The Georgia Straight - Fall Arts Preview - Sept 12, 2019 by The Georgia Straight

FREE | SEPTEMBER 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 19 / 2019

Volume 53 | Number 2695

AFRICAN SUPERFOODS B.C. man makes a difference

BLACK MOUNTAIN Rises again with Destroyer

TENT CITY

Campers praise park board

Fall Arts Preview

Composer Kimia Koochakzadeh Yazdi and conductor Jaelem Bhate took surprising routes to their music careers; plus, more rising local stars and all you need to know about the season's shows

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SEPTEMBER 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 3

CONTENTS

September 12 – 19 / 2019

13 COVER

We survey the season’s best shows, from classical concerts to plays. By Robin Laurence, Guy MacPherson, Janet Smith, Alexander Varty, and Andrea Warner Cover photo by Emily Cooper

NEWS

A resident of a Vancouver tent city asks why Canadians help refugees overseas but not their own homeless. By Charlie Smith

HEALTH

A blogging Burnaby single mom has turned doubly devastating arthritis diagnoses into a focus for her life. By Carlito Pablo

FOOD

A Mali-born local is helping 1,000 African women support their families while growing superfoods for us. By Gail Johnson

41 MUSIC

Black Mountain heads to Westward Music Festival in Vancouver revved up about its triumphant Destroyer. By Mike Usinger

e Start Here 12 THE BOTTLE 9 CANNABIS 12 CONFESSIONS 38 DANCE 7 HOROSCOPES 11 I SAW YOU 43 MOVIE REVIEWS 6 REAL ESTATE 38 THEATRE

Where The World Comes To Play

e Online TOP 5

e Listings 40 ARTS 42 MUSIC

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 53 | Number 2695

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RICHMOND

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Westside 4 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

1 2 3 4 5

Man arrested for theft, assault, and threats after rant on bus. What we learned from first day of Canucks prospect camp. Mark Hecht story morphs into Twitter talk about Douglas Todd. Four workers lose jobs at Breakfast Television. High-risk offender leaves Vancouver halfway house.

GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight

The Georgia Straight is published every Thursday by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. Copies are distributed free every week throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, North and West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond. International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0709-8995. Subscription rates in Canada $182.00/52 issues (includes GST), $92.00/26 issues (includes GST); United States $379.00/52 issues, $205.00/26 issues; foreign $715.00/52 issues, $365.00/26 issues. Contact 604-730-7087 if you wish to distribute free copies of the Georgia Straight at your place of business. Entire contents copyright © 2019 Vancouver Free Press, Best Of Vancouver, Bov And Golden Plates Are Trade-Marks Of Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. SUBMISSIONS The Straight accepts no responsibility for, and will not necessarily respond to, any submitted materials. All submissions should be addressed to contact@straight.com.

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Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.

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SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 5

NEWS

REAL ESTATE

Tent city dweller finds cousins in park Shaughnessy resident seeks higher assessment by Charlie Smith

by Carlito Pablo

Chrissy Brett (in front of her tent) praised the park board for not seeking an injunction.

Brett said that Canadians often help refugees living in tent cities in faraway lands. In these instances, according to her, the first things that are provided are running water and bathrooms to reduce the spread of disease and showers to promote personal hygiene. Plus, electricity is provided so refugees don’t feel like mushrooms living in the dark. “These things we know work across the world in Third World countries that are completely in crisis,” Brett pointed out. “How come we can’t do the same thing in Canada for our people? These are my people. These are my family.” She applauded the park board for not voting to obtain an injunction to remove the tent-city dwellers. But she also had harsh words for some fire, police, and sanitation personnel for not showing enough respect for the campers’ possessions. In one instance, she said, a homeless person’s pet rats were thrown into a garbage compactor when they were gathered

up with all of his belongings. “How would you react if your pet gerbil was put in a trash compactor or if your child’s pet was put into a compactor in front of you?” Brett asked. “I’m sure there would be some explosive words coming out of your mouth.” Brett also laughed when asked for her reaction to news reports that police wouldn’t enter the park unless they were in groups of four. “I’ve got pictures and I can forward them to you with a cop playing basketball with our guys right here,” she said gleefully. Then, in a more sombre tone, she added a caveat: “I do believe that when they were throwing people’s entire tents and lives away without any conversation or consultation, were people resistant to it? Yes. Were they angry? Yes. Were they potentially violent? Absolutely. If I came into your house and started throwing your items into a garbage compactor, would you stand idly by? I mean, really.” g

armen Luk owns a property in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Vancouver. It’s in the posh district of Shaughnessy, where residences are priced in the millions of dollars. Luk’s place at 1168 West 32nd Avenue was assessed at $4.7 million. That’s $4.4 million for the 9,750-square-foot lot and $281,000 for the 3,323-square-foot house. Luk isn’t happy. She believes that the assessment was too low. Luk believes that her lot should have a value of $4.8 million. She does not dispute the $281,000 assessment for the house, and if she had her way, the property would be worth a total of $5.1 million. Luk questioned the valuation before the B.C. Property Assessment Appeal Board, claiming that the property was not appraised equitably. However, she failed to convince the board that her lot should be priced higher. In his decision and order, panel chair Larry Dybvig concluded that there is “insufficient evidence that the assessed value of the subject property is inequitable”. The case turned on two factors: the shape and the location of the lot. Luk’s land is of irregular shape, like a slice of pie, which Dybvig described as a “parallelogram with one particularly narrow base and generally triangular”. According to the panel chair, the assessor was able to demonstrate that there is a discount of seven to 20 percent on pie-shaped lots compared to regularly shaped lands. “Based on the evidence before me, I find that the shape of the lot has an effect on its value,” Dybvig wrote. To illustrate, the assessor analyzed 15 lots near Luk’s property. As the

panel chair related, four are corner lots of various irregular shapes, while 11 are of regular, rectangular form. The rectangular lots are assessed at between $472 and $504 per square foot. Most are around $490. Compared to the assessment of

I find that the shape of the lot has an effect on its value – Larry Dybvig

$490, Dybvig noted that Luk’s property valuation of $458 per square foot is seven percent lower, which can be attributed to shape. To support her appeal, Luk cited the assessments of two irregularly shaped properties in Shaughnessy. One is at 4575 Alexandra Street, assessed at $486 per square foot. The other is at 4537 Beverly Crescent, assessed at $504 per square foot. The average land assessment of the two properties comes to $495 per square foot. If applied to Luk’s 9,750-square-foot lot, that would produce the woman’s preferred assessment of about $4.8 million. However, the assessor pointed out that the two properties cited by Luk were west of Granville Street. In this area, properties have a seven percent to 34 percent premium over those to the east of the Granville, where Luk’s property is located. g

FALL FESTIVAL 2019

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hrissy Brett is no stranger to tent cities. Back in 2016, she was one of the leaders of a homeless camp in Victoria that was forced to shut down after B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled that it was unsanitary and unsafe. Now, Brett is spending much of her time living in a tent in Oppenheimer Park since her homeless niece died while waiting for social housing. And Brett insisted in an interview with the Georgia Straight that authorities often fail to understand the sense of community that develops in these encampments. Artists visit and simply hang out. According to her, some residents began doing tai chi with others who were coming to the park. She created a sacred space near the Overdose Prevention Society tents on the eastern end of the park. “We’ve probably got 60 percent plus of residents that are Indigenous,” Brett said. “And not just from local First Nations but from all over.” She was born into the Nuxalk Nation, which is based on B.C.’s Central Coast, but she was adopted into a white home during the ’60s Scoop. Much to her surprise, she met her mom’s first cousin camping in Oppenheimer Park this summer, when authorities were trying to throw away someone’s belongings. “As I was defending that tent, she came out of that tent,” Brett said. “She heard my mom, her cousin, and it was me. “So I think what the government doesn’t understand is when we’re supporting our people, sometimes it means in more like a general sense,” she continued, “but sometimes it’s really personal for us. And our people are here. I met two other cousins that were distantly related to me here.”

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HOROSCOPES t might be Friday the 13th, but that’s no reason to hide out (unless you want to). The full moon in Pisces sets a great backdrop for romance, creative pursuits, spiritual replenishment, music, movies, or live entertainment. Accompanied by sun/ Pluto (trine), Mercury/Venus (conjunct), and Mars/Neptune (opposition), the full moon puts more than average potential on ready tap. There’s opportunity to do major healing or repair work, start a more worthy dialogue, pierce through illusion, dissolve a barrier, find a creative solution, make an important save, or undertake a rescue mission. Note also that the full moon in Pisces can increase vulnerability, sensitivity (physical, emotional, material), and theft opportunity. Please guard your valuables and put extra attention to safety and healthy choices. If you drink or do drugs, please don’t drive! If you find yourself drained, confused, disappointed, at a loss, or losing hope, know that the stars are immediately shifting gears and you will be soon too. On Saturday, both Mercury and Venus leave Virgo for Libra. The plan, conversation, social trend, and financial potential can hit a better movealong. This duo also set contracts onto a next implementation phase, karmic and actual. To the plus or minus, things can swing from one extreme to the other. Saturday through Monday/Tuesday, there is something to push past or work through. Mercury, Venus, and Saturn increase a sense of destiny at play. Early Wednesday, Saturn in Capricorn ends the retrograde cycle it began at the end of April. This switch ignites a sense of a roadblock removed, of held up no longer, of a right/ripe timing. Next Thursday, Mars/Pluto (trine) also sets a productive backdrop for getting it up and rolling.

ARIES

March 20–April 20

If there is a better way or a better option, Friday’s full moon in Pisces is likely to uncover it. More struggle, repair, healing, uncertainty, and guesswork are also in the mix, but by the end of next week you should feel that you have surpassed a major roadblock and that it is finally starting to shape up and/or prove its worth.

TAURUS

April 20–May 21

Watch for a big reveal. Friday’s full moon in Pisces colours it in more—perhaps a lot more. To the plus, this full moon could inspire you in some exceptional way. It sets a great backdrop for spiritual, romantic, and creative pursuits. A great escape is also high on the checklist. Even so, know some things cannot be avoided. Keep it real!

GEMINI

May 21–June 21

Friday’s full moon in Pisces could produce a burst-your-bubble effect, especially so if you have been pumping it up too high. On the other hand, the full moon can unlock or unblock something important and well timed. As of Saturday, Mercury and Venus swing into Libra, setting a favourable backdrop for relating, communications, and money matters. Monday/ Tuesday, there’s stuff to work through.

CANCER

June 21–July 22

The end of the week could be an eye opener. The full moon could prompt a big reveal or see you put your hands on something you couldn’t find previously. It can produce a fresh perspective or opportunity. If you lose out on something you were hoping for, move on. Something more appropriate comes your way soon. Tuesday to Thursday, you’ll hit an upswing.

LEO

July 22–August 23

Stay hopeful, but try not to buy into overly high expectations.

SEPTEMBER 12 TO 18, 2019 Friday’s full moon in Pisces can hold great promise, but there are no guarantees. Keep it real and play it safe and expectations could be exceeded. Take it too far and you could shoot yourself in the foot. Through mid– next week, you can clear up, set up, or surpass plenty.

VIRGO

August 23–September 23

Watch for the exposing full moon to clue you in to something you haven’t fully realized, about another or yourself. You can’t hide how you feel—and why should you? Friday could set up a great evening for romance or entertainment. Sensitivity and vulnerability are heightened. Extra safeguards are wise, especially regarding matters of heart, body, or wallet. Tuesday to Thursday, it clicks together well.

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LIBRA

September 23–October 23

Off the hook Friday? Not ready to face the world? A quiet or away day could be ideal. Then again, the full moon could override plans or good intentions. You could feel drained, swamped, or sidetracked. As of Saturday, Mercury and Venus hit go in Libra. Expect to feel energized or triggered. Monday/ Tuesday, there’s something to face. By Thursday, you’ll hit a good stride.

SCORPIO

October 23–November 22

Something special planned for your Friday night? Even if you have no plans, it shouldn’t take much to keep yourself well entertained! Romance, a live performance, or movies are excellent choices. Then again, the full moon could take on a life of its own. Enjoy, but keep safety in mind. Through next Tuesday, push/pull is in the mix. By Wednesday/Thursday, it’s sorting out/going well.

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

November 22–December 21

Friday’s full moon adds something more to the wish, want, must-try, or must-tackle list. Perhaps there is someone or something to save. Perhaps it is you in need of more help or TLC (tender loving care). Time out or away from the worry, work, or pressure is ideal. By next Wednesday/Thursday, you should be well on track, well on your way.

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AQUARIUS

January 20–February 18

Something lost can be found again. The full moon could reveal a skill, a capacity, or an emotion you didn’t know existed inside of you. You could scoop a great bargain or an advantage. The flip side is loss or confusion—but, if so, it is soon replaced by a clearer sense of direction. By Thursday, you are on the upswing.

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December 21–January 20

The situation is fluid. Friday, roll with it and you could find things go better than expected. The full moon could expose something that could prove to be a saving grace or an advantage. Don’t drink and drive. Saturday through Tuesday, there’s stuff to work through. Held up no longer, Wednesday/Thursday, you’ll gain good ground.

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PISCES

Tuesday to Sunday, September 24 to 29, 2019

February 18–March 20

Friday can rev it up or set you on go unexpectedly. Seize opportunity! Scoop it up. Trust instincts, not reactionary impulses. You could find yourself in the position of playing rescuer and/or saving the day. It’s also time to come clean with someone or something. Saturday through Tuesday keeps you working it out. Wednesday/ Thursday, the getting is good. g

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Book a reading or sign up for Rose’s free monthly newsletter at rosemarcus.com.

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 7

Jewish Seniors Alliance Peer Support Services is now accepting applications for its

SENIOR PEER COUNSELLING TRAINING COURSE Are you 55+ and interested in attending an 11 week course in Peer Counselling at no cost?

SUNDAYS 2pm - 7pm STARTING in October 2019 This a volunteer opportunity program. Upon completion of the course you will have learned active and empathetic listening, effective communication skills and become familiar with community resources for seniors. You will then be matched with a senior in the community to apply your new skills and you will receive upon graduation a Certificate in Senior Peer Counselling of British Columbia.

HEALTHY LIVING

Arthritis affects women in the prime of their lives by Carlito Pablo

For further information please call: GRACE HANN or CHARLES LEIBOVITCH at 604.267.1555 or CHARLES@JSALLIANCE.ORG This project is funded by the Diamond Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, The Snider Foundation and the Provincial Government of B.C.

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Arthritis has made single parenting challenging for Eileen Davidson (with son Jacob).

ain has taken much away from Eileen Davidson. “A lot of things that I used to love to do, like go out dancing and wear high heels, I definitely cannot do now,” she said in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight. The Burnaby woman was 29 when she was diagnosed with arthritis, a disorder that affects joints and connective tissues. “I had to say goodbye to my 10-year-long career as an aesthetician,” Davidson related. She cannot work anymore and has been on disability since. Her son Jacob was two at the time, and for a single mother in chronic pain, raising a young child was more challenging. “It’s very hard, mostly with the fatigue. I just don’t have much energy,” Davidson said. Dating became difficult as well, with potential partners losing interest upon learning of her health condition. Arthritis is the general term that describes a multitude of disorders that are characterized by joint inflammation and pain. According to the Arthritis Society, it is the most prevalent chronic health problem in Canada. More than six million Canadians live with arthritis. That’s one in five. Arthritis was estimated to have cost the Canadian economy about $6.4 billion in 2000. According to a 2010 paper by a group that included the Public Health Agency of Canada, the biggest impact—amounting to $4.3 billion—was due to lost productivity from long-term disability and death. Direct costs of $2.1 billion involved health-care expenditures. More women than men are affected by the disorder, a situation that the Arthritis Society wants to highlight, especially this month. September is arthritis-awareness month in Canada, and according to Christine Basque,

executive director of the organization’s B.C. and Yukon division, about 60 percent of sufferers are women. “It often affects women in the prime of their lives, when they’re busy working and raising families,” Basque told the Straight by phone. In Davidson’s case, she was diagnosed in 2015 with rheumatoid arthritis, which results from the immune system attacking a person’s body tissues. A year later, she was also found to have developed osteoarthritis, which is the breakdown of cartilage that cushions the ends of bones. To make things even worse, Davidson tested positive in 2017 for fibromyalgia, a condition marked by widespread muscle pain. That same year, Davidson started her now popular blog chroniceileen. com. “I remember particularly when I was first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, I felt very, very alone,” Davidson recalled. “I didn’t really understand what I was going through, and I didn’t know how to communicate what I was going through. So writing was very cathartic to me.” Davidson turned 33 in January this year, and despite the constant pain, she is not about to give up on life. “Living with chronic illness has taught me self-awareness, discipline, and resilience,” she said. “Chronic illness brought out a strength in me I never knew existed yet needed. It taught me how to fight, set goals and achieve them.” Although pain has caused her a lot of hurt, it also gave her a focus. “Pain, in some ways, gave me a purpose,” Davidson said. “Through my struggles with pain, I found my voice and my purpose. I found myself. Arthritis is [both] my villain and my blessing in disguise. If I am going to be the sick girl, I might as well kick ass at it.” g

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8 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

CANNABIS

Hoops, weed, and diet: John Salleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seen it all

by Charlie Smith

ohn Salley calls himself a â&#x20AC;&#x153;conscious capitalistâ&#x20AC;?. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best known as a four-time NBA-championship winning power forward with the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers. He even suited up for the Toronto Raptors in their inaugural season in 1995-96, but what heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done postcareer has left an equally large impression. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a talk-show host, actor, producer, cannabis entrepreneur, chef, vegan, philanthropist, and wellness master. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I pay attention to everything Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m putting in my body,â&#x20AC;? Salley told the Georgia Straight on the line from California. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To some people, it may seem obsessive, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not. This is the only body I have. I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put bad gas in a Ferrari.â&#x20AC;? He employs the same philosophy with his premium cannabis business, Deuces 22, which he cofounded with his daughter Tyla. In July, it reached a licensing agreement with Flower One Holdings to bring its organic dry flower, prerolls, and topicals to Las Vegas and other locations in Nevada. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The world considers it to be the number-one tourist attraction in the world,â&#x20AC;? Salley explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That means the world comes there. And if the world wants to try cannabis, you now donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to fly all the way to Amsterdam. You can fly into Nevada. That was my idea.â&#x20AC;? He and his daughter made this deal because they realize that Nevada offers an opportunity for Deuces 22 to scale up production. According to Salley, Flower One â&#x20AC;&#x153;had the best grow that we had ever seenâ&#x20AC;?. He also emphasized that it was his daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea to launch Deuces 22, which is named after his jersey number in the NBA. Tyla was attending university when she told him that she wanted him to invest her tuition money in a cannabis enterprise. That was because she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see any black women in this business. Salley said that Deuces 22 will only get involved with companies that share his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest in avoiding herbicides and pesticides. And he looks forward to the day when more people recognize the role that cannabis can play in helping people, including former pro athletes, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve become dependent on prescription painkillers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We believe weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an alternative to opioids,â&#x20AC;? Salley said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We believe weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a solution, not a problem.â&#x20AC;? This is why he thinks all pro athletes should smoke or be involved with cannabis if they want to extend their careers. For a while, he was even looking into whether athletes should bank their stem cells in preparation for what might happen to their bodies in the future. Now he realizes that cannabis extracts can play a positive role. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The pain in your neck and your elbow and your kneeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;you take it for granted,â&#x20AC;? he noted. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And I told those guys, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Why make all that money if you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t walk? Why make all that money and have a heart attack at 66?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; We have to literally start paying attention to health and wellness.â&#x20AC;?

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Vancouver played a role in former NBA player John Salley embracing cannabis.

He also takes environmental issues extremely seriously. Hence, the decision to go organic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a size 16 shoe, but I want to leave the smallest footprint on the planetâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if I ever leave the planet,â&#x20AC;? he quipped. On a more serious note, Salley would like to see North Americans eat far less meat, which has been linked to some cancers. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why he was an early investor in Beyond Meat, which reflected his desire to be a conscious capitalist. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you put a tax on things that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t good for people?â&#x20AC;? he asked. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we do it that way, there will be less animals being murdered, because people are not going to want to pay a tax to get that cancer.â&#x20AC;? In the long run, he thinks this would save governments a tremendous amount of money currently being spent on health care. The former basketball player said he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t try cannabis until he was in his final season with the Lakers, in 2000. That summer, he was cast as a seven-foot elf in The Ultimate Christmas Present, which was shot in Vancouver. While visiting the city, he discovered the Herb Museum in the 300 block of West Hastings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I realized I bought too much, because I had to fly back to America that weekend,â&#x20AC;? he recalled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So I stayed up and smoked a half an ounce of weed and I have never looked back.â&#x20AC;? Now 55 years old, Salley remembers how hard he worked as a youth in Brooklyn to get onto the road to success. He used to wake up at 6 a.m. and go running before doing his basketball drills. He knew at that time that the kids in California were still in bed. He also likes telling people that no one can tell him what he can and canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do. This mindset is what has led him in so many different directions since his retirement from the NBA. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the deal: for many years, I wanted to be a preacher,â&#x20AC;? Salley said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And then for many years, I wanted to be a teacher. For the rest of my years, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to be a sage.â&#x20AC;? g

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John Salley will speak at the International Cannabis Business Conference, which takes place on Sunday and Monday (September 15 and 16) at the Westin Bayshore Hotel.

