May 1: Sara Ciantar / Wicker Robot

Sara and a subset of WR played CHRISTMAS PRESENCE in December (and the Kitchen Aid benefit for Grandview Calvary Baptist prior).  Here's the latest...

The (probably) last James Lamb and the Liabilities/Wicker Robot show (in it's present incarnation) until 2010!!!!! (I play accordion in this group and BG's and there are some fantastic things happening with this group. catch us while you can)

At the Biltmore (12th and Kingsway downstairs from the hotel part), Thursday May 1.

When is always my weakest link here....I think it's 9. There's 3 acts so if you show up at 9ish you should be catching us shortly thereafter

We're playing with the Crackling and Dan Mangan. He's always selling out shows so if you're really interested you should actually try for 9 to make sure you're in.

and I believe it's a tener to get in (not bad for three fabulous bands and a fabulous nite of music and merrymaking)

hope to see ya guys soon...

sara

Set: You Can't Take It With You

Dale Marushy is our scenic designer for YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU - you saw his work in SHADOWLANDS and THE WOODSMAN.  Right now the set is being loaded into the theatre so we move our rehearsals on set next week - I'm directing, we open May 16 - and I thought you might be interested in getting a look at the set model.  

I get a kick out of these.  As an actor, I very much rely on the model the designer creates to give me a mental picture of the world where the story will live once we move into the theatre, and I love looking at the completed set, model in hand, and marveling at how what's in front of me, big as life, emerged from the little box I'm holding.  So here's a foretaste...

May 2: VCC, "Songs Of Faith And Home"

SONGS OF FAITH AND HOME
Wes Janzen Conducts

with
Vancouver Chamber Choir
Ay-Laung Wang, Organist
Wes Janzen, Guest Conductor

8pm Friday, May 2, 2008
Ryerson United Church

The Vancouver Chamber Choir and Artistic Director Jon Washburn present SONGS OF FAITH AND HOME Wes Janzen Conducts at 8pm Friday, May 2 at Ryerson United Church (2195 West 45th Avenue at Yew Street in Vancouver). The Choir’s frequent colleague, Dr. Wes Janzen (Director of Choral Activities at Trinity Western University) guest conducts in this final concert of the season, with organist Ay-Laung Wang.

SONGS OF FAITH AND HOME is a programme of marvellous music by choral masters Benjamin Britten, Johannes Brahms, Arvo Pärt, John Rutter, Charles Villiers Stanford and others. A perfect way to close the choral season!

Wes Janzen has been Director of Choral Activities at Trinity Western University (TWU) since 1981. He is Principal Guest Conductor of the Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Co-Artistic Director (with his wife Kimberley) of the award winning Pacific Mennonite Children’s Choir. He has studied with Eric Ericson in Sweden and served on juries for numerous international choir competitions. Choirs under his direction have frequently appeared at the invitation of the Vancouver Chamber Choir and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Ay-Laung Wang is an active recitalist whose superb musicianship, excellent technique, and great personal charm make her a favourite with audiences wherever she performs. She graduated from TWU and excelled in piano and conducting studies. She continued her studies at UBC and received a Masters of Music with top standing in organ performance.

Tickets to SONGS OF FAITH AND HOME are $21.25 - $23.75 and are available at Ticketmaster. Rush tickets are available for $10 one hour before the concert for youth under 26 and students (valid ID required for both). Tickets may be purchased at ticketmaster.ca or by phoning 604-280-3311.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir appreciates the support of London Drugs and the Vancouver Sun.

May 2: Sheree Plett, Jonathan Inc, etc

sheree plett and her husband Jeremy Eisenhauer have made themselves essential to Christmas at Pacific Theatre, and this coming season they'll be playing live as part of our mainstage production, JESUS MY BOY. Here's a chance to hear them live, as well as Jon Anderson, another CHRISTMAS PRESENCE regular. (By the way, the "Brett" who said I could possibly put this on the blog is Brett Ziegler, also a CP fixture - on keyboards - who's playing Ed, the xylophone guy, in our upcoming production of YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU...)


hey ron-
thought I'd pass this poster on to you. brett said you could possibly put it on your blog. it will be a full night of really great music. we're on first at 9pm, following will be andrew lee(from in medias res) and Kensington prairie(who will be releasing their album this night) and of course the ever great jonathan inc (jon anderson)
hope things are going well for you!
sheree

Until May 14: Special accomodation offer, SAINT JOAN, Chemainus

Click here for more on this offer

Buy a Wednesday Theatre Getaway Package for 2 people
and receive the Tuesday Night Accomodation Free!

