. Other countries don’t need this energy either, so it’s discouraging them from actually transitioning their own energy infrastructure.”

He added that there’s a real risk of “stranded assets” in the fossil-fuel sector—i.e., infrastructure not used because renewable options are cheaper.

“There are 61 countries in the world that have committed to 100-percentrenewable electricity,” Jacobson said.

“That means in terms of electric power, fossil-fuel use has to go down to zero.”

They have different timetables, with the European Union leading the way. He mentioned that 14 states in his country have laws calling for 100-percent-renewable electricity by between 2030 and 2050. And he said

that this transition can save consumers, governments, and businesses enormous amounts of money.

His plan for Canada indicates that there would be a 68-percent reduction in energy costs if the country relied entirely on renewable energy.

Instead of consumers, businesses, governments, and organizations spending $292 billion per year on energy for electricity, home heating, transportation, and industrial and other uses, the annual price would drop to $93 billion per year.

“But on top of that, you eliminate about 3,800 air-pollution deaths per year,” Jacobson added. “That saves another $38 billion a year—and it’s also hundreds of thousands of illnesses that you’ve saved. Then the climate-change reduction by 2050 is another $490 billion per year.”

According to Jacobson, it would only require 0.1 percent of the country’s landmass to do this. “It’s to everybody’s benefit to get off of the fossil fuels,” he said.

Back on Wet’suwet’en traditional territory, Unist’ot’en spokesperson Freda Huson insists that she’s not a protester. She told the Straight by phone that she’s following Wet’suwet’en law by occupying her land. She and her husband, Chief Smogelgem, were named as defendants when Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. obtained a B.C. Supreme Court injunction.

“I believe the judicial system is favouring industry because the government makes up all the legislation,” Huson said. “So they’re using injunctions now to get rid of us.”

The Unist’ot’en Healing Center staff believe that clients can only truly heal by forging a deep connection to the land and embracing traditional uses, including hunting, trapping, gathering medicines, and berry picking. For Huson, a key question is the definition of “critical infrastructure”.

“While we’re impacting their critical infrastructure, they’re affecting our critical infrastructure because the land base is really critical to us.”

She noted with dismay that the company promised to provide potable

water if the pipeline project pollutes the river system.

“Why would we want to bring in potable, chlorinated dead water when we have living water flowing right by us?” she asked. g

Books

TIP SHEET WHEN IT OPENS with a

Saturday (February 8) event featuring renowned New York City author Gary Shteyngart, the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival will officially turn 35. Celebration of this milestone is set to continue throughout the fest’s six-day run, with a program every bit as fresh and thoughtprovoking as ever, ranging from fiction and essays to poetry, graphic novels, and stories for young readers. Here are just a few of the highlights:

c TERRY KURGAN (February 9 at the Polygon Gallery) The South African artist’s debut work of creative nonfiction, Everyone Is Present, has won international praise for its groundbreaking mix of photography and text, mapping out the flight of her Polish family from Nazi occupation. c ALEJANDRO FRID (February 10 at the Jewish Community Centre) With his new book Changing Tides, the University of Victoria professor argues that fusing scientific perspectives with deep Indigenous knowledge of resource management may open a path out of our planet’s ecological crisis. c JAMIE BERNSTEIN (February 13 at the Jewish Community Centre) Joined by UBC–trained singers and pianists, the eldest daughter of Leonard Bernstein discusses Famous Father Girl, her memoir of one of the towering figures in 20thcentury music. g

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HOROSCOPES

F

FEBRUARY 6 TO 12, 2020

by Rose Marcus

riday could start with something to push past but, progressively, the day picks up speed.

Starting Friday, Venus begins a four-week tour of Aries. This transit can light a new fire or a new battle regarding the money chase and personal wants and needs. In effect through the weekend, Venus/Chiron singles out something or someone for special attention. There could be a karmic, fated, or déjà-vu element regarding the way things unfold. “No pain, no gain” can also be in the mix.

On Saturday, Juno, the contract asteroid, starts a retrograde tour in Libra (a Venus-ruled sign). This reversal could create diplomatic or relationship strain. Clustered with Venus/Chiron and a building full moon in Leo, these stars could flip a switch and/or see someone cut ties abruptly or pull the plug on a plan, agreement, or contract. Something or someone unexpected (i.e., an underdog) could overtake the lead. Tastes and interests can change, perhaps sharply. Someone or something could suddenly hold great appeal.

The weekend could stand out for some special reason. On the fun side, it is a good one for pleasure-seeking and for enjoying a fresh diversion. By all means, reward yourself or your lover.

Ruling acting and special events, the full moon in Leo sets up good hype for the Oscars. By the time the show is on, the transiting moon has left Leo for Virgo. Anticlimactic? Nope. Moon/ Uranus makes for good entertainment.

The week ahead can be as productive as you make it. Use your time wisely. Mercury will begin retrograde a week from Sunday.

A

ARIES

March 20–April 20

Venus in Aries will spend the next month lighting a fresh fire in you. There can be something to get through before Venus takes it up to speed. Oscar party planned for the weekend or not, the full moon in Leo sets a good backdrop for playing it up or for topping yourself up. Monday/ Tuesday can be productive. Wednesday/Thursday, spending comes easily.

B

TAURUS

April 20–May 21

A change of mind or heart can be in the works. Whether through necessity or choice, you may have to make a switch or pull the plug.

You could feel strain before the moon reaches full late Saturday, but Sunday onward you should hit a corrective, healing, or improvement upswing.

The weekend brings something important to a head—it’s a good thing.

C

GEMINI

May 21–June 21

Venus in Aries, starting Friday, could get you going on something new. It could require something extra or a trial run, but once you are up and rolling with it, you are likely to be pleased you tried it on/took it on. The full moon in Leo makes for a good social or cut-yourself-loose weekend. The week ahead can be profitable and productive.

D

CANCER

June 21–July 22

By Friday, you are likely more than ready to call it quits! Strain is in the mix as the full moon builds, but the stars are setting a good backdrop for correction, improvement, and breaking new ground. Venus in Aries spends the next four weeks lighting a fire in your career sector. Some things are worth fighting for. Monday/Tuesday are best for tackling it.

E

LEO

July 22–August 23

Mars in Sagittarius, a great transit for making the most of it,

continues to mid-month. Venus in Aries is also set for an opportunity backdrop, but it has something to work through first. Well-timed for Oscar weekend, the full moon in Leo kicks it up a big notch. An element of surprise or flip the switch is the mix.

F

VIRGO

G

LIBRA

H

SCORPIO

I

SAGITTARIUS

J

CAPRICORN

K

AQUARIUS

L

PISCES

August 23–September 23

What do you want and how are you going to go get it? Venus in Aries, starting Friday, revs up desire and/or spurs you to action. The full moon in Leo could produce a great insight or spark the unexpected. Gift yourself or your lover (take charge!) this weekend. Sunday through Tuesday, the moon in Virgo helps you to time it just right.

September 23–October 23

Leading up to the full moon in Leo (at peak just before midnight [PST] Saturday), you could feel triggered, less interested in accommodating, or more feisty than usual. It’s your party; do it your way. Planned or spontaneous, watch for the full-moon weekend to kick it up a notch and/or to fire up something fresh. The week ahead keeps you/it going strong.

October 23–November 22

Whether it’s the Oscars or something more personal, the full moon in Leo can set you up for a special-event weekend. How that translates for you is up to you to author. Venus, freshly into Aries, can see you covet time to yourself. Keep vigilant regarding your health. Monday/ Tuesday, tackle catch-up, paperwork, errands, and improvement projects.

Wednesday/Thursday, stay creative; be accommodating.

November 22–December 21

Mars continues in Sagittarius through the middle of February.

Venus, the other half of the relationship duo, enters Aries on Friday. Toss in a full moon in Leo and watch you go! That’s good creator power/fire to work with. Something special to do this weekend or someone special to spend time with? Put on the show; have fun with it.

December 21–January 20

You could feel under strain or worn out as the workweek comes to an end, but by Sunday you should find yourself on a good upswing. If something challenging crops up, know it paves the way for improvement. Sunday to Tuesday is your best time to tackle it. The week ahead can be corrective, healing, and productive.

January 20–February 18

Beyond a good weekend to have fun, socialize, or cut yourself loose, a shift of perspective or momentum is in the works. Go with instinct, inspiration, and spontaneity. Perhaps there’s a flip side to a relationship issue. The full moon can dish up something fresh or unexpected. Sunday onward is good for getting it fixed, said, and done.

February 18–March 20

Friday could require an extra push to get yourself up and running, but as the day advances and Venus leaves Pisces for Aries, you’ll gain more steam. Plans or agreements might fall through as the moon works its way to full on Saturday, but it could make room for something better. Sunday onward, the going is good. g

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up, it’s only January, but I’m calling it now: Say Mercy!, which just opened at 4298 Fraser Street, will be deemed one of the strongest additions to the local dining scene this year. Here are five reasons why.

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One of Vancouver’s most unsung chefs, Reeve has been impressing discerning food lovers at the Mackenzie Room since it was opened five years ago by the same owner-operators, Collective Hospitality Ltd. (which includes Reeve, Antonio Cayonne, and husband-and-wife duo Andrew and Katie Jameson). TMR, as it’s sometimes called, is devoted to fieldto-fork fare, with some of Reeve’s standout dishes being the Showstopper Salad (which melds more than 30 farm-fresh ingredients) and Chicken of the Sea: sea-urchin pâté with hazelnut, pear, and squid-ink brioche.

