2016-2016 season announcement | coming soon!

This is just a little teaser to let you know that our season announcement is coming soon!  No, it's not an April Fool's joke: on April 1 we'll announce our 2016-2017 season.

We'll be posting it on the blog, Facebook, website, and sending out a blast to everyone on our mailing list.  Plus, subscribers will get to know first!  Keep an eye on your inboxes, we'll be sending out a notice to subscribers shortly with all the details.

gruesome playground injuries | meet the team

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES opens on Friday with a pay-what-you-can preview on Thursday! Check out the creative team here.

Chelsea Haberlin: Director
"I'm very much drawn to the quirky nature of this play."

Pippa Johnstone: Kayleen
"I am over-the-moon excited and grateful to get another crack at this strange and beautiful story, and get to work alongside the best team I could dream up."

Kenton Klassen: Doug
"Gruesome Playground Injuries is probably my favourite play and definitely the most exhilarating production that I have been a part of. I am excited to work with this wonderful team of artists again and to dig deeper into this silly, dark, and peculiar love story."

Christopher David Gauthier: Costume Designer
"I love the team involved. Also I love "almosts" which without spoiling it is what in some ways this show is about. "Almosts" are human, we almost make/do a lot of things, how we deal with that is important."

Chris Adams: Sound Designer
"I am very pleased to be working on this show again with the same awesome group of people."

Carolyn Rapanos: Set Designer
"I really enjoyed working with everyone on this team and am excited to get the chance to do it again! And I'm very much drawn to the intimate, quirky nature of the play."

Phil Miguel: Lighting Designer
"A little under two years ago, I smacked his face into the set of Gruesome Playground Injuries which left of bruise on my face for weeks. I return to this show a little smarter with a plan to keep everyone’s face well lit (within reason)."

Shelby Bushell: Stage Manager
"I am thrilled to be returning to work with this wonderful cast and crew."

gruesome playground injuries | the set

The set design for GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES is incredibly attention-grabbing.  Here's a look at the first set drawing and a note from designer Carolyn Rapanos on what she was trying to achieve with the design.

“The goal of this set is to emphasize visible costume changes, facilitate quick changes in time and location, and reflect the atmosphere of the play - intimate, quirky, and reveling in injury. The set is minimalist, featuring a woven "bandage" motif and a bold red floor.”
-Carolyn Rapanos

holiday hours

A quick notice that our administrative office and box office will be closed Friday-Monday for Easter Weekend.  We will be back and ready to help you out on Tuesday, March 29. 

gruesome playground injuries | photos

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES is set to open next Friday night!  In the meantime, we've got some photos from the last production to share with you.

a good mother | workshop photos

Next month we're doing a script-in-hand presentation of A GOOD MOTHER by Kathy Parsons.  This is one of our favourite things to do - script-in-hand stagings give us an opportunity to share a work that we're developing with our audience, and gives the playwright a chance to see how the show works on its feet.  Last weekend the team gathered for a quick workshop so Kathy could make some more edits before they begin rehearsals next month, and we snapped some shots of them at work.

mar 19 | the eisenhauers | concert

Remember Sheree Plett and Jeremy Eisenhauer?  Until they moved away a couple of years ago, they were CHRISTMAS PRESENCE regulars, and even created live musical accompaniment for our Christmas show JESUS, MY BOY.  Well, after a brief time away from the recording studio, they're restarting their music careers as The Eisenhauers!  We can only imagine how great this is going to be.  They have a new album coming out, and a small tour that includes a stop in Vancouver.

The Eisenhauers
Saturday, March 19th at 7:30pm
Anchor Guitars / Cousin Jack 103, 339 Railway St, Vancouver

Tickets $10 at the door only.

march 29- april 9 | late company | katherine venour, michael kopsa

After playing to rave reviews at the Cultch last season, Late Company returns to the Evergreen Cultural Centre and the Culture Lab this Spring. Pacific Theatre audiences will remember Michael Kopsa (PLAYLAND and THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT) and Katherine Venour (coming up again this June in WIT!)

Photo of Gerry Makay and Katharine Venour by Tim Matheson

LATE COMPANY

By: Jordan Tannahill 

WHAT IT’S ABOUT 

One year after a tragedy, two couples sit down to dinner. Far from finding the closure they seek, the dinner strips bare their good intentions to reveal the layers of hypocrisy beneath. A funny and moving exploration of a hot button issue, rendered in dynamic dialogue by an exciting young playwright. Touchstone’s hit production, directed by Katrina Dunn, features an innovative design and riveting performance from some of Vancouver’s finest actors.  

WHY YOU’LL WANT TO SEE IT 

If it takes a village to raise a child, then who’s to blame when one falls by the wayside? That’s the question lurking at the heart of Jordan Tannahill’s searing, unforgettable drama. From one of Canada’s most promising young playwrights, winner of the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Drama and the John Hirsch Award, comes a new play where there are no easy answers to be found; only the shattered realities of two families struggling to put a terrible ordeal in the past.  

WHAT YOU’LL TAKE AWAY 

This is truly theatre at it’s most raw: exploring restorative justice, cyber bullying, and the ever-changing complexities of parenthood in the 21st century.

