PERELANDRA in Oxford

This just in from IMAGE Update - though I think they used "eponymous" wrong...

The Oxford University C.S. Lewis Society and the Donald Swann Estate have recently announced that they will be producing the second premiere of Perelandra, an opera by Donald Swann (music) and David Marsh (libretto) based on the eponymous novel by C.S. Lewis. 

The piece was written between 1960 and 1964, with the enthusiastic support of C.S. Lewis. In a 1962 letter to Marsh, Lewis wrote: “I think [the libretto] just stunningly good. It brought tears to my eyes in places.” Done right, “it will be terrific. I very heartily congratulate you.” The opera was also very dear to Swann’s heart, and contains some of his most lyrical music. 

The opera opened to enthusiastic reviews in Oxford, Cambridge, London, and later New York. The sale of the film rights shortly after Lewis’s death, however, placed a long-term embargo on its performance.

The opera is now receiving a long-awaited second premiere in its original, three-act form. It will be performed in Oxford, UK, on June 25, 26 and 28, 2009, and recorded by Oxford Records. The performance run will be accompanied by a two-day international colloquium on C.S. Lewis’s Perelandra in all its aspects: literary, theological, philosophical, and musical. A keynote address will be given by Walter Hooper. 

A Call for Papers is now available on the website. A competition for subject-related artwork for display at the performance and on its products has also been announced, and Alan Lee, best known for his Tolkien illustrations and conceptual artwork for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is to judge the competition. The closing date is February 15, 2009. The full announcement is available on the website.

Please click here for more details, or contact the production team at admin@perelandraproject.org

JESUS MY BOY Artistic Director's Notes

this is the irrational season,
when love bloomed, bright and wild.
had mary been filled with reason
there'd have been no room for the child.

When we talk about experimental theatre, when we think of theatre that takes risks, it's not something as sweet and unassuming as JESUS MY BOY that we have in mind. But the fact is, this production feels to me like the riskiest in our season.

We start with a downright funny monologue, written by a comedy writer, about a dad who mostly doesn't understand his son. A son who happens to be The Son. Of God, no less.

Then we throw in the evocative, sometimes haunting, sometimes delicate music of Sheree Plett and Jeremy Eisenhauer.

Oil. Water.

Earthy. Transcendent.

Sublime. Ridiculous.

Well, we'll see.

It's risky, like any marriage is risky. It's uncertain, an experiment – which, more or less by definition, may or may not work. (If you're absolutely certain how it's going to turn out, or even that it's going to turn out at all, it's hardly an experiment, is it?)

But we thought we'd try. Frankly, this seems like the right time of year for such improbabilities, this midwinter time Madeleine L'Engle called "The irrational season." The perfect time for this awkward coming together of unlike things, a union that has everything to do with the risk of marriage, the death-defying miracle of birth, and especially the divine improbability of the infinite and mighty God becoming human, finite, vulnerable.

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Ron Reed,
Matchmaker

Merry Christmas! From Pacific Theatre

MOURNING DOVE: Audience response

from a physician friend: "Mourning Dove. She has been hovering above me all week. You have gifted us with an astonishing production of one of the most difficult ethical issues of our time.
I’m just recovering from surgery and am less coherent than usual which isn’t saying much. Nevertheless I want to send off a few thoughts but primarily gratitude for what you have put into this play as you approach closing night. I have recommended the show to many others as an “uplifting” experience. No matter what you thought when you arrived you had to leave with a deeper appreciation for the other side if not your own stance. Keith(you), the brilliantly acted idiot savant spoke for those of difference who cannot speak for themselves and in the end he was incapable of understanding and/or forgiving the act. On the other hand Sandra’s redemptive embrace closed the wounded circle. It was 40 days and 40 nights of torrential compassion! “Because we are going to outlive her we must out love her.” ...With my most sincere gratitude for the moral courage of your ongoing work..."

from Sarah: "Thank you again for such a beautiful, moving evening at the theatre. I haven't stopped talking about MOURNING DOVE all day."

from John Jennings: "I had to just sit in my seat for about 5 minutes after the play ended. Mind you, most everyone else did too. Thanks for taking the risk to present this play. It challenged us, as parents, to ask those tough "what if" questions. We talked through those questions on the way home, and then thanked God we didn't have to live with the answers."

from Dan: "I wanted to hug you after the show, but knew that I would start crying if I did. The show struck all kinds of resonances with me and I was in a very deep.... place for the rest of the evening and all of Saturday. I think the show brilliantly held its tension at all the right places and delivered a nuanced, thought-provoking journey. Bravo to all involved!"