Reeve trained in Italy, learning classical techniques from the masters, and he is passionate about authentic barbecue; in fact, it was experiencing and experimenting with the smoky flavours of the South in his earliest kitchen jobs that made up his mind Say Mercy!, chef Sean Reeve (top photo) blends together his classical Italian to become a chef. At Say Mercy! he At culinary training with his love of authentic barbecue. Photos by Katie Cross gets to put the two together—which brings me to my next point. cream sauce); sunchoke risotto; and THE TEAM more. To finish, the choice is simple: One of the biggest problems facing YOU’VE NEVER TASTED ANYTHING one of each, please, a baseball-size local restaurants is finding qualified, LIKE THIS lingonberry beignet and slab of fro- dedicated staff. That doesn’t seem to At first mention, it is confounding. zen mud pie. be the case here. The crew is strong Perhaps the dish that best illustrates When you just want to keep eating and enthusiastic. Mathew Bishop is Reeve’s ability to nimbly dance be- because the flavours are so fine, you Reeve’s chef de cuisine; he chef’ed at tween disparate cuisines and cultures may have no choice but to surrender TMR for three years after spending is his Barbecue Bolognese: When to the experience—to say mercy. time at Araxi and L’Abattoir. On the you first taste it, your taste buds are floor are folks like William Johnson like “Huh? What’s happening here?” THE DRINKS (former owner of the now defunct, There’s the fresh house-made spa- You’ve got Meghan McDowell (for- much-missed Crowbar) and Carlin ghetti and the salty pancetta and merly of Nomad, Bistro Wagon Sandor, former GM of Farmer’s then there’s smoked pork butt, all Rouge) to thank for the thoughtful, Apprentice. tender, soft, and fatty, topped with playful wine list. There are two secgenerous amounts of Grana Padano. tions to her first fully curated list: THE ROOM Then it hits you, the f lavours Wines for Drinking and Wines for With wainscoting in a eucalyptus and textures coming together in Thinking. With an affinity for nat- hue, art deco wallpaper, and vintage succulent, revelatory harmony, and ural wines, she’ll happily geek out fixtures and mirrors, the midcenit all makes sense, and you might with you if you want to go out of your tury-modern-inspired corner space comfort zone and try something like (where the Dark Manor Inn lived a just swoon.

Another example is Amberjack the 2018 Roche Texture Pinot Gris short, darkened life) is stylishly comCrudo: frequently showing up on from the Okanagan. I love that she’s fortable. It’s a neighbourhood spot southern menus, the pale pink, sweet- included an orange wine (the Simil- that feels special. The bathrooms tasting amberjack shares the plate with kameen Valley’s 2018 Scout Vine- are rather gorgeous too. (They even sun-dried olives, endive, mint, and yards Riesling). But she’s not going have a selection of personal-care grapefruit. Want one more? Shrimp to go all snooty somm on you, and items, including feminine products; & Grits. Shrimp and grits! Featuring there are plenty of deliciously ap- nice touch.) Just as at the Mackenzie Room, Andrew Jameson came up rich, lobsterlike rock shrimp, the dish proachable options.

GM Cody Dodds, who was at the with the design. is deeply delicious with mussels, CaWho says January and February Mackenzie Room from the beginlabrian chili, fennel, and tomato.

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> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < COMPLIMENT AT STARBUCKS

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SO WE MEET AGAIN!

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: FEBRUARY 3, 2020 WHERE: Starbucks - Burnaby Heights I was standing waiting for my cappuccino- couldn't help but notice that you had the most handsome smile I had seen in quite some time. My order was ready before your's, and I was surprised buy that since you ordered before me, so I commented. Then our food orders were called - both by our first names. Before we both left you looked at me and said that you really liked my name. You made me smile and made my Monday. I'm going to be forward and say that I hope to run into you again soon.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: FEBRUARY 2, 2020 WHERE: Lighthouse Park Hey - I’m pretty sure you circling back to the lookout to ask me to take your photo has a subtext.

It’s so hard to know these days. I made light conversation about Vancouver’s conversion into a branch plant for the tech industry; you work in the sector and are new to the city. You shook my hand. I should have given you my number. If you’re the kind of person who goes to Lighthouse Park alone, we’ll get along.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 24, 2020 WHERE: On a plane Vancouver to Dallas We both boarding American Airline flight from Vancouver.

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UNSUCCESSFUL STARBUCKS TRANSACTION

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 31, 2020 WHERE: Starbucks You were ahead of me in line at Starbucks trying to pay for your order but your card wasn’t working so I offered to pay, I hope you didn’t feel rushed by that! You apologized, noting that I was with a baby (casually mention here that I look after her, she’s not my baby!). After you left, I think to take out money, I tried paying anyway but my card didn’t work either so I think it really was the machine. You seemed sweet, so shot in the dark that you might see this, I’d be interested in getting to know you if you’re available or interested or ever even see this. I’d be happy to buy your next coffee regardless of whether your card is working or not :) If you see this & want to connect, let me know which Starbucks location this was at, or what accent you had so I can be sure it’s you.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 26, 2020 WHERE: Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant You were a very handsome Chinese guy eating dinner for the Lunar New Year with your family at Fraser Court Seafood restaurant on Fraser near Kingsway. I think you were wearing a grayish, thin striped long-sleeved shirt. Had some cute dimples too. I was the Chinese guy with my family at the table next to you. We glanced at each other at least 15 times. Not sure if you even play for my team, but I thought I’d put it out there.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 29, 2020 WHERE: Whole Foods on Cambie Me: Hot lady with red hair + thick black framed glasses. You: Hot man with dark hair + thick black framed glasses. We smiled at each other on the street on the way to Whole Foods + chatted at the traffic light on the way in + again on the way out. I was going to give you my number as we parted ways, but then panicked thinking I had read the whole thing wrong. Hit me up if you were feeling the same vibes, I’d love to grab a coffee + chat some more!

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 28, 2020 WHERE: 99-Bus Lady with pink hair, we scored a victory for transit efficiency by politely but firmly informing those poor commuters the door wasn’t going to close. We kept talking, I regret not asking for your number when you left.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 26, 2020 WHERE: Two Parrots Bar and Grill I rolled into the bathroom of Two Parrots and you and your friend wanted to touch my hair. You asked me for a "quick snog" and I obliged. I thought you wanted a make out sesh. I was beside myself how sweetly you kissed me. Let me take you to all my favorite spots around town.

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 13

DRINK

Fizzy old-school red a juicy triumph

A

by Kurtis Kolt

THE SOURCE

7:30PM | SAT, FEB 15, 2020 KOERNER RECITAL HALL, VANCOUVER ACADEMY OF MUSIC 1270 CHESTNUT STREET

WITH STEPHEN SMITH, PIANO KARI TURUNEN & JON WASHBURN, CONDUCTORS SIX SYMPOSIUM CONDUCTORS Kari Turunen and Jon Washburn join forces to lead the 40th annual Conductors’ Symposium in Vancouver.

This concert culminates the week-long event as they and six Symposium conductors from around the world lead the choir in a delicious concoction of famous madrigals and motets, folksongs and spirituals, prayers and partsongs. Pianist Stephen Smith and the choir’s many fine soloists get ample opportunity to shine, too!

1.855.985.ARTS (2787) vancouverchamberchoir.com

t the tail end of my sommelier-on-the-floor days in 2010, I was fortunate enough to receive the sommelier of the year award from the Vancouver International Wine Festival and Vancouver magazine.

I don’t bring it up for horn-tootin’: it’s mentioned because I was the first British Columbian sommelier to receive an opportunity from Summerland’s Okanagan Crush Pad to be a part of their Wine Campus program.

The program lets each year’s winning sommelier work with the winery on making 100 cases of a wine of their choosing, with the proceeds going to local charity.

I opted for a concrete-fermented Sémillon, something fresh, crisp, and lively to go with local seafood and elevated plant-based cuisine. Subsequent winners include Jason Yamasaki, now the group sommelier for the JOEY Restaurant Group, who crafted a sparkling Pinot Noir, and Mike Bernardo of Vij’s, whose off-dry Riesling was a no-brainer with Indian fare.

The Okanagan Crush Pad team are generous with time and resources, and that’s something to which I can attest: if the grapes can be sourced and the style can be made, they’re generally keen to go along with any whims or direction.

2019’s sommelier of the year, Matthew Landry of Vancouver’s Stable House Bistro and Fiore restaurants, opted to go with the most ambitious Wine Campus project yet, and it has just been released.

First, a little back story.

The Ontario native has always had a penchant for Italian wine. In fact, he’s a certified Vinitaly international wine ambassador, often embarking on restaurant programming to spread the good word on Italian wine. Do check out Fiore’s Facebook page (Facebook.

Eric Texier Chat Fou 2017 is a buzzy, new “natural” wine. Photo by John Sherlock

com/FioreYVR/).

Over at the Stable House Bistro, the hearty cuisine bolstered by a hefty charcuterie program has seen him put Lambrusco wines front and centre. The fizzy red wines made from the grape of the same name originate from the Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy and most often harbour rich red, black, and purple fruit with a dry, peppery finish. They’re opulent and charismatic, tailor-made for standing up to rich and meaty dishes.

Landry challenged himself and Crush Pad to mimic the style. First up was finding a variety that was suited to its flair. This resulted in the choice of a harvest of very limited Okanagan plantings of Touriga Nacional, a tannic and concentrated red grape more widely known for being a base variety of port wine.

Now, how to get the bubbles in there?

The crew opted to go with a pétillant naturel—or pét-nat—style. The recently repopularized old-school method involves sealing a wine before it has gone through a full ferment, trapping some of the carbon dioxide byproduct

and resulting in a sparkling profile.

Now in private stores like Firefly Fine Wine & Ales and Legacy Liquor Store (for about $30)—as well as Matt’s restaurants and colleagues’ eateries like AnnaLena, Old Bird, and Dachi—the wine is frivolous and full of character, just like its cheeky name.

“Pet Matt Landrusco” is loaded with blackberries, raspberries, hibiscus, cola, and sarsaparilla, and it’s juicy as all get-out.

Although this is a one-off project, the wine is so damn tasty and approachable that I’m thinking it’s not the last we’ll see of this style coming out of British Columbian wine country.

Speaking of bold initiatives, I also wanted to commend David Stansfield, the Vancouver-based corporate sommelier for Earls Kitchen + Bar restaurants across North America. A fan of the still-growing natural-wine movement, he has recently brought the still cultish (but buzzy) category to the people on the wine programs across the Earls empire, with their own highlighted category on his lists.

Without bravado or pedantic airs, he is exposing more food-and-wine enthusiasts across the continent to these handcrafted wines, often in very small production, with selected bottlings from all around the world.

In Whistler and here in Vancouver, Earls patrons have a couple of fun options by the glass.

Lock & Worth Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon 2018 from B.C. is a zesty, citrusy, and herbal delight, and Eric Texier Chat Fou 2017 is a Grenache-based red from France’s Rhône Valley, full of earthy, purple fruit, with a handful of gravelly mineral character adding dimension.