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og owner Jia Wu believes that she was fined inappropriately by her strata corporation. Wu has paid $300 for violating the condo development’s noise bylaw on account of her dog’s excessive barking while she is away at work. She also owes $200 more, which she has not paid. Wu believes that it isn’t fair to punish her because barking is normal for dogs. She brought this same argument to the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal, as she sought a refund and reversal of the unpaid fines. However, tribunal member Kate Campbell found no basis for her claim. In her reasons for decision, Campbell related that Wu argued that her dog’s barking is “transient defensive barking”. According to Wu, barking occurred during “work hours”, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. “The owner says the strata council’s decision to impose a fine for barking ‘effectively discriminates against a basic behaviour

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of dogs’ .” But Campbell couldn’t find anything on the books about discrimination against dogs. “There is no common law principle or statutory rule prohibiting discrimination against dogs,” she wrote. “Provincial and federal human rights legislation applies only to humans.” Campbell also noted Wu argued that “since the strata permits dogs, it must permit their behaviours, including barking.” “I do not agree,” Campbell wrote. “While occasional barking would not likely be considered a nuisance or disturbance…the evidence before me establishes that the owner’s dog engaged in ongoing and repeated barking.” Campbell related that one email from two owners indicated that the dog had been “barking and howling a good part of the time, for approximately the past year”. In another email on June 11, 2018, two other owners “wrote that the dog barked incessantly if left alone, and had been barking for 2.5 hours that day”. g

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FOOD

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Ru nne r- up Be st I ndi an

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Oumar Barou Togola (with his wife, Fariba Wilson) founded a social enterprise that pays women in Mali for nutrient-dense crops.

ali often makes headlines because of the challenges it faces, such as poverty, drought, Islamist insurgency, and the expansion of the Sahara Desert due to climate change. The Canadian Armed Forces recently wrapped up a mission that lasted more than a year in support of UN peacekeeping efforts. Although establishing a nation free of conflict may be a daunting task, a Mali-born Vancouver resident is seeking to bring about positive change by introducing African “superfoods” to the world while improving the lives of female farmers through direct trade. Oumar Barou Togola is a founder of Farafena, a social enterprise that takes its name from the word for Africa in Bambara, the national language of Mali. Born in Bamako, the country’s capital, he remembers from his childhood lineups of women waiting outside of his family’s home to see his mom; a trained midwife, she would deliver babies for free. His father, meanwhile, was a hydrologist for the United Nations, travelling the world and showing people how to get clean water. Barou Togola came to B.C. in 2000 to finish high school before studying business administration in university. He went on to work at a financial firm, but his heart wasn’t in it. He had a conversation with his parents, who now live in the village of N’Tabacoro and who have always been focused on helping people and communities. They talked about the possibility of farming and of bringing African foods to Canada. Then they thought of taking that idea one step further by working with people who are already growing certain crops but don’t have a market for them. Teaming up with close friend Dylan Beechey to launch Farafena, Barou Togola knew he wanted to work with women, in particular, for a few reasons. “I saw the strength in my mother growing up,” Barou Togola says in an interview at Farafena’s West Broadway office. “And we see on a daily basis what women do in Africa. They’re the first to get up and the last to go to bed. They walk tens of kilometres [with their crops] to go to markets and come back, then look after their kids, feed them, put them to sleep. Agriculture is one of the biggest resources in Africa. Farming is mainly done by women, and women are some of the poorest people. It doesn’t make sense. “Sixty percent of Africa is under 25,” he adds. “Looking at that, this is a very young continent. Who are the educators? They’re women. They’re mothers. By giving them the tools to empower children to give them confidence, this continent could be a very different place in the near future. Working with women so they can have time and money and resources to spend more time with their kids and educate the next generation that would be better off: that’s what we want to do. And what better way to do it than the power of food?” Currently, Farafena carries several African-grown products that are available at Canadian grocery stores. Fonio is a drought-resistant crop that some call the next quinoa. Gluten-free, it’s considered a superfood because it contains amino acids as well as zinc, iron, calcium, and other nutrients.

You cook it just as you would couscous or quinoa. It has a nutty flavour and can be used in tabbouleh or as a replacement for rice. It can be milled into a flour for baking. (Barou Togola says the Bill Gates Foundation has expressed interest in planting the grain in other countries. “This grain could essentially save millions of people in Africa,” he says. “It could fight malnutrition. It needs just a tiny amount of water to grow.”) Moringa leaf powder is another. Moringa is a plant that’s known as the miracle tree or drumstick tree. Matcha-green in colour, the powder comes from dried leaves. The taste is somewhat similar to matcha as well: bitter and slightly sweet. High in iron, it can be added to smoothies, salad dressings, or sauces. Then there is baobab fruit powder. The fruit from the baobab tree is an oblong pod that hangs upside down; within it is a powder that’s abundant in vitamins B and C as well as potassium, calcium, magnesium, fibre, and protein. Some describe its tart, citrusy taste as that of a sour mango, well suited for smoothies, yogurt, or oatmeal. Farafena now works with about

1,000 women from nine different villages, paying them directly for the nutrient-dense crops they grow. As a result, these women have been able to start microbusinesses, build homes for their families, and educate their kids. Barou Togola says the partnership boosts the well-being of entire villages while supporting traditional farming practices. For consumers to get a sense of where the superfoods come from and who grew them, each Farafena package has the name and photo of the female farmer on it. On a package of fonio, for example, might be an image of Karito Mariko, who wears a beautiful head scarf and colourful traditional African jewellery. You can go to the Farafena website and click on that same photo to learn more about her. Farafena has expanded across Canada, with products available in more than 600 grocery stores such as Loblaws, Whole Foods, and Superstore. It’s looking to expand to the U.S. “It’s time to start giving back the power and respect that women deserve in our society,” Barou Togola says. “Lack of equality is not an African issue. It’s a global issue.” g

22NDAnnual

2019

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> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < **INDICA GUY**

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 31, 2019 WHERE: Main St.

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You: born in May 92’, so god damn cute, baseball hat. Me: white t-shirt & jeans. I’ve helped you pick out Indica strains a few times at my work. I just left to go back to school, so the chances are low I will run into you again. Apparently, you don’t have facebook or insta.. so you said I will just have to call you? Sadly, I do not have your number.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: AUGUST 30, 2019 WHERE: Beaucoup Bakery I came to Beaucoup and line was out door but you said it's moving fast and we briefly chatted that you just came from acupuncture. I snooped as you were emailing about an Africa 2020 trip :) You seemed like a sweetie and should have given you my card...

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 WHERE: Millennium Line SkyTrain East towards Production Stn/Brentwood Stn

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We were on the 9:30pm Millennium Line SkyTrain heading east towards Production Stn. I'm Asian, I had my hair tied up, I was wearing a grey button and zipper sweater. You were Caucasian, wearing a blue shirt, had light blue eyes and blond hair. We locked eyes a few times for several seconds while sitting in our seats across from each other, I was with my friend and you were with yours. When you got off at Brentwood stn with your friends, you took one last look at the SkyTrain before disappearing down the stairs. Not sure if our locked eyes and final look towards the SkyTrain was anything more than just a passing gaze but if you felt that there was potential in our gazes like I did, find me and let's introduce ourselves over a coffee!

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 WHERE: SkyTrain I was on my way to school in Surrey and I saw you on the SkyTrain. I think you got off at Scott Road station. You are tall, had an ear piercing, you were wearing construction clothes with a helmet attached to your pants. We made eye contact quickly as you were getting off the train. I was wearing a white fluffy sweater, blonde hair, half asian. You probably won’t even see this but if u do, "hi, hi". You’re cute and hoping you’re single.

AT BI-LOW ON BROADWAY/KINGSWAY YOU WERE BUYING GRAPES....

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 WHERE: Bi-Low on Broadway/ Kingsway You were having a date night with your kid, buying grapes and Kombucha. I was having a date night with my little one, also Kombucha fuelled. I liked your vibe and your eyes ;) Like to chat some more...

SECOND BEACH POOL RENDEZVOUS

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JULY 21, 2019 WHERE: Second Beach Pool I saw you twice at Second Beach over the course of the summer. Me, asymmetrical short curly hair with striped bikini top and yellow bottoms. You, tall, dark and handsome man with a black backpack. Last time I saw you was in July: I smiled at you while sitting at the edge of the pool, and you returned it with a big smile and nod. Sadly you were leaving the pool with others, so we didn’t get a chance to meet. I’m afraid the summer has started to come to an end, along with pool days. Maybe we could connect over coffee one day?

PNE/BEACH BOYS/ DREYFUSS

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 WHERE: PNE Soundstage We sat together at the concert with your extra ticket. I walked you back to your car and you drove me to mine. I thought you looked like J Dreyfuss, great smile. I am also retired and regret not asking to see you again. If you are unattached, another chance?

BUDGED YOU IN LINE AFTER BON IVER

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 WHERE: PNE Bus Stop Hastings & Renfrew Oblivious butted in front of you and your friend in line for the bus after the Bon Iver show. Beautiful brunette with denim jacket and a nose ring. I was going over in my head what I was going to say before I got off the bus and then I saw you get off. Would be great if we were to cross paths again...

THE ASIAN GUY WITH A GORGEOUS SMILE

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 WHERE: On the SkyTrain I think I was staring too much. I couldn't take my eyes off you. You had an amazing smile. There was something about you that made me really want to just look at you. I probably knew I'd never see you again. You were talking to your friend and heading to Surrey. I should've struck up conversation. But today I was a coward and I lost my chance. My heart hasn't beat this hard in a long time.

PNE LAST DAY

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 WHERE: PNE MARKETPLACE I saw you, a First Aid Worker in the Marketplace. Very good looking and calf tattoo... would've liked to say hi but I was too busy hawking crap!!!! Let's go for a hike sometime?

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _ SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 11

DRINK

THE 22NDAnnual 18

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2724 W. 4th Ave. / 738-7151 / www.thenaam.com The Georgia Straight Confessions, an outlet for submitting revelations about your private lives—or for the voyeurs among us who want to read what other people have disclosed.

Scan to confess A different fantasy I watch those cheesy Vancouver-shot romantic comedies with the bad writing, but not for the romantic storyline. I watch the way the protagonist’s loving parents interact with her, and with each other, and I fantasize that my family could be like that, too. Instead I’ve cut off contact with one parent who gets mad at me when I do adult things like get a job, and go on dates. I’m in my 30’s ffs.

Autumn I’m looking forward to those cool, foggy, weekend mornings when I can snuggle longer in my blankets without feeling uncomfortably warm.

Fave Champagnes for breaking fast

by Kurtis Kolt

s far as I’m concerned, Champagne is the epitome of an ideal breakfast wine. So as Ms. Laurence Alamanos, the export manager of Champagne Ayala, and I settled into our spot at Provence Marinaside and perused the menu brimming with various Benedicts, waffles, frittatas, and scrambles, it all seemed to be a fitting setting. Founded in 1860 by Edmond de Ayala in Aÿ, in the heart of France’s Champagne region, the house found success with a Champagne style slightly drier than what was fashionable at the time. De Ayala’s brother Fernand hobnobbed with aristocrats in London, a huge market for Champagne, so their wines got into the right hands and onto the right palates just a few short years into the new venture. With the Roaring ’20s prosperity and fancy-dress parties, Ayala became one of France’s top Champagne houses—the official Champagne of English and Spanish royalty—and employed more than 100 people. Things would have continued to be just fine if it hadn’t been for the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression that followed, and the Second World War. In 2005, it was purchased by Champagne powerhouse Bollinger and was revitalized as a stand-alone brand, employing about a dozen. The winemaking, currently with Caroline Latrive (one of only a handful of female winemakers in the region) at the helm, continues to be of a fresh and elegant style and quite dry, due to a low percentage of dosage being added after disgorgement. Here is a trio of my favourites. CHAMPAGNE AYALA BRUT MAJEUR N/V

Three Champagnes—and a rosé, because you can’t drink fine bubbles every day.

Pinot Meunier has so much fresh brioche and honey in the aromatics (three years on the lees will do that), it’s rather intoxicating and pretty off the bat. That’s before we even get to a palate awash with Honeycrisp apple, Asian pears, and ultraripe peaches. A hint of residual sugar gives it a slight richness that will dovetail well with French toast, Belgian waffles, and toasty baguette slathered with marmalade.

This wine spends six years on the lees, so all that toasty and creamy business we love about Champagne is here in fine form. On the nose, plenty of lemon zest and lime leaf mingles with white flowers like jasmine and gardenia, while the palate enjoys mineral-laden yellow grapefruit, yellow plums, and a wide array of apples. Any seafoodoriented brunch (or lunch or dinner) would come up a treat with this one.

CHAMPAGNE AYALA BRUT NATURE N/V

The times we reach for premium Champagnes are usually few and far between, so I’ve got an any-day-of-theweek wine for you, too. My wife and I recently crushed a bottle of Montagu Rosé 2018 (Okanagan Valley, B.C.; $23 to $27, private wine stores), a joint venture between local sommelier and Stile wine agency representative Tom Doughty and lauded B.C. winemaker Michael Bartier. A quirky blend of Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Muscat Ottonel, the wine sings with many pink things—like grapefruit, watermelon, and freshcracked pink peppercorns—and a tiny kiss of sweetness on the finish. A light, bright, exuberant style of wine that will keep summer going through these next few months. g

($99.91, Marquis Wine Cellars) The driest of the trio, this same blend as the previous wine spends four years on the lees before disgorgement, with no dosage added, making the mouthwatering acidity nice and juicy, carrying plenty of citrus fruit, Granny Smith apple, and a flinty, peppery finish that has a hint of salinity, too. This will cut through the richness of medium-poached eggs and hollandaise with ease. CHAMPAGNE AYALA LE BLANC DE BLANCS 2012

($75.98, Everything Wine) ($134.69, Marquis Wine Cellars) This blend of 40 percent Chardonnay, One hundred percent Grand Cru 40 percent Pinot Noir, and 20 percent Chardonnay, 100 percent delicious.

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fall arts

Pair’s path to music was unpredictable

by Alexander Varty

Kimia Koochakzadeh Yazdi was pursuing classical piano when electroacoustic composition called her name; Jaelem Bhate went from rock ‘n’ roll drumming to science to conducting. Photo by Emily Cooper

MUSIC Kimia Koochakzadeh Yazdi

d FLUTE VIRTUOSO, educator, and former Powell Street Festival artistic director Mark Takeshi McGregor has a talent scout’s ear for raw potential. So when he told me about a young composer whose work he was premiering last February, I took note—especially given that his endorsement was so unequivocal. “When we read through the piece with her for the first time, the hair on my arms was standing up at the end,” McGregor said, talking about Kimia Koochakzadeh Yazdi and her composition for flute, clarinet, and electronics, Displacement II. “It’s unsettling,” he added, “and at the same

time incredibly beautiful.” McGregor is not the only one who’s been listening. David Pay, another programmer with impeccable antennae, has tapped Yazdi to be one of two “rising musicians” that Music on Main will spotlight in its Emerge on Main concert, which takes place in March of next year. (Percussionist and composer Aaron Graham is the other.) It’s all rather surprising, given that Yazdi hadn’t composed a note of music until quite recently and that her new career came out of a small but significant disappointment. The Iranian-born musician’s original plan had been to move to Canada and pursue the life of a keyboard virtuoso, but she narrowly failed to win acceptance into UBC’s piano-performance program. Casting around for something that would keep her in Vancouver,

I like making things more shiny—or not shiny, exactly, but adding more flavour. – Kimia Koochakzadeh Yazdi

she discovered SFU’s composition department, applied, and was accepted—despite never having heard electroacoustic music before. “I’ve been playing piano since I was,

like, five—but it was, like, all traditional, conventional classical music,” Yazdi explains in a telephone interview from her Yaletown apartment. “But then I started composition here. I wasn’t sure that this was what I was going to do, but now it’s something that I want to continue with.” That’s good news for adventurous instrumentalists. At 21, Yazdi has a freakishly accomplished ear for texture, often extracting previously unexplored sounds from acoustic instruments and combining them with electronic processing so subtly that it’s hard to tell which is which. “I’m so glad to hear that, because that’s my goal, to blur the lines,” she says. “I like the listener to be, like, ‘Is this an instrument or is it electronics?’ I don’t want to take anything away from the power of the instruments,

but in the background I’ll be, like, literally dusting them with some sparkles. I like making things more shiny—or not shiny, exactly, but adding more flavour.” Vancouverites may have a limited time to investigate Yazdi’s music firsthand: she’ll complete her degree in composition in June of 2020, having blazed through the four-year program in just three. “I am a workaholic,” she confesses, laughing. “I take a lot of courses, and I study a lot, and I compose really fast.” And although she admits that she’s a bit tired after premiering four pieces over the course of the summer, she intends to keep working, pursuing her PhD in composition somewhere, but not necessarily here. In other words, don’t miss her Music on Main showcase—which will

see page 18

Transformation beefs up fall fest roster by Janet Smith

FESTIVALS

Critics’ picks

d SUDDENLY SUMMERTIME HAS a rival for the biggest roundup of arts festivals: fall. Not only has the Chutzpah Festival moved its celebration of Jewish culture from midwinter to October, but there is a major new event being launched at the Cultch for two weeks in October. Transform: A Cabaret Festival was curated by Cultch executive director Heather Redfern and Oji-Cree playwright, composer, and director Corey Payette, who’s also artistic director at Urban Ink Productions. And that meld of non-Indigenous and Indigenous forces has birthed a festival unlike anything else in North America—or, quite possibly, in the world. “The first impulse was that cabaret didn’t really have a home here, and there’s no touring circuit for it across Canada,” Payette explains

“We’ve also made the choice to veer away from the standard vision of cabaret, you know, with the red curtain and white faces,” Payette continues. “We wanted to go back to what it was: a political movement about artists rising up, and tying that into the movements of reconciliation—to now reclaim that and make it our own. And hopefully we’re making a container for these festivals to happen everywhere, because these conversations are everywhere.” Payette and Redfern also seized the idea of the cabaret as a space where people can push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in the mainstream. The result is, on one hand, Redfern and Payette seeking out popular Indigenous musicians, Heather Redfern and Corey Payette joined forces burlesque dancers, and drag artists who might for a new festival with a distinct cabaret vibe. not regularly get the chance to perform in a big over the phone. “So the idea was to take that theatre in front of a wider audience. Elsewhere, political form of art and make it a platform they’ve arranged collaborations between handfor Vancouver audiences and artists to start to picked artists, such as the Cirque Transforming have larger conversations. program’s mix of Indigenous hoop dancers and

other contemporary acrobats. Here’s more on highlights of Transform and some of the other fests livening up the fall season. VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FLAMENCO FESTIVAL

(At the Vancouver Playhouse, the Waterfront Theatre, and other venues until September 29) Vancouver’s Flamenco Rosario brings a little southern Spanish heat to fall, with a lineup of local and international stars. The Draw: Spanish sensation Manuel Liñán’s intense Baile de Autor has been sizzling its way around the globe to rave reviews (September 14 at the Playhouse). Target Audience: Fans of ruffles, Spanish culture, hammering feet, and la pasión. B.C. CULTURE DAYS