Includes: Dinner in the Playbill Dining Room, tickets Chemainus Theatre presentation of Saint Joan, two nights accommodation at the Best Western Chemainus Festival Inn, and two Deluxe Continental Breakfasts.

Valid until May 14, 08. New reservations only.

Call to book: 1-800-565-7738 or 250-246-9820

What theatre patrons are saying about Saint Joan......
“I really loved this play, it was so strong – it instantly transported me back to the 15th century!”

“It is refreshing to see something as different as this, an interesting page in history.”

“I was very impressed, I didn’t know what to expect, it was so emotionally moving that I found tears in my eyes at the end.”

“Live history on stage – very thought provoking; the acting was wonderful.”

Deserving Redemption?

LITTLE BILL

I don't... deserve this... to die this way. 

I was... building a house.

MUNNY

(aiming his pistol point blank)

"Deserve" don't mean shit, Little Bill.

UNFORGIVEN screenplay

May 6 - Jun 12: Bruce Marchfelder, History Of Cinema

Bruce Marchfelder is a film maker who teaches directing at Vancouver Film School, and a number of film courses at Regent College and Corpus Christi, the newish Catholic college at UBC. The first time one of his courses is offered and I can attend all the lectures, I'm there, no exaggeration: this guy is an inspired teacher. I've heard him two or three times show film clips and talk about what's going on onscreen, and I'm not hyping when I say he's a master teacher. But I'll be in rehearsal for YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU the first couple weeks of this one, so it's no go for me. Hey, you can go in my place...

Course: HISTORY OF CINEMA 1930's - 1960's
Dates: MAY 6 - JUNE 12, Tuesday and Thursday evenings 6:15-9:15PM.
Cost: Full credit: $462.00 + ($50.00 registration) = $512.00
or
To audit: $276.00 + ($50.00 registration) = $326.00

If interested, please contact: Margaret Trim or Marjorie Budnikas at 604-822-6862.

*

Course Description
An introduction to film history from the release of sound motion pictures in the late 20’s to the 1960’s. Emphasis will be placed on the achievements of directors who are representative of significant developments in the medium.

Course Objectives
The objectives of the class are three fold:
(i) to provide an overview of film history focusing on its key contributors;
(ii) to foster an appreciation for the language of film, and;
(iii) to equip students with the critical tools to engage and comment on film intelligently and responsibly;

Course Format
Two 3 hr. classes per week. Lecture with in-class screenings.

Required Reading
Kawin, Bruce F. and Mast, Gerald. A Short History of the Movies (Abridged). 9th ed.

Selections from the Following Texts:
Cousins, Mark. The Story of Film: A Worldwide History, 1st ed. New York, Thunder’s
Mouth Press, 2006

Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies, 2nd ed.
Vintage, 1994

Course Outline

Class 1 Fritz Lang: The Darkened Screen
Screenings: M, Metropolis, Scarlet Street

Class 2 John Ford: The Cinema of Remembrance
Screenings: How Green Was My Valley, Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Class 3 Orson Welles: Genius and the Fractured Image
Screening: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Citizen Kane, Lady from Shanghai

Class 4 Howard Hawks: The Aesthetics of Omission
Screening: Red River, Scarface To Have and Have Not

Class 5 Frank Capra, Gregory La Cava, Preston Sturges: Cinema of Conscience
Screenings: Sullivan’s Travels, My Man Godfrey, Meet John Doe, It’s a Wonderful Life

Class 6 Alfred Hitchcock: The Banality of Evil
Screenings: The 39 Steps, Notorious, Vertigo, Psycho

Class 7 Billy Wilder: The Master Ironist
Screenings: Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment

Class 8 Vincent Minnelli: The Choreographer
Screenings: Cabin in the Sky, Bad and the Beautiful, The Band Wagon

Class 10 Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica: The Neo-Realists
Screenings: The Bicycle Thief, Open City

Class 11 Carl Th. Dreyer, Ingmar Bergman: Nordic Cinema
Screenings: The Seventh Seal, Ordet

Class 12 Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi: Post War Japan
Screenings: Ikiru, Rashomon, Shichinin No Samurai, Ugetsu

Chris Humphreys, "More Synchronicity"

Remember Chris Humphreys?  King Henry VIII and Cromwell in our recent MAN FOR ALL SEASONS.  This just in from Chris...

So I was in Los Angeles, at a friend's dinner party and two of the guests are twins, former models, Carrie and Camilla... MORE. Direct descendents of Sir T. Daughters of musicals' writer Julian More (Irma la Douce, Expresso Bongo).