Although some have been saying that the natural-wine movement is just a passing fad, it seems as though it’s really just getting started. g

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SUPPORTED BY

arts Straight White Men looks at who pulls the strings

T

by Janet Smith

he title of Young Jean Lee’s play, Straight White Men, probably makes you expect a scathing parody of privilege.

Consider that its playwright once had a theatre company whose motto was “Destroy the audience!” and that the Village Voice has dubbed her the “queen of unease”, and you might foresee an even more nasty assault.

It turns out, though, that you would be entirely wrong.

“This is not an attack,” ITSAZOO Productions’ Chelsea Haberlin, who’s codirecting the Canadian premiere of the work at the Gateway Theatre, assures the Straight over the phone after rehearsal. “It’s far more complex. It’s easy to point fingers.”

In fact, in this nuanced story, you may find the men of the titular cultural group treated with authentic sympathy and compassion.

“It’s not meant to be a mockery,” says Frank Theatre artistic director Fay Nass, Haberlin’s codirector and long-time collaborator, speaking to the Straight in a separate phone call. “It’s genuine and generous, and hopefully that will translate.”

The play earned wide attention on Lee’s home turf, New York, when it became the first Broadway play by an Asian-American woman. And it is far from your average Broadway play.

Within the stage’s central frame, we watch the story of a middle-class white man and his three adult sons unfold (played by Peter Anderson, Daniel Martin, Carlo Marks, and Sebastien Archibald). They’ve gathered for Christmas, and eventually their bro banter and roughhousing shift to reveal hints of a universal midlife unhappiness that lurks beneath their power and privilege.

But hosting and observing that action, outside the frame, are two People in Charge—a pair of queer, gender-nonconforming people of colour, in this case rap poet Kim “Kimmortal” Villagante and twospirit Coast Salish/Sto:lo artist Raven John. Sometimes they position the male characters like puppets between acts. Haberlin says the idea is that we watch them watching and reacting to the play. We see it through their eyes.

The setup has forced Haberlin, who’s been working with the script for three years, to rethink her role. And an early workshop session prompted her to bring on Nass, who studied with her at the University of Victoria and has collaborated with her at Neworld Theatre. Nass is a queer theatre maker

Arts

TIP SHEET

c GHOST (February 12 to 15 at the Cultch) Cool without trying: Montreal’s off-thehook Tentacle Tribe (shown here) takes contemporary dance to the street, melding hip-hop and martial arts into an exhilarating language all its own. A New Works and Cultch copresentation. c CARMEN: SOUNDS OF SPAIN (February 7 at Surrey’s Bell Centre and February 8 at the Orpheum) The fiery singing of Rihab Chaieb and elaborate sand art of Kseniya Simonova meet the music of Georges Bizet and more, as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra takes a trip to sunbaked Iberia. g In Straight White Men, Kim Villagante and Raven John (left and right) are the People in Charge of the central story (featuring Peter Anderson and Sebastien Archibald). But you may be surprised at how nuanced this all is. Photo by David Cooper

of Persian descent.

“It became very clear during that time that, because the play is an examination of straight white male identity and is told through the lens of gendernonbinary people of colour, having a director who was straight and white— a.k.a. me—would not serve the piece,” Haberlin reflects. “There needed to be someone who related to the People in Charge and was connected to their identities. We realized that everyone who heard the script had a different experience with it that was largely based on their lived experience.

“It was incredibly valuable to me to have Fay in the room during the workshop and we worked really well together,” she continues.

“When we decided to move ahead with a full production, it made total sense to have Fay codirect. We are close and get along really well, but in so many ways couldn’t be more different. That difference allows us to unearth so much more in the play.”

This is not an attack....It’s far more complex. It’s easy to point fingers.

– Chelsea Haberlin

Haberlin says the process continues to challenge her, and has made her reassess almost everything she does as a director. “It has made me self-conscious at times and very aware of the traditional power structures that exist in a rehearsal process,” she observes. “These traditional structures don’t feel appropriate when I’m working with the People

in Charge. They’re in charge. Not me.

That has been delicate to navigate and I’m learning more about collaboration and how to break down the traditional structures that exist within the theatre.

“But, funnily enough,” she adds, “when it comes to directing the straight white men and the story that unfolds inside the frame, the process is very traditional and I am definitely the director who is leading the way— just the same as most scripted plays I’ve done in terms of process.”

Nass says part of the process has been giving the rehearsals a sense of openness and safety. “I feel like there’s a sense in the room that Chelsea and I can work together to bring out our two lived experiences,” she comments. “By calling it Straight White Men, we know that we are not seeing a play like every other play in Vancouver. And for me, being outside of all those three identities, I stand in a position that my voice matters in the room—and also the

collaboration with Chelsea matters.”

Another big part of this production is its Talk Forward series, which invites audiences to engage more deeply with the loaded ideas—straightness, whiteness, maleness, and beyond.

Each performance will be followed by a discussion hosted by speakers like Rumble Theatre’s Jiv Parasram, Manology program director David Hatfield, and Children of the Street program facilitator Hayden Averill.

For those who missed SpeakEasy Theatre’s sharp production of Lee’s The Shipment in 2017, all of this should prove why the New York Times has called Lee “the most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation”.

“I don’t think we have power over how people will interpret it,” Nass concludes. Maybe not, but one thing is certain: they’ll have an awful lot to discuss on the walk or ride home. g Straight White Men is at the Gateway Theatre from Thursday (February 6) to February 15.

Three is the magic number for Beethoven trios

I

by Alexander Varty

n Vancouver, at least, Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov are probably best known for their Vancouver Recital Society performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s complete sonatas for violin and piano, in 2012. Reviewing the three-concert run in these pages, I called their take on the famously thorny “Kreutzer” sonata “one of the most intellectually astonishing performances I have ever heard”. So it’s reasonable, I suppose, that some might question whether Faust and Melnikov’s addition of cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras for their upcoming VRS show might destabilize the sublime chemistry they showed as a duo—but the wary have nothing to fear.

“We started playing as a trio shortly after we started playing as a duo,” Melnikov tells the Georgia Straight in a brief telephone conversation from Charlottesville, Virginia, where the three are meeting to rehearse before the start of a North American tour. “It’s been, like, 15 or 16 years now, so it has always been there—and they’d known each other long before either of them had met me. They’ve known each other since their teenage years.”

For a further assurance of sublimity, the three will also be tackling an all-Beethoven

With any other composer I would really get to be sick and overstuffed with it.

– Alexander Melnikov

The Faust Queyras Melnikov Trio uncovers new colours in Beethoven’s work. Photo by Josep Molina

program when they come to the Vancouver Playhouse, playing the “Kakadu” Variations in G Major, the Piano Trio in E-flat Major, and the “Archduke” Trio in B-flat Major.

On the occasion of the great German innovator’s 250th anniversary, it’s not the only Beethoven they’ll perform during 2020. “Well,

there are a lot of concerts,” Melnikov says modestly. “I don’t know what they’re doing, but I know that I’m playing with soloists in all the violin sonatas, cello sonatas, piano trios, all the piano concerti… Beethoven is all I’m playing this year, and with any other composer I would really get to be sick and overstuffed with it. But his music, it is really rather robust, so there are no problems. I’m getting a lot of pleasure from it.”

And while Queyras has in the past aimed to broaden his knowledge of Johann Sebastian

Bach’s cello suites by commissioning six living composers to write variations on them, Melnikov contends that delving deeper into Beethoven’s music requires no such radical interventions.

“We’re just trying to look at the works, the scores, and trying to play them,” the pianist says. But even that simple act, he continues, is not without its discoveries. “Well, my revelations are going on all the time, but they are outside the scope of an interview,” he says with a chuckle. “But, normally, with classical music what constantly happens is that you look at the score and you say to yourself, ‘What an idiot I am! How could I not see this before?’ So that’s the kind of revelation that happens to me all the time with this music.

“For me, composers always make me feel like that,” he adds. “They make you think.” And with that, he’s off to join Faust and Queyras in thinking more about how to present the Beethoven trios so as to ensure further revelations for performers and audience alike. g The Vancouver Recital Society presents the Faust Queyras Melnikov Trio at the Vancouver Playhouse at 3 p.m. on Sunday (February 9).

FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 15

ARTS

Corcoran returns to opera with Barber

by Janet Smith

Director Ashlie Corcoran stages The Barber of Seville against Ken MacDonald’s lyrical sets (right, photo by David Cooper).

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lthough West Coasters probably know Ashlie Corcoran best as a theatre artist, her work helming opera goes back to some of the earliest days in her career. The woman who now steers Western Canada’s largest theatre company, the Arts Club, was a new stage-directing grad and had an $18-an-hour day job as a temp when she went to audition for the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio program for young artists. (It may have involved a slight fib about having a doctor’s appointment.)

“Everyone in the waiting room all knew each other from the opera world and I was like, ‘Why am I here?’ ” the affable artist tells the Straight candidly over the phone, shortly after opening night for the Arts Club’s Noises Off, and right before the start of a rehearsal for her first main-stage directing job for Vancouver Opera, The Barber of Seville. “There was a big panel doing the interview in the room, and they were scary.”

As Corcoran, who’s since become friends with some of the people on that panel, recounts, she was still “young and smiley”. But she showed her strength when the committee of opera vets asked her what she would do if a singer had a different idea than she did about an opera—a situation she was well used to negotiating as a theatre director. “They said later, ‘Yes, we were looking to see if you could stand up for yourself,’ ” she remembers.

After acing that test, Corcoran was invited back with another candidate to vie for the position, in an audition involving an intensive staging of scenes from two operas. “It was all brand-new,” says Corcoran, who had not even seen an opera until she’d finished her first undergrad degree. “But five minutes into staging this tenor in Albert Herring I was totally hooked—I was going, ‘I want this job.’ It was just

Five minutes into staging this tenor...I was totally hooked.”

– Ashlie Corcoran

the connection to the emotions, and this superhuman ability to tell a story.”

That passion secured Corcoran’s spot training at the COC for its 2006-7 season in Toronto’s new purpose-built opera house, and led to her assignment as intern director on no less than Richard Wagner’s epic “Ring Cycle”. That meant rotating seven days a week between four leading directors (including Atom Egoyan and François Girard) who were working on the quartet of daunting music dramas. She had a blast.