(At venues around the Lower Mainland from September 27 to 29) Painting, theatre, experimental performance art,

see page 18

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 13

WHO TO WATCH Dancers are driven toward their dream by Janet Smith

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DANCE Miriam Gittens

Photo: OURO Collective/Jeff Hamada

thedancecentre.ca

Fresno’s Miriam Gittens found her way to Ballet BC; Cristina Bucci taught herself street dance as a kid. Photo by Emily Cooper

d TALK TO DANCER Miriam Gittens about the trajectory that brought her to Ballet BC, and it’s clear that her entry into New York City’s famed Juilliard School for the arts was a turning point. The talent had grown up in Fresno, California, training from age three at a school that didn’t just emphasize ballet, but dabbled in jazz, tap, contemporary, African, and hip-hop. Right after high school she headed to the Big Apple for the opportunity of a lifetime. “Juilliard was a dream that I didn’t necessarily think was possible,” says the affable artist, speaking to the Straight over the phone from the Scotiabank Dance Centre studio, amid warm-ups for morning ballet class. “That definitely was one of the most important and difficult opportunities of my whole life. That’s where I really grew up and learned who I really was.” It was at the school that Gittens first heard about Ballet BC; she clearly remembers teacher Francisco Martinez (a former dancer with Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza) telling her about artistic director Emily Molnar during a partnering class. “He talked about what an inspiration she is and how powerful she is,” Gittens recalls. “He was talking about her as a dancer and as a leader. And that sent me going into research and looking at as many videos online as possible.” For the aspiring performer, other highlights at Juilliard included creating a piece with her father, Larry Gittens, a well-known trumpet and piano player. “As a jazz musician, he tends to improvise, so it was interesting to see how we both created material,” she says. Still, Gittens took a break from dance after graduating from Juilliard, working for a financial adviser in New York City while she contemplated her future. “It was an entirely new and uncomfortable place to be,” she reflects. “A lot of people think that as soon as you graduate you jump into exactly what you want. I had had a long four years at school and needed some time to think and I wanted clarity.” It took just four months to figure out she needed to dance. Her opening came when Peter Chu, a Juilliard grad who’s performed for Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot and whose Vegas-based company chuthis. has performed here at the Cultch, invited her to join a tour for his acclaimed Paper Cuts in an Empty Bag in early 2017. “He was my first professional job,

so that was a huge moment,” she says. “He’s someone who’s inspired me to be as versatile as possible. And that was even more of a driving force to audition for someplace like Ballet BC.” Soon after, Gittens auditioned and made it into the Vancouver troupe’s emerging artist program last season. And she’s still marvelling at not just the touring to places like Madrid and Germany she got to do, but the choreographic stars she got to work with over that year. “I never dreamed I’d be able to do rep by William Forsythe or Crystal Pite,” says Gittens, referring to mounting Enemy in the Figure and Solo Echo. “To see the people they are is even more inspiring. They’re some of the most revered choreographers of our time, and I saw how giving they are.” This season, her first as a full company member, she’s even more stoked to work with the likes of Aszure Barton, who’ll be bringing her playful and poetic Busk here, and Medhi Walerski, who will be restaging his starkly beautiful spin on Romeo and Juliet. At the same time, Gittens will be part of a company in the midst of change: this is Molnar’s final season and Gittens is one of several new company members. “There’s a big shift and it’s a very youthful company, so it’s exciting,” she says. As for Vancouver, she’s embracing the outdoors and the cuisine. “There’s an easygoing California vibe here,” she says, which, of course, makes it feel like home. Cristina Bucci

d AS THE YOUNGEST of seven kids, Cristina Bucci grew up in a family that didn’t have the means to put her in dance classes. Born in Malta and raised in Surrey, she voraciously sought out dance herself. “I was self-taught, mostly through film or music videos,” she tells the Straight over the phone from Vancouver, from an international dance intensive run by the OURO Collective, where she’s managing and co–artistic director. “I’d always record it on VHS and then slow it down and learn it. So it would mean a lot of self-teaching in my back yard—predominantly street dance and hip-hop.” Those forms drew her back again and again, even as she started to pay for studio classes in everything from jazz to freestyle and hip-hop through summer jobs as a teen. Along the way, she was drawn to world styles like Afro-Cuban and Indian. And then she headed to London, England, to pursue a career in commercial dance. “It was such a struggle and I ended up seeking out the more underground

street dance, where I felt accepted,” she explains. “I was an introvert and dance was a way for me to communicate; I was from a big family with strict parents, and dance was my voice,” she allows. “I turn into this other person when I teach and dance. [Dancing,] I could be really aggressive as a teen—that’s why I think a lot of teens gravitate toward dance and hip-hop.” Back in Vancouver, the selfstarter has found innovative ways to push street dance and mash it up with other forms. First, she worked with women and children at the SOULdiers program in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Then, in 2014, she founded the street-dancebased collective OURO, along with colleagues Maiko Miyachi, Dean Placzek, Mark Siller, and Rina Pellerin. Each brings different specialties—as diverse as waacking, popping and locking, breaking, and contemporary ballet—together on collectively created projects. The result has been work that has both reimagined street dance and blazed new trails at festivals and other platforms. There have been appearances at the New Works dance series and the Vancouver International Dance Festival, and a commission by Montreal’s Tentacle Tribe for OURO’s debut at the Dancing on the Edge Festival. “That was something, as a street dancer, I was so interested in: going to Dancing on the Edge,” she says. “It was one of those moments where I could believe I was a part of it.” She’ll be part of an even bigger platform at this fall’s Dance in Vancouver, the biennial showcase for North American presenters that runs November 20 to 24 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. There, audiences can take in OURO’s new HAKO—a piece that pushes into the realms of technology and installation art. In it, five dancers team up with experientialdesign studio Tangible to interact with glaring white LED rods and a giant, bulbous soft sculpture. When she’s not teaching or creating new dance pieces, Bucci works as a nutritionist, coaching young performers through seminars on how eating right can prolong their careers. “Being Italian, it’s been a big part of my background; my mom makes absolutely amazing Italian cuisine and she was always interested in healthy food,” she explains. Ref lecting, Bucci feels she may have finally found where she fits into the dance world. “It took me about 15 years to figure it out and get to the point where I am today, where I love this amalgamation of street styles and contemporary ballet,” she says. g

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16 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

Chris Francisque tackles a half-dozen roles in The Shipment this fall, while Kaitlyn Yott rethinks Peter Pan. Photo by Emily Cooper

THEATRE Kaitlyn Yott

d KAITLYN YOTT WAS feeling frustrated about her chosen career, in the musical-theatre realm she’d devoted years to at Capilano University—even though she stresses she enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. “Being in the world of musical theatre, it has a lot of work to do in terms of visible minorities,” the artist, who’s of mixed Haida and Japanese-Canadian heritage, tells the Straight over the phone. As a woman of colour, she explains, “if you existed outside of what the ingénue looked like, they didn’t really know what to do with you. “So I felt betrayed by this art form that I loved and that was telling me there wasn’t really a place for me because I looked different,” she continues. “And my way of storytelling was different in a way I couldn’t really understand yet.” All that changed with a sudden phone call from Corey Payette, the Oji-Cree playwright, actor, composer, and artistic director of Urban Ink Productions. He had sought out Yott and wondered if she wanted to be part of a reading for Les Filles du Roi, a musical about two young Mohawk siblings whose lives are interrupted by the arrival of a boatload of young brides from Europe. “He says, ‘I’m looking for someone who can play someone 13 and is Indigenous and who can sing,’ and I said to my mom, ‘They’re looking for me!’ I remember crying and jumping for joy, saying, ‘I think there’s finally a place for me in the industry.’” And so began a journey that would lead Yott to the very forefront of an Indigenous revolution in theatre happening in this country. What followed were a role in Payette’s national-touring residential-school musical Children of God, and then a part in Kim Senklip Harvey’s powerful matriarchal play Kamloopa last fall. To fully understand what all this meant to Yott, you need to know her background. She grew up on Semiahmoo First Nation territory in White Rock, her Indigenous heritage cloaked in secrecy and shame. “My mom was part of the ’60s scoop and was adopted into a white family,” she explains. “There was a lot of shame around exploring my background. I always had questions, but it was just a very powerful subject for my mom to talk about.”

Yott had enjoyed singing as a kid, but her parents couldn’t afford to pay for theatre training. Instead, she was pursuing a career in softball when an ACL injury ended that dream in her last year of high school. That’s when she decided she wanted to enroll in musical theatre instead. Following what she calls her “spiritual awakening”, Yott is bringing her vision to a more conventional work this fall—and one that hasn’t traditionally sat well with Indigenous people. She stars as the title character in Carousel Theatre for Young People’s Peter Pan this November, but in a version that won’t look quite like what you’re used to. For starters, Tiger Lily, the infamous character built on Native American stereotypes, is gone. And the score is played with live folk music. Yott has had a lot of input into her role. “Something I’m not interested in anymore is compromising myself in order to accommodate a story,” Yott says. “I could choose to not participate, or I could see this as an opportunity to flip it on its head and repair the narrative.” Through fully rethinking roles like this, and carrying on work with a new wave of Indigenous playwrights and composers, she’s found her calling. “All my ancestors are watching,” she says. “I hope that 100 years from now my children’s children will have an easier life because of the work I’m doing.” Chris Francisque

d INTERNATIONAL MAN of mystery? That might be a bit strong. But there’s no denying that Chris Francisque is a bicoastal, bilingual powerhouse on the local stage, or that there are a few cards that he likes to keep close to his chest. He doesn’t want to reveal his age, for example, noting that “It helps with casting directors and roles if they don’t know exactly how old you are.” And he’s coy about what led him to take “an unexpected seven-year hiatus from acting”, saying only that “Life has a very funny way of humbling you, sometimes.” Now that he’s back on the theatrical track, however, he’s convinced that acting is what he was born to do, and that the stage is his natural home. “How you know your purpose in life is that you can identify your passion—which, to me, is something you can do very well with the least amount of effort, and that gives you the most joy,” he tells the Straight, in a

telephone interview from downtown Vancouver. “Like, when I act, it’s not something that I have to force or rack my brain over it. It comes naturally.” Francisque recently demonstrated his on-stage ease in an Ensemble Theatre company production of Superior Donuts; writing in these pages, critic Andrea Warner praised his ability to “flawlessly elevate the material”. And he doesn’t hesitate to reveal his excitement over getting to revisit his role—or roles—in SpeakEasy Theatre’s production of American playwright Young Jean Lee’s The Shipment, which opens at the Firehall Arts Centre on September 24. “It’s really a play which speaks to the black experience in the world,” says Francisque, whose own experiences have included his francophone childhood in Quebec, and being an adolescent in the Fraser Valley. “Black people are not a monolith, but we share a lot of similarities,” Francisque notes. “I think that’s where the genesis of this play came from. It’s interesting that it’s a Korean-American playwright who wrote it, but she actually asked actors ‘What is it you would like to see yourself as, if you had a choice, rather than the stereotypes? What is it that you would want to see on-stage, if you had the choice?’ “Which is why The Shipment is so interesting, because, without giving too much away to the people that haven’t seen it, it is divided into two parts—the first part being highly, highly stylized to convey a very specific message to the audience,” he continues. “And then the playwright wrote the second half based on what they [her black colleagues] told her they would like to be offered as roles.” Let’s just say that the half-dozen characters Francisque will be asked to play allow him to stretch way, way beyond “Thug Number 2, or Rapper Number 3”, the kind of roles he’s all too often offered in more conventional productions. And he’s not the only one who’ll be challenged by the show. The Shipment, he suggests, requires audiences to confront their own complicity in perpetuating racial stereotypes, and that’s rare on the Canadian stage. “You see the wheels turning, and they go ‘Oh, that’s what it is! That’s what we as a society do!’” he explains. “And that’s one of the best moments I’ve ever had as an actor. A lot of the time, on-stage, you can’t really see the audience, but in this particular part, the houselights go up and we’re able to see every single member of the audience, and you get to see them realize what the hell is going on.” g

Ground-breaking artists

SEPTEMBER 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 17

from page 13

literature, design, cinema, and more take over community centres, galleries, and other public spaces for the celebration’s 10th anniversary. Sample highlights: Public Disco’s hoop zone and all-ages dance party in Alley Oop (south of West Hastings between Seymour and Granville streets) on the final day; behind-the-scenes tours of the 21,000-square-foot Arts Factory the same day; and open rehearsals of the Goh Ballet’s The Nutcracker on the Friday night. (See culturedays.ca/.) The Draw: Amid the scores of offerings, check out Culture Days ambassador Oli Salvas’s hands-on, family-friendly Rebel With a Cause: Exploring the Maker Movement, September 28 and 29 at the CBC Plaza from noon to 1:30 p.m.; he’ll help you connect the arts with science and engineering, using wooden sticks, electric wires, and more. Target Audience: Parents, kids, and anyone looking to reignite their inner artist. TRANSFORM: A CABARET FESTIVAL

(At the Cultch Historic Theatre, the Vancity Culture Lab, and the York from October 2 to 12) More than 50 Indigenous and non-Indigenous performers, from comedians and hip-hop artists to drag performers and circus acrobats, launch the city’s newest festival. Highlights include drag sensations the Darlings, the Indigenous burlesque babes of Virago Nation, singer Veda Hille, singer Leela Gilday, Inuit throat-singing dance-beat mavens Silla and Rise, and a Diwali Night that blends South Asian and Indigenous performers. The Draw: Don’t miss the two wild opening cabaret nights on October 2 and 3, designed to give audiences a taste of what’s to come, and hosted by Musqueam artist Quelemia Sparrow and Australian sensation Lisa Fa’alafi (of Hot Brown Honey). Target Audience: The nontraditional, the nonbinary, the nonconforming, and the nonboring. CHUTZPAH FESTIVAL

(At the Norman Rothstein Theatre, Vogue Theatre, Rickshaw Theatre,

from page 13

also be an opportunity to explore how her process involves developing the work in close conjunction with performers such as Graham. “We’re talking about collaborating with each other on a piece for percussion,” Yazdi says. “Both of us think that working together will make sense, as we both have a collaborative aspect to what we do.” Jaelem Bhate

Singer-songwriter Leela Gilday takes the stage at Transform, while MM Contemporary Dance brings Schubert Frames to Chutzpah. Photo by Riccardo Panozzo

and WISE Hall from October 24 to November 24) The celebration of Jewish culture brings in topnotch acts in everything from world music to dance, from around the globe. This year’s event puts a spotlight on live music with film, and boasts the world premiere of ProArteDanza’s The 9th (based on Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony), MM Contemporary Dance’s Gershwin Suite and Schubert Frames, and the North American premiere of Tamara Micner’s one-woman show Holocaust Brunch. The Draw: Guitar hero and composer Gary Lucas performs live with two films, Frankenstein and Spanish Dracula. And did we mention the divine Ms. Sandra Bernhard? Target Audience: Culture vultures with wide-ranging appetites. DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE HEART OF THE CITY FESTIVAL

(At various venues around the Downtown Eastside from October 30 to November 10) Music, stories, theatre, poetry, films, dance, readings, forums, workshops, gallery exhibits, history walks, and more make up over 100 events at over 40 venues. Highlights include Urban Ink Productions’ workshop presentation of the play SRO (as in single-room-occupancy hotel) by Middle of the Sky, and ūtszan, Lilwat artist Yvonne Wallace’s one-woman

show about reclaiming language and resilience. The Draw: The Firehall Arts Centre’s Donna Spencer directs the ambitious Opening Doors, a collaboration with Vancouver Moving Theatre that dramatizes personal histories from Daphne Marlatt and Carole Itter’s extraordinary locallegend book of the same name. Target Audience: Those who know that where there’s hope, there’s life—and there’s also thriving art. EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL

(At studios around East Vancouver from November 14 to 17) Grab your map and your sneakers, pray for sunshine (or at least not too much drizzle), and go: more than 500 artists, craftspeople, and designers open their amazing studios to an audience of thousands—45,000 last year alone—during the Crawl. Think everything from painters to jewellers, sculptors, furniture makers, weavers, potters, and glassblowers. The Draw: For newbies, labyrinthine 1000 Parker is always a good starting spot, but old hands know to seek out heritage houses and off beat industrial sites like 1282 Franklin Street, Railtown Studios, and Strathcona’s atmospheric Paneficio Studios. Target Audience: Art collectors, holiday-gift shoppers, and the art-curious. g

presents

Reading the Bones Choreography: Barbara Bourget & Jay Hirabayashi Music: Josepth Hirabayashi Lighting: Gerald King Assisted by: Jessica Han

Performed by: Barbara Bourget, Katie Cassady, Molly McDermott, Salomé Nieto, Deanna Peters

d IT’S NO EXAGGERATION to say that Jaelem Bhate is having an amazing year. In April, he released the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra’s debut CD to widespread acclaim, cementing his emergence as a jazz bandleader and composer of Ellingtonian depth and subtlety. Next week, he’ll unveil his classical project, Symphony 21, which aims to present scores both old and new in a decidedly unconventional context. And in November, he’ll be at the Orpheum Theatre, leading the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra through a threeperformance run of Vern Griffiths’s kids’ show, Wall to Wall Percussion. Did we mention that he’s only 26? And that just seven years ago he couldn’t read music? Ironically, the former rock ’n’ roll drummer credits his decision to get serious about sound to his realization that science would never be his calling. Initially, Bhate followed his older sister into a science program at UBC, but he quickly found out that the university’s music department was where his heart wanted to be. “I didn’t continue with any of the rock bands that I was doing, but I wanted to keep music in my life in some form,” Bhate explains in a telephone interview from his Richmond home. “So I started playing in one of the school ensembles at UBC, in one of their jazz bands. That put me in the music building once a week, and as a side effect of that, you walk around that building and you hear a bunch of music coming from a bunch of different rooms—not just classical music but jazz and world music.”

Trying to make sense of it all, Bhate decided to audit some theory courses and found himself “totally lost, but also totally intrigued”. His confusion didn’t last long: he soon switched majors, starting courses in percussion before shifting to conducting. “Conducting is the perfect way for me to keep all my musical passions,” he notes. “You get to make music in a live setting, which is something I’m really passionate about. You get to be a theory geek, which I turned out to be, in that you get to sit for hours and stare at scores and figure out what’s going on. And, lastly, I get to wear my composer hat quite a lot. When you’re conducting, you kind of need to be a

Conducting is the perfect way for me to keep all my musical passions. – Jaelem Bhate

cocomposer, if you will, in that not everything in the music is on the page. The conductor is not just there to wave their arms.” There’s one more passion Bhate hasn’t mentioned: his determination to share his enthusiasm for music. That’s the thinking behind Symphony 21, an ambitious project that will showcase emerging musicians and composers, survey historical repertoire, and present it all in often unusual spaces, like the “repurposed warehouse” at 191 Alexander Street that will host its debut on Saturday (September 14). “There’s a craft-beer bar, there’s projected program notes, there’s a Twitter Q & A, so we’re encouraging you to be on your phone during the preconcert talk,” Bhate says. g

TURNING POINT ENSEMBLE 2019/20 CONCERT SEASON Featuring Couloir, Bergmann Piano Duo, Wen Wei Dance, and Berislav Šipuš & Robyn Driedger-Klassen

TICKETS AT TURNINGPOINTENSEMBLE.CA

September 18 - 21 & 25 - 28, 2019 - 8pm Roundhouse Performance Centre Tickets/Info http://kokoro.ca 604-662-4966 Kokoro photo by Téa Mei • mask by Sylvi Murphy 18 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY: EMILY COOPER

FALL ARTS Beethoven’s birthday propels season by Alexander Varty

Vancouver Chamber Choir welcomes Kari Turunen (left) at its helm, and star countertenor Iestyn Davies hits town in October.

MUSIC Critics’ picks

d THE MAIN EVENT, this concert season, has to be the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth. Granted, the party won’t actually take place until December 17 of next year, but you’ll have plenty of chances to celebrate before that, starting almost immediately. The Danish String Quartet, for instance, will play the great German’s Quartet No. 15 in A Minor in its November 3 recital at the Vancouver Playhouse, while András Schiff’s performance of sonatas 24 to 28 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on March 24 should be occasion for ecstasy. Watch, too, for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Festival, also in March; music director Otto Tausk’s affinity for this repertoire should be on full display.

first successful aircraft, the dawn of love, the crowning of a new emperor, and spring, Beginnings also celebrates the debut of the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s new artistic director, Kari Turunen. The Draw: A hint of where the VCC might go, following 46 highly successful years under Jon Washburn. Target Audience: Choral loyalists and a new crop of fans. LA TRAVIATA

in the United States will gain fresh resonance in new Vancouver Symphony Orchestra music director Otto Tausk’s hands. The Draw: A chance to see how Tausk, who’s Dutch, will infuse Dvořák’s work with his own North American impressions. Target Audience: Residents, and resident aliens. AMORE/DOLORE

(At St. Philip’s Anglican Church on October 25) Explore hope and heartbreak with musica intima, through this collection of songs about love. The Draw: Morten Lauridsen’s gorgeous Madrigal, but also works by Claudio Monteverdi, David Lang, and former Vancouver Symphony Orchestra composer in residence Jeffrey Ryan. Target Audience: Anyone who ever had a heart.

(At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 17, 19, 24, and 27) A brand-new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1853 hit moves the action to 1920s Paris, allowing for even greater depths of glitter and some of the most sensuous costuming ever seen on the VO stage. The Draw: Canadian soprano Emily Dorn takes on the central role of doomed courtesan Violetta Valéry. Target Audi- IESTYN DAVIES (At Christ Church Cathedral on ence: Stylish ears. October 29) NEW WORLD SYMPHONY One of the great countertenors of BEGINNINGS (At the Orpheum from October 18 our time joins the acclaimed Fret(At Pacific Spirit United Church on to 20) work ensemble in a Music on Main/ September 27) The 19th-century Czech composer Early Music Vancouver presentation see next page With compositions celebrating the Antonin Dvořák’s response to his time

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 19

Astor Piazzolla. Target Audience: Seekers after sonic perfection.

from previous page

entitled Purcell & Nyman: Music After a While as part of the Modulus Festival. The Draw: With Britain’s future in doubt, follow cultural threads that link the Elizabethan era with today. Target Audience: Lovers of music both early and modern.

THE APHOTIC ZONE

(At Pyatt Hall on December 16) Redshift Music Society hits on yet another innovative concept: meditative modernism, performed in an entirely darkened hall. The Draw: Pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa and flutist Mark McGregor, a.k.a. the Tiresias Duo, are among the performers. Target Audience: Listeners who love to be kept in the dark.

LACHRIMAE

(At Christ Church Cathedral on November 1) Celebrate the music of pioneering English composer John Dowland, as played by the viol ensemble Les Voix Humaines and interpreted by Canadian composer Stacey Brown. The Draw: Eminent lutenist Nigel North guests in the Early Music Vancouver presentation. Target Audience: Not the unduly lachrymose; the only tears shed during this show will be ones of joy. FLAMENCO LEGENDS

FRENCH ENCHANTMENT The Vancouver Recital Society brings the Danish String Quartet here, while Les Voix Humaines join Early Music Vancouver.

guitarist Antonio Sánchez, who’ll lead the Paco de Lucía Project in a tribute to the flamenco innovator. The Draw: Music and dance as fiery as the hottest piquillo pepper. Target Audience: Connoisseurs of style and soul.