From Michelle Lieffertz:
Oh WOW. It's only now, nearly a week later, that I feel even REMOTELY able to articulate anything.
What a piece of theatre.
What a piece of life.
It was quite the ride. What phenomenal work - THANK YOU for the gift of this. I was unable to leave the theatre space during intermission: I didn't want to stay and face the questions... but I was so caught up in it that I couldn't go. I feel like this is what Aristotle was talking about when he discussed theatre as catharsis.
so much pain.
so much TRUTH.
so few answers.
still reeling...
Glad I'm not God.

Nov 23: This Old Mountain

This one sounds great! Kenton Wiens is a PT regular, playing drums at Christmas Presence and all its cousins, also part of the Nelson Boschman Trio. Kathleen Nisbet has also done her shifts at CP, and gets mentioned most often her for her work with Viper Central.

THIS OLD MOUNTAIN
Sunday November 23 at 8pm
The Mosaic
208- 165 W4th Ave @ Columbia

Come on down for some foot stompin' good times with This Old Mountain. They have a new CD you need to get your hands on. It's called "Amen, amen!" and they are excited for you to hear it. Please join in the fun!

This Old Mountain is Chris Lemky, Kathleen Nisbet, and Kenton Wiens. They formed as a roots gospel trio for Thursday nights at the Street Church on Main and Hastings, a place where downtown eastside residents come to enjoy a warm meal, some hot coffee and to have their spirits lifted. This CD is a recording of some of the favourite songs from those nights at the Street Church. The evening will feature This Old Mountain with special guests and solo performances from Chris Janzen (Old Mare), Jon Wood and more.

Nov 14 - Dec 7: Glen Pinchin in THE CIRCLE

Remember Glen Pinchin as Tony Kirby's father, the unhappy Wall Street banker, in YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU?  We're hoping to see him onstage again this spring in the sequel, YOU STILL CAN'T, but if you can't wait that long, Glen's soon to be onstage with United Players. And longtime PT pal and certified Soul Foodie Maria Denholme is at the stage management helm...

United Players of Vancouver

presents

THE CIRCLE

by Somerset Maugham

Directed by Adam Henderson

November 14 - December 7

Thur - Sun at 8pm

$6 Preview: November 13

Jericho Arts Centre

1675 Discovery Street, B.C.

You can purchase tickets online

THE CIRCLE gives an ironic twist to the conflict between romance and responsibility as represented by two generations of the same wealthy family. Arnold Champion-Cheney has never forgotten, or ceased to resent, his mother's elopement thirty years ago with Lord Porteous. Cheney is an ambitious politician with a beautiful young wife in whom he has proprietary pride. Home from their long exile come his mother Lady Kitty and her lover. With Arnold's father living nearby, the visit promises to be fraught with embarrassment but instead becomes extremely amusing. What Lady Kitty at once notices is that history is repeating itself

Nov 26-29: MYTHIFICATION at TWU

Kris Knutsen was an apprentice at Pacific Theatre, was one of the invited playrights at our Rosedale Writers Week in 2007, and is working on her MFA in playwriting. Woven in with all of that, Kris is on the TWU Theatre faculty this fall, leading students through the creation of this intriguing original theatre piece.

MYTHIFICATION
Nov 26 - 29, 8pm
Trinity Western University

Tickets: 604 513-2121 ext 3872 / twuboxoffice@gmail.com / online

"We have been established since Everlasting, before there ever was an earth..."

MYTHIFICATION is a student created production using myth, storytelling and inspirations from classic Greek theatre to explore the figurative origins of the universe. Creation as you’ve never seen it before, this original student work turns “the beginning” into an epic battle for humanity.

“J.R.R. Tolkien refers to myth as a ‘real, though unfocused gleam of divine truth falling on human imagination’, and that’s the idea we started with in this production,” says director Kris Knutsen, a Seattle based playwright and actor. “In a ‘student-created production’ we are responsible for creating every part of the theatre experience; beginning to end, story and presentation, theatrical stage and the world of the play. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time.”

The idea for Mythification started with a love for classic Greek theatre. “When creating a work with an ensemble, it’s great to have a common inspiration. For us, it was these classic plays that were the origins of Western theatre. Epic things happened, everyone’s dying, the gods intervene, there’s no pretense towards the “smallishness” of life. Characters transcend the ordinary, yet somehow end up speaking personally about it.”

The contrast is created by using a Greek “style” to tell a mythic story from another culture. “For our production we used Genesis 1” says Knutsen. “The beginning of all beginnings. It’s got everything you need: creation of worlds, conflict, origin of time and humanity… We merged a humanity typically found in Greek mythology with the story and structure found in the Biblical account. The underlying story is the same, but like nothing you’ve ever seen. It feels unique and personal while still respecting the story as it was written. It definitely is creation as you’ve never seen it before.”