Corcoran went on to assistant-direct, and then, while developing her impressive theatre résumé at the likes of the Shaw Festival and the Citadel, continued to craft operas in Ontario and in Germany and England.

Flash forward to 2012, and Corcoran, who hails from White Rock, flew out here to assistant-direct— what else?—The Barber of Seville for Vancouver Opera.

And all that brings us full circle to today. With Corcoran almost three years into her role as artistic director of the Arts Club, she felt comfortable stepping back into opera—and Gioachinno Rossini’s famed Barber, with its familiar rolling “Figaro”, is a seasonal favourite.

“It’s such a great choice for this time of year,” she says. “In January

and February it’s great to enjoy something that makes you laugh after the postholiday blues.”

Corcoran finds a lot of similarities between directing theatre and opera.

“In theatre a huge part of my job is to work with actors to set the tempos and rhythms,” she points out, “but in opera the rhythms are set in part by the composer and in part by the maestro.” (In this case, the conductor is Canadian Nathan Brock, in his VO debut.)

Because of opera’s scale and complexity, Corcoran also has to come in with a strong physical plan. For this production of The Barber of Seville, featuring whimsical, spun-sugar sets and Gaudí-esque curving towers by veteran designer Ken MacDonald, she arrived at rehearsals with illustrations she likens to “football-play drawings”.

“The container of it is quite lyrical and it feels like a reflection of the froth and joy in the music,” she says of the sets, “but inside that is a real settee and a real harpsichord; it’s not hyperstylized in terms of their interpretation.”

As you might guess from Corcoran’s theatre leanings, she sees her role as primarily supporting the performers—and bringing the characters’ journeys to vivid life. The Barber of Seville tells the story of Figaro (played here by baritone Edward Nelson), the barber who helps out the Spanish Count Almaviva, whose love for Rosina is thwarted by the lecherous old Dr. Bartolo. Cue disguises, deception, and other playful opera-buffa antics.

“It’s all about jumping into life and living with a sense of adventure and curiosity and risk,” she says. And with that description, you can’t help but think of her first trip to try out for the Canadian Opera Company. g Vancouver Opera presents The Barber of Seville at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre next Thursday (February 13), and on February 15, 20, and 23.

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18 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020

ARTS

Two new shows embrace the outrageous

by Vince Kanasoot

THEATRE

URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL

Book and lyrics by Greg Kotis.

Music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann.

Directed by Courtenay Dobbie. A Studio 58 production. At Studio 58 on Saturday, February 1. Continues until February 16

NOISES OFF

By Michael Frayn. Directed by Scott Bellis. An Arts Club Theatre Company production. At the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage on Wednesday, January 29. Continues until February 23

d GOOD THINGS COME in threes.

And so does great comedy. The Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of Noises Off is a hilarious farce about putting on a play, and the train wreck that can erupt when you combine personal misunderstandings, jealousies, and romantic affairs gone wrong. And in keeping with the rule of three that says a trio of events can achieve ideal comedic effect, the action in Noises Off happens in three acts—a three-part free fall into divinely satisfying chaos.

In this play within a play by Michael Frayn, Lloyd Dallas (Andrew McNee) directs an eccentric group of actors in a play titled Nothing On. Beginning with its dress rehearsal, it’s clear that Nothing On is in rough shape. The actors are constantly forgetting lines and cues, and various personal issues among the cast and crew are pulling focus from the job at hand. Little does anyone know that it will only go downhill from here.

Throughout the next two acts, we follow the run of Nothing On, as the show tours and then finally closes.

The romantic rivalries and infighting that distracted the company in Act 1 only continue to escalate. And the slapstick comedy the actors perform on-stage in Nothing On is replicated tenfold in the backstage antics.

The cast members of the Arts Club’s Noises Off get everything right, nailing the clockwork timing of the play’s farce and seizing the absurdity. Photo by David Cooper

This type of ensemble comedy requires mathematically precise timing, with each character’s track carefully plotted within the larger picture. And director Scott Bellis has timed the action so well that the show never misses a beat. The action flows smoothly, like meticulously crafted mayhem.

With the use of a revolving stage, Ted Roberts’s set allows us to enjoy the action on- and off-stage—sometimes simultaneously. Christine Reimer’s costume design nails the show’s ’80s setting—especially enjoyable is the teal jumpsuit worn by Emma Slipp in the role of company star Belinda Blair, not to mention the red blazer and plaid skirt Tess Degenstein sports to play rookie actor Brooke Ashton.

Given how large a role slapstick comedy plays in this show, credit must be given to Mike Kovac and Ryan

McNeill Bolton for their excellent fight and physical stage direction. A highlight of the show is a spectacular fall by one character down Roberts’s manystaired set.

Among the brilliant ensemble, Nora McLellan is a highlight as poor Tim Allgood, the overworked, underappreciated stage manager with the unfortunate job of holding Nothing On’s company together. Standout performances also include Charlie Gallant’s stellar physical comedy as emotionally unstable actor Garry Lejeune; Degenstein, with her Bambi-like innocence; and Slipp, with a largerthan-life portrayal that screams ’80s soap-opera character.

Noises Off is a delightfully entertaining farce that shines as much for its comedic skill and finesse as for its absurdity and calamity.

d IN URINETOWN, public-urinal authoritarian Penelope Pennywise proclaims “It’s a privilege to pee.” And Studio 58’s production of the Tony Award–winning show, under the direction of Courtenay Dobbie, is a privilege to watch. Performed by Langara College’s acting students, this impressive production rivals any professional version out there. The show features well-timed comedy, polished singing and movement, and an energetic spark that drives the performance.

The story is set in a grim, dystopian society where a 20-year drought has put an end to private toilet facilities.

Instead, people must pay to use public amenities. Anyone caught breaking the rules is sent to Urinetown, a mysterious place that no one ever returns from. And while much of the population suffers in poverty, Caldwell Cladwell, CEO of the corporation that owns the public amenities, literally flaunts his dollar bills in front of everyone. When Cladwell decides to raise the fee for public-amenity usage, it prompts a major social uprising.

Despite the dark subject matter, Urinetown is full of tongue-in-cheek humour that lovingly pokes fun at Broadway musical theatre. Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’s music is a mashup of styles that evokes shades of Les Misérables, West Side Story, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Julie Tomaino’s choreography both embellishes the parodic fun and pays

homage to iconic Broadway numbers.

For example, with its intense fingersnapping and eventual explosion of energy, “Snuff That Girl” tips its hat to Jerome Robbins’s “Cool” choreography from West Side Story. Various other choreographic moments, such as the Charleston-like “We’re Not Sorry”, and the gospel-inspired “Run, Freedom, Run!” and “I See a River”— in which a fan is used as a wind machine—also add hugely to the fun.

Under the musical direction of Diane Speirs, the show’s score sounds fantastic, played by a skilled five-person band. And there are some strong singing voices among the cast, which come through loud and clear without microphones.

As the show’s hero and heroine—Bobby Strong and Hope Cladwell—Caleb Dyks and Emma Ross bring sweet innocence to their characters. Dyks also has a nice belt in his singing, especially apparent in “Look at the Sky”. As Penelope Pennywise, Ivy Charles is a blast to watch—her sharp comic timing and quirkedout mannerisms are topnotch. Playing narrators Officer Lockstock and Little Sally, Liam Stewart-Kanigan and Emily Case are a delightful team.

Stewart-Kanigan comes across as a charming, gentle giant, always questioned by the inquisitive Case.

With his split leaps, high kicks, and endless energy, Vuk Prodanovic is sensational as Tiny Tom. And Irene Almanza Menes is hilarious as the ruthless—and very pregnant—revolutionary Little Becky Two-Shoes.

The cast clearly has a ball with all this, and along with the creative team, puts in an excellent effort here. This is a Urinetown with extra splash—and a must-see that isn’t staged very often. g

FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 19

ARTS

The artist’s studio gets a reality check Paula Kremer, Artistic Director

VISUAL ARTS

THE ARTIST’S STUDIO IS HER BEDROOM At the Contemporary Art Gallery until April 5

TUNDRA

MUSIC IN NORTHERN LANDS

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2020 3:00PM

The Annex 823 Seymour St. Vancouver, BC Tickets: vancouvercantatasingers.com or 604-730-8856

d RECENTLY OPENED at the Contemporary Art Gallery, The Artist’s Studio Is Her Bedroom pivots on the premise that “the patriarchal conditions we inherited from modernism have profoundly shaped assumptions about where and by what means ‘serious’ artwork gets produced.” So writes curator Kimberly Phillips in her essay for the exhibition, which challenges conventional notions of the artist’s studio as the site of creativity. Many of the 10 artists represented here address the ways parenthood impacts the where and what of their creative practices. Others investigate different social and economic constraints that affect the realization of their creative visions.

Works on view include sculptures, video, drawings, weavings, and installations. Allusions are hectic and eclectic, from the Leisure duo’s tapping into the ways in which acclaimed British sculptor Barbara Hepworth raised her triplets (triplets!) to Brady Cranfield’s transcription of lyrics by the American rock band Superchunk, and from Damla Tamer’s teaching evaluations to Claire Greenshaw’s revisiting of an ancient Greek fable through her children’s drawings.

The show takes its title from Erica Stocking’s sculptural installation, which also functions as the set for a performance piece, scheduled to take place on March 24. Physical components of the work include a bed symbolically covered in white-painted canvas; a fabric backdrop printed with a photo of what looks like, but isn’t,

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Steven Brekelmans’s The Gift/The Climb/The Curse (Billiard Table).

a miniature theatre set of handmade bedroom furniture; black-on-white costumes; sculptural models; and a large fabric bunny. Stocking also offers up copies of scripts for eight performers, all seemingly versions of the artist’s persona.

References are both direct and oblique, ranging from Gustave Courbet to Sonia Delaunay, and from a beloved children’s book to WWI “dazzle” camouflage. As Phillips points out, Stocking builds her work around the women artists who have inspired her and the ways in which her creative practice functions alongside motherhood. In her script, one of the characters says, “I take on these roles and histories so large I am not sure how to carry them.” This line suggests doubt, yet Stocking’s installation emanates assurance.