(At the Chan Centre for the DANISH STRING QUARTET Performing Arts on November 2) The late Paco de Lucía’s work lives on (At the Vancouver Playhouse on in the hands of his nephew and fellow November 3)

20 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

It’s hard to pick favourites from the Vancouver Recital Society’s 2019-20 season; other must-see artists include Measha Brueggergosman, Yuja Wang, András Schiff, and Steven Isserlis. Still, don’t miss these great Danes! The Draw: A stunning combination of instrumental maturity and youthful verve. Target Audience: Listeners who love musicians who listen.

PROTECT US FROM WAR

(At the Vancouver Playhouse on January 14) In the first of three concerts presented in association with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Friends of Chamber Music offers an elegant program of French bonbons. The Draw: The music of Camille Saint-Saëns, Maurice Ravel, and Gabriel Fauré. Target Audience: Friends of chamber music.

(At West Vancouver United Church on November 9 and 10 and the Orpheum on November 11) If the thought of 45’s finger on the nuclear button is unsettling, Chor Leoni’s annual Remembrance Day concerts will offer some glorious psychic salve. The Draw: We’ll take all the psychic salve we can get. Target Audience: Uneasy sleepers and GIDON KREMER (At the Orpheum on January 31 and admirers of the massed male voice. February 1) OKKYUNG LEE There’s other repertoire we might rath(At the Roundhouse Community er hear Gidon Kremer play—contemArts and Recreation Centre on porary music from the Baltic region, November 16) for instance—but Robert Schumann’s The second installment of Vancouver Cello Concerto in A Minor will pose an New Music’s Parallels series teams intriguing challenge for the virtuosic the New York–based cellist with violinist. The Draw: A great modern an all-star cast of Vancouver musi- mind joins the Vancouver Symphony cians, including electronic composers Orchestra to deliver an inherently unprOphecy sun and Tegan Wahlgren. usual take on an 1850 classic. Target The Draw: The sound of spontan- Audience: Transcriptionistas. eous composition. Target Audience: TOMASZ RITTER Fearless explorers. (At the Vancouver Playhouse on ART OF THE TANGO FUGUE March 23) (At West Point Grey United Church The Vancouver Chopin Society has on November 28 and 29, and Pyatt booked a strong lineup of pianists, but Hall on December 1) the jewel in the crown might be this Vetta Chamber Music and its resident collaboration with Early Music Vanstring quartet join bandoneon virtuoso couver, featuring the young winner of Jonathan Goldman to explore the links the inaugural Chopin Competition on between 18th-century Germany and Period Instruments. The Draw: Chomodern-day Argentina. The Draw: Jo- pin as Frédéric himself would have hann Sebastian Bach’s Art of the Fugue heard it. Target Audience: Romantics as you’ve never heard it before, plus and time travellers. g

FALL ARTS

Dance delves into science, calligraphy by Janet Smith

“Her combination of technical ease, colouristic range and sheer power has always been remarkable” — Financial Times

Spirit, a theatrical meld of Aboriginal culture and contemporary dance, opens the DanceHouse season. Photo by Zan Wimberley

DANCE

Joseph Hirabayashi creates the original score. The Draw: With 30 years of primordial, butoh-inspired dance Critics’ picks under their belts, arts veterans Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi d DANCE FROM AS far away as know their subject matter intimately. Australia, Spain, and Brazil shares Target Audience: Those convinced space with strong local premieres on dance can age like a fine wine. this season’s roster. Stark and intense contemporary dance embraces the STILL REICH Aboriginal, the West Coast Indigen- (At the Scotiabank Dance Centre ous, and the ancient Chinese, as well from October 2 to 4) as concepts as far-flung as quantum In its Vancouver debut, Brazil’s Focus physics and mortality. Dig in, and Cia de Dança rolls out four pieces don’t forget the big Dance in Van- inspired by the pulsing rhythms of couver biennial showcase happening minimalist composer Steve Reich. at the Scotiabank Dance Centre from The Draw: “Keta”, set to Reich’s November 20 to 24, a one-stop shop iconic Drumming, brings the show to for the best of B.C. that also brings in a surging climax of ensemble work. presenters from across the continent Target Audience: Brazilian Canadians and their music-aficionado, and even farther afield. contemporary-dance-nerd friends.

and lighting master James Proudfoot create an interdisciplinary world of convulsive choreography, paper figures, flashing lights, shadows, and projections, all set to a soundscape created in part by Loscil and Kevin Legere. The Draw: The chance to get up close and personal with this kind of artistic talent, in a piece about honesty and failure. Target Audience: Truth seekers and art lovers. SPOOKY ACTION

(At the Firehall Arts Centre from October 16 to 19) Lesley Telford’s local company Inverso explores the quantum-physics property of entanglement in a fulllength version of the piece set to Barbara Adler’s poetry. The Draw: Visual elements, spoken word, and the work of Albert Einstein make strange but READING THE BONES scintillating bedfellows, all intri(At the Roundhouse Community I CARE WHAT YOU THINK cately woven together by this smart (At Performance Works from OctoArts and Recreation Centre from and detail-oriented Nederlands Dans ber 3 to 5) September 18 to 28) Theater alumna. Target Audience: Kokoro Dance explores the stages of Plastic orchid factory’s James Gnam, Students of physics, literature, and, of life with a cast of performers that has Action at a Distance’s Vanessa course, contemporary dance. see next page a 50-year age spread. Alt-composer Goodman, dancer Jane Osborne,

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SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 21

Draw: The dizzying diversity of the dance, the dazzling theatrical touches, (At the Scotiabank Dance Centre on and a score that will haunt you deep October 16 and 17) into your dreams at night. Target Down Under’s Lucy Guerin pre- Audience: Those looking for a spiritsents two dancers—one clothed, one ual awakening in the realest sense. naked—playing out humans’ most intense struggles. They start in pleas- PROGRAM 1 ant unison, but as their dance floor (At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre shrinks, they turn on each other. The from October 31 to November 2) Draw: This is dance as sparse and Artful, playful pleasures await on fearless as you are likely to see all year Ballet BC’s opening double bill, on-stage, and Guerin’s taken home which pairs Edmonton-born sennumerous awards for this tautly in- sation Aszure Barton’s Busk with tense little masterpiece. Target Audi- a remount of Swede Johan Inger’s ence: Those who know the simplest B.R.I.S.A. The Draw: While Inger’s ideas can be the most complex of all. wonderfully warped vision is full of surreal treats (hint: fans, hair dryers, SPIRIT and other gadgets create a literal (At the Vancouver Playhouse on “breeze”), it should be stunning to October 25 and 26) see Ballet BC take on Barton’s epiAustralia’s Bangarra Dance Theatre sodic and moodily poetic piece, kicks off the DanceHouse season in set to the rhythms of Ljova and the epic style with a piece that plays out Kontraband. Target Audience: Cul65,000 years of traditional Aborig- ture vultures who know ballet can be inal and Torres Strait Islander culture funny, twisted, and poignant—often through a contemporary lens. The all at the same time.

pushes his cultural fusions ever further, this time teaming up with bharata natyam virtuoso Sujit Vaidya, flamenco maven Kasandra “La China”, and avant-garde Montreal voice artist Gabriel Dharmoo. The Draw: The spicy flavours going into Tolentino’s mechado. Target Audience: Travel addicts and citizens of the world.

from previous page SPLIT

MÎNOWIN

(At the Cultch from November 20 to 24) The Dancers of Damelahamid blend traditional movement and hightech projections to tell age-old Indigenous stories. Video on multiple screens and the f loor conjures coastal landscapes and designs, as Kokoro Dance’s sweeping Reading the well as more transcendent ideas. Bones opens soon. Photo by Téa Mei The Draw: This troupe is findPASSAGES OF RHYTHMS ing cutting-edge ways to interpret (At the Nest on Granville Island from ancient Indigenous forms. Target November 6 to 9) Audience: Those curious to see Co.ERASGA’s Filipino-Canadian how the digital and the ancient can visionary Alvin Erasga Tolentino seamlessly interweave. BYGONES

In Partnership with Dancers of Damelahamid

BANGARRA DANCE THEATRE (AUSTRALIA)

SPIRIT

(At the Scotiabank Dance Centre from December 11 to 14) One of the city’s most exciting companies, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre builds entire haunting universes on-stage. This time out, think vintage-horror-movie shadow play, eerie puppets, and ghostly architecture. The Draw: The chance to see stunning troupe codirectors David Raymond and Tiffany Tregarthen (standouts in Crystal Pite’s Betroffenheit and Revisor) dance their own work, collaborating with performers Renée Sigouin, Elya Grant, and David Harvey. Target Audience: Motion-picture maniacs, fans of the otherworldly, and devoted dance followers. FLYING WHITE—

(At SFU Woodward’s from January 31 to February 2, 2020) Wen Wei Dance joins forces with an intercultural orchestra made up of eight Turning Point Ensemble

members and four from the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra. The piece takes its inspiration from Chinese calligraphy, and the simple elements of rice, paper, water, and silk. The Draw: Live music and six dancers moving with calligraphic flow—sometimes flourishing gorgeous, elongated black sleeves like ink. Target Audience: East and West. GHOST

(At the Cultch from February 12 to 15, 2020) In this copro with New Works, Montreal’s Tentacle Tribe shows yet more evidence of how spectacularly street dance can meld with contemporary styles. Mashing everything from hip-hop to martial arts, the six-person crew explores the theme of breathing, sculpting and resculpting its formations with every inhalation and exhalation. The Draw: Off-the-hook technical chops and a vision that’s cool without even trying. Target Audience: B-boys and -girls and their contemporary-dance-snob friends. FALLEN FROM HEAVEN

(At SFU Woodward’s from April 1 to 4, 2020) Way off in the spring, a momentous occasion: the hypermagnetic bad girl of f lamenco, Rocío Molina, is finally bringing her avant-garde, punk aesthetic here. Presented by DanceHouse, and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, in partnership with the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival. The Draw: Seemingly possessed when she performs, Molina conjures everything from bloodied angels to fetishistic matadors; think thongs, plastic skirts, and kneepads. The Guardian calls Fallen “a feminist scream”, “lyrical, raunchy and impeccably danced”. Target Audience: Anyone who caught Impulso, the documentary about Molina, at last year’s Vancouver International Film Festival—and never looked at f lamenco the same way again. g

JOIN TALK US FO R AT 6 :45P A PRE-C M AN O D M NCERT EET KAR I

“BANGARRA DANCE IS A TRIUMPH.” HERALD SUN

BEGINNINGS

7:30PM | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 PACIFIC SPIRIT UNITED CHURCH, 2205 W 45TH AVE AT YEW ST

The first concert is focused on beginnings, the most concrete being the relationship of the new Artistic Director with the choir and its audience. Kari Turunen chose choral works that celebrate the commencement of something new, even if the stories do not end all that well… The Wright brothers taking flight, a new emperor being crowned, the first Canadian satellite, Icarus flying too close to the sun, as well as spring emerging from the cold sky. And there is love, the beginning of beginnings. Old World music meets New and the works sparkle with invention and expression.

OCTOBER 25 & 26 8PM VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE TICKETS FROM

TICKETS & INFO: DANCEHOUSE.CA

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vancouverchamberchoir.com

22 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

CHAN CENTRE PRESENTS SEP 28 OCT 5 OCT 19 NOV 2 NOV 16 FEB 29 MAR 8 APR 4 APR 18

Rosanne Cash Mari Boine DakhaBrakha Flamenco Legends: The Paco de Lucía Project Orquesta Akokán We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dianne Reeves: Beleza Brazil La Santa Cecilia Kalabanté: Afrique en Cirque

BEYOND WORDS OCT 30 Huff NOV 6 Trader Time NOV 20-21 Black Like Me MAR 26 Ridge

ROSANNE CASH MARI BOINE

DAKHABRAKHA

IVAN COYOTE TRADER TIME

chancentre.com SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 23

Arts Whistler presents the

World Premiere of a New Indigenous Play

útszan

A Community Truth and Reconciliation Initative in whistler, bc hŶĐŽǀĞƌ /ŶĚŝŐĞŶŽƵƐ ŬŶŽǁůĞĚŐĞ͕ ŚƵŵŽƵƌ͕ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƐŝůŝĞŶĐĞ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚŽƌǇ ĂďŽƵƚ ĨĂŵŝůǇ ĂŶĚ ůĂŶŐƵĂŐĞ ƌĞĐůĂŵĂƟŽŶ ƚŚĂƚ ǁŝůů ƌĞƐŽŶĂƚĞ ǁŝƚŚ Ăůů ĂƵĚŝĞŶĐĞƐ͘ Y Θ ƚŽ ĨŽůůŽǁ ĞĂĐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͘

tƌŝƩĞŶ ĂŶĚ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĞĚ ďǇ

Yvonne Wallace

at Maury Young Arts Centre Sept. 19, 20, 21, 22 at 7:00 pm. Sept. 19, 20 Matinees at 1:00 pm.

$5.00/person Doors at 6:15 pm Doors at 12:15 pm

Directed by

Jefferson Guzman

tŚŝƐƚůĞƌ ŝƐ ůŽĐĂƚĞĚ ǁŝƚŚŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƵŶĐĞĚĞĚ ƚƌĂĚŝƟŽŶĂů ƚĞƌƌŝƚŽƌŝĞƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ >ŝů͛ǁĂƚ EĂƟŽŶ ĂŶĚ ^ƋƵĂŵŝƐŚ EĂƟŽŶ͘

BUY TICKETS: ARTSWHISTLER.COM/UTSZAN

ŐĞ ƌĞƐƚƌŝĐƟŽŶ͗ ϭϯн ;ŶŽƚ ƐƵŝƚĂďůĞ ĨŽƌ ĞůĞŵĞŶƚĂƌǇ ƐĐŚŽŽůͲĂŐĞĚ ĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶͿ DĂƵƌǇ zŽƵŶŐ ƌƚƐ ĞŶƚƌĞ ͮ ϰϯϯϱ͕ ůĂĐŬĐŽŵď tĂǇ͕ tŚŝƐƚůĞƌ ͮ ϲϬϰͲϵϯϱͲϴϰϭϬ

What’s On This Fall at the Audain Art Museum Opening September 21, 2019 Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing – French Modernism and the West Coast

Friday Nights in September Art After Dark – Drop-in Art Making Sessions & Yoga @ the AAM

Friday Nights in October Whistler Wine Walks – Out on the Town Series

Plan your fall visit at audainartmuseum.com/events Located between Day Lots 3 & 4 in the centre of Whistler Village Emily Carr (1871-1945) The Crazy Stair (The Crooked Staircase) (detail) c. 1928-30 26 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

FALL ARTS

Diverse survival stories take the stage by Andrea Warner

THEATRE

prominently features a “modern minstrel show” that’s meant to confront racist stereotypes of black people. The Draw: This remount of SpeakEasy Theatre’s Jessie Award–winning 2017 production, with the original cast, gives audiences a rare second chance to either a) finally score tickets to the previously sold-out show or b) experience the subversive play about black identity for a second time and relish the exquisite performances. Target Audience: Those who enjoy challenging, bracing theatre that’s as fearless and funny as it is fraught.

Critics’ picks

d THE OVERWHELMING truth right now is that most people are just trying to survive. Some have more tools or privilege than others, but many of Vancouver’s fall theatre offerings address aspects of navigating, negotiating, or confronting that survival, be it through bravery and compassion (Arts Club Theatre’s Cost of Living), humour and horror (Direct Theatre Collective’s Hysteria at the Havana; Pacific Theatre’s Frankenstein: Lost in Darkness), defiance and hope (the Cultch’s Hold These Truths), or music and heart (Raincity Theatre’s site-specific Company; Broadway Across Canada’s Dear Evan Hansen). The most important step is, of course, listening to and centring the narratives, lived experiences, and creative voices of artists who are Indigenous, LGBT, racialized, and

TAKE D MILK, NAH?

Jivesh Parasram tackles race, religion, and much more in Take D Milk, Nah?.

from other historically marginalized communities. Thankfully, this coming season boasts a variety of captivating and challenging shows from which to choose. THE SHIPMENT

(At the Firehall Arts Centre from September 24 to October 5 and at Presentation House Theatre from

October 8 to 12) Award-winning Korean-American playwright Young Jean Lee (whose Straight White Men runs from February 6 to 15, 2020, at Gateway Theatre) is a powerful voice in contemporary theatre, thanks in part to her penchant for interrogating colonial violence and other so-called controversial subjects. Case in point: The Shipment

(At the Vancity Culture Lab from October 16 to 26) Theatre artist Jivesh Parasram guarantees his new play is “the first IndoCaribbean-Hindu-Canadian identity play, as far as we know, ever done. It’s also a massive attempt to destroy the idea of an identity play.” Parasram tackles race, religion, culture, and nationalism through storytelling and ritual, and he does it with candour

and wit, as in his “Hin-do’s and Hindon’ts” for navigating life. The Draw: Parasram is a massive new talent. He won the 2018 Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, and Take d Milk, Nah? was nominated for a 2018 Dora Award for outstanding new play. Also, in the play he talks about that one time he tried to assist in the birth of a cow, which sounds like a fun story. Target Audience: Those who value the invitation to explore complex topics through a cross-cultural lens while also enjoying a good laugh. THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF MARY JANE MOSQUITO

(At Presentation House Theatre on October 26 and 27, and at Carousel Theatre for Young People from October 30 to November 10) This story of a misfit mosquito trying to figure out her place in the world will resonate with children and grownups alike. This is a new piece from acclaimed Cree playwright Tomson Highway, and his background in

see next page

Don’t Miss the Fringe!

Festival Ends Sunday, Sept. 15. VancouverFringe.com NOV. 23 & 24, 2019 Experience Elektra’s celebrated concert evoking the warmth and wonder of the Christmas season. With special guests, Vetta Chamber Players, Joan Blackman, Artistic Director, and the Vancouver Bach Children’s Chorus, Marisa Gaetanne, Music Director.

MARCH 7, 2020 Immerse yourself in exquisite music from 17th century Italy as Canada’s celebrated Elektra Women’s Choir and guest conductor, Alexander Weimann perform virtuosic music by seven women composers of the baroque era.

MAY 6 & 7, 2020 The Lost Words: A Book of Spells is a bestselling book about the natural world. A concert featuring whimsical and evocative new compositions on spells by author Robert MacFarlane and illustrations by Jackie Morris.

Purchase your 2019–2020 season tickets by Sept. 30th and enjoy a 20% discount. Visit TICKETSTONIGHT.CA and search for Elektra Women’s Choir.

& Save Time for the Pick Plus!