A show of epic proportions, Mythification is an original night of theatre that uses music, movement, and story to explore timeless truths in creative representations. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, the power of myth “Gets under our skin...troubles oldest certainties…and in general shocks us more fully awake than we are for most of our lives.”

Conservative Playwrights, Liberal Theatres, and Sir Thomas More

Below, another fascinating article from Terry Teachout.

I found it particularly entertaining when read through the following lenses.  

1) I have a playwright friend (a woman, in case that matters), probably far more conservative than I, who is presently working in the writing internship program at Oskar Eustis's Public Theatre. Incognito, I guess.

2) My Scrabble-induced dyslexia provided a far more interesting headline than the one the Times ran: "Liberal Views Dominate Foodfights."

3) My play REFUGE OF LIES was submitted to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival several years back. Either it never got as far as Alison Carey, or she doesn't judge it "conservative" - which is fine by me, it's not a label I would apply to myself or my plays, but I wonder why she wouldn't. (Some might suggest that perhaps she read my play but doesn't remember it. Having myself read my play, I must state that this simply could not be.)

4) Mamet swaps "idealistic vision" - which seems to me to be about human values? - for "a free-market understanding of the world." Damn Yankees, always confusing economics with ethics. (Is this really what troubles Teachout? That no American theatres are running plays about market deregulation and free trade?)

5) Once you've heard from Mr Teachout, I'll append a bit from the September/October Film Comment, in which writer-director David Koepp gives his take on A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, one of his cinematic "guilty pleasures."

6) Damn fine finish. Applause to Messrs Teachout and Chekhov.

Enter, Stage Right?
Why we don't get conservative plays
Wall Street Journal, November 8 2008

Here's one for the been-there-done-that department: A group of women playwrights recently held a public meeting in New York at which they complained that not enough plays by women were being produced Off Broadway. The usual statistics were adduced to prove the point, and the usual male suspects made mollifying noises in a story published in the New York Times, though none promised to do anything in particular about it. "The issue is best dealt with by consistent consciousness-raising rather than a specific program," said Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater. Translated from Newspeak into English, this evidently means that Mr. Eustis disapproves of quotas for plays by women. Liberalism, it seems, has its limits, even at the Public.

More interesting -- and less predictable -- was another Times story called "Liberal Views Dominate Footlights" that ran a few days earlier. In it a number of American theater professionals were asked to speculate on why today's politically oriented plays are without exception written from a liberal point of view. All gave the same answer: Conservatives don't write plays. "I've never had a play come to me that I could say had a conservative perspective," said Alison Carey of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

True? Probably. Except for David Mamet, who announced earlier this year that he had abandoned the "idealistic vision" of liberalism in favor of "a free-market understanding of the world," and Tom Stoppard, whose "Coast of Utopia" trilogy was a meditation on the destructive consequences of 19th-century utopian absolutism, I can't think of a single well-known American or British playwright whose political views are even slightly to the right of center. Nor do I think it likely that such a person would flourish were he or she suddenly to emerge from out of nowhere: Theater is a social art form, and the culture of American and British theater is 99% left-liberal, if not more so.

A couple of weeks before the election, I was present at a theatrical brunch where the woman sitting on my right was wearing a T-shirt that read "Republicans for Voldemort." I noticed that the other people at the table were giving her nasty looks, and a moment later it hit me that they didn't get the joke. Once I explained to them that Lord Voldemort is the Dick Cheney of the Harry Potter novels, they perked right up.

Is this lockstep ideological unanimity a problem? Some theater professionals claim to think so. Nicholas Hytner, the artistic director of London's National Theatre, has said that he longs to commission a "good, mischievous, right-wing play." But he gave the game away when he added that what he had in mind was "a play that ended up in a position that, for instance, was highly skeptical about abortion rights. I would like to see a play about the white working-class communities that were completely displaced by waves of immigration. These are the offensive plays we're not doing."

Mr. Hytner, in other words, wants to produce issue-driven conservative plays that are just like today's liberal plays, only in reverse, whereas the problem with today's political theater is that its practitioners see their plays not as works of art but as means to an end. In such tedious exercises in left-wing agitprop as Sam Shepard's "The God of Hell," Caryl Churchill's "Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?" and Tim Robbins's "Embedded," we are presented with a black-and-white universe of victims and villains, a place where every deck is stacked and never is heard a surprising word. Why would anybody with half a brain in his head -- even a fire-breathing McCainiac, if such a creature exists -- want to suffer through their right-wing equivalent?