WHEN/WHERE/TICKETS

March 29-April 2, 2016

Evergreen Cultural Centre
1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Tickets:
tickets.evergreenculturalcentre.ca
604-927-6555

April 5–9, 2016
Vancity Culture Lab
1895 Venables St, Vancouver

Tickets:
tickets.thecultch.com
604-251-1363

A Touchstone Theatre Production

CREATIVE TEAM

Directed by Katrina Dunn
Set by Pam Johnson
Lighting by Adrian Muir
Costumes by Amy McDougall
Sound by Scott Zechner
Stage Managed by Marijka Asbeek Brusse

CAST

Michael Kopsa, Gerry Mackay, Arthur MacKinnon, Linda Quibell and Katharine Venour

arts courses | regent spring + summer school

Swell arts line-up at Regent College this spring and summer.  Documentary film-maker and PT enthusiast Iwan Russell-Jones joins forces with PT enthusiast Gerry Schoberg to offer "Jesus At The Movies" - Pasolini's Gospel According To Matthew,  JCSS, Life of Brian, Last Temptation, Gibson's Passion Of The Christ, Jesus of Montreal, and the splendid South African Son Of Man, to name but a few.  And I wonder what will be on the list for the sci-fi course this July?  Lewis's space trilogy? A Canticle For Leibowitz? The Sparrow and Children Of God?

Here's a link to more.

march 8 | open auditions: freud's last session | gallery 7 theatre

Our friends at Gallery 7 theatre are hosting open auditions for their upcoming production of FREUD'S LAST SESSION! If you enjoyed the show at Pacific Theatre last season, here's your chance to act in it- or see it again!

WHAT

Gallery 7 Theatre is seeking two male performers between ages 23 - 70 to perform in this thought-provoking and entertaining play featuring a fictional conversation between C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud on the day England enters WWII. Those interested in working behind the scenes are also invited to attend the audition.

WHEN

General Audition: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 @ 6:30 PM 

Call Backs: Saturday, March 12, 2016 @ 10:00 AM

WHERE

Gallery 7 Theatre - Huntington Station #100 - 34595 3rd Avenue, Abbotsford

HOW

Call 604-504-5940 or email info@gallery7theatre.com. 

When you register, please let us know your name, phone number, email address and a little bit about your theatre experience, if any. Please read the Actor's Orientation Package (available here) prior to registering for the audition.

ADDITIONAL INFO

The Story:  

On the day England enters World War II, famous psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud and young novelist and Oxford fellow, C.S. Lewis engage in an intellectual and emotionally charged debate about some of life's biggest questions: love, God, relationships and the meaning of life. As the discussion ensues, the two discover a respect for the other, despite the significant differences of opinion that separate them. A fictional story brimming with humour and insight, this play celebrates friendship and respect as two of the greatest minds from the 20th century tackle the greatest questions of all time. 

Performance Dates:  

May 20 & 21, 25 - 28, 2016 @ 7:30 PM 

Matinees: May 21 & 28 @ 2:00 PM  

Performance Location:  

Matsqui Centennial Auditorium - 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC   

Rehearsal Schedule:  

March/April/May, 2016 

Monday, Wednesday  & Thursday evenings. 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM  

Please note there will be two additional Saturday rehearsals scheduled: 

Saturday, April 2, 2016, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM and Saturday, May 7, 2016, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. 

Please also note that during the final week of rehearsals, we will be rehearsing every evening.   

Rehearsal Location:  

Gallery 7 Theatre - Huntington Station #100 - 34595 3rd Avenue, Abbotsford   

Artistic Team:  

Director Ron Jackson

Set Design Brian Ball

Costume & Props Design Dianna Lewis

Sound Design Eli Funk

Character Break-Down:  

Please Note: The following descriptions provide an approximate age for each character. However, the director may decide to cast older or younger performers depending on the needs of the production, regardless of the age range of the character listed below.  

SIGMUND FREUD: An aging Viennese psychologist, 83 years old, who has fled the beginnings of World War II and taken refuge in London, England. He is battling cancer of the mouth, and is a brilliant thinker. 

C.S. LEWIS: A Christian theologian converted from atheism, and at 40, is still forming many of the opinions and thoughts that he will write about later in life. A native of Belfast, Ireland, but has resided in England since he was 18 years old.

mar 9-12 | the occupation of heather rose | apprentice project

We've got another apprentice project taking our stage!  Kim Larson will be taking on THE OCCUPATION OF HEATHER ROSE by Wendy Lill.

The Occupation of Heather Rose by Wendy Lill
March 9-12 at Pacific Theatre
an apprentice Stone's Throw Production

Equipped with a Canada Food Guide, her nursing training, and a heavy dose of optimism, Heather heads out to a remote reserve in Northern Ontario. She’s heard the problems and has the solutions. But things don’t go according to her careful plans and she is soon in deep over her head.

The show is hauntingly beautiful and provocative. Written in 1986, but still horrifyingly accurate, it takes an unflinching look at just how much “help” our system can offer and the subsequent consequences.

Tickets pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth after the show. To reserve a seat, email tickets@pacifictheatre.org or phone 604-731-5518.

Featuring: Kim Larson
Director: Cheyenne Douglas-Ruttan
Stage Manager: Elan Bertles
ASM: Derick Neumeier
Set/Costume: Elizabeth Wellwood
Sound Design: Dylan Coulter
Lighting Design: Jeff Elrick
Poster Design: Erin Cassidy