Rocko and Nakota: Tales From the Land Wednesday, Sept. 18

Flute Loops Thursday, Sept. 19

The Ballad of Frank Allen Thursday, Sept. 19

Buy Tickets at VancouverFringe.com

Season Media Sponsor

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 27

aonon(ymous) by naomi iizuka

antony cleopatra shakespeare’s

sept 26 - oct 13

Indigenous social work and education is a compelling source from which he can draw compassionate and relatable characters—and help kids feel seen. The Draw: The staging sounds spectacular, with live music and puppetry, as well as interactive elements that teach audiences Cree words and phrases. Target Audience: Those with young families and open hearts who want to celebrate and learn more about Cree artists and culture.

nov 14 - dec 1

studio 5 8 seas on 1 9/2 0 by mark hollmann and greg kotis

fourplay new work by excited writers

6 0 4 .6 8 4 .2 7 8 7 | ticketstonight.ca | www.studio5 8 .ca | @ s t u d i o 5 8 t h e a t r e

urinetown

might be his most ambitious yet. Maya has spent six years in her bedroom, a total recluse, save for her world of virtual reality. But when a random player challenges her to save her father’s life, she must venture back into the real world, specifically Japan’s notorious Suicide Forest. The Draw: Shigematsu’s previous shows, Empire of the Son and 1 Hour Photo, were wildly acclaimed, and the show’s director, Amiel Gladstone, was the director and cocreator of the hit musical Onegin. Target Audience: People THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK who love celebrating innovative LANTINX creators who want to experiment (At the Norman Rothstein Theatre and take risks. from November 6 to 9 as part of the ANYWHERE BUT HERE Chutzpah Festival) If this concept sounds audacious or (At the Vancouver Playhouse from controversial, then it’s important to February 4 to 15, 2020) understand Jewish American director Carmen Aguirre’s new play folStan Zimmerman’s intentions behind lows a family in exile who end the project. Zimmerman found out up on a “psycho-social-spiritualabout the more than one dozen safe physical journey” back to Chile houses in the Los Angeles area hid- from Canada, a reversal along their ing Mexican and Latin families from original path north as refugees. U.S. Immigration and Customs En- The darkly funny production utilforcement, and he wondered about izes magical-realist tropes to crehow these people were surviving. ate a rich and vibrant framework He thought about The Diary of Anne through which the family can exFrank and Jewish families concealed plore its history. But the play also in safe houses to evade capture by has one foot in reality, set along the Nazis, and he couldn’t help but the U.S.–Mexican border, celebratsee parallels. Thus, The Diary of Anne ing “working-class Latinx culture”, Frank LatinX was created. The Draw: and spotlighting “the invisible, unIt’s a bold move to restage and recon- documented brown workers that textualize such a beloved and iconic people the Americas”. The Draw: work as The Diary of Anne Frank, but This is the world premiere and it as Jewish Americans and countless includes original raps by acclaimed others decry the American detention Rwandan-Canadian hip-hop artist centres as contemporary concentra- Shad Kabango and compositions tion camps, this is a potentially bril- by Vancouver-based musician Joeliant way of bridging art and meaning- lysa Pankanea. The sprawling cast ful activism. Target Audience: Those features 10 artists of colour, and who have turned a blind eye to what’s the producers at Electric Comgoing on in America, those facing hate pany Theatre describe the show and injustice, and those who are ready as a “celebration of Latinx theatre in Vancouver”. Target Audience: to rise up. Those who gravitate towards amKUROKO bitious, innovative shows, those (At the Historic Theatre at the Cultch who care about refugees and imfrom November 6 to 17) migrants, and those who have yet Tetsuro Shigematsu is one of the to acknowledge the severity of the city’s best artists, and his new play global refugee crisis. g from previous page

jan 30 - feb 16

mar 25 - apr 5

Save $5! Use promo code 1986 at artsclub.com by Wed, Sep 18 Not valid on Zone C

“A RIVETING TALE”—BroadwayWorld.com By Ursula Rani Sarma Based on the book by Khaled Hosseini

Now playing to Oct 13 In partnership with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre

playing at stanley industrial alliance stage

28 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

granville island stage

goldcorp stage at the bmo theatre centre

19/20

SEASON BIG IDEAS / MATURE PERSPECTIVES

The Shipment OCT 8 - 12 A SpeakEasy Theatre Production

Jake’s Gift NOV 11 - 17 Produced by Juno Productions

God’s Lake FEB 18–23 A Castlereigh Theatre Project

KIDSPLAY / FOR THE YOUNG AND CHILDLIKE

The Incredible Adventures of Mary Jane Mosquito OCT 26–27 A Carousel Players Production

Where The Wild Things Are NOV 29–DEC 15 A Presentation House Theatre Production

Hands and Feet FEB 26–MAR 1 A Theatre Wrede Production (Germany)

House at Pooh Corner APR 3 - 11 A Carousel Theatre for Young People production in association with Presentation House Theatre

WORK AT PLAY / RESIDENCY SERIES

Fragile OCT 2–6 A Macromatter Production

Zoning Out APR 28 – MAY 2 Presented by BlackOut Theatre, in association with Presentation House Theatre

FREE COMMUNITY EVENT

Nchem?u?s Day SEPT 21 1–3 PM

On the lawns of Presentation House Theatre

BOOK YOUR TICKETS TODAY! Online: phtheatre.org Box Office: 604.990.3474

333 Chesterfield Ave at 3rd Street North Vancouver BC

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 29

WORLD PREMIERE

Lisa Jackson’s

Transmissions

An Indigenous Futurist Multimedia Installation Free Public Tours Tuesday through Friday, starting at 1pm September 6 – 28, 2019 SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts Produced by Electric Company Theatre in association with Violator Films

www.sfuwoodwards.ca

30 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

Image: Jeneen Frei Njootli in film “Unearthed,” part of Transmissions. Photo: Yuula Benivolski.

Presented by SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs

FALL ARTS

Striking shows to see across region by Robin Laurence

VISUAL ARTS Critics’ picks

d THERE’S A WEALTH of newmedia, photographic, and video art on view this season as the Surrey Art Gallery celebrates the 20th anniversary of its groundbreaking TechLab. It and other galleries continue to embrace all that is digital while examining what remains of the natural. Again, art poses questions about who we are and where we come from. Visiting artists from New Zealand and Australia take up residencies here as local artist-run centres move to less costly digs. Look for the Or Gallery—founded in 1983 by artist Laiwan and based for the past decade in the iconic space at 555 Hamilton Street—to reopen this month in a smaller venue on East Pender Street. Although the Or will be joining an energetic visual-arts community in Chinatown, the move isn’t all celebration and delight: rising rents in this Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #577 dye sublimation metal print reflects the artist’s outrageously overpriced city are put- interests in using wigs, clothing, and accessories to depict certain time periods. ting the squeeze on artists and gallerists alike. But still, here’s to new and the show shakes up our relationship CINDY MOCHIZUKI: CAVE TO renewed commitments to keeping on with nature. Other artworks include a DREAM/JON SASAKI: WE FIRST stereoscopic 3-D video of West Coast NEED A BOAT FOR THE RISING TIDE keeping on. rainforest, a computer program that TO LIFT US GARDEN IN THE MACHINE translates garden imagery into col- (At the Richmond Art Gallery from (At the Surrey Art Gallery from Sepoured light sequences, and an omin- September 29 to November 17) tember 21 to December 15) ous virtual-reality game that brings Two distinctive, performance-based Leading digital artists from across us face to simulated face with the installations enliven the Richmond Canada contemplate ways in which disastrous impact of humanity upon Art Gallery this fall. Vancouver artthe natural world intersects with, our fragile environment. The Draw: ist Cindy Mochizuki evokes folkloric parallels, or is mediated by the digital This exhibition consolidates the gal- and ritual traditions of Japan’s Akita realm. Or is it the other way around? lery’s continued leadership role in the prefecture with hand-drawn animaFrom computer-composited photo- development and exhibition of digital tion, sound, and live-action video. graphs that draw comparisons be- art. And then there’s the lineup: Faisal Her focus is on the metaphor of the tween organic waste and digital Anwar, Helma Sawatzky, Leila Sujir, cave and rituals that signify the pasgarbage to a monumentally scaled, Robert Youds, and culture hero Law- sage of time, the cycle of life and death, interactive video that evokes the or- rence Paul Yuxweluptun collaborat- and the possibility of new beginnings nate geometry of a Persian garden, ing with Paisley Smith. within apparent endings. Toronto

and sculptures, Egyptian artist Wael Shawky turns conventional narrative and filmic techniques on their heads, challenging cultural memory, historical documents, and prevailing mythologies. Curator Helga Pakasaar says that Shawky “brings into dialogue real and imagined histories of the Arab world”. Shot in and near the ancient city of Abydos in Upper Egypt, today known as the village of Al Araba Al Madfuna, his work, Pakasaar continues, “evokes Egypt’s struggle with INGRID KOENIG: NAVIGATING THE its immense history, as a modernUNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE day country trying to excavate and (At the Contemporary Art Gallery give meaning to its storied past”. The façade and off-site at YaletownDraw: Although Shawky is interRoundhouse Canada Line Station nationally acclaimed and collected, from October 11 to March 22) this is the first exhibition of his art in As artist in residence at TRIUMF, the Western Canada. particle-accelerator centre at UBC, Ingrid Koenig has been exploring what CINDY SHERMAN she calls diverse “ways of knowing”— (At the Vancouver Art Gallery from that is, approaches to understanding October 26 to March 8) the world that are quite different from One of the world’s most admired and those familiar to most visual artists. acclaimed visual artists, Cindy SherTo most Vancouverites, for that mat- man has established a long, intriguter. Through her large-scale graphite ing, and chameleonlike career by drawings, she braids scientific dia- altering her appearance for the camgrams that attempt to articulate com- era. Employing an ever-changing asplex physical phenomena together sortment of wigs, clothing, makeup, with depictions of daily domestic and accessories, she has assumed tasks, such as cooking and washing the hundreds of different roles through dishes. The Draw: If you haven’t con- a range of time periods, geographical templated black holes while putting settings, and social situations. As the leftovers into the refrigerator, here is VAG media release tells us, “her ficthe occasion to do so. More poetically, tional portraits both highlight and let’s say that Koenig asks us to visit the confront notions of beauty, aging, place where the quotidian meets the sexuality, and the gaze.” In addition to her major photographic series, this wondrous workings of the universe. comprehensive retrospective, organWAEL SHAWKY: AL ARABA AL ized by the National Portrait Gallery, MADFUNA London, in collaboration with the (At the Polygon Gallery from October VAG, includes rarely seen early works, 18 to January 12) images of her New York studio, and a Employing a video installation digital version of A Cindy Book. The together with related drawings Draw: It’s Cindy Sherman! g artist Jon Sasaki uses his videotaped performance—vainly attempting to build a traditional Japanese fishing boat while standing waist-deep in the Fraser River near Steveston—to mark the losses of freedom, property, and livelihoods suffered by Japanese Canadians interned during the Second World War. The Draw: Both artists create moving narratives as a way of evoking past lives and traditional cultures that continue to resonate today.

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THROUGH SEPT 29 Organized by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery Organize Visionary P Partners for Historical E Exhibitions:

Supporting Sponsor:

Generously supported by:

Supported by the Government of Canada / Avec l’appui du gouvernement du Canada:

Huaijun C Chen and Family

Alberto Giacometti, Gia Man Walking (Version I), 1960, bronze, edition 3/6, Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1961

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 31

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Not only are comedy stalwarts Jon Dore (left) and Greg Fitzsimmons (right) set to land in Vancouver, fans of the fictional band Spinal Tap can see Derek Smalls.

COMEDY

from a broad spectrum of fans, both mainstream and alt.

Critics’ picks

SCHITT’S CREEK: UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

d THE CITY HAS lost a standup club since last fall, but there’s still plenty of comedy of all styles to be had at venues across town. SHAWN FARQUHAR

(At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 20) Long gone are the days when Canadian TV shows ipso facto sucked. Now they’re getting so popular, they head out on the road and play live to fans. Hell, this one has even played L.A. and will be in Vegas the night before its Vancouver appearance. The Draw: SCTV superstars Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara, for sure, but the whole ensemble is so good and so… weird. If you haven’t yet taken the plunge, this might be a good place to start, because presumably they’ll show just the best clips. Target Audience: If you’ve already binge-watched all four seasons and 52 episodes on Netflix, you’ll be jonesing for these familiar faces.

(At a secret location in Chinatown on September 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 27, and 28) While not straight comedy, master magician Shawn Farquhar elicits tons of laughs—some through his admittedly dad-joke type patter, but most from the fact that you can’t believe what you just thought you saw. The Draw: He’s a two-time world champion of magic and was the first magician to fool Penn & Teller twice on Fool Us. Which is more impressive? Target Audience: Fans of closeup magic will be in heaven at a secret location, revealed—almost like PIFF THE MAGIC DRAGON magic—when a ticket is purchased. (At the Vogue Theatre on November 9) GREG FITZSIMMONS What?! Two magic acts in the comedy (At Yuk Yuk’s on September 20 and 21) listings? That’s right. John van der Put Finally, Vancouver gets Greg is a world-weary and droll Brit who Fitzsimmons. Maybe he’s been too hilariously performs brilliant stage busy over the years winning Emmys, magic in a rumpled dragon’s coswriting books, acting, and hosting tume. The Draw: See previous senhis popular podcast. The Draw: De- tence. What’s not to love? Come for spite all the other accomplishments, the magic and stay for the jokes. Or it’s his standup that got him where he vice versa. Target Audience: Magic is. Let’s not forget he’s kinda decent geeks will surely be out in droves, but at that, too. Target Audience: For Piff transcends any niche art form. a medium that still not everybody knows about, podcasts draw huge DEREK SMALLS, FORMERLY OF and devout audiences. If you’re not a THE BAND FORMERLY KNOWN AS listener, get your tickets quick before SPINAL TAP (At the Vogue Theatre the tuned-in scoop them up. on November 11) ERIC ANDRE The legendary bassist who sings “It (At the Vogue Theatre on September 20) Don’t Get Old” is getting old. He’s According to his tour name, Eric 78, but thankfully the mastermind Andre wants to Legalize Everything. behind Derek Smalls, comic actor We can only hope that’s just in ref- Harry Shearer, is only a spry 75. The erence to drugs and not, say, arson, Draw: Even if you didn’t grow up embezzlement, and murder. But I’m with Spinal Tap, you grew up with sure his thesis will be interesting. Spinal Tap references. You can’t esThe Draw: As anyone who’s seen his cape the references in pop culture. talk show knows, Andre is a force Target Audience: Fans of Goldilocks of nature. He’s surreal, bizarre, and will appreciate the middle ground high-strung. You can’t take your eyes between fire and ice that Smalls says off him. Target Audience: His hard- he resides in: the just-right “lukecore fans skew younger and defin- warm water”. itely more stoned. JON DORE

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32 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

(At Yuk Yuk’s on October 18 and 19) It’s always a treat when Jon Dore comes to town. The Canadian expat is one of the most inventive and original standups working. The Draw: The dry silliness of Dore will get you giggling and that’ll buoy you through the weekend. Target Audience: We’ll always love him best for his groundbreaking Jon Dore Television Show on the Comedy Network (back when they cared about producing Canadian comedy), but he’s done so much since moving to L.A. in 2008—from network sitcoms (How I Met Your Mother) to sketch shows (Inside Amy Schumer) to late-night talk shows, to his appearances on Canada’s own Baroness Von Sketch Show—that he draws

JUST FOR LAUGHS COMEDY NIGHT IN CANADA

(At the Orpheum on November 15) Any show touring of the Great White North could be called Comedy Night in Canada, but this JFL offering has the distinction of offering all-Canadian talent. The Draw: The biggest name on the bill is MC Rick Mercer. It also features CBC’s Laugh Out Loud host Ali Hassan and Gemini-winning Debra DiGiovanni. But pay closer attention to superstar in waiting (and Vancouver’s own) Ivan Decker, whose comedy album won a Juno in 2018. Target Audience: Loyalists who know Canada’s comics are among the funniest and visitors who should see for themselves. g

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Expand the Frame

Edition 38

Vancouver International Film Festival September 26 – October 11, 2019

Martha: A Picture Story SELINA MILES, AUSTRALIA/USA THU. SEP 26

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Selina Miles’ doc depicts Martha Cooper, the photographer whose pictures of hip-hop graffiti helped spread the art form across the globe. Lively, fluid, and chock-full of fascinating images, Martha is as valuable for its history as for its visuals; besides graffiti, it shines a light on breakdancing and other urban folk arts through the story of their chief American chronicler. “Joyous... Eighty of the happiest minutes documentary-lovers are likely to spend in a theater this year.” —Hollywood Reporter Discover More: viff.org

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34 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

FRINGE FEST

The daring and dark deliver at Fringe LARRY Candice Roberts’s one-woman

show challenges the extremes and limitations of the gender binary through a FUBAR-esque mechanic metalhead named Larry who loves dick jokes, ball jokes, and beer. His malapropisms are laugh-out-loud missteps and his hyper-sexist attitudes are begging for a swift kick. But he’s also fallen for a woman who refuses his invitation to go on a date because she prefers men who are artistic, empathetic, and cultured. Larry decides to prove he’s all of those things and it’s all a credit to Roberts’s creation and performance that Larry is as funny as he is flawed. The show takes a surprising turn when Larry demonstrates how to meditate, moving into a long but compelling dream sequence, one that may or may not leave him changed forever. This is a daring, weird, hilarious show with headbanging, so basically everything you could want from the Fringe. At Havana Theatre on September 13 (6 p.m.), 14 (8:30 p.m.), and 15 (3:45 p.m.) by Andrea Warner INESCAPABLE Martin Dockery’s new

play is a technical and creative marvel that’s probably among the most challenging 55 minutes on-stage for any actor. Two old friends sit in the kitchen trying to escape a Christmas party and find themselves stuck, seemingly, in some kind of loop. Maybe it’s real, maybe it’s not, but as they restart their conversation-meets-confrontationmeets-confession over and over again, long-held secrets surface and the foundation of their friendship comes under attack. Big questions are raised about loyalty and love, midlife crises, how we move forward and dislodge ourselves from bad patterns, and how essential we

are to our own lives. The sheer volume of lines both actors grapple with would put a Gilmore Girls script to shame, and it’s a testament to the quality of both the writing and the acting that Inescapable is so addictive and engrossing. At the Waterfront Theatre on September 11 (5 p.m.), 12 (10:30 p.m.), 13 (6:45 p.m.), and 15 (4:45 p.m.) by AW BEDWETTER Tamlynn Bryson is a

fearless and charming storyteller and performer. The title of Bryson’s onewoman show, cowritten with Kyle Kimmerly, is pretty self-explanatory. Bryson wet the bed until she was 15. As the script unfolds throughout her life, we see the myriad ways in which she had to navigate, strategize, and cope with a bladder that just wouldn’t behave. Bryson speaks candidly about the tremendous amount of confidence she had as a child—openly discussing her body and the diaper she wore at night on the playground, calling out gym teachers who made jokes about wearing diapers—and when she remembers learning to feel shame for being “gross” or “smelly”, for being different. It’s a powerful thing to witness Bryson use comedy and theatre to talk openly and publicly about her body, destigmatizing all our bodies along the way. At Studio 16 on September 12 (8:30 p.m.) and 14 (8:15 p.m.) by AW

RAPE IS REAL & EVERYWHERE If

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Leo Kottke

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Full Moon Fever: A re-imagining of Tom Petty’s iconic album

Lemon Bucket Orkestra

Pharis and Jason Romero

Strunz & Farah

Rahim AlHaj Trio

April Verch

Black Hen Roadshow

Cécile McLorin Salvant and The Aaron Diehl Trio

Peter Bernstein with the CapU jazz ensembles

Charlie Hunter and Lucy Woodward

Tord Gustavsen Trio

A Tribute to Bird and Diz

Gord Grdina’s Haram featuring Marc Ribot

Renee Rosnes with the CapU jazz ensembles

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio

Dr. Jen Gunter

Robyn Doolittle

More speakers TBA for 2019–2020 Season

Ogden is an award-winning Filipino storyteller, incredibly funny, and a force on-stage. Most people familiar with the online targeted harassment of feminists, particularly feminists of colour, will understand that the title of the show is a declaration: Ogden will not be silenced. But she’s also ready to laugh while she’s tearing down white supremacy with both hands, and she wants to share stories about her family, particularly about the relationships that exist between her, her mom, and her grandma (the “Pinay Gilmore Girls”). Ogden and her matriarchs have been dealing with sexism, racism, and misogyny forever. Their intergenerational trauma is as real as the smile they all share, and Ogden brilliantly illuminates that everything about equity and justice is deeply personal. At the Nest on September 14 (6:30 p.m.) and 15 (3:15 p.m.) by AW

DIDN’T HURT Rodney Decroo’s oneman show is a deeply vulnerable

see page 37

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was breathtakingly funny, surprisingly hopeful, and, of course, horrifying and enraging. These are the darkest of jokes, but they’re also some of the funniest, most mind-blowing things I’ve ever heard. The majority of survivors never actually get justice. A stage might just be the closest they’ll ever get, and that makes for a depressing reality as well as a powerful, unforgettable show. At the Cultch on September 12 (6:45 p.m.), 13 (8:45 p.m.), and 14 (1:45 p.m.) by AW

MONICA VS. THE INTERNET Monica

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Candice Roberts plays a metalhead in hilarious Larry. Photo by Kristine Cofsky

THERE AIN’T NO MORE Willi Carlisle is a ferocious talent who’s as deft a performer as he is a musician. The artist plays five instruments on-stage, with impressive skill, and within the first 10 minutes, it’s clear that this isn’t your typical musical Fringe show. Carlisle, who is also the playwright, brings to life an aging folksinger grappling with his mortality. His concerns are interwoven, many the result of the ongoing colonial and immigrant-settler violence of America. As he looks back, the folksinger confronts things such as his PTSD from Vietnam; the grinding, inescapable poverty of the rural South; and the only salvation he’s ever known—folk music. Carlisle’s smart script is full of beautiful lines and observations—“singin’ the symptom is not the cure.” And it’s the best kind of love letter to American folk culture because it holds the genre accountable for its problematic roots, while still appreciating the art that’s arisen from the hearts and minds of its people. At the Revue Stage on September 11 (5 p.m.), 14 (9:10 p.m.), and 15 (3:30 p.m.) by AW

anything, #MeToo’s continued unmasking of serial sexual predators has only amplified the need for a show like Rape Is Real & Everywhere. It puts rape jokes in the hands of comedians who are survivors and it prioritizes their experiences, their healing, their voices. Twenty standup comedians will perform throughout the show’s run, but the iteration I saw on September 8

2019–2020

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SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 35

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36 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