It's possible for playwrights to engage with political subjects in a way that doesn't insult the intelligence. In Robert Bolt's "A Man for All Seasons," which is currently being presented on Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company, the martyrdom of Thomas More is turned into a parable about the rule of law. "And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you -- where would you hide, the laws all being flat?" More warns a colleague who wants to "cut a great road through the law" and arrest one of King Henry's spies. But Bolt didn't write "A Man for All Seasons" in order to persuade those who saw it to go out and vote Labour. His purpose was to make viewers of all political persuasions reflect on the dangerous consequences of using extralegal means to pursue desirable short-term ends. The result is a deeply political play that is neither liberal nor conservative -- and one that succeeds as a work of art.

I don't doubt that the American theater would be a more amusing place if it harbored a few uncloseted conservatives. But when the curtain goes up, I don't care whether the author of the show I'm about to see is a Republican, a Democrat, an anarchist or a drunkard, so long as he's taken the advice of Anton Chekhov: "Anyone who says the artist's field is all answers and no questions has never done any writing. . . . It is the duty of the court to formulate the questions correctly, but it is up to each member of the jury to answer them according to his own preference." That's what great playwrights do: They put a piece of the world on stage, then step out of the way and leave the rest to you.

Mr. Teachout, the Journal's drama critic, writes "Sightings" every other Saturday and blogs about the arts at www.aboutlastnight.com. Write to him at tteachout@wsj.com.

And, as promised, here's the further commentary on A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS from the the Sep/Oct issue of Film Comment. In the "guilty pleasures" feature, David Koepp (writer-director of the upcoming GHOST TOWN) provides these insights into A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, which he lists as Guilty Pleasure #10...

One of the all-time greats and you don't need me to tell you that, but here's the guilty part: early on, I started to have this nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, Thomas More was kind of a jerk. I pushed it out of my mind but it kept coming back, and by the time his poor wife starts yelling at him in the Tower of London to just sign the damn thing and come home already, I couldn't suppress it anymore. 'Yes, you pompous fool, what is your fucking problem?! Your family needs you!' I watched it a second time a few months ago just to confirm. Yep, he's an asshole."

Now there's a substantial critique. 

Give me the potty-mouthed Kevin Smith any day...

Nov 15: AUGUSTA Concert

Remember PT's first production of TENT MEETING? Karen Parent played the role of Dolly, and has visited us a couple times for CHRISTMAS PRESENCE and PASSION, things like that. A marvelous musician who now heads a band called AUGUSTA. Here's word of an upcoming gig...

Karen and I have just recorded our third CD and wanted to update you on this and let you know about a(nother) fundraiser concert we are doing in November at New Life Community Church in Bby.

Augusta live in Concert

Saturday, November 15 2008 at New Life Community Church, 8765 Government Street, Burnaby. Doors open at 6:30 pm

Augusta will be performing music from their new CD Bird, which will be available for purchase. Gourmet desserts. Silent Auction. Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door. For ticket info: (604) 420-0761 or newlifeburnaby@yahoo.com.
Proceeds to support Outreach Canada. 

To hear music go to www.myspace.com/augustatrio.

It will be a dynamic evening and we hope to see many there.

Best regards,

Jason Dionne
bassist for Augusta
Keep in touch with us on our Myspace page or Facebook page.

Nov 20: "God With Us" live webcast, Kathleen Norris & Gregory Wolfe

Last year at this time, I was pretty burnt out. Advent provided restoration, most specifically through Greg Pennoyer's God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas, through which God made good on the promise of Psalm 23, "His rod and staff, they comfort me... He makes me to lie down... He restoreth my soul." (Rivers And Tides also came into it...)

2008 has been a far kinder year to me, I'm relieved to say, but I still approach Advent - and Greg's book - with a sense of tremendous expectation. In that spirit, let me tell you about an online event connected with the book and the season.

God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas

Live web-cast on Nov. 20th

In a season and culture that has been overwhelmed by the expectations and demands of commercialism, you are invited to participate in an exploration of the mystery and wonder of the Advent and Christmas season with Award Winning Poet and New York Times Best-Seller Kathleen Norris, and Editor of Image Journal, Gregory Wolfe.

On Thursday, November 20, at 5pm Pacific (8pm Eastern), Kathleen and Greg will host a live conversation on the meaning of the Advent and Christmas Season.

To bookmark this date and receive free access, and to participate November 20, go to the www.rediscoverchristmas.com/livecall website.

Along with renowned spiritual writers such as Eugene Petersen and Luci Shaw, Kathleen Norris and Gregory Wolfe have created the popular book of art and daily reflections entitled God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas.

Rooted in the reflections and art of the book, Kathleen and Gregory will spend 60 minutes in conversation on this profoundly important topic and will interact with audience members from across North America, responding to the questions or comments submitted before and during the conversation.