'More' synchronicity.

Hope you are well. Hoping to get down and see Woodsman this week.

Cheers,

Chris

Could it be? Is it possible? You be the judge...

Camilla

Carey

Tom

Tom II

WOODSMAN on CBC's "Q" Podcast

Download the podcast here: THE WOODSMAN interview begins at 39:25.

WOODSMAN INTERVIEW ON "Q"

Between 2:00 and 3:30 Thursday (April 17) Dirk Van Stralen talks with "Q" host Jian Ghomeshi and playwright Steven Fechter in New York about Pacific Theatre's production of THE WOODSMAN. This from the website of the national CBC program: "The play THE WOODSMAN poses the most challenging of ethical questions - do society's most reviled citizens deserve redemption? We hear from the playwright and the actor who is starring in the Canadian premiere." (Of course, this raises the question whether any of us deserve redemption. But you know what I mean.)

And remember, this is the second last week for WOODSMAN, which I personally consider one of our company's artistic high points. I understand that the subject matter is off-putting, but if you stop and think about it, so is the subject matter of all the best of Jesus' parables. I mean, who wants to hear stories about people being beaten and left for dead at the side of the road, or of a young man spitting in his father's face then bottoming out among hookers and addicts. Sure, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU will be more comfortable, a perfect follow-up to THE WOODSMAN, but are those really the only stories we should tell?

THE WOODSMAN closes April 26. Tickets available at 731-5518 or www.pacifictheatre.org

reviewVancouver Applauds WOODSMAN

The Woodsman by Steven Fechter
Closes Apr 26, Pacific Theatre
Erin Jane, reviewVancouver

Steven Fechter’s The Woodsman isn’t the easiest play to enjoy, not in small part because of its controversial subject matter. A convicted pedophile begins his rehabilitation, and takes on the challenges and difficulties of new relationships, society, and his own self-loathing. In spite of what most would consider a rather disturbing or unsettling play, The Woodsman takes its subject matter head-on and triumphantly succeeds in achieving what I think it sets out to achieve, which is to illuminate one man’s humanity and redemption, even in his darkest place.

The Woodsman is powerful because it shows its audience the human being inside the monster. It sheds light on an issue of which most of us are either largely ignorant or aggressively judgmental, and explores the psychological burden of being tormented with pedophilic desires. Walter is a surprisingly and enormously empathetic character, and is played by Dirk van Stralen who portrays Walter’s struggle for control and for normalcy deftly and intimately.

The Woodsman is uniquely fortunate to have a brilliant four-person cast of actors that shine in their roles, without exception. Michael Kopsa tackles three roles himself: Walter’s therapist, brother-in-low, and threatening police officer who makes sure Walter is still paying for his crimes. Kopsa easily flows into each role with utterly seamless changes, and his “triality” of characters in no way disrupts the spellbinding nature of the play.

The young Camille Beaudoin is remarkably confident and mature in her portrayal of a young girl who at times haunts and at times interacts with Walter. Rebecca de Boer plays Walter’s love interest, Nikki, who supports him despite an abhorrent past he can’t seem to escape. Against all odds (in fact as Nikki says at one point during the play, “odds are bullshit”), Walter is able to carry on fighting his demons with his girlfriend and therapist at his side, two grace-filled people who (as Director Morris Ertman says) show faith in those who do not have the capacity for faith in themselves.

The set design at first appearance looks like a small clearing in a forest, with piles of leaves and a few chairs, table, and a couple of boxes. This is where Walter lives. On second look, the leaves are actually furled pictures of children, little girls, and we realize that the stage is set up to remind us of the constant presence and shame of the affliction from which Walter is suffering, and the psychological burden of his sexual desires.

When I read that Pacific Theatre’s Artistic Director Ron Reed had said, “The play goes to a very dark place. I don’t know if it goes too far, or if it doesn’t go far enough, but I’m glad it has the courage to go where it does,” it was a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agreed. Experts in the field of sexual dysfunction have stated a belief that pedophilia could potentially be successfully treated, if only the medical community would give it more attention.

Pacific Theatre’s The Woodsman in no way attempts to be political, but nevertheless, I applaud Pacific Theatre and its brilliant cast for taking on the challenge and succeeding.

Apr 17 - May 17, Jun 7 - Jul 26: SAINT JOAN, Chemainus

Saint Joan
By Nobel Prize Winner George Bernard Shaw
April 17 to May 17, Reopens June 7 to July 26
Chemainus Theatre Festival
Directed by Sarah Rodgers

1429 France. Joan of Arc, a charismatic young peasant girl, leads the French to victory over the English, but two short years later she is burned at the stake. Why? Regarded as one of the most riveting and powerful texts in the English language, Shaw's monumental work re-examines Joan's dramatic rise and fall in light of the nationalism, political corruption, religious intolerance and hero worship that caused not only World War I, but that also challenges our world today.