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from page 35

interrogation of rage and the inherent ruin of violence. It’s also profoundly personal, culled from the lived experiences of his ravaged body and mind, the horrific childhood abuse that shaped his life and the 40-plus years he’s spent trying to survive and cope with the effects. Finally Decroo is gaining some semblance of healing, and part of that is Didn’t Hurt. Decroo tells his story in flashbacks, and though it’s not always the most rewarding thing to watch adults regress-act themselves back to being little kids, Decroo makes it work. A few moments stretch on, but Decroo is masterful at holding the audience. Didn’t Hurt is a heartbreaking and important piece that feels like it has the potential to save lives. At the Cultch on September 14 (5:30 p.m.) and 15 (2:30 p.m.) by AW PERV HUNTERS Playwright and lead actor Stephanie Mills is McNally, a male police officer and proud perv hunter. McNally can’t see any humanity in the perps he puts away with the help of his partner and best friend, fellow avowed perv hunter Rick (Emily Carlstrom). In addition to catching regular pervs, the duo are on the lookout for the prolific Butt Photocopy Pervert. Perv Hunters is ridiculous and hilarious, and far better than it really has any right to be. Mills has cultivated a specific rhythm in crafting this utterly bizarre but charming world, and all members of the sprawling, diverse cast have moments when their supporting characters shine. Everybody is funny and the actors nail their deliveries or land the jokes. Perv Hunters also does a great job of quietly commenting on the absence of compassion in overly keen law enforcement officers. It also features the greatest turkey-butt-stuffing joke I’ve ever heard. At the Waterfront Theatre on September 11 (7:30 p.m.), 14 (9:45 p.m.), and 15 (1:10 p.m.) by AW

in L.A. at 35, making her unlikely dream of becoming a comedian and an actor come true. Sort of. She details growing up in Japan in a deeply dysfunctional family, coping with a lifetime of trauma and sexism through comedy. Kusano’s mother and father are fascinating, difficult people. Her mother, a former beauty queen, cannot cope with her mental illness and her father, who travels for long stretches on business, sees nothing inappropriate about describing the cultural differences of sex workers around the world to his eight-year-old daughter. Kusano doesn’t shy away from talking about the awful ways they treated her, but there’s also love, generosity, and warmth in how she portrays them, because family is complicated. At Arts Umbrella on September 12 (6:15 p.m.), 13 (8 p.m.), and 14 (9:45 p.m.) by AW YOU BELONG HERE This is Martin

Dockery’s second show at this year’s Fringe (Inescapable is the other), and it’s another marvel of a performance. You Belong Here is a comedy about beginnings, and Dockery’s mastery at keeping an audience rapt and on edge is the gift that keeps on giving. In part, it’s his presence and his delivery, and You Belong Here makes great use of both as he restarts the show multiple times for a variety of wonderfully ridiculous reasons. Dockery tells the audience that he likes beginnings, he’s great at them, less so at endings, and truly terrible at middles. Each component here is engaging and hilarious, and the final piece is particularly heartfelt and personal, but there’s a lag in that middle that Dockery warned us about. At Havana Theatre on September 11 (7:45 p.m.), 12 (5:45 p.m.), and 14 (4:30 p.m.) by AW

Stephanie Mills and Emily Carlstrom in Perv Hunters. Photo by Kiersten O’Hara

tragedy now is this play’s confused plot and half-baked social commentary. Carmina Bernhardt, playwright and lead actor, is funny and sometimes earnest. But she’s buried under bad jokes about texting slang. Her Jules makes a token effort to decry the patriarchal society that brought her so low. There’s an attempt at replicating Shakespearean language and

meter, but the contrast with the other half of the script in modern-style prose doesn’t work. It simply feels unfinished. Any fan of the Bard would love a sincere exploration of what the relationship between Juliet and Rosaline could have been. But this version needs a lot of work before it gets there. At the Firehall Arts Centre on September 12 (6:30 p.m.) by Katherine Dornian

the male lead delivers a speech to a princess about how she can just rescue herself, that “it doesn’t have to be this way.” This male character is gaslighting the princess, and the real-world parallels are just too much to handle. At Studio 16 on September 11 (9 p.m.), 13 (5 p.m.), and 14 (4:30 p.m.) by AW

PRINCESS RESCUERS Playwright Ben Bilodeau has some interesting and bold ideas in his new script, but it lacks clarity and focus, and it needs more jokes. The concept is sort of intriguing: in an imaginary future world, every woman is a princess who gets put in a tower on her 18th birthday. Princes can offload the hassle of freeing them and outsource the job. The two princess rescuers here screw up their contract and are forced to take on an impossible job in order to recoup their money and their reputations. I don’t want to spoil anything, but a witch ends up as the main villain, even though the actual villain is the patriarchy, and at the end,

man and Nick Ryan’s 13-song cycle imagines the ghost of Anna Morgan Faber inhabiting the body of a paranormal scientist and telling her story of hardship on the American frontier in 1867. This is a frustrating framework that yet again centres the experience of colonizers and settlers at the expense of the Indigenous people. There’s no disputing the beauty of Hartman’s voice or the power of her solo performance, but the question I kept coming back to was “Why?” Why another colonizer’s story as the focal point in 2019? At the Revue Stage on September 12 (6:45 p.m.), 14 (5:45 p.m.), and 15 (1:45 p.m.) by AW

THE LEGEND OF WHITE WOMAN Playwrights Katie HartCREEK

T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E AT SEI Z IE ME. C A

R’N’J: THE UNTOLD STORY OF SHAKESPEARE’S ROZ AND JULES

This show reimagines an ending to Romeo and Juliet where a pregnant PRETTY BEAST Kazu Kusano’s hil- Juliet doesn’t kill herself, but finds arious and devastating Pretty Beast Romeo’s previous love Rosaline and tells the story of how she ended up goes on the lam with her. The real

Patrick Street Productions presents Luisa Jojic or Peter Jorgensen in

Herringbone A Delightfully Upsetting One-Person Musical

ENGLISH

S URT I T L E S Book by Tom Cone Lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh Music by Skip Kennon Based on the one-act play by Tom

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September 24 – October 6 Anvil Centre Theatre 777 Columbia Street, New Westminster

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ticketstonight.ca / (604) 684-2787 With the support of the Cultural and Scientific Service of the Embassy of France to Canada. SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 37

ARTS OCT TOBER 25, 20 019

AMORE / DOLORE The beauty and pain of love through music of Monteverdi, Lauridsen, Lang, and Jeffrey Ryan. DEC CEMBER R 19, 2019 9

DING DONG ! Our genre-bending irreverent take on the holiday season, with a guest jazz trioâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;an audience favourite! DEC CEMBER R 13â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2 21,, 20119

SING LULLABY A choral Christmas rooted in the English tradition, with music of Howells, Leighton, and Dove. APR RIL 24 4 , 2 02 0

THE VOICE OF THE SKY The natural world through Canadian and Scandinavian music, with new works by Owen Underhill on texts of Antoni GaudĂ.

M USI C AI NTI MA . O RG

â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;Ś maybe the greatest film youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever seen â&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;? Zadie Smith

THE CLOCK

BY CHRISTIAN MARCLAY EXTENDED! UNTIL SEPTEMBER 22

")1#(!Ç? #&3Ç? ,)'Ç?Â&#x192;Â&#x201A; 'Ç?LÇ?Â&#x2021;*'Ç?b &)- Ç? )( 3-c

The Polygon Gallery 101 Carrie Cates Court North Vancouver, BC thepolygon.ca #TheClock #ThePolygon

Organised by the National Gallery of Canada. Purchased in 2011 with the generous support of Jay Smith and Laura Rapp, andÂ CarolÂ and Morton Rapp, Toronto. Jointly owned by the NationalÂ Gallery of Canada and the Museum ofÂ Fine Arts, Boston. Christian Marclay, The Clock, 2010, single-channel video installation, duration: 24 hours ÂŠ the artist. Photo ÂŠ White Cube (Ben Westoby)

38 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 19 / 2019

Balletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tech-savvy update is creative and audacious by Janet Smith

DANCE @GISELLE

A Joshua Beamish/ MOVETHECOMPANY production. At the Vancouver Playhouse on Thursday, September 5. No remaining performances

d JUST THE SIGHT of the @ at the front of @giselle has the potential to give ballet purists hives. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s risky enough to try to modernize the epitome of 1800s romantic ballet, let alone fill it with selfies, emoji chats, live-stream video, and follower stats. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exactly what Vancouver choreographer Joshua Beamish has done, in a contemporary story ballet as audacious in concept as it is in execution. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s packed with carefully cued video projections that build an entire online world for the characters. Beamish has created a unique meld of classical form and popularculture references, using Giselleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s themes to illustrate the obsession and deception spawned by the era of omnipresent Instagram. In the original story, a German legend first turned into a ballet in 1841 Paris, Giselle is a young peasant girl who dies of a broken heart when she finds out her true love, aristocrat in disguise Albrecht, is engaged to another woman. In the second act, her spirit joins a band of ghosts called the Wilis, spurned women who died before marriage, as they attempt to dance Albrecht to death in revenge. In Beamishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheeky reimagining, Albrecht leads a double life on the Internet, flirting with Giselle in chats screened above her head. And Giselleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death is underscored by the brokenheart emoji. As for the second act, it plays out like a hallucination, with the Wilis as some kind of warped projection of Albrechtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sense of guilt. The result is occasionally funny and consistently entertaining, with clever references to the original en pointe choreographyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;even as Beamish reimagines the vocabulary with his more grounded contemporary style. The only drawback is that the dance itself takes a back seat to the

Catherine Hurlin is stunning as the lead in @giselle. Photo by Cindi Wicklund

online effects in the first act. But the second act lives up to the haunting power of the classic, using high tech and layered scrims to conjure a supernatural world where vengeful ghosts multiply through aweinducing digital wizardry. Here, the dance and effects interweave seamlessly, never overwhelming the choreography, the ballerinas joined by smudgy white spectres. Part of the reason dance fans will crave more ballet in the first act is that the talent here is top-grade. In the title role, American Ballet Theatre superstar Catherine Hurlin is magnetic, supple, and expressive, with flawless en pointe extensions. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vulnerable, but not the traditionally fragile Giselle. Hurlin whirls with the power of a typhoon in Giselleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demise, her coppery hair flailing and live viewersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; projected faces multiplying and closing in on her. As her hunky suitor Albrecht, New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;born Harrison James of the National Ballet of Canada is broodily spectacular. At one point, he executes a series of such pummelling entrechats, with repeated high jumps and madly scissoring midair footwork, that one wonders if the Wilis really will dance him to death. Overall, @giselle is worth swiping right on. To its credit, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cool and social-media-savvy enough to speak to younger audiences and bring them out to story ballet. g

Actors succeed with huge challenge in A Tender Thing by Katherine Dornian

THEATRE A TENDER THING

By Ben Power. Directed by Sarah Rodgers. A United Players of Vancouver Theatre Company production. At the Jericho Arts Centre on Friday, September 6. Continues until September 29

d A TENDER THING is a play that poses a massive challenge to its two actors: take the childish exhilaration and impulsivity of Romeo and Juliet, and temper them with the stable wisdom of old age. The good news is that Troy Skog and Denyse Wilson of the United Players pull this offâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;succeeding in essentially playing their roles in two opposing ways at once. Ben Powerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one-act play reworks text from Romeo and Juliet, plus some of Shakespeareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sonnets, to craft a story of the famous lovers, who, instead of dying together in their youth, have had a long and happy life together and are now facing a more ordinary death. Skog and Wilson arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t old or frail enough for this new kind of tragedy, but they do deliver on the emotion, Wilson especially. She retains Julietâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bright childlike joy, which blends beautifully with her more mature, seasoned pain. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heartbreaking in all the right ways.

Sarah Rodgersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direction faces some hurdles in the first half of the script, which is mostly a greatest-hits compilation of the Bardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most romantic sonnets and speeches from the original play. The characters reenact the famous balcony scene almost in its entirety, and it accidentally comes across as sad instead of romantic. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as if this couple are stuck in their past, which is clearly the opposite of what they intend. There are some clever moments, played sweetlyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;&#x153;when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang,â&#x20AC;? recites Juliet, indicating her blond hair, then Romeoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bald headâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but Rodgers makes it more purposeful in the second half, when Julietâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s illness sets in and the story picks up. This is where the show really gives the lovers new life, and lets Skog and Wilson deliver their very best. R. Todd Parkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s set design adds a nice touchâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a minimalist white stage with just a few featureless shapes, complete with a light haze being pumped into the room, makes the space feel dreamlike and ethereal. The soft light (through yonder window) makes it feel welcoming, and adds to the bittersweet quality of the story. It all suggests a timeless space for this incarnation of Romeo and Julietâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and all things considered, they really do deserve it. g

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THE SOURCE 7:30PM SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020 Koerner Recital Hall, VAM

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

VANCOUVER FRINGE FESTIVAL 2019 The Vancouver Fringe Theatre Society’s annual festival features more than 700 performances of theatre of all kinds. To Sep 15, various Vancouver venues. FAÇADE FESTIVAL Experience 10 new works from B.C. artists projected onto the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Georgia Street facade each night. To Sep 14, 8 pm, šxw ́ exən Xwtl’a7énk Square, Vancouver Art Gallery . Free. THE TAMING OF THE SHREW The 2007 spaghetti-western version of Shakespeare’s work is the inspiration behind this Wild West love story. To Sep 21, Bard on the Beach. From $26. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE Young Will Shakespeare has writer’s block. To Sep 18, Bard on the Beach. From $26. CORIOLANUS Political and familial warfare drives Shakespeare’s story of a woman who fights for honour without compromise. To Sep 15, Bard on the Beach. From $26. BACK TO SCHOOL THEATRESPORTS Backto-school-themed improv. To Oct 12, 7:30 pm, The Improv Centre. From $10.75. PERV HUNTERS A feel-good comedy about friendship (and perverts). To Sep 15, Waterfront Theatre. $15. FABRIZIO & CABRIOLET IN: WATER, DIRT, BREEZE, FIRE! Two egotistical vaudevillians try to pull off a spectacular homage to the four elements. To Sep 15, False Creek Community Centre. $15. INESCAPABLE Brain-twisting off-Broadway comedy is The Twilight Zone as conceived by M.C. Escher and written by Samuel Beckett. To Sep 15, Waterfront Theatre. $15. ALICE IN GLITTERLAND Geekenders and the Playwrights Theatre Centre present immersive burlesque theatre. To Sep 14, 7-11 pm, WISE Hall. HOT PROPERTY A greedy developer, seasoned actors, and a sensational book collide in Fred Carmichael’s play. To Sep 21, 8 pm, In the Theatre at Hendry Hall. $20/18. RAPE IS REAL & EVERYWHERE: COMEDY BY SURVIVORS Seasoned standup comedians, raw honesty, and cathartic laughs. To Sep 14, The Cultch. $22. A TENDER THING Shakespeare’s poetry is used to create a new, deeply romantic play. To Sep 29, 8 pm, Jericho Arts Centre. $23-29. BECOMING MAGIC MIKE: AN ACTION ADVENTURE COMEDY Portland comedian DK Reinemer stars in an action-adventure parody of Magic Mike. To Sep 15, Performance Works. $15. TRY TO REMEMBER The story of a life in search of an end, told through film, dance, comedy, and drama. To Sep 15, 8-9 pm, PAL Studio Theatre. $12. THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER: A STORY OF AN ALMOST MURDER The tale of a young girl’s journey from mischievous imp to the devil’s daughter. To Sep 14, Arts Umbrella. $12.

TADPOLE: THE LAST EPISODE Debut of a new contemporary work by Eddy van Wyk. Sep 12 & 14-15, What Lab. $15. FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE A short-order cook is convinced he’s found his life companion after a one-night rendezvous in Manhattan. Sep 12-28, Deep Cove Shaw Theatre. $25/23. A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS Two women’s lives intersect through fate in a sweeping tale set in war-torn Afghanistan. Sep 12–Oct 13, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. From $29.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 MUSIC IN THE MORNING The Brentano String Quartet performs Beethoven’s String Quartet No.12, Opus 127. Sep 11-12, 10:30-11:30 am, Vancouver Academy of Music. $38/42. DANDELION: A COMEDY ABOUT FATHERHOOD Canadian comic Aaron Malkin blends standup comedy, physical comedy, and storytelling. Sep 11 & 13-14 Waterfront Theatre. $12. THE CLOCK BY CHRISTIAN MARCLAY Twenty-four-hour video that montages film and television footage from the last 70 years. To Sep 22, The Polygon. By donation. VANCOUVER ART GALLERY aVIEWS OF THE COLLECTION: THE STREET to Nov 17 aALBERTO GIACOMETTI: A LINE THROUGH TIME to Sep 29 aVIKKY ALEXANDER: EXTREME BEAUTY to Jan 26 aROBERT RAUSCHENBERG 1965–1980 to Jan 26

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 JOEL STERNFELD: OLD AUTUMN, IT WAS I Artist-photographer from New York City talks about his work. Sep 13, The Polygon. By donation. HIDDEN WONDERS Shawn Farquhar performs a 75-minute magic show in a hidden theatre in Chinatown. Sep 13-15, Hidden Wonders . $40-60. MUSIC IN THE MORNING The Brentano String Quartet performs Beethoven’s String Quartet No.12, Opus 127. Sep 13, 10:30-11:30 am, Christ Church Cathedral. $38/42. LA TROMPETTE CHROMATIQUE Twentiethcentury French works for the trumpet. Sep 13, 11:45 am, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. Free. BRYAN O’GORMAN Toronto comedian performs two nights of standup. Sep 13-14, Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club. $20.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 TEATRO INTIMO DEL FLAMENCO Karen Flamenco presents a one-hour show featuring traditional flamenco music, dance, puppetry and magic. To Sep 28, Sat. at 3 & 5 pm, The Improv Centre. $12. VANCOUVER CELLO QUARTET Staples of the classical-music repertoire plus contemporary and popular works, as part of the Anvil Centre Series. Sep 14, 7:30-9:30 pm, Anvil Centre. $20-38.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 ELEGY TO ELATION The Koerner Piano Trio performs works by Haydn, Rachmaninoff, and Schubert. Sep 15, 2-4 pm, Koerner Recital Hall, Vancouver Academy of Music. $15-18.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 TRIO SOLISTI For our first concert of the season we are bringing a trio noted for its playing of the Romantic repertoire. Led by the dashing playing of Italian pianist Fabia Bidini, they will present Haydn’s HobXv.29 and Antonin Dvorak’s charming Opus 26, and close with Robert Schumann’s mature Opus 63. Sep 17, 8 pm, Vancouver Playhouse. $60 early; $70 at door.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 ORCAS EVERYWHERE Writer, documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and orca activist Mark Leiren-Young launches his new book. Sep 18, 7-9 pm, Book Warehouse. Free. READING THE BONES Kokoro Dance Company performs butoh-inspired dance. Sep 18-28, 8-9:30 pm, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre. $25-30.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 POSTMODERN CAMERATA Chamber music concert featuring works by Canadian composers Thomas Beckman and James Rolfe. Sep 19, 7:30 pm, Orpheum Annex. $30. ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge. Submit events online using the event-submission form at straight. com/AddEvent.

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40 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

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music

Black Mountain keeps driving ahead

by Mike Usinger

here are, admittedly, automobiles that would better fit the story that has been spun for Black Mountain’s hard-charging and triumphant new full-length, Destroyer. Think, for example, a Vanishing Point white 1970 Dodge Challenger with a pistol-grip shifter. Or a Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry citronyellow 1969 Dodge Charger with a black racing stripe down the side and a 440-cubic-inch Magnum engine under the hood. Instead, when tracked down on his cell in Los Angeles, Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean confesses he opted for something a little more sensible when, after finally getting his driver’s licence in his late 40s, he bought his first set of wheels. “I got a Jeep Cherokee,” the singer-guitarist says. “I needed something for camping that you can also put a Marshall stack, or at least halfstack, in. So it’s good for gear and other things. It was kind of a lastminute decision.” The official story for Destroyer is that McBean spent a decent amount of time behind the wheel when he was working on the record—Black Mountain’s fifth full-length and first since the departure of longtime drummer Joshua Wells and singer Amber Webber. If a song sounded good when road-tested on the car stereo, the singer figured he was onto something. Whether 100 percent real or embellished for dramatic effect, that narrative hints at what McBean was after with the album. All tsunami-size riffs and megafuzz distortion, Destroyer is a towering throwback rock record—the kind that makes you want to blow the bank on a vintage El Camino, or Charger, or Challenger, or shag-carpeted Chevy van with an airbrushed Viking on the side and then crank things while driving through the desert at night, preferably with the windows rolled down and a pack of Marlboro Reds on the dash. Think of it as an artifact from the days when black-light posters were the height of rec-room fashion, orangebead curtains hung in every doorway, and bumper stickers read “Gas, grass, or ass—no one rides for free.” Destroyer kicks off in hypnotic fashion with the menacing “Future Shade”, where McBean sings of white hall servants and silver drone machines over bong-water guitar majesty and space-hazed synths. From there, Black Mountain proves again why it’s one of the greatest acts ever to spring from these parts.

Black Mountain’s Destroyer is a triumphant return made for bombing down the road in a Dodge Charger—or maybe a Jeep.

“Horns Arising” morphs from scifi sludge rocker to break-of-dawn acoustic meditation, “Boogie Lover” drips messy and druggy sex, and “FD 72” dresses up John Carpenter as the Thin White Duke for a gothic Halloween. What makes the album doubly triumphant is that, after Wells and Webber left, McBean had a brief period when he wondered if Black Mountain was done. Addressing the departure of the two, whom he’d played with since the early 2000s, when Black Mountain was known as Jerk With a Bomb, he’s nothing but diplomatic, noting that he’s grateful to have shared time with them both as bandmates and friends. But he also understands why they moved on. “You take people who are in bands together for a long time, or who have collaborative relationships, and then you add the rigours of touring for years,” McBean says, clearly not interested in delving into specifics. “Different people’s needs—creatively and personalitywise—change. And in the heat of certain moments, temperatures rise when they wouldn’t on a regular day—especially on touring days where there would be a bunch of Jameson’s. I guess it comes down

I’d rather put out another record as Black Mountain and have the world hate it than to not try. – Stephen McBean

to people wondering what’s right for them in their life, what’s right for them creatively, and what they want to do next.” McBean, on the other hand, realized that he had not only something left to say, but also something to prove. The same went, he says, for keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt, who’s played with Black Mountain since the band’s now-classic 2005 eponymous debut. “I’ll admit,” McBean reveals, “whether you want to call it ego

or whatnot, I’m the kind of person who would rather put out another record as Black Mountain and have the world hate it than to not try. Jeremy and I were very much in sync on that.” Helping him move forward was Black Mountain’s long-time U.S. label, the indie heavyweight Jagjaguwar. Label reps asked for a lunch meeting with McBean, which made him think the band was about to be dropped. Instead, he was gently pushed to keep at it. So, backed by a rotating cast of friends that he’s played with over the years—including drummers Adam Bulgasem (Dommengang), Kliph Scurlock (ex Flaming Lips), and Kid Millions (Oneida)—McBean began writing and demoing songs. At first the singer—whose projects also include the bands Pink Mountaintops and Obliterations—wasn’t sure where he’d end up using them. “I ended up recording, I think, 22 songs, with the three different drummers and a bunch of different bass players,” he says. “Once I sent the bed tracks up to Jeremy, and he sent back his synth wizardry, it was like, ‘This could be something else—something like a new band.’