We welcome you to participate in this rediscovery of the meaning of this significant season and this rare opportunity to interact with such unique authors as Kathleen Norris and Gregory Wolfe. For more information about Kathleen, Greg or the book, see the Rediscover Christmas web site.

Celebrate the meaning of Christmas and support Pacific Theatre too. $4 from the sale of every book will go to Pacific Theatre.
Please enter JF code PT120 when placing an order. And feel free to pass on this opportunity to your friends!

This online conversation is co-sponsored by Imago, Image Journal, Sign-post Music and Pacific Theatre.

SOUL FOOD: Dove closing soon, Advent webcast, PT actors everywhere!

Just nine MOURNING DOVE performances remaining, and I want to encourage you to take this one in. The thought-provoking and emotionally affecting subject matter - the play is inspired by the Robert Latimer case - is balanced by genuine warmth and humanity, as well as a surprising amount of humour.  It's always easy to draw an audience to our comedies and plays with familiar titles,  but it's shows like MOURNING DOVE, ESPRESSO, PRODIGAL SON and many other substantial pieces of theatre that are at the heart of what Pacific Theatre is about.  Closes November 15. Tickets: 731-5518 or www.pacifictheatre.org. Pick Of The Week by The Province, CBC Radio and The Georgia Straight.

And if you come see MOURNING DOVE this week, Nov 6-8, you can stay after and take in our Apprentice Showcase, STICKS & BONES!

With Advent approaching, I've been thinking back a year, to a season when God used the weeks leading up to Christmas - and Greg Pennoyer's book God With Us: Rediscovering The Meaning Of Christmas to restore my soul in a dry and weary time. I'm eager to enter into that season, and that inspiring book, once again this year, and in anticipation of that, I want to point you to a live webcast with Kathleen Norris and Gregory Wolfe coming up on November 20.

Lots of Pacific Theatre actors in shows around town these days. Julia Mackey's wonderful one-woman-show JAKE'S GIFT (Nov 11-22) features the character she created for PT's MERCY WILD. Damon Calderwood's BILLY BISHOP runs Nov 5-22 in Deep Cove (not to be confused with the UBC production helmed by Sarah Rodgers, director of ELEPHANT MAN, DRIVING MISS DAISY and JESUS MY BOY at PT). Arnica Skulstad-Brown will likely be amazing in LOVE LETTERS in Port Moody. Tom Pickett and Craig Erickson are in CYRANO at the Arts Club to Nov 23. Glen Pinchin opens Somerset Maugham's THE CIRCLE Nov 14 with United Players. Adam Bergquist opens tonight in HAVING HOPE AT HOME, Chemainus's Christmas offering, and Erla Faye Forsyth and Kyle Jespersen remind us that IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE at the Arts Club.

Gina Chiarelli is a beloved Pacific Theatre actress, though it's been a few seasons since we had her on our stage. Her painter husband Timothy Clayton is opening his studio this Sunday for a special pre-Christmas art sale. The Nelson Boschman Trio (Christmas Presence regulars) play the Blenz in Yaletown Nov 12 and 26, and Kathleen Nisbett's VIPER CENTRAL has started a regular Saturday morning bluegrass brunch gig at Aurora.

And the Solo Collective show TRUE BELIEVERS ends Nov 9.

Nov 30: Timothy Clayton art sale

Gina Chiarelli is one of PT's favourite actresses - AGNES OF GOD, THE FEVER, etc. Her husband is one of our favourite painters...

Timothy Clayton

Pre- Christmas studio Art sale

Sunday, November 30th, 3 – 9 pm

Wine and Cheese will be served

Come to Timothy’s studio and view inventory from past art shows at price-reduced rates.

Rock & Roll Abstracts, Cathelin Florals, Landscapes, and much more.

Oils and Acrylics…all sizes. We look forward to seeing you.

1956 East Georgia Street (off Victoria) 

RSVP: 604-430-9505 / timothyclayton@shaw.ca

Timothy presents a tribute painting… 

titled: “The Fat Bottomed Girls Bicycle Race”… 

to one of his favourite bands…

Queen 

in Vancouver, B.C.

Nov 5-22: Calderwood, Rodgers launch twin BILLY BISHOPs

You'll remember Damon Calderwood as THE ELEPHANT MAN, or as Richard Rich in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS - or, if your memory is long enough, an actor in The Pacific Salt Company and our annual Murder Mystery shows. Damon's always dreamed of playing Billy Bishop in the classic Canadian musical, and his time has come! 

Curiously enough, the director of THE ELEPHANT MAN, Sarah Rodgers - who also helmed our DRIVING MISS DAISY, and is about to dig in on JESUS MY BOY with David Adams, Sheree Plett and Jeremy Eisenhauer - has just piloted another production of BILLY B, this one at the Chan Centre. 