"One thousand like me can stop them. Ten like me can stop them with God on our side."

THE WOODSMAN: Artistic Director's response

Of all the shows at Pacific Theatre this season, THE WOODSMAN is the one that people might be most likely to miss. Well, I saw the opening last night, and... Don't. Don't you dare miss it.

It's simply a beautiful, beautiful play. Yes, it has a heart-in-your throat edge to it: at one point I happened to reflect on my own emotional state, and thought "How odd: I'm not having an emotional reaction to this", only to notice that I could literally feel the blood pounding in the veins in my neck. A gripping piece of work. But I was mostly struck not with how difficult it was to watch, or how scandalous, but almost the opposite: how much attention had been paid to every tiny detail of production, performance, design, timing, and how that reflected the respect and reverence, tenderness, care, grace, and prayer that surrounds the show. The maturity of the work, both aesthetically and in terms of the sensibilities of the artist who have worked together to shape it and craft the tiniest details of sound, lighting, motion, gesture. There isn't a moment from beginning to end that speaks of exploitation, shock, scandal, tawdriness: it embodies the opposite of each of those words.

Here's the first of what I expect will be many responses from audience members, this from the worship arts director of an evangelical church in Langley; "Just wanted to say thank you for the free tickets to see the Woodsman last night. Brilliant show, went to bed thinking about it, woke up thinking about it, and the more I think the more I relish it! Every time I’m at Pacific Theatre I see something that feeds my soul...thanks for bringing truth and beauty to our city!" Not, perhaps, what you expected?

The show is Georgia Straight's Pick Of The Week: "You might never know it from all the hatred being spewed in the name of God these days, but at its best, Christianity—like theatre—is about compassion. And compassion can be extremely difficult to muster. By producing Steven Fechter’s The Woodsman, Pacific Theatre, which is a Christian company, is asking us what it might be like to be a pedophile. Dirk van stralen plays Walter, a quiet guy who has served his time and is back in the community—but the only place he can find to rent is across from a school, and his demons won’t let him be. The show runs from April 4 to 26 at Pacific Theatre and there will be nightly talk-back sessions hosted by Circles of Support and Accountability, a community organization that claims to have reduced incidents of re-offending by 80 percent."

And Vancouver Magazine's Pick Of The Month. The whole text is at our blog (www.soulfoodvancouver.blogspot.com), but here's an excerpt of what editor Matt O'Grady has to say: "The play—part of Pacific Theatre’s series of film-related dramas—was turned into a 2004 movie starring Kevin Bacon and, in keeping with Pacific’s long-standing examination of Christian values, provides no easy answers or morals. 'For an audience of the film or play, they’re particularly challenged because they’re given a man who seems, in all respects, rather decent,” says playwright Steven Fechter, “except that he has, in his past, done this really horrible thing. The question is, Does every person deserve a second chance? How forgiving, as a society, are we? And are there some things that are ultimately unforgivable?'"

It is specifically because of the understandable impulse to avoid this subject matter that I particularly encourage you to see this production. It is challenging shows like this and GRACE and ESPRESSO which - in a sort of dynamic tension with works like A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS and SHADOWLANDS and COTTON PATCH GOSPEL - define the essence of our company. If you skip this one, you miss one of our landmark shows.

Last thought: If this WOODSMAN is scandalous, it's the scandal of grace.

Apr 12: Lee Aaron in concert

Man it goes against my grain to promote something happening at a casino. Heck, I wouldn't even go hear Stephen Lewis because he was speaking at the River Rock (or whatever they call the abomination of desolation erected on the north edge of Richmond). But it goes further against my grain NOT to enthuse about this rare opportunity to hear Lee Aaron in the lower mainland, mixing her older rock tunes with her new (sometimes faith-inflected) material, which is more in a jazz and pop vein. Indeed her husband John Cody, who has written about music in BC Christian News for decades, will be on the drums - we've been buddies for years, but I've never heard him play! So glad to finally get the chance to hear them both live. Even worth stepping through the doors of "one of those places"....