It sounded different because there’s obviously different people playing. But the spirit of Black Mountain was, in our eyes, shining through the songs gloriously.’ So we decided ‘Let’s go for it.’ ” That McBean’s still having fun with Black Mountain is reflected by the decision to call the new album Destroyer. He notes that Josh Wells now both plays drums in and has acted as a producer for Dan Bejar’s long-running Vancouver indie group Destroyer. Destroyer was also the title of the 1976 album that finally broke Kiss in the mainstream. “To be honest I’ve been surprised—and maybe it’s a sign of age—how many people haven’t referenced that it’s pretty much the most famous Kiss record,” McBean says with a laugh. “But then again, some people haven’t picked up on the whole Bejar thing and Josh joining Destroyer. There’s definitely a playfulness and a bit of sly humour.” And then there’s also the official party line that Black Mountain’s Destroyer was named after a Dodge muscle car that was discontinued in 1985. After being stated as fact in the band’s bio, it’s been brought up in practically every article written about the record. That no such car, according to Google, seems to exist makes one wonder about the entire elaborate—and faithfully repeated—back story that’s been spun for Destroyer. For all anyone knows, McBean road-tested the songs in the back seat of an Uber. And that’s fine, because it doesn’t change one bit the reality that Destroyer is a record that, brilliantly, sounds like it was meant to be blared on 8-track while ripping through Death Valley in a 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback, preferably in Bullitt green, with a V8 engine. Whatever the true story is behind the creation of Destroyer, McBean has no doubt that he did the right thing with Black Mountain. “I try to keep challenging myself and to not be afraid of trying new things,” he says. “I can say that I really like the new record a lot, and I’m really proud of it. We made it in the jam space, kind of like our first one, so we weren’t taking money from the label to record in a fancy studio. That meant we weren’t being tied to calling what we were doing Black Mountain. And that really kept us free.” g Black Mountain headlines the Vogue Theatre on Saturday (September 14) as part of the Westward Music Festival.

The LP’s the thing for the Paper Kites

d IF YOU ONLY know the Paper Kites for their track “Bloom”—well, you’re like most people. It’s a jewel of a song, all rolling indie-folk acoustic guitars and delicately entwined vocal harmonies, and it is by far the Australian band’s most popular tune. Released in 2010, “Bloom” has been a slow burner—it took almost a decade for the single to achieve gold status in the U.S.—but it has racked up more than 200 million Spotify streams, and on YouTube the video is closing in on 23 million views. The singular success of “Bloom” is even more remarkable when you hear how frontman and primary songwriter Sam Bentley defines the Paper Kites. “We are an album band,” he says when the Straight rings him at home in the suburbs of Melbourne. “We’ve never been a band that just puts out a

Australia’s Paper Kites made their name with an indie-folk jewel called “Bloom”.

song without it being a part of something or alluding to something. And I understand bands that do that. I understand the whole streaming

culture now, and that it is about getting your music out there, but I still believe that there are people who understand the art form of a record,

particularly with the revival of vinyl. “I’m not sure how it is over there, but in Australia CDs are all but done away with and it’s all vinyl in the music shops again,” Bentley says. “I think with that, people want a tangible thing that they can have in their homes to show their love for a certain record. That art form is coming back, and putting on something and listening to it from start to finish and really getting inside it and it becoming something that you feel speaks to only you, that’s definitely something that we really care about, and we’re very intentional about the way we craft everything.” To get a clearer picture of just how much of an “album band” Bentley’s in, consider that the Paper Kites put out two of the darn things last year. The LPs are connected in many respects, from Gina Higgins’s film noir–esque cover paintings of lonely

metropolitans to Bentley’s lyrical imaginings of the inner lives of others. Sonically, though, On the Train Ride Home is spare and stripped-down, while On the Corner Where You Live boasts a fuller sound, buoyed by atmospheric keyboards and shimmering electric guitars. Bentley drew much of the inspiration for the albums’ songs by watching strangers and inventing back stories for them. When the Paper Kites aren’t on the road, he works at a movie theatre, which offers him both the opportunity to observe his fellow humans and the anonymity to do so inconspicuously. “We have regulars that come in, and no one actually knows anything about them, even though we see them all the time, so there are many stories made up for those people,” he see next page

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 41

MUSIC

from previous page

Post Malone proves that nice guys can finish first

admits. “It’s great. I love working there. I love film, especially, and it’s a great place to be if you’re a film lover. “No one has any idea what I do, out there,” Bentley notes. “I live way out in the suburbs, almost in a place called the Yarra Valley, which is wine country. And no one there knows that I play in a band or that I’m off touring all the time. It’s nice. It’s kind of like a Bruce Wayne day-and-night situation.” by John Lucas

by Mike Usinger

POP EYE

The Paper Kites play the Vogue Theatre on Sunday (September 15) as part of the Westward Music Festival.

o the folks 50 Cent once disdainfully described as the window shoppers of the world—which, in completely unaffordable Vancouver, is most of us—Post Malone should be among the most hated creatures on the planet. Start with the crime of being a white guy from a seemingly stable seemingly middle-class background. Which would be fine, except we’re talking a white guy who, after starting out obsessed with guitar music, saw hiphop as a better career option than a five-person emo band where everyone sports swoopy post-Hitler haircuts. More unforgivable, he’s a white guy who cruised to the top of the hip-hop food chain without ever struggling on food stamps in a southern trailer park, Detroit squat, or windowless East Vancouver basement suite. “I understand that I kind of came out of nowhere,” Malone told New York–based Paper in 2017. “There’s a lot of people that are upset about that.” Making things worse, he first surfaced wearing more gold chains than early Run-DMC, grills straight from the mouth of Lil John, and cornrows most often sported by 11-year-old girls returning from a beach vacation in Jamaica.

The man born Austin Richard Post appears to get the joke. – Mike Usinger

Bringing things up to the present, even though Post Malone is now a minted member of the rarefied onepercent club, he spends chunks of his just-released third full-length— Hollywood’s Bleeding—making the case that life at the top is a lot harder than it looks. Suggesting Malone has been studying the tortured life of Saint Kurt Cobain, the title track has him wondering “It seem like dying young is an honor/ But who’d be at my funeral?” Making a case he’ll never have to work again—unless he blows all his money on stupid shit like yachts and solid-gold brass knuckles—“St. Tropez” celebrates the good life with “On a yacht, 50 meters, it’s a fish (Official)/50 carats on my fist (On my fist)”. And making sure that you’ve got the memo that Post Malone makes more in a night than you will in the next decade, “On the Road” contains the revelation “ ’Cause my time is expensive, one mill a setlist/Bought a new car ’fore you woke up for breakfast, yeah”. Because life isn’t fair, such observations would somehow seem perfectly acceptable coming from an unrepentant braggart like Kanye

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ELDER ISLAND EVOKES FAR-FLUNG PLACES

Post Malone jokingly told Nardwuar “I still only have one good song.”

d TRAVEL IS IMPORTANT to Luke Thornton, one of the three Bristol dream-pop alchemists who make up Elder Island. Reached at home in England, the bassist and beatmaker is happy to talk about the joy of living out of a suitcase, and not just when on tour with singer Katy Sargent and synth player David Havard. Places he’s ticked off include Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Thailand, and China. On this side of the pond, he’s had his mind blown by Vancouver and the windswept shores of Tofino. What’s interesting about much of Elder Island’s debut album, The Omnitone Collection, is the meditative quality of the songs. Built on layers of ghostly synths, heartbeat percussion, and soft-soul vocals, the record’s perfect for magically solitary moments when you’re lucky to find yourself on what seems like the edge of the world— whether on Canada’s west coast or in the jungles of Asia. The next time you’re walking Tofino’s epic Long Beach at sunset, cue up Elder Island’s gorgeously introspective “Wasteland”. The wild side of Vancouver Island might be about as far as one can get from a wasteland, but Thornton acknowledges that the away-from-it-all vibe still fits. “It’s amazing that you said that, because that’s exactly what we were after,” he remarks, taking a break from packing for Elder Island’s upcoming North American tour. “The way that song came about was very organic, with a lot coming from one take that we layered over and over. The intention of the song was to conjure up the idea of a vast wasteland that we take you through. And then you leave and go to a place that’s really ethereal.” Elder Island coalesced around Thornton and Havard, who met during their preschool years, and later played in bands in their teens. After hooking up with Sargent, they named themselves after an island in the north of Canada, figuring that the remote landscape matched what they were after sonically. An eponymous debut EP in 2014 established Elder Island as a group drawing from numerous corners of pop-music history, with English alternative soul as important to its sound as classic Bristol trip-hop and early

Bristol dream-pop trio Elder Island has been pigeonholed as a band with a sound that’s impossible to pigeonhole.

Ninja Tune electronica. The Omnitone Collection builds on those elements. At times Elder Island is happy on the dance floor; “Kape Fear” is made for nights salted with the likes of Roxy Music and FKA Twigs. But the band’s just as likely to veer into more sombre and exotic territory, as “I Fold You” is coloured by November-skies cello and “Find Greatness in the Small” transports listeners with Far East strings. Part of the fun of being in Elder Island, Thornton says, is that Havard in particular has a thing for building synths and pedals, giving the group its own sound. Thornton agrees that, in some ways, the band is out of step with the current climate in England, where historymaking events like Brexit have everyone angry for different reasons. “In Britain there’s quite an unstable buzz, and the music is showing it a lot at the moment,” he says. “There are amazing bands full of aggression who are also taking a really poignant way of looking at what’s going on. Idles, which is another Bristol band, is for example just really killing it.” From Idles to Kinlaw & Franco Franco, Elder Island sounds little like the other acts that currently call Bristol home, which might explain why the trio’s often pigeonholed as a band impossible to pigeonhole. That, quite rightly, makes Thornton proud. “We’re listening to Idles, but at the same time listening to Nigerian soul and blues and old folk,” he says. “Combine that range of influences with us always being excited and turned on by new technology. So we’re not only into experimenting with anything that we can get our hands on, but also trying to add as much analogue feel and as much realness to music as possible. Hopefully, we give people a place to escape to.”

West. But because Malone is white, and because he looks like someone who bathes less often than an Idaho hobo, and because (in case we forgot to mention it) he’s white, to many it’s more offensive than Robbie Van Winkle during the glory years. But here’s where things get interesting. Based on large swaths of Internet evidence, the man born Austin Richard Post appears to get the joke. And more importantly, he’s not afraid to let the world laugh at him. Flash back, if you will, to last October, when Malone went undercover at an L.A. indie record store in support of Folds of Honor, a nonprofit providing scholarships to the spouses and kids of deceased and disabled American service members. When you’ve been called an interloper and culture vulture more times than you can count—and not just by Lil B and Vince Staples—it takes a certain amount by Mike Usinger of self-deprecation to take shots at yourself in public. But there Malone is, Elder Island plays the Biltmore Cabaret on Thursday (September 12) in disguise while offering his records as part of the Westward Music Festival. to people who wouldn’t know Post Malone from a fence post, pushing his work with such heartfelt endorsements as “You wanna buy this—we’re trying to get rid of it because it sucks” and “You know Post Malone? Trash.” WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 That mindset suggests someone’s CONCERTS JUST ANNOUNCED either really good at acting, or a FRANKIE Dream-rock quartet, with guests BLANCO WHITE Anglo-American folk with THE DISTILLERS American punk band genuinely humble and (surprisingly, Dead Ghosts, Acid Tongue, and Sleepy Gonan Andean and flamenco sound. Sep 17, featuring frontwoman Brody Dalle. Sep 11, Biltmore Cabaret. $12. 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $47.25. given we’re talking about celebrities) zales. Sep 19, 8 pm, The Clubhouse. $12. JAY SOM L.A.–based bedroom-pop singerYUNGBLUD Alt-rock artist from England, with nice person. And that’s where Post BROKEN SHADOWS All-star jazz project honours the legacy of Ornette Coleman. guests Missio. Sep 11, 8 pm, Vogue Theatre. $25. songwriter. Sep 17, 7 am, Imperial Vancouver. $17. Malone gets the win. Sep 21, 7 pm, Western Front. $27. ROMA ADDITION TO WORLD MUSIC Lache Even though nine out of 10 articles CLAUDIO SIMONETTI’S GOBLIN PLAYS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 Cercel and his band perform music derived about the singer and rapper dwell on DEEP RED LIVE Italian prog-rock band from Africa and Europe. Sep 17, 7 pm, The YUKON BLONDE Vancouver-based indieCultch. $37. his personal hygiene habits—or lack performs a live scoring of Dario Argento’s rockers, with guests the Sunset Kids. Sep 12, horror classic Deep Red. Oct 3, 6-7:30 pm, thereof—profilers go out of their way 10 pm, Imperial Vancouver. $26.50. Rio Theatre. $40. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 to note that he’s as open and congen- MARTIN SIMPSON English folksinger, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 THE LONE PALMS Local alt-indie band, with ial an interview subject as one could guitarist, and songwriter. Oct 17, 8-10:30 pm, guests Serena Sun, Bree Whitworth, and Arbuhope for. Despite this, he still has to St. James Hall. $30/26. GNARFUNKEL West Coast rock ’n’ roll, with tus. Sep 18, Railway Stage and Beer Café. $10. take to Twitter afterwards to tweet THE SOJOURNERS Local gospel trio, with guests Sunny and the Dudes, Shepard Music, guest Tonye Aganaba. Oct 18, 8-10:30 pm, and William John. Sep 13, Railway Stage and out assurances that he doesn’t stink. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Beer Café. $10. When Vancouver’s Nardwuar the St. James Hall. $24/20. JOSHUA RADIN American folk singer-songTEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET Wyoming punkENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK Legendary Human Serviette interviews hip-hop rock veterans, with local guests Isotopes romantic-pop vocalist performs two nights. Sep writer. Sep 19, 8 pm, Rio Theatre. $34.50. heavyweights, the first few minutes Punk Rock Baseball Club and Modern Terror. 13-14, 8 pm, River Rock Show Theatre. $109.50. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 are often marked by curious suspi- Oct 23, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $17.50. TODD STEWART QUARTET Drummer Stewcion and a guarded lack of enthusi- THE YOUNG’UNS Folk trio performs art fronts a jazz quartet celebrating the music GHOST Rock band from Sweden, with guests asm. Watch the Nard’s interview traditional songs from their native Northeast of Bud Powell. Sep 13, 9 pm, Tyrant Studios. $10. Nothing More. Sep 20, 7:30 pm, Pacific ColiEngland and further afield. Oct 24, 8-10:30 pm, seum. $85/59.50/39.50. with Post Malone in December of St. James Hall. $30/26. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 FONTAINES D.C. Punk band from Dublin, with 2017 and you’ll find a man who looks JANN ARDEN Canadian singer-songwriter, happy to be there right from when author, and actress performs two nights. Nov JON BRYANT Dream-pop singer-songwriter guests Pottery. Sep 20, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret. $18. from Halifax. Sep 14, Biltmore Cabaret. CANCER BATS Canadian hardcore-metal 14-15, 8 pm, River Rock Show Theatre. $89.50. the camera rolls. punks. Sep 20, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $25. ADAM ROBERT THOMAS AND LES FINDEATH ANGEL American thrash-metal band, Fuck declaring himself the greatNIGAN Double bill of R&B/soul and solo INCOGNITO Local blues band featuring guitarwith guests Exmortus and Hell Fire. Nov 18, 6 est thing since Eminem—not to men- pm, acoustic-guitar music. Sep 14, 7 pm, West ist Rob Montgomery, with guest Mike Machado. Rickshaw Theatre. $27.50. Point Grey United Church. $20. Sep 20, 8 pm, Railway Stage and Beer Café. $10. tion Machine Gun Kelly—the MC PROZZAK Electropop band performs on its laughingly declares near the end of farewell tour. Nov 21, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. ABRA CADABRA Tribute to ABBA. Sep 14, MXMTOON Oakland-based singer-songwriter and ukulele player. Sep 20, 8 pm, Rio 7:30-9:30 pm, Centennial Theatre. $49/54. the interview “I still only have one good $29.50. Theatre. $20. song.” He then finishes up with the fol- AIR SUPPLY Soft-rock duo from the ‘70s. Nov THE BAD BEATS Local garage-rock band, with guests the Sinister Six and the Gung Hos. POKEY LAFARGE American country-blues lowing bit of invaluable advice: “Believe 23, 8 pm, River Rock Show Theatre. $84.50. singer-songwriter performs a solo show. Sep Sep 14, 9 pm, Railway Stage & Beer Café. $15. INFECTED MUSHROOM Israeli electroin yourself even if no one else does.” 20, 9 pm, WISE Hall. $29.50. house duo. Nov 23, 9 pm, Commodore And with that, Post Malone con- Ballroom. Tix on sale Sep 13, 10 am, $35. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 veys why, for all the shit he’s taken, ROGER HODGSON Former member of NIKITA AFONSO Local singer-songwriter, with he might be one of the most import- Supertramp. Nov 28, 8 pm, River Rock Show guests Richard Claxton, Lindsay Rae, and Sarah MILLENCOLIN Punk-rock quartet from Theatre. $99.50. Sweden. Sep 21, Imperial Vancouver. ant voices of his generation. Stark. Sep 15, Railway Stage and Beer Café. $10. MOTHER MOTHER Local indie-rock band, Every second time the man looks at VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC Brainchild of MORMOR Indie-pop singer-songwriter from ambient singer, songwriter, and record prowith guests Tokyo Police Club, the Zolas, and Toronto. Sep 15, Imperial Vancouver. $24.50. a subway poster of himself, someone’s ducer Tim Bettinson. Dec 9, 8 pm, Biltmore Sam Lynch. Sep 21-22, 5:40 pm, Malkin Bowl. THE BURNING HELL Canadian indie-rock drawn cartoon stink squiggles on it. Cabaret. Tix on sale Sep 13, noon, $20. $49.50/four-packs $180. trio, with guests Megamall, Nice Apple, and And based on parts of Hollywood’s CONTACT WINTER MUSIC FESTIVAL Two- Adrian COUSIN HARLEY Local rockabilly band plays Teacher. Sep 15, 8 pm, Red Gate Arts Burning, he’s secretly as convinced of day EDM festival featuring headliners Tiësto, Society. $10. guitarist Paul Pigat’s 50th birthday bash. Sep Major Lazer, Kaskade, and Rezz. Dec 27-28, 21, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $20. his own worthlessness as the rest of us. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 LUCKY DAYE Los Angeles–based soul singer That’s not stopping him from try- BC Place Stadium. From $169.95. THE STRUMBELLAS Canadian indie-rock/ and songwriter. Sep 21, 8 pm, Venue. ing to make the world a better place for alt-country SHEER MAG Punk-rock quartet from Philaband, with guests Neon Dreams. ELTON JOHN British pop-rock legend performs everyone, including those who’ve open- Jan 10, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on delphia. Sep 16, Biltmore Cabaret. $16. three shows. Sep 21, 22, 24, 8 pm, Rogers Arena. ly mocked him. Take solace, window sale Sep 13, 10 am, $35. MARK KNOPFLER British guitar legend, forshoppers, because finally you’ve got COLD WAR KIDS Indie-rock band from Long merly of Dire Straits. Sep 16, 8 pm, Orpheum MUSIC LISTINGSare a public service Theatre. Tix $189/179/136/126/106/66. Beach, California. Jan 19, 8 pm, Commodore provided free of charge. Submit events online someone who cares on your side. g Ballroom. Tix on sale Sep 13, 10 am, $36.50.

MUSIC LISTINGS

Post Malone plays Rogers Arena on Monday (September 16).

42 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

HOLLOW COVES Australian indie-folk band. Feb 29, 8 pm, Biltmore Cabaret. Tix on sale Sep 13, 10 am, $18.50.

POST MALONE American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer, with guests Swae Lee and Tyla Yaweh. Sep 16, 8 pm, Rogers Arena. $199.50/149.50/99.50/79.5049.50.