First Impressions Theatre proudly presents
BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR
a musical by John Gray & Eric Peterson

Wednesdays to Saturdays, November 5-22 at 8:00pm
Deep Cove Shaw Theatre, 4360 Gallant Avenue, North Vancouver, BC

First Impressions Theatre celebrates its 25th anniversary season with one of Canada's most popular and internationally renowned musicals "Billy Bishop Goes to War", by John Gray with Eric Peterson. This heart-warming, funny and moving narrative is based on a true story about Canada's World War I flying ace, Billy Bishop.

Audiences will fall in love with Billy Bishop as he recounts his days in combat as a rebellious young Canadian fighter pilot and unexpectedly becomes the most decorated Royal Air Corps officer and heroic figure of the Great War.

Veteran Vancouver actors Damon Calderwood and Gordon Roberts are teaming up in this two-man show with Equity director Gerry McKay to bring the iconic Canadian musical "Billy Bishop Goes To War" to the Deep Cove Shaw Stage. Damon Calderwood will star as the feisty Canadian WWI flying ace Billy Bishop performing 18 different characters while Gordon Roberts will perform the role of Narrator/piano player.

To commemorate "Billy Bishop Goes to War" 30th Anniversary production, First Impressions Theatre will host a Special Fundraising Event on Remembrance Day, Tuesday, November 11, at 8:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served from 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $20, all proceeds go to the Poppy Fund.

Show performances: November 5 through 22, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. at Deep Cove Shaw Theatre, 4360 Gallant Avenue (at Panorama Drive) in North Vancouver

Tickets: $18 adults; $15 for seniors and students.
Book your tickets early! Call First Impressions Theatre at 604-929-9456.

TWO PRODUCTIONS TAKE FLIGHT!

Theatre at UBC matches this production by First Impressions Theatre with a convergent mounting October 29 - November 11 at the Telus Studio Theatre, Chan Centre for Performing Arts, UBC Point Gray Campus. Director Sarah Rodgers and starring Ryan Beil & John Gray's son Zachary Gray.

UBC Box Office: 604 822.2678

To Nov 23: Craig Erickson, Tom Pickett in CYRANO

PT actors Craig Erickson and Tom Pickett are in CYRANO at the Arts Club through November 23.

Nov 11-22: Julia Mackey in JAKE'S GIFT (Vancouver)

Back in 2002, Julia Mackey first developed the character of Jake in a mask characterization workshop we held at Pacific Theatre, a process which led to the creation of MERCY WILD. A couple years later Julia traveled to Normandy, and out of that experience created a one-woman-show featuring Jake, as well as a couple other characters. JAKE'S GIFT won top honours at the Victoria Fringe Festival last year, and has been touring since. These next couple weeks we'll have the chance to see the show here in the lower mainland, before Jake takes a bit of a break - to allow Julia to act in HOLY MO at Pacific Theatre in January/February!

Jake's Gift

written and performed by Julia Mackey

Firehall Arts Centre
November 11-14, 16 at 7pm, plus 2pm matinee Nov 16 (no show Saturday 15)

Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Nov 20-22, 8pm

Nov 6: "Celebrate The Arts" Regent College

Celebrate the Arts

With Jim Gladden

artist and Regent Alum 

and Laurel Gasque

Art historian and sessional faculty, currently teaching

Faith & Imagination in Western Art at Regent College

Thursday, November 6

11:00 am to 12:30 pm in the John Richard Allison Library

Regent College

Nov 2: Eisenhauer, Jonathan Inc, Lance Odegard, Sheree Plett at PT

Only one place to be this Sunday night. EISENHAUER cd release concert at Pacific Theatre.

Jeremy Eisenhauer has played the last couple years of Christmas Presence, he's got a band that performs as Eisenhauer, this is their cd launch. He's married to Sheree Plett, another CHRISTMAS PRESENCE essential. She'll be playing some tunes that night too, as well as appearances by Jonathan Anderson and Lance Odegard, also PT regulars.  It'll be a blast.

(You should also know that Sheree and Jeremy will be providing live music for JESUS MY BOY, which runs at Pacific Theatre November 28 - December 27. With a winsome performance by the amazing David Adams as an amusing, bemused Joseph, reminiscing about the life of his son - which he only half understands.)  