Steven Brekelmans’s The Gift/The Climb/The Curse (Billiard Table) riffs on some of the themes he has been developing from an extended period during which he relegated his art practice to secondary status while working a demanding, full-time job

in another field. He examines the subculture of hobbyists and ideas of craftsmanship along with the value the art market ascribes to certain objects, images, and materials. Previously, his intentional muddle of handcrafted and found objects was installed on an actual billiard table, as alluded to in his title. Here, he sets his assortment of unprepossessing things—including a wonky text sculpture made out of toothpicks— on a stepped plywood platform.

Plinthlike, it shifts the allusion from a suburban rumpus room to the vaunted space of the art museum.

Maura Doyle’s art has evolved out of the condition of single motherhood, as she pursues the expressive and conceptual possibilities of materials and processes reduced to their most elemental. Her Experiments/ Who the Pot? features an array of odd and beguiling ceramic vessels. Handbuilt rather than wheel-thrown, and smoke-fired in an ancient manner that precludes the need of a kiln, these unglazed works speak of a kind of creative there-ness, of curiosity and immediacy. With Self Portrait as a Pot II, Doyle sends up archetypes and stereotypes, especially the wedded notions of creation and procreation and the vessel as a metaphor of the female body. Here, a rotund ceramic form is accoutred with a slab of clay “hair” and two noticeably phallic “arms”. Too funny.

It is a delight to witness the creative practices of artists who are not incidentally but intentionally parents, not shackled but rather inspired by their relationships with their kids.

Not obliterated by the demands, either, of buying groceries and paying the rent, but informed and challenged by manoeuvring around them. Kudos to all the artists in this show. Long may they thrive.

by Robin Laurence

DORIC STRING QUARTET WITH MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN PIANO SUN FEB 16 at 3pm I VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE Together for the first time in a landmark musical event curated by the Vancouver Recital Society. Hear the Sibelius Quartet and Hamelin and Dvořák Piano Quintets.

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20 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020

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FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 21

ARTS LISTINGS ONGOING PUSH INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL Annual interdisciplinary arts fest features 27 works from 24 companies, including six world premieres by local artists.

To Feb 9, various Vancouver venues.

THEATRESPORTS Two teams of players are pitted against each other in competitive improv matches. To Feb 29, The Improv Centre on Granville Island. From $10.75.

COASTAL LUNAR LANTERNS Eight giant lanterns created by local Indigenous artists.

To Feb 9, 8 am–11 pm, Jack Poole Plaza. Free.

SONGRISE IMPROV CHOIR: COME SING AT ONE OR ALL SESSIONS! Your voice is the instrument in a spontaneous vocal orchestra! Sing soulful grooves, heavenly harmonies, and body-shakin’ rhythms, all created in the moment. Nothing to rehearse, just sing what is sung to you. Build music skills, connect with others and have fun!

Inspired by Bobby McFerrin. Come to one or all sessions! Tix: SongRise.ca Feb 4–Apr 7, 7-8:30 pm, Kitsilano Neighbourhood House.

Advance $18, door $22.

NOISES OFF Farce about the egos and insecurities of a second-tier acting troupe putting on a show. To Feb 23, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. From $29.

SPINE Backbone Theatre Collective presents Clara Brennan’s one-woman call to arms for our modern age, featuring Kate Besworth. To Feb 8, 8 pm, Havana Theatre. $20.

BECKY’S NEW CAR A comedy by Stephen Dietz, directed by Peter Zednik. To Feb 15, 8-10:30 pm, In the Theatre at Hendry Hall. $20/18.

7 STORIES Morris Panych’s dark comedy set on the ledge of a building where a man is

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22 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020

contemplating suicide. Feb 4-8, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. $11/15/22.

ANYWHERE BUT HERE Electric Company Theatre presents the world premiere of Carmen Aguirre’s new work. Feb 4-15, Vancouver Playhouse. $19.99.

Arts

HOT TICKET

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5 HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES Farcical comedy follows the lives of three couples whose lives are intertwined. Feb 5-22, The Playhouse. $12-24.

THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE: AN IMPROVISED TRUE ROMANCE Romantic improv comedy as revealed through interviews and interpreted by Vancouver TheatreSports League improvisers. Feb 5-15, 7:30-9 pm, The Improv Centre. From $10.75.

GOD’S LAKE Documentary theatre about the strength of the people in the remote fly-in reserve of God’s Lake Narrows, Manitoba. Feb 5-8, 8 pm, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. $15-36.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES A quirky story about the psychological and physical tolls of love and family. Feb 5-15, 8-9:30 pm, Vancity Culture Lab. $25.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6 LEFT OF PUSH #3 Three mixed bills by local and visiting artists working across disciplines during the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Feb 6, 9:30-11:30 pm; Feb 7, 5-7 pm, Left of Main. $15-25.

STRAIGHT WHITE MEN Western Canadian debut of Young Jean Lee’s satirical comedy about three brothers who return home for the holidays. Feb 6-15, Gateway Theatre. From $29.

CIPHER World premiere of a play about a forensic toxicologist trying to solve a Vancouver Island cold-case murder. Feb 6–Mar 7, Granville Island Stage. From $29.

CUTLASS SPRING Montreal-based dance artist Dana Michel performs as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Feb 6-8, 8 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $37/29.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7 KAREN FLAMENCO Live flamenco music and dance in a traditional Spanish tablao setting. Feb 7, 8:30-11 pm, Kino Cafe. $5/10.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 35TH ANNUAL JCC JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL Writers from across Canada, the U.S., Israel, and South Africa. Feb 8-13, Jewish Community Centre. Free to $24.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9 KITS CLASSICS+WORLDS BEYOND Chamber music for flute, clarinet, and guitar. Feb 9, 4-5:30 pm, St. James Community Square. Free.

OPEN STAGE (February 11 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre) Irish dance, flamenco, tap, and the boldly contemporary rub elbows in this first edition of a Dance Centre initiative spotlighting new short works—a sort of tapas menu of movement. On the roster: Adelynne Addington, Ana Sosa, Anouk Froidevaux, Jhoely Triana Flamenco, and Tomoyo Yamada/Clala Dance Project (shown here). g

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 STORY COLLIDER: MISFITS Stories by Rob Boffard, Lorna Dawa, Kevin Kokoska, and Soo Jeong. Feb 11, 7:30-9:30 pm, Fox Cabaret. $15.

OPEN STAGE EDITION #1 Five dance works spanning contemporary, flamenco, tap, and Irish dance. Feb 11, 8 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $10/18/28.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12 GHOST Tentacle Tribe combines elements of contemporary dance, hip-hop, and martial arts. Feb 12-15, 7:30 am–8:30 pm, Historic Theatre. From $26.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13 JFL NORTHWEST Vancouver’s Just for Laughs festival features 12 days of standup, podcasts, improv, film, and sketch comedy.

Feb 13-25, Various venues.

ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge. Submit events online using the event-submission form at straight. com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

MOVIES

Elijah Wood tackles his Daddy issues REVIEWS COME TO DADDY

Starring Elijah Wood. Rated 14A

d IMAGINE REUNITING with your absent father after 30 years and discovering that he’s Ginger Baker, but worse. That’s the initial premise of Come to Daddy, a fabulously entertaining comic thriller poised somewhere between Alfred Hitchcock and vintage John Waters.

Having made the trek to Daddy’s remote pad overlooking the Pacific (actually Tofino), it takes about one minute of screen time for Norval (Elijah Wood) to realize that the old man is a drunk, violent mental case, embodied by Canuck warhorse Stephen McHattie in a role he’s been perfecting for about 40 years now. The film’s twists and turns eventually bring Martin Donovan into the frame, playing way against type as a man who welcomes the chance to have his fingers dislocated—that scene should prompt the most walkouts—along with A Field in England’s Michael Smiley, evolving into this generation’s Brion James as he adds yet another uniquely odious psycho to his CV. One of his more memorable speeches uses British politician Michael Heseltine as the punch line, almost certainly for the first time since Spitting Image was on the air, and it’s to everyone’s credit that Come to Daddy is willing to throw away such a big moment on something so pointlessly obscure.

Equally heroic is the film’s outrageous violence, which demands the Straw Dogs response out of wimpy Norval, who, we learn, is an L.A.– based DJ apparently discovered by Elton John and who owns one of 20 gold phones designed by Lourdes.

“Now there’s only 19,” says McHattie after accidentally on purpose dropping it off a cliff.

Garfield Wilson, Madeleine Sami, and Sunday Service–man Ryan Beil (as a “tittyholic” motel worker) round out a cast that probably couldn’t be much better, while director Ant Timpson makes his impressive feature debut after producing prefab cult hits like The Greasy Strangler.

But it’s Wood who deserves the most praise. As a producer he consistently makes far-out choices (Mandy, Color Out of Space), and as an actor he dares to show up with a haircut even worse than his permed Frodo.

by Adrian Mack

THE TRAITOR

Directed by Marco Bellocchio.

In Italian, Sicilian, English, and Portuguese, with English subtitles.

Rated 14A

d FOR ANYONE who wants The Irishman to just keep going comes The Traitor, a satisfying saga from the great Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio, responsible for such ’60s classics as Fists in the Pocket and China Is Near.

Now over 80, the veteran director has tackled terrorism and Italy’s fascist past. Here, he unfurls a massive, sometimes exhausting, 150-minute tale of the Sicilian Mafia. A few baptisms, some weddings, and a whole lot of funerals mark the rise and fall of the modern mob, centring on the first capo dei capi to turn informant, resulting in jail sentences for hundreds of top bosses.

On the face of it, Bellocchio has a good eye for the details of Cosa Nostra thug life, depicting the gold chandeliers and other Trumpian touches in the various mansions cigar-chomping Mafiosi built and lost between 1980 and 2000, when the story begins and ends—with plenty of flashes forward and back in between.

First and foremost, the film benefits from the riveting performance of Pierfrancesco Favino, familiar from such English-language efforts as Rush and World War Z. He plays the real-life

striking is the fact that they are mainly the offspring of refugees awaiting their legal fate in Sweden, where this has been dubbed uppgivenhetssyndrom. The heartbreaking Netflix film follows three such cases, and leaves things understandably unresolved.