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

Your VIFF ’19 guide starts here

he curtain goes up on this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival with a gala opening screening of Atom Egoyan’s Guest of Honour at the Centre for Performing Arts on September 26. From there, VIFF welcomes everything from Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or–winning Parasite to surefire crowdpleasers like Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit to the unwholesome thrills of Jeff Barnaby’s Indigenous zombie epic, Blood Quantum. With something to delight, inspire, and offend everyone—not to mention live events including a Spinal Tap tribute led by local indie darling Louise Burns and a Creator Talk featuring the legendary Walter Murch—what is an eager cinephile to do? Well, you can start by checking in with the first batch of the Straight’s raves, faves, and pans. Look for more reviews and features in the coming weeks. The 38th Vancouver International Film Festival takes place from September 26 to October 11.

BIRTHDAY (South Korea) More like a deep family study from Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda than your usual bloodpumping Korean fare, this Birthday centres on the anniversary of a boy’s tragic death, which left sorrow and broken relationships in its wake, as an absent father returns for the event. The movie teases out the cause of death—a real-life event that traumatized the nation—and the reasons Dad was gone. But it takes a tender view of people too wounded to face each other, but too human not to try. Sad, but highly recommended. International Village, September 27 (2:45 p.m.); Playhouse, September 29 (6 p.m.) by Ken Eisner CONVICTION (Canada) Heartbreak-

ing yet quietly encouraging, this fly-on-the-wall NFB doc follows a half-dozen young women in and out (and in again) of a Nova Scotia prison. Aided by art teachers, notably sympathetic officers, and at least one heroic politician (Sen. Kim Pate), several of the inmates engage a system that has so far defeated every attempt at reform, designing a new kind of release program that leaves them with some hope on the horizon. International Village, October 3 (9 p.m.); Vancity, October 5 (11:30 a.m.) by KE

THE GREAT GREEN WALL (U.K.)

Multilingual, mega-talented singer Inna Modja makes a charismatic tour guide for this surprisingly uplifting journey through some of Africa’s more troubled places. While it acknowledges the horrors of civil war, corruption, and (highly misogynistic) terrorism, the film focuses on a pan-African plan

equal medical treatment for all Canadians—and one that took 10 years to get implemented. International Village, October 2 (11 a.m.) and October 3 (6:45 p.m.) by KE KILLER QUEEN (Canada) This odd little exercise in deferred gratification offers a grindhouse-style flick with only polite amounts of gore and no nudity. Instead of cheap thrills, Ramin Fahrenheit’s familiar saga of murderous lonelyhearts exalts the aesthetics of exploitation cinema at its very lowliest, with endlessly beige Super-8 image rubbing against stagey looped sound and stodgy overacting (and Norman Orenstein’s awesomely overblown jazz-prog score), suggesting a world Korean drama Birthday gets a thumbs in which Doris (A Night to Dismember) Wishman becomes self-aware up from the Straight ’s movie heads. and bags an arts-council grant. Rio, to replant millions of trees where the September 30 (9:15 p.m.); International southern Sahel desert is encroach- Village, October 2 (8:30 p.m.) by AM ing on livable land in Ethiopia, Niger, Senegal, and Mali, Modja’s homeland. KOKO-DI KOKO-DA (Sweden) With At every stop, she meets with people his 2016 dazzler The Giant, director caught up in the planting, the turmoil, Johannes Nyholm gave himself a hard and—most of all—the music of the react to follow. He makes an admirgion. By the end, she has recorded an able try with this evil little picture, upbeat album as varied and enjoyable which posits Groundhog Day as a tale as the people she meets. Don’t miss it. of parental grief and castrating male International Village, September 29 cowardice. That’s probably enough of (11:15 a.m.), October 2 (6 p.m.), and a recommendation already. Sadly, the film’s perverse charms decline in inOctober 9 (11 a.m.) by KE verse proportion to its investment in HUMAN NATURE (USA) Employing a bizarre premise that includes a trio a stately chapter format appropri- of music-box folk demons who like ate to its subject, this absorbing doc to (literally) shoot for the dick or enexamines the revolutionary gene- courage bestial cunnilingus. Expect manipulation tech CRISPR—or to be tickled in all the wrong places, if splitting the atom part deux, if you not entirely satisfied, by the end. Rio, like. Designer babies? Super soldiers? September 28 (4:30 p.m.); InternationBackwards feet? Experts express al Village, October 2 (6:45 p.m.) by AM their fearful awe at CRISPR’s possibilities, although some seem a bit LARA (Germany) This tart-tongued drunk on the science. Crucially, the movie will make you think of Isafilm focuses early on young David belle Huppert at her best—especially Sanchez, stricken for his entire life given The Piano Teacher’s similar with sickle-cell anemia. The cure themes—as you watch Downfall’s is within reach, yet the remarkably Corinna Harfouch unravel as the title thoughtful teen is clear on the sig- character. Herself a potentially great nificance of his suffering. Not all concert pianist who choked before the eggheads here are so subtle in it could happen, she’s loaded with their thinking. Vancity, September resentment against her son (Never 27 (11:45 a.m.); International Village, Look Away star Tom Schilling), also September 28 (11:15 a.m.); SFU, Oc- a pianist, about to make his debut as a serious composer, on the eve of her tober 10 (6:45 p.m.) by Adrian Mack 60th birthday. The movie starts with JORDAN RIVER ANDERSON: THE a shock and then climbs down from MESSENGER (Canada) The messen- its own ledge, building sympathy ger here is a Manitoba Cree boy born and eventually a kind of resolution with serious deformities, with servi- for a fairly awful character. Humane ces denied because of his First Na- and deeply thought-provoking stuff. tions status, and the message is car- International Village, October 1 (6 ried by (inter)national treasure Alanis p.m.) and October 3 (1:45 p.m.) by KE Obomsawin. At 87, she’s still raising questions with righteous anger and THE MEN’S ROOM (Norway) Oddly answering them with deep human- uplifting, considering that it rests on ism. Here, the one-hour, roller-coast- a choir director who’s dying of cancer er story centres on Jordan’s Principle, and working hard to pull together one see page45 a unanimously passed law promising

A stone survivor in deep Oklahoma by Ken Eisner

REVIEWS INGRID

A documentary by Molissa Maltz. Rating unavailable

d TAKING OFF-ROADING to a whole new level, Ingrid Gipson has been living on her own in the backwoods of Oklahoma for more than three decades. But she’s no ordinary hermit. Born in Germany at the start of the Second World War, she arrived in the U.S. at 20, married, and started a successful career as a fashion designer, marketer, and teacher, mostly in Texas. For reasons that appear fairly obvious, but are not thoroughly examined in this somewhat dreamlike onehour doc, family life didn’t suit her, and Gipson started drifting away, towards a raw property she purchased in the Ouachita Mountains of eastern Oklahoma. Over the years, she built a house, studio, and outbuildings, largely from rocks in the region. This has an interesting parallel, also undiscussed, with the “stone women” who rebuilt Berlin from the postwar rubble. And it connects with her story, since her own father was a vicious Nazi who beat his own family as a bonus. For whatever reasons, the twice-married artist eventually settled into her hardscrabble Shangri-la and left her grown children behind. In her still imperfect English, she repeatedly tells the filmmaker that she misses

Artist Ingrid Gipson abandoned her family and career for a life in the wilds of Oklahoma’s remote Ouachita Mountains.

human company, but her relationships with the many animals on her property—especially two friendly goats—are tender things to observe. The whole film, in fact, is charged with soft feelings, for the land and the subject, and it’s enlivened by a soft-focus mobile camera, breathtaking drone shots, and meditative original music. It puts you in Gipson’s place, in other words (or with few of them, anyway), and invites thoughts about what the rest of us would do without the burdens and blessings of what we laughably call civilization. g

SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 43

Edition 38 Expand the Frame

Vancouver International Film Festival September 26 – October 11, 2019

Guest of Honour

Sorry We Missed You

Atom Egoyan – Canada, 105 min.

Discover viff.org

The Song of Names

Ken Loach – UK/France/Belgium, 100 min.

François Girard – Canada, 113 min.

One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

THU. SEP 26

7:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

TUE. OCT 1

6:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

THU. OCT 3

8:45 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

Zacharias Kunuk – Canada, 113 min.

MON. SEP 30

6:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

SAT. OCT 5

6:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

THU. OCT 10

6:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

MON. OCT 7

6:45 PM

INTL. VILLAGE 10

WED. OCT 9

1:00 pm

SFU-GCA

Jim (David Thewlis) spends his days inspecting family-owned restaurants and wielding the power to shutter dreams. But this public service can’t begin to ease his deeply conflicted conscience. His adult daughter, Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira), is incarcerated for a crime she clearly didn’t commit. And, yet, she insists that she deserves to remain imprisoned for transgressions she was in fact responsible for—and that Jim instigated. Atom Egoyan’s latest is a masterful piece of sophisticated filmmaking.

The “Uberized” economy and its iniquities come in for a shellacking in Ken Loach’s latest cri de coeur, an impressive social drama about a former construction worker, Ricky (Kris Hitchen), who thinks the way out of his family’s financial misery is to become a freelance driver for a big delivery company. With great empathy and an abundance of well-researched detail, Loach and his fine cast show otherwise... “Superb... It’s fierce, open and angry... about a vital contemporary issue.” - Guardian

This is the powerful, mysterious, and ultimately inspirational story of two unlikely childhood friends: Dovidl (Luke Doyle), a Polish musical prodigy whose parents were killed in the Holocaust, and Martin (Misha Handley), his adoptive brother. Girard’s powerful fable takes place over three decades as adult Martin (Tim Roth), possessed with an unquenchable desire to find his friend (now Clive Owen), attempts to explain why Dovidl disappeared the night of the concert that was to secure his fame.

In the northern reaches of Baffin Island in 1961, Noah (Apayata Kotierk) sets out on a traditional Inuit hunt only to run headlong into progress personified in the form of “Boss” (Kim Bodnia), an emissary who’s come to make a proposition on behalf of the Canadian government: assimilation in exchange for shelter and services. In the extended showdown that ensues, Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) crafts unhurried yet urgent cinema that’s steeped in fatalism and devastating ramifications.

Feminist Live Reads Some Like It Hot TUES. OCT 1

Little Joe

MON. SEP 30

SUN. SEP 29

3:30 PM

RIO

WED. OCT 2

9:00 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

8:45 PM

CENTRE FOR ARTS

Lionel Essrog (Edward Norton), a lonely private detective living with Tourette Syndrome, ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend in 1950s NYC. Armed only with a few clues and the engine of his obsessive mind, Lionel contends with thugs, corruption, and the most dangerous man in the city to honour his friend and save the woman who might be salvation. Edward Norton’s film has a killer cast featuring Bruce Willis, Cherry Jones, Bobby Cannavale, Alec Baldwin, and Willem Dafoe.

Jessica Hausner – Austria/UK/Germany, 105 min.

Some Like It Hot is presented by Feminist Live Reads, created by filmmaker/critic Chandler Levack. Past editions include readings of the Entourage pilot, Reservoir Dogs and Almost Famous, and have featured Sook-Yin Lee, Mia Kirshner, Finn Wolfhard, Diana Bang and Ali Liebert.

A mesmerizing, thoroughly discomfiting psychological horror film that gets under your skin and then makes it crawl, Austrian arthouse auteur Jessica Hausner’s first English-language foray focuses on a plant (“Little Joe”) that brings those around it to the point of euphoria. Or so it seems... The remarkable Emily Beecham and Ben Whishaw are the biotechnology researchers at the centre of this stylized and modernized Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which has drawn comparisons to Cronenberg and Kubrick.

Proceeds from the show will go towards supporting the work of WAVAW.

Schedule subject to change, visit viff.org for updates.

Premier Partner

Premier Supporters

Information VIFF.org Film Infoline: 604-683-3456

Signature Partners

Box Office

Festival Partners

Public Supporters

Media Partners

44 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT SEPTEMBER 12 – 19 / 2019

RIO

Nobody’s perfect! At VIFF 2019, women play men playing women in a live reading of Some Like It Hot—a movie with a new resonance in the #MeToo era. Watch an ensemble cast bring Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy to life in its 60th year.

Motherless Brooklyn Edward Norton – USA, 144 min.

6:30 PM

ONLINE at viff.org IN-PERSON from Sept. 12 at Vancity Theatre 1181 Seymour Street, at Davie (Mon-Sat: Noon - 7pm, Sun: 2pm – 7pm)

and his confident mix of actors with nonpros keeps you guessing at story arcs that happen more in your head than on-screen. International Village, September 27 (8:45 p.m.) and October 2 (1 p.m.) by KE

from page 43

big concert, at a Norwegian metal festival, for a collection of genially macho fellows who hang out, drink beer, and relate how their love of music and of their ailing leader has changed their lives. Highly recommended. Playhouse, September 29 (1:15 p.m.) and October 4 (3:45 p.m.); International Village, October 9 (9:30 p.m.) by KE

TO LIVE TO SING (China/France/

ONE MAN DIES A MILLION TIMES

(USA) An American docmaker with a background in natural sciences, Jessica Oreck shot her first narrative feature in St. Petersburg, Russia, with local actors (and nonprofessionals). She uses the same locations where, during the prolonged Nazi attack on what was then Leningrad, botanists worked as hard as the more famous art guardians of the Hermitage Museum to save and store the wealth of genetic material found in Russia’s seed bank. Set in the near future and shot in high-contrast, Tarkovsky-like black-and-white, the undated events here are based on letters and journals of people, including poet Anna Akhmatova, who survived that siege. International Village, September 28 (9 p.m.) and September 30 (4:45 p.m.) by KE

Vancouver filmmaker Johnny Ma returns to VIFF with To Live to Sing.

still affected by, changes in the world. The original title translates as Season, and the light here is even more transitional; director John Skoog’s camera is aimed at eye-deceiving effects of twilight and early morning,

Canada) Vancouver-raised Johnny Ma, who last brought his prizewinning Old Stone to VIFF, returns to ancient routes of the old country to follow a Sichuan opera troupe on the verge of collapse. The demolitions facing their home theatre—and everything else in fast-changing China— are real, and so are the performers, who do their own music and dancing here. It’s essentially a “let’s put on a show to save our beloved roller rink” story, given fresh life in a classical setting. The pileup of set pieces near the end is almost too much of a good thing, but Ma makes an entertaining case for not throwing out your culture with the reconstruction. International Village, October 2 (1:15 p.m.) and October 4 (6:15 p.m.) by KE

OTHER MUSIC (USA) Such a simple

title with so much to say! Anyone who’s ever worked in a record store, or just passed happy hours there, will appreciate this raw but smart look at the niche touchstone represented by Other Music, a Lower Manhattan disc haven that managed to outlive mammoth neighbour Tower Records, before closing in 2016. Bands like the National and Vampire Weekend found their feet, and following, in the tiny shop, and testify here. But it’s the dedicated and notably diverse staff who really shine: scruffy scholars of an alternative culture that’s always seeking its own new alternatives. Rio, September 28 (2:15 p.m.); Vancity, October 1 (6 p.m.) by KE

THE REALM (Spain)

Viewers will be initially baffled by the barrage of names, faces, and places in this study of corrupt politics, based on recent events in fractured Spain. And it doesn’t help that almost everyone we meet is a self-dealing crook, willing to throw any colleague under the political or legal bus for an extra buck, or a better shot at power. But veteran Antonio de la Torre tears into the main role—a sharky government stalwart chosen as the best scapegoat for partywide corruption—and never lets go. The film is over two hours long, but builds to a final quarter that more than delivers on its initial promises. Playhouse, September 26 (9 p.m.); International Village, September 28 (4:15 p.m.) by KE

RIDGE (Sweden)

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Love of fisting is no sign of compulsion by Dan Savage

b MY ROOMMATE IS a gay man who is into getting fisted. A lot. We were FWBs until he moved into my place, at which point we agreed it would be better for us to not have sex anymore. It’s worked out fine, and he’s been here for a year. Here’s the problem: about two years ago, he got into fisting and he has someone over every night to fist him. As soon as he comes home from work, he spends a good hour in the bathroom cleaning out, and then some guy comes over to fist him. Every single day. My roommate is a very attractive guy who doesn’t think he’s attractive at all. I’ve talked to him a few times about whether he’s being sexually compulsive, but he just laughs and says, “Well, you suck a lot of dick.” (I have a healthy but moderate sex life.) I am concerned that all this ass play is not healthy. As a friend, I want him to seek help for his sexual compulsion, his low self-esteem, and his social isolation. As a roommate, I am tired of all these strange men coming into my home and the high water bill. - Frequent Insertions Sincerely Trouble Someone

healthy and safe sexual activity so long as the participants are sober,” said Dr. Peter Shalit, a physician and author who works with many gay men. “There is a misconception that fisting damages the anal sphincter, loosens it, and causes a loss of bowel control over time. This is absolutely false.” Devin Franco, a gay porn star who’s been getting fisted on a weekly basis for many years, backs up Shalit. “People who are only used to vanilla

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intercourse are sometimes shocked,” said Franco. “People will leave comments on my videos asking if I was in pain, even though I’m clearly always enjoying it. Fisting is actually the most pleasurable sexual act I’ve ever experienced—and seven years in, no negative health consequences and everything down there works just fine, thanks.” But exactly how does that work? How does someone like Franco get a fist and/or a ridiculously large sex toy in his butt? “A skilled fisting bottom can voluntarily relax the anal sphincter in order to accommodate a hand up to the wrist or further,” explained Shalit. “A skilled fisting top knows how to insert their hand—it’s actually fingertips first, not a clenched fist—and how to do it gently, taking their time, and using lots of lube. And, again, after the session is over, the sphincter returns to its normal state.” Which is not to say that people haven’t injured themselves or others engaging in anal play with large sex toys, fists, or even perfectly average cocks—people most certainly have. That’s why it’s crucial to take things slow, use lots of lube, and go at it sober. “Fisting isn’t for everyone,” said Shalit. “In fact, most people are unable to relax their sphincter in this fashion.” But to figure out whether fisting is for you—to determine whether you’re one of those people who can relax their sphincter—fi rst you gotta wanna, and then you gotta try. “It actually took about two years for me,” said Franco. “That’s from the first time I did anal play thinking, ‘Maybe I can get his whole fist in

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You don’t have to do anything about this right now, PFD. Your husband only came out to you as bisexual two months ago! Your husband’s honesty pulled down that barrier you’d always sensed but could never name, and that’s wonderful and exciting. And you’re already exploring anal penetration with him on the receiving end, which is something many straight men also enjoy. If covering your genitals temporarily with a strap-on makes you feel awkward or unwanted, you don’t have to do it—not now, not ever. But I can’t imagine you think there’s something wrong with the bodies of lesbians who use strap-ons with their female partners, just as you don’t seem to think holding a dildo means there’s something wrong with (or inadequate about) your hands. If covering your vulva with a strap-on makes you feel negated or undesirable, there are dildo harnesses that strap on to your thigh, not your crotch, and could provide your husband with body-to-body closeness during penetration while still leaving your vulva and clit accessible for digital stimulation. g

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b MY HUSBAND OF nearly 20 years came out to me as bisexual about two months ago. He assured me he has no intention of looking outside our marriage for other sex partners. We’ve always had a kind of barrier sexually, and it seemed to fall away after he came out. We’ve since done all manner of things, including my using a dildo on him. (Thanks for all the tips over the years about anal!) It has been a fun and empowering experience overall. There is one thing I am having trouble with. He mentioned that he’d like me to peg him using a strap-on. I mean, of course he would, right? He’d like to actually feel my body against his. That would doubtless make the whole experience better for him. But I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Does this require me, even if temporarily, to change my body? I’m feeling really vulnerable and insecure about it, like it means there’s something

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out of the apartment is a reasonable ask of a roommate,” said Shalit. “But if the roommate sees a steady stream of FISTS’s hookups coming over, it could seem like a double standard. And I suppose he could ask for extra help with the water bill, but I’m skeptical that ‘cleaning out’ for fisting would actually cause a significant increase in the bill.” Shalit recommends Anal Pleasure & Health by Jack Morin to anyone who wants to learn more about anal intercourse, fisting, and other forms of anal play. “It’s the bible of anal sexuality,” said Shalit. Follow Franco on Twitter @devin francoxxx, and check out his work at justfor.fans/devinfrancoxxx.

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there,’ to the fi rst time I actually got a fist in my ass. Two years.” And while fisting isn’t for everyone, FISTS, like Shalit said, it’s very clearly for your roommate. But enjoying the hell out of a particular sexual activity—even one that seems extreme to those who don’t enjoy it—isn’t by itself evidence of low selfesteem or sexual compulsion. “If FISTS thinks his roommate has low self-esteem,” said Shalit, “he’s done the right thing by telling him he should seek help. But that’s the end of his responsibility. Whether or not his roommate seeks help is up to his roommate. And it’s hard for me to agree that his roommate is being sexually compulsive based on what’s in the letter. Many men have sex every day, and the roommate’s sex life doesn’t seem to have any negative consequences except that FISTS doesn’t like it.” While Franco also doesn’t think getting fisted daily is proof that your roommate is out of control, fisting isn’t something he does every day. “Doing it daily sounds exhausting,” he said. “The act requires a lot of physical exertion. I personally need a little recovery time between sessions. But I do know guys who do it every day—maybe not a fist every day, but they play with large toys every day. But I couldn’t and I don’t.” All that said, FISTS, two of your cited reasons for not liking what your roommate is up to—strange men in and out of your apartment (and your roommate) and all that douching driving up your water bill—are legitimate complaints that you shouldn’t be shy about addressing. “To not have a lot of strangers in and

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