Eisenhauer
at Pacific Theatre

Sunday November 2
CD release for ’Time of Year’
1440 W 12th Ave, Vancouver, British Columbia
Cost: $10 or $20 w/ Time of Year

w/ Jonathan Inc., Lance Odegard and Sheree Plett. Tickets available at the door only.
Doors 6:30, show starts at 7.10pm

Saturday mornings starting Nov 1: Kathleen Nisbet at Aurora Bistro

Kathleen Nisbet has played fiddle at a bunch of PT events like Christmas Presence, Testimony, that sort of thing. Fabulous player. She's part of Viper Central, who now have an ongoing gig at Aurora Bistro...

Hey Friends,

Just wanted to let you know that Viper Central will be playing on Saturday mornings at Aurora Bistro starting this saturday november 1st 11:30am-1:30pm.

Aurora Bistro is a fabulous little fine dining experience focusing on local fresh ingredients and now local fresh music! So Come and Join us!

Aurora Bistro
2420 Main St. (Main & 8th)

See you soon!

Kathleen

Nov 20 - Dec 6: Arnica Skulstad-Brown in LOVE LETTERS

Arnica Skulstad-Brown is an exceptionally gifted actress from the theatre program at Trinity Western who went on to do her MFA at the highly regarded Temple University actor training program. She's back in the lower mainland now, and we'll have a chance to see her work at an upcoming production of A.R. Gurney's LOVE LETTERS. Not to be missed.

Fight Like A Girl Productions presents

LOVE LETTERS
a romantic comedy by A.R. Gurney

November 20 - December 6, 2008
with a Gala Opening Nov 22
Thur-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm

Inlet Theatre
100 Newport Drive, Port Moody

This winter marks the 20th anniversary of the smash hit, which was first performed in 1988 in New York by John Rubinstein and Kathleen Turner and has since continued to star an exhausting list of celebrated actors. Adding to that long list of talent are our two actors Mitchell Janzen, playing Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, and Arnica Skulstad-Brown, playing Melissa Gardner.

“Love Letters” takes the relationship of Andy and Melissa, and lets the audience witness time passing in a recognizable, hilarious, and heart-wrenching way. The poignantly funny friendship and ill-fated romance takes them from second grade through adolescence, maturity, and into middle age, solely through their correspondence.

As the production traces the lifelong letters of the staid, dutiful lawyer Andy, and the lively, unstable artist Melissa, the story of their bittersweet relationship gradually unfolds from what is written - and what is left unsaid. The words are both hysterical and moving; the audience comes to know both of them intimately – from their boarding school and summer camp upbringing, through to political aspirations, love affairs, military service and artistic ambitions.

A smash hit both off and on Broadway, Love Letters captures Andy and Melissa with a precision of detail and depth of feeling only Gurney can command. In such critically acclaimed plays as The Dining Room and The Cocktail Hour, A.R. Gurney has wittily captured the manners of upper-middle class WASP America, but never as gracefully or with such dazzling economy as in Love Letters.

It'll make you search out your illicit love letters, mourn your lost youth and wish for a pen pal. It might even stir you to write a letter to your love, which, at 52 cents is still a cheap thrill.

MOURNING DOVE is "PROFOUND, HEART-WRENCHING"

Check out what Jerry Wasserman says in THE PROVINCE about MOURNING DOVE at Pacific Theatre:

...In the play, we never see the daughter, here named Tina Ramsay, though we hear her whimpers and groans (voiced effectively from offstage by Laura Van Dyke). Angela Konrad's Pacific Theatre represents Tina by a circle of light on the floor of her father Doug's workshop. The absence of a physical body...puts the focus squarely on [the other characters] and the choices they make.

Doug (Kerry van der Griend), wife Sandra (Anita Wittenberg) and family friend Keith (Ron Reed) put on a play about Noah's ark for Tina. The Noah play is theatrically lame but cleveral poses the play's central issue: For every two animals that Noah chose, he left behind 100 to drown. Who get to choose who lives and dies, on what grounds? And what's God's role in all this?

...Van der Griend's strong, stoic Doug no doubt does it for love - the quetsion is whether he has the right to do it at all. He offers the play's most powerful argument when he has Keith tie him up in the wrenching, painful position that Tina lives in all the time.

Reed does an excellent job with Keith, easily the play's most theatrical character but also its most stagey. Wittenberg has the toughest job with Sandra...

Simple, shattering moments...make this play worth seeing.

Oct 30: "Northern Lights" book launch, Regent College

BOOK LAUNCH

Northern Lights: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Writing in Canada

Thursday, October 30
7:30 PM, Regent College Chapel, 5800 University Blvd., Vancouver

With readings from Paul Stevens, Maxine Hancock, Diane Tucker, Hannah Main-van der Kamp and Douglas Todd

For more information see www.northernlightsbook.ca

Hope to see some of you there!!