There's lots to read at the Lee Aaron website - especially in the Press section. And she talks about her Christian faith in a piece at CanadianChristianity.com

Lee Aaron with Prism
Date: Saturday April 12, 2008
Doors open at 7:00pm
Shows start at 8:00pm
Ticket Price: $30.00 + GST

Summit Theatre Show Lounge
@ Cascades Casino
20393 Fraser Highway, Langley, BC
Tickets are available through Cascades Casino
Guest Services or by phone
604-530-2211

Lee Aaron is an award winning singer, songwriter and performer. Over the course of her career, she has been nominated for eight Juno Awards, won the CMPA Songwriters Award, a Much Music Video Award, three Toronto Music Awards, and an Ampex Golden Reel Award. In addition, she has graced the covers of an assortment of international magazines - TV Guide, Melody Maker and Sounds - to name three - and topped dozens of music-polls.

In response to numerous inquiries, Lee’s new 2008 show will feature material from her latest releases Beautiful Things and Slick Chick – and for the first time in nearly a decade - revisit her popular rock hits . A comprehensive and entertaining evening that showcases her versatility as an artist and performer, response from fans to this personal selection of songs has been overwhelmingly positive.

A local success story, Prism rose to international superstardom in the seventies and early eighties with classic FM rock tracks like “Armageddon”, “Spaceship Superstar” and “Young and Restless” earning them platinum records.

Apr 6: MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL

New company starting up, aims to be New Westminster's professional theatre - indeed, I met the Artistic Director after A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS one night, and sense affinities with Pacific Theatre. As confirmed by their play choice for their inaugural public reading. Note Damon Calderwood in the cast, as well as many other of Vancouver's very fine and recognizable actors.

One performance only of T.S. Eliot's spiritual classic MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL, Sunday April 6 at 3pm. And note that the venue is neither Holy Trinity Church in Vancouver where Pacific Theatre lives, nor the Cathedral in downtown Vancouver where so many staged readings occur - this is Holy Trinity Cathedral in New Westminster.

Here's a map.


And there's more about City Stage New Westminster at their website

Georgia Straight Announces THE WOODSMAN is "Pick of the Week"

The Woodsman

Publish Date: April 3, 2008

You might never know it from all the hatred being spewed in the name of God these days, but at its best, Christianity—like theatre—is about compassion. And compassion can be extremely difficult to muster. By producing Steven Fechter’s The Woodsman, Pacific Theatre, which is a Christian company, is asking us what it might be like to be a pedophile. Dirk van stralen plays Walter, a quiet guy who has served his time and is back in the community—but the only place he can find to rent is across from a school, and his demons won’t let him be. The show runs from April 4 to 26 at Pacific Theatre and there will be nightly talk-back sessions hosted by Circles of Support and Accountability, a community organization that claims to have reduced incidents of re-offending by 80 percent. Go to www.pacifictheatre.org/ for complete info.

---

Source URL: http://www.straight.com/article-139218/the-woodsman

THE WOODSMAN is Vancouver Magazine's Pick of the Month

THEATRE

Rebecca deBoer and Dirk van Stralen star in Pacific Theatre’s production of The Woodsman Photo: Kevin Clark

Editor's Choice: The Woodsman

Pacific Theatre, April 3-26

By Matt O'Grady


On July 29, 1994, Jesse Timmendequas—a previously convicted sex offender—lured seven-year-old Megan Kanka into his Hamilton Township, New Jersey, home to see his puppy. He then raped and beat her, strangling her to death with his belt. After Timmendequas was charged, Megan’s parents started campaigning for a law requiring neighbours to be notified when a convicted pedophile moves into their community. By 1996, “Megan’s Law” was in force across the United States.

New York playwright Steven Fechter was, like many people, captivated by the case—and by a question: Can a pedophile find redemption? “It was very black-and-white,” Fechter says of the media coverage surrounding Megan’s Law." “The men were depicted as monsters. I thought it would be interesting to write a play about one of these men who serves his term and returns to society, and the huge obstacles facing him.” In The Woodsman, which debuted off-Broadway in 2000 (and makes its Canadian debut here), the story centres on Walter, a child molester released from prison after 12 years, and his struggles to reintegrate into society, to rebuild ties with friends and family, to pursue a normal sexual relationship, and, most of all, to live with himself.

The play—part of Pacific Theatre’s series of film-related dramas—was turned into a 2004 movie starring Kevin Bacon and, in keeping with Pacific’s long-standing examination of Christian values, provides no easy answers or morals. “For an audience of the film or play, they’re particularly challenged because they’re given a man who seems, in all respects, rather decent,” says Fechter, “except that he has, in his past, done this really horrible thing. The question is, Does every person deserve a second chance? How forgiving, as a society, are we? And are there some things that are ultimately unforgivable?” 604-731-5518. Pacifictheatre.org