More energetic but still marbled with melancholy, “St. Louis Superman” follows Bruce Franks Jr., a Ferguson activist who saw friends and family succumb to gang violence and then decided to run for state office. He won, but he still goes to rap battles on the side. Or maybe it’s the other way As we learn in Come to Daddy, any dumbbell can deal with a toxic family member. around. (“The battles pay better,” he quips.) The half-hour effort is dampTommaso Buscetta, our titular snitch. older folks, but appearances, as they ened somewhat by a title card announFavino isn’t quite as young or old as say, can be deceiving. cing that the charismatic Franks has Buscetta is supposed to be at various Remarkably, in an already unusual stages, but he does capture his dignity group of five filmlets, two were made as well as his vanity. (He touches up in Tunisia. “Brotherhood” is from his grey hair even in prison.) And the Montreal-based Meryam Joobeur, actor builds a compelling slow burn who goes deep inside a rural Tunisian as the ex-mobster gets fed up with family to explore the tensions created internecine attacks on his own clan, among devout Muslims by extremist eventually delivering hard evidence violence. It stars three real-life brothin several “maxi trials” that constitute ers, already striking for their red hair the film’s dramatic high points, even and copious freckles, reunited when allowing for a body count that would the eldest returns from Syria with a make Martin Scorsese blush. pregnant bride. She won’t remove her As in The Irishman, women are burka, even at home. This drives the secondary participants at best, de- family patriarch nuts, and we learn spite the strong presence of Maria some of what drove the headstrong Fernanda Cândido as our antihero’s son away—with little of it regarding Brazilian wife. The movie fudges politics or religion. some facts, such as moving their Other brothers handle their South American villa from São Pau- impoverished setting with amuslo to Rio de Janeiro—because, well, ing aplomb in director Yves Piat’s Rio! It’s also slightly padded out with “Nefta Football Club”. When a brash dream sequences and an on-the-nose scooter rider and his younger, socvisit with a zoo’s caged tiger, although cer-mad sibling encounter a mule this pays off later, in the courtroom, that has wandered over the border when mobsters face off like gladiators, from Algeria, they’re surprised to from behind bars in the back and find saddlebags filled with drugs. bulletproof glass cubicles up front.

The Adele-loving animal, wearing The Sicilian insults are worth the headphones for the journey, was lost price of admission, with the most by two older brothers. You keep exmemorable zinger being “If I hated pecting the worst, but the perfectly you, I’d be doing you a favour.” The judged short (and, hopefully, the story drags a little in its U.S.–based program) ends with a comic payoff coda, but connects some still-rel- you won’t soon forget.

by Ken Eisner evant dots between crime, law enforcement, and politics. It has other useful insights, too, such as: don’t OSCAR SHORTS: have phone sex when you know your DOCUMENTARY In English, French, Korean, and lines are tapped.

by Ken Eisner

OSCAR SHORTS: LIVE ACTION In English, French, Spanish, and Arabic, with English subtitles.

Rating unavailable

d MANY FORMS OF sibling fealty are tested in this gratifyingly consistent batch of scripted shorts, clocking in at roughly 20 solid minutes each.

In “Saria”, two young sisters in the female wing of a Guatemalan orphanage must trust each other and the boy one of them likes in their plan to escape the brutal, prisonlike place.

Based on a 2017 event and enacted by real-life residents of a different orphanage in that troubled country, the film from experienced Yank director Bryan Buckley details some of the horrors poor people are fleeing when they mistakenly seek safe haven in the USA. In Belgium’s elegantly structured, superbly acted “A Sister”, a woman speeds through the night in the car of a strangely menacing man. She grabs a phone to let her sister know she’s all right, although she isn’t. Then the scene replays from the POV of the female police dispatcher who got the call. For the rest of director Delphine Girard’s nail-biting, real-time ride, she (and we) are never quite sure of what’s actually happening in that vehicle.

Two women who’ve never met form an unusual bond in “The Neighbors’ Window”. Here, a weary Brooklyn couple (indie veterans Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller) are grappling with two small kids and another on the way when a younger couple moves into the apartment across from theirs, and proceeds to “christen” every room in the drapeless place. Initially, this Rear Window situation brings out the worst in the

since been sidelined by his own PTSD. The only truly uplifting entry is “Walk Run Cha-Cha”, about a Los Angeles couple that reunited years after being separated by the communist takeover of Vietnam. Both are now well-paid professionals who assert their grace and individuality through ballroom dancing. Made for the New York Times by Laura Nix (who directed the Yes Men movies), this 20-minute study gives you a romantic respite from a harsh world that seems headed for more trouble.

Viewers should listen to a girl in that opening skateboarding flick, who advises, “Don’t act fragile. This is a place for tough people!”

by Ken Eisner

Dari, with English subtitles. Rating unavailable

d “COURAGE IS GOING to school and learning.” So says a student at Skatistan, an oasis of bookwork and four-wheel fun in Kabul, a place notably hostile to female education.

The school is profiled in “Learning to Skate in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)”, the longest and perhaps most rewarding documentary in a program that creeps toward a taxing three hours.

Things might be safe inside the school, but as U.K.–based director Carol Dysinger points out, there’s at least one suicide bombing per week in the Afghan capital, and the girls still have to be frisked before entering. Dysinger previously spent three years embedded with U.S. and Afghan troops, and her insights on the changing roles of women in that society are potent and occasionally lighthearted.

All hearts are heavy in Yi SeungJun’s “In the Absence”, a hard-hitting look at the 2014 ferry disaster that took the lives of more than 300 South Koreans, mostly students from a single school. With its dark blend of news footage, talks with survivors and parents, and difficult-to-watch rescue footage, the film offers up a metaphor in which nature overwhelms humans, and governments prove incapable of rising to the challenge. (This is not the first doc about the MV Sewol tragedy, and last year’s feature Birthday used it as a background for the shattered characters.)

Trauma is shared in a different way in “Life Overtakes Me”, about a rare but seemingly contagious new disease called resignation syndrome, in which children go into deep sleep from which they cannot be wakened. Most

FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 23

MOVIES

MUSIC

Lovers of French cinema Black Halos leave bad blood behind enjoy a Rendez-Vous

by Adrian Mack

Les Plus Belles Années d’une Vie reunites Jean-Louis Trintignant with costar Anouk Aimée (top); Alexandre le Fou (bottom left); Ceux Qui Travaillent (bottom right).

C

laude Lelouch has released a new movie almost every year since his feature directorial debut in 1961 with Le Propre de l’Homme. Of the two films he completed in 2019, Les Plus Belles Années d’une Vie reunites the 82-yearold filmmaker with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée, both of whom step out of retirement for this sequel to their 1966 Oscar- and Palme d’Or–winning Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman). It’s a sentimental landmark for all three and anyone else who ever swooned over the trio’s 54-year-old classic.

We have Régis Painchaud and Lorraine Fortin to thank when Les Plus Belles Années d’une Vie gets its local premiere on Saturday (February 8). For 26 years, their Rendez-Vous French Film Festival has filled in the blanks for Vancouverites looking to keep up with French-language cinema.

This year is no different: along with the Lelouch flick, topnotch Québécois filmmakers—including Denis Côté (Wilcox), Denys Arcand (La Chute de l’Empire Américain), and Louise Archambault (Merci Pour Tout)—all have their newest works brought here. See below for three new titles that come highly recommended by the Georgia Straight, and visit www.rendez-vousvancouver.com/ for the full program.

ALEXANDRE LE FOU (ALEXANDER THE FOOL) No fool, Alexander is in

reality a wry and thoughtful—not to mention dapper—schizophrenic seeking a more desirable balance between his medication and his condition.

At his most stable—that is, his most medicated—Alexander yearns for his authentic self, whatever the trouble.

His girlfriend pushes in the same direction. The doc’s central mystery, pondered by Alex’s grandmother: what happened on the South China Sea some 15 years ago that tipped Alexander over the edge? These looming questions might be reflected in the film’s intriguing balance of vérité and artifice, which allows for some gorgeous compositions and moments of obvious authorial intervention.

(There’s a credit for “dramaturgical advisors”.) This would invite criticism if it weren’t for the attunement to the project shown by Alexander and those around him, or if this small but remarkable film weren’t so damn moving. Alexandre le Fou is preceded by Denis Côté’s latest, Wilcox, and admission for both is free. SFU Woodward’s, February 8 (6:30 p.m.)

DES HISTOIRES INVENTÉES (IMAGINARY TALES) The “gifted bum of

Québécois cinema”, André Forcier, re-

ceives an appropriately fanciful tribute with this doc, named after the director’s 1990 feature. In one of that film’s running gags, Louise Marleau plays a glamorous dame constantly trailed by a legion of lovesick men, and they all show up again here, Marleau included, as Forcier is plunked inside re-created scenes from his 50-year filmography.

(A small few, like 1974’s seminal Bar Salon, are represented with actual clips.) Now a somewhat grouchy septuagenarian with no stomach for retirement, Forcier is his own deadpan comic foil, observing his career (Michel Côté, Rémy Girard, and France Castel are among the other actors who show up) while addressing such matters as the influence of Jean Renoir and Luis Buñuel and his love of language. He’s at his most solemn about 1983’s Au Clair de la Lune and the emerging “Forcier brand” of Québécois magic realism—this was, obviously, an important work to him—and at his most devout when considering an ideal he can never attain. “Everything needs to be redone,” he says, “from one film to another.” Fabrique St-George, February 10 (7:30 p.m.)

CEUX QUI TRAVAILLENT (THOSE WHO WORK) There’s a similar-

ity here to the great Canadian fi lm How Heavy This Hammer. Both offer claustrophobic portraits of unlovable men consumed by their own unhealthy compulsions, although this Swiss-Belgian-French effort is considerably kinder to its lead, Frank (Olivier Gourmet), a dour, work-dedicated shipping-company manager who makes a snap moneysaving decision that costs him his job, his reputation, and the respect of his wife and five kids. Frank’s actions (not to be revealed here) would be considered sociopathic if we didn’t observe his subsequent internal reckoning, which barely registers on the outside after a life of hard emotional constipation. As such, the fi lm lands as a critique of the conditioning we receive inside an industrialized world.

There’s a sense of absolution when the fraying man takes his youngest daughter on a tour of shipyards and supermarkets, explaining the international supply chain while he secretly contemplates suicide. In the end, Gourmet’s almost imperceptible bid for audience empathy stands as a small miracle of performance. Auditorium Jules-Verne, February 15 (7:30 p.m.) g

The Rendez-Vous French Film Festival takes place at various venues from Wednesday (February 5) to February 17.

24 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020

d BLACK HALOS guitarist Rich Jones likes to keep busy, he tells the Straight.

It seems an understatement. He lives most of the year in Ontario. His main gig is with the Michael Monroe Band, based in Finland, where he’ll be flying right after the upcoming Vancouver Black Halos reunion gigs; and their tours often take them to Japan—subject of Monroe’s new single, “Last Train to Tokyo”, which Jones wrote. And besides all that, and raising his son, he does the cover art for his bands’ albums and merch, in what he calls his “downtime”.

That sideline began in the mid1990s, when Jones worked at Sam the Record Man on Seymour Street.

“I was the marketing-advertising guy,” he explains on a call from Toronto, “so I set up all the in-stores, and I’d do the ads that ran in the Straight every week. That was pretty much my first taste of it.”

For an example of Jones’s style, take the art for “Geisterbahn II”, the new Black Halos single: the demonic cartoon kitty on the cover is Jones’s work. Looks a bit like a tattoo, no?

“That is a kind of influence,” Jones acknowledges. “I wanted a vintage, pop-art trash kind of look to it—sort of a camp-Halloween, cheap-but-cool look. I have a lot of friends who are tattoo artists—and I have a lot of bad tattoos, as well,” he says with a laugh.

The Black Halos formed when Jones placed an ad in the Straight, which only singer Billy Hopeless answered. (Coguitarist Jay Millette, whom Hopeless calls “everyone’s favourite Halo”, came later.) In a city gripped by grunge, Jones, Millette, and Hopeless’s glammy, snotty mixture of the Dolls and Dead Boys didn’t win them many fans.

“It was definitely very uncool back then,” Jones says. “The first band

guy. Maybe he’s not to everyone’s taste, but that’s what I think is great about him, y’know? I love the guy.

I wouldn’t be doing this with him, otherwise. Life’s too short for that.”

As for balancing two bands, it’s working out okay so far, Jones says.

And the fl ip side of his frenetic schedule is that Jones doesn’t have to work 9 to 5.

“I haven’t had a real day job since I worked at Sam the Record Man,” he says. “And because of that, you’ve got to keep your plate full. I go a little bit crazy if I’m not doing something creative, not outputting something, because if I’m not doing this, I’m gonna be old and looking for a job, Rich Jones revisits his roots for two Black and I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, my job experiHalos shows. Photo by Bobby Nieminen ence is that I worked at Sam the RecI actually joined in Vancouver was ord Man in 1995!’ ”

by Allan MacInnis Flash Bastard, and they were doing the same kind of thing, a New York Dolls glam thing, and people would The Black Halos play two shows on Friday just throw bottles at us. I remember and Saturday (February 7 and 8) at the a guy coming out of the crowd and Rickshaw Theatre, with the Spitfires and punching Donal, the singer, right Sore Points opening on Friday and Chain in the face. I was like, ‘Wow, people Whip and Bishops Green on Saturday. hate this stuff.’ But it kinda gave me this drive to do it even more: ‘If we’re GEOFFROY IS HAPPIEST WHEN doing this, and it’s provoking such a REACHING FOR UNKNOWN strong reaction, this is the way to go!’ ” The Black Halos getting signed to d THERE’S A LINE of thinking that, Sub Pop helped to get more Vancou- to truly live life to its fullest, you need verites onboard—and they got plenty to step out of your comfort zone. of respect outside of Vancouver—but Montreal’s Geoff roy has bought into Jones left after their second LP, 2001’s that on multiple fronts.

The singer-songwriter’s sophoThe Violent Years.

There was some bad blood for a more release, 1952, was written on while between Jones and Hopeless, piano and guitar, two instruments but that’s all water under the bridge. that he knows well. But rather than “We’ve had our ups and downs, but shoot for candlelit coffeehouses or it’s small stuff, and as you get older, a seat at the beach bar next to Ben you realize it’s not important,” Jones Harper and Jack Johnson, Geoffroy acknowledges. “He’s his own guy, pushed himself on the album’s 12 and he’s eccentric. But that’s import- downtempo tracks, layering on neonant in a frontman—they need to be bathed synths and chill-wave beats.

It’s his music videos, however, that compelling, and have something see next page that makes them not just a regular

J.Lo and Shakira exposed hypocrisy

by Mike Usinger

POP EYE

d GIVEN PAST SUPER BOWL dubious spectacles— Nipplegate, a head-scratchingly shirtless Adam Levine, the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing Guitar Hero on live television—this Sunday’s halft ime show hardly seemed like an egregious offence to human decency. But because America is the land where morality is a fluid concept, the Kansas City Chiefs–San Francisco 49ers showcase was immediately framed as an event where two flaming whores of Babylon ruined football for God-fearing families from New York, New York to Silicon Valley.

The offenders in question were of course Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, two women of Latin American lineage who delivered 15 minutes of glitter-spackled entertainment during Super Bowl LIV’s halftime show. For those who missed it, Shakira was on deck first, using her six minutes to not only repeatedly shake what the good lord gave her, but show off her chops with a guitar that clearly wasn’t plugged in and tie herself up with rope sourced in the light-bondage section at Home Depot. Then J.Lo arrived out of nowhere on a stripper’s pole in rump-baring black leather chaps, spending her six minutes sliding crotchfirst into the camera and eventually wrapping herself in a boalike flag that somehow managed to incense half of America and all of Puerto Rico.

The two of them then tag-teamed for a truly epic display of unadulterated ass-shaking, the finale of which had them looking justifiably proud of what they had wrought.

Immediately, America lost its shit in a way that made one wonder if we’re talking about the same country that considers Farrah Fawcett’s nipple poster a national popart treasure. And treats porn stars like Ron Jeremy, Jenna Jameson, and Tommy Lee like rock stars.

Speaking of rock stars, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider was amongst the first to weigh in. The man who spent the ’80s dressing like a trans version of an Australian’s nightmare—and who famously battled Tipper Gore and the PMRC, staunchly defending every musician’s right to be obscene and offensive—took about 3.2 seconds to work himself into a lather, taking to Twitter to rant, “Beginning to pole humping, ass slapping, ass shaking end. If that’s the requirements for a half-time show, none of the rock bands I know can or will do that.”

Snider was, of course, describing every video made by every hair-metal band in the ’80s.

Working through all the morally outraged Tweets here would take three or four weeks. But one of the best came from Franklin Graham, whose day job is apparently President of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Evidently unaware that he

Shakira (left) and Jennifer Lopez treated the world to an ass-shaking spectacle at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show.

lives in a country where fi lms like Riveted Rectums 6 and Titty Titty Gang Bang are instantly accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, he tweeted, “I don’t expect the world to act like the church, but our country has had a sense of moral decency on prime time TV.” What was perplexing was both Shakira and Lopez were wearing 10 times more clothes than, say, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, who’ve spent decades working the premise that all-American football fans love camel toes and heaving cleavage. Evidently, it’s okay for kids to watch cheerleaders shake their scantily-clad asses as long as the sex is being sold on the sidelines, not at centre stage.

USA Today columnist Gil Smart, meanwhile, penned an essay that included “the NFL has an obligation to warn people with children that what they’re about to see may be upsetting to some viewers.”

You know, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers hitting the Super Bowl stage completely shirtless in 2014, that evidently fine for family viewing because the band’s members are white, male, and weren’t wearing tube socks on their cocks like in the olden days.

Or Adam Levine starting out sporting a tank top inspired by a ’70s sofa, and then stripping off said offending garment to showcase his shiny sweat-soaked nipples, thereby giving an eyeful to kids from the Carolina coast to the Pacific Northwest. Funnily, no one cared, making this weekend’s outrage all the more puzzling. Not to mention fucking hypocritical.

Sometimes you can get away with plenty if you’re white, male, and will make a concerted effort not to shake your ass. Or if you’re an NFL cheerleader who’s part of a culture that has celebrated joyful ass-shaking and knocker worship since Knute Rockne was king. Live and learn, America, because it’s likely no accident J.Lo and Shakira left the Super Bowl stage laughing. g

Geoffroy finds value in learning about different cultures. Photo by Alex Dozois

really make a statement on getting the most out of one’s time on Earth.

Ask anyone who’s hooked on travel what they like best about boarding planes for foreign lands, and they’ll tell you the little moments are just as important as the big ones, whether it’s eating feta cheese and olives for breakfast in Turkey, or watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat. The importance of this isn’t lost on Geoffroy.

That’s how he ended up communing with a Mexican shaman in the clip for “Sleeping on My Own”, and hanging out with the locals on a Bollywood movie set in “21 Days”.

“I really do try to push the limits— to always reach for the unknown, and to have a sense of curiosity,” he says, reached on his cell at home. “That’s what drives me. I love being home and I love coming back home, but there’s always some new place to discover. It seems like the list is endless, and the time you have on Earth isn’t.”

Tellingly, he suggests that immersing yourself in a country is more important than running around attempting to see everything.

“A genuine beginner’s mistake when you start to travel and get excited by it is that you want to go to every country on the planet,” he says.

“But the most important thing to do is spend long enough in a place where you can acclimatize yourself

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and learn about the people and how they live their lives.”

The finite time we have is something that hangs over 1952. In many ways, the album is about remaining centred in the face of trauma, as Geoffroy himself had to do while his mother battled hard against cancer, which she succumbed to in 2017. Almost half of the record’s songs are inspired by his mother’s fight and the impact it had on him, all of which is evident in “Closer” lyrics like “Lying awake selfmedicated/I picture you singing to that ’60s love song” and “Still watching over your son/Still fighting your war.”

“I put my life on hold because I wanted to be at home to devote a lot of time to my mom and my dad,” Geoffroy notes. “After, and even before my mom passed, I was writing for this record, so naturally some of what I had to say was about her fight.

I couldn’t really focus on anything else for a long time.”

A relationship of a different kind colours the other half of 1952. Songs like “By the Water” (sample line: “Strong independent woman crying on the bathroom floor”) and “Come Around” (featuring lines like “Let it go, let me walk out in peace”) accurately suggest Geoffroy was also working through some relationship drama.

But instead of anger or bitterness, what shines through on 1952 is that he’s above all philosophical. Importantly, the album ends on a celebratory note, with “Fooling Myself” finding the singer repeating, mantralike, “Gotta believe in something/Gotta believe there’s something more.”

“Hard as it is to say, after my mom passed it was a relief because of all the pain and suffering that not only she was going through, but all of us,” Geoffroy says. “Around the same time, I got out of a toxic relationship, and that also comes out on the record.

But a big part of 1952 is the fact that I wanted to leave people with a feeling of hope, not a feeling of sadness.”

Geoffroy plays February 15.

the

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NOAH REID Canadian actor and musician performs on his First Time Out tour. Feb 11, 8 pm, Imperial Vancouver. $25.

BLACKBERRY SMOKE Southern rockers from Atlanta. Mar 22, 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $30.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12

ACTION BRONSON Hip-hop artist from New York, with guest Mayhem Lauren. Apr 8, 9:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $49.50.

THE RADIO DEPT. Dream-pop band from Sweden, with guests Hater. May 7, 9 pm, Venue. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $20.

KAYTRANADA Haitian-Canadian hip-hop DJ and producer. May 9, 7:30 pm, PNE Forum. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $38.50.

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MUSIC LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

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COHEED AND CAMBRIA Progressive-rock band from the States. May 21, 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $49.50.

HINDS Indie-rock band from Madrid. May 30, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $27.

HARRISON STORM Singer-songwriter from Australia. Jun 5, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $15.

JANN ARDEN Canadian pop singer-songwriter and actress. Jun 18, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $125/89.50/69.50.

RUFUS DU SOL Electronic-music trio from Australia. Aug 6, 7 pm, PNE Amphitheatre. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $49.50 (VIP $75-100).

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6 SUPERM K-pop all-star group. Feb 6, 7:30 pm, Rogers Arena.

MATTIEL Pop-rock singer-songwriter from Atlanta, with guest Calvin Love. Feb 6, 9 pm, Fox Cabaret. $15.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7 THE BEACHES Alt-rock quartet from Toronto, with guests Hunny. Feb 7, 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom.

THE BLACK HALOS Vancouver rockers return, with guests the Spitfires and Sore Points (Fri.) and Bishops Green and Chain Whip (Sat.).

Feb 7-8, 9 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $20.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH Alt-rock trio from Toronto. Feb 8, 8 pm, Imperial Vancouver. $25.

MARCUS KING BAND Soul-rock band from the States. Feb 9, 8:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $25.

Cabaret

WOLF PARADE Indie-rock band from Montreal, with guests Land of Talk. Feb 12, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $35.

KARAOKE

HEAVEN 17 English new-wave/synth-pop band from the ‘80s. May 12, 8:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Feb 7, 10 am, $32.50.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11

LITTLE JESUS Indie-rock band from Mexico City, with guests Los Wálters. Mar 1, 8 pm, Biltmore Cabaret. Tix on sale Feb 6, 10 am, $15.

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a volunteer based organization that provides moving and storage services at no cost to women and children fleeing abuse, is looking for volunteers to help with these moves. We ask that you be able to lift 20 lbs. This is a great opportunity to make a BIG impact in a small amount of time. To apply email volunteervan@sheltermovers.com

Support Groups

Annoucements EMPLOYMENT

A MDABC peer-led support group

is a safe place to share your story, your struggles and accomplishments, and to listen to others as they share similar concerns. Please Note: Support groups are not intended to provide counselling/therapy. ?

Please visit www.mdabc.net for a list and location of support groups or call 604-873-0103 for info.

A MDABC peer-led support group is a safe place to share your story, your struggles and accomplishments, and to listen to others as they share similar concerns. Please Note: Support groups are not intended to provide counselling/therapy. ?

Please visit www.mdabc.net for a list and location of support groups or call 604-873-0103 for info.

AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS Does someone else's drinking bother you?

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Notices

WITNESS NEEDED

for MVA on January 12, 2020 at approximately 10-11am on Hastings and Carall in Vancouver.

A male pedestrian was hit by a right-turning car while crossing the street. Call Doug at 778-762-5548 or Tom at 604-628-8960

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Bi Monthly info meetings @ St. Paul's Hospital.

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TALK MEN OFF GET TALKED OFF 26 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT FEBRUARY 6 – 13 / 2020

SAVAGE LOVE

Let adult daughter decide for herself

by Dan Savage

b I STARTED READING your column when I was a 20-year-old kid. Now I’m an old married lady with 20 years of (more or less) blissful married monogamy behind me. My oldest daughter, who is 23, just came out to me as a sex worker. She’s been making a slim living as a cam girl. She recently graduated with a marketable degree, but she hasn’t been searching for a job in her field because, as she puts it, “It’s hard to want to apply for a minimum wage job when I make the same working from home.”

I’m finding this very hard to process on a number of levels. First, and I hope you will believe most importantly, it’s very hard for me to see her giving up what used to be her dreams. But that’s not the part I think you can help me with. I used to be a sex worker. For three years in the early ’90s, I was a dancer at the Lusty Lady on First Avenue in Seattle. That was before the Internet really existed, but I think the job is actually fairly analogous to cam work: nudity and masturbation for the pleasure of others, with no actual physical contact. I found sex work to be corrosive to my personal goals. As a heterosexual woman, I hoped to fall in love with a man and have a family, and for me, the longer I did that type of work, the more impossible those goals seemed. I saw men at their worst 40 hours a week. As time went by, I felt myself withdrawing more and more from the possibility of any kind of affectionate relationship with a man. Quitting for me was an act of self-preservation.

I did my best to react nonjudgmentally when my daughter confided in me, but, truthfully, I’m really

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unhappy about it. I worry about the effect sex work will have on her future—both her intimate relationships and her professional goals—and while there are people working to reduce the stigma attached to sex work, that stigma still exists. I worry that she will become mired in poverty, barely getting by, and I worry that she will not be able to find loving relationships with men who value her worth.

What do I do, Dan? Do I stand back and love her? Do I try to give her the benefit of my experience, even if that seems shamey? Is this even any of my business, given that she’s older now than I was when I gave birth to her?

- The Cam Girl’s Mom Your daughter made this your business

when she shared it with you, TCGM. So my advice would be to lean in (not stand back), love your daughter, and share your own experiences with her. But the goal shouldn’t be to get your daughter to stop doing sex work—that’s not the “benefit” you’re after—but rather to open the lines of communication and keep them open.

Zooming out for a second…

The kind of sex work you did decades ago at the Lusty Lady was different in important ways. (I visited the Lusty Lady a few times in the early ’90s, TCGM, which makes you one of the few letter writers that I might’ve seen naked who didn’t enclose photos.)

The women who danced at the Lusty Lady were behind Plexiglas walls, men pumped quarters into slots to lift partitions that allowed them to see the women, and there were private booths for solo shows. But while you

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saw men “at their worst” (men can and have done worse), your daughter doesn’t have to look at the men she’s performing for. Her clients—her fans, if she has a following—aren’t oncamera themselves. They may send her messages, and she may interact with them via DM, but she doesn’t have to watch them jack off. And unlike a performer in a peep show, your daughter can block guys who give her the creeps or who are in any way pushy or disrespectful. But while she doesn’t have to see men leering at her or watch come drip down Plexiglas walls, she does have to worry that someone out there might be recording her sessions and posting them online. And unlike the Lusty Lady (R.I.P.), the Internet is forever.

But the stigma around sex work is decreasing—Elizabeth Warren recently said she’s “open to decriminalizing” sex work (a tiny step in the right direction)—and with people of all ages furiously sexting each other, we’re quickly reaching the stage where everyone has nudes out there somewhere. Pretty soon it won’t be in anyone’s interest to punish or harass people whose pics or videos go big or viral, because you could be next.

Something else to bear in mind: you worry that doing this kind of sex work—roughly the same kind you did—may make it impossible for your daughter to fall in love, create a family, pursue her professional goals, or even make a decent living. But you fell in love, created a family, and, presumably, make a good living yourself. And while it’s possible that doing this kind of work delayed achieving those goals,

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TCGM, you weren’t derailed or destroyed by it and your daughter doesn’t have to be either. (And is less likely to be with her mom in her corner.) Also, your daughter may not want the same things you did. Not everyone wants one committed, long-term partner, and not everyone wants kids. And while you’re understandably distressed that she isn’t doing anything with her degree at the moment, it’s possible your daughter’s ideas about what she wants to do with her life have changed since she picked a major. Working as a cam girl may give her the time and space she needs to figure out a new dream for herself. And as crazy as it sounds to some…there are women and men out there whose dream job is sex work.

Your daughter opened a door when she shared this with you, and there must be a reason she shared it with you. Hell, it’s possible she may want to be talked out of doing it. So don’t hesitate to share your experiences and perspective with her. It’s not shaming to tell her you did this kind of work and found it dehumanizing and corrosive. That’s the truth of your experience. But after you share your perspective, TCGM, listen to hers with an open mind. And as all parents of adult children know or soon learn, TCGM, your kid gets to make their own choices and quite possibly their own mistakes. And sometimes what looks like a mistake to a concerned parent turns out to be the right choice for the adult child. b I AM A heterosexual male. My wife has been dating other men for the past year. When she started dating her

first boyfriend, she told me she wasn’t ready for me to date other people but would process through it and then we could open up the relationship for me, too. After about six months, her first relationship ended and we both started looking for other partners. She found another guy pretty much right away and it took a few months before I started dating. I had a couple dates with this woman and then kissed her at the end of our second date. When I told my wife what happened, she got jealous and angry. A day later, my wife stole my phone and sent a message to the woman I’d been dating, ending our relationship, and then she blocked the woman from my social-media accounts and deleted her number from my phone. She broke up with her boyfriend and is insisting that our relationship is closed now. I love my wife, but I feel violated in so many different ways and I’m unsure what to do.

- Married A Dictator Your wife should’ve married a cuckold—a man who wants to remain faithful to a woman who fucks around on him and dates other men—and you should’ve married a woman who isn’t a controlling, manipulative, unhinged hypocrite.

Luckily for you both, MAD, a divorce that would allow each of you to fi nd a new partner—a cuck for her, a sane person for you—is still an option. g On the Lovecast—Talking to boys about sex with Peggy Orenstein: savagelovecast.com.

Email: mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage.

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28 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT FEBRUARY 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 / 2020