Diane Tucker

Nov 6-8: PT Apprentice Showcase (after MOURNING DOVE)

Oct 29 - Nov 9: TRUE BELIEVERS, Solo Collective

Coming up, a show from Solo Collective that may serve up some Soul Food sustenance. Rachel Ditor directs Ian Weir's HOPE AND CARITAS; Rachel helmed the recent Arts Club production of DOUBT, and Ian is a playwright who's always had an interest in matters of faith, a speaker at TWU's Integration Forum. And Todd Thomson - memorable from PT's production of ESPRESSO - is featured in the Dennis Foon piece. It was SC's first production, TWO BY TWO, that introduced me to Shawn MacDonald's interest in spiritual things, and began the conversation that led eventually to PRODIGAL SON - now published! - gracing the Pacific Theatre stage. Trivia tidbit: Solo Collective co-Founder and Artistic Director Aaron Bushkowsky was Morris Ertman's Bible college room-mate (in days long since passed), and Pacific Theatre was the first BC company to produce a Bushkowsky play - SILLY SEASON, in 1990. 

TRUE BELIEVERS
Three new monologues based on Faith.
Oct 29 - Nov 9

My Acid Trip by Dennis Foon,
The Voice by Lorena Gale
Hope and Caritas by Ian Weir

Directed by Camyar Chai, John Cooper, and Rachel Ditor
Featuring performances by Mercedes Baines, Jennifer Clement, and Todd Thomson.

Well-known Vancouver film, theatre, and television veterans -- Gemini Award-winner Dennis Foon, Governor General Award-nominee Lorena Gale, and Gemini Award-winner Ian Weir -- return to the stage. Don't miss this incredible evening of dynamic one-person plays by three of Canada's most respected playwrights.

When faith is the question, the answer is everything.

Waterfront Theatre, Granville Island;
1412 Cartwright Street, next to the Kids’ Market
For more information, visit www.solocollective.ca

Nov 2: Eisenhauer, Jonathan Inc, Lance Odegard, Sheree Plett at PT

Eisenhauer

11-02-2008 18:30
at Pacific Theatre
CD release for ’Time of Year’
1440 W 12th Ave, Vancouver, British Columbia
Cost: $10 or $20 w/ Time of Year

w/ Jonathan Inc., Lance Odegard and Sheree Plett. Tickets available at the door only. Show starts at 7.10pm.

Oct 26: Pacific Rim Quartet, in residence at Pacific Theatre

Brian Mix writes...

Hello friends,

A new season of Music at Pacific is about to begin -- featuring the Pacific Rim String Quartet in the intimate space of Pacific Theatre at W. 12th and Hemlock.

The first concert is coming up on Sunday, October 26, at 3:00PM. The PRSQ will be performing Mozart's String Quartet in G Major K. 378, Puccini's rarely heard elegy for string quartet, Crisantemi, and Smetana's bold and tragic String Quartet No. 1, "From My Life".

Tickets are $24/$16/$11, and are available at 604-731-5518 or www.pacifictheatre.org. Only 124 seats are available, so book your tickets early.

Further info at www.pacificrimstringquartet.com.

Hope to see you there!

CBC spotlights MOURNING DOVE

The Early Edition's Margaret Gallagher recommended MOURNING DOVE as her live theatre pick this weekend on CBC Radio.

Pacific Theatre is opening their 25th season with a very thought-provoking piece. MOURNING DOVE was inspired by the story of Robert Latimer, the Saskatchewan farmer who ended the life of his severely disabled daughter. He called it an act of love and mercy, the courts found it differently. MOURNING DOVE asks some hard questions. It's met with a lot of acclaim across the country. And Pacific Theatre is an interesting company. They do productions that address social, spiritual and ethical values, they've picked up a lot of awards, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with this show. And that runs until November 15th.

MOURNING DOVE a "Straight Choice"

The Georgia Straight has chosen PT's MOURNING DOVE as its Straight Choice for theatre this week.

Pacific Theatre Presents Mourning Dove

When it comes to morally challenging work, Pacific Theatre doesn’t mess around. From Friday (October 17) to November 15, the company will present Emil Sher’s Mourning Dove in its home space at West 12th and Hemlock. The script was inspired by Robert Latimer’s killing of his severely disabled daughter, Tracy, but Sher’s central character, Doug, has doubts about his actions. And Keith, a mentally and physically disabled family friend, reminds him of the life he cut short. In 2007, director Angela Konrad won a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for best director in a small-theatre production for Grace, her last outing with this company. The strong cast includes Kerry van der Griend and Ron Reed.

Production Photos - MOURNING DOVE

Jerry Wasserman Picks MOURNING DOVE

Local theatre critic Jerry Wasserman named Pacific Theatre's MOURNING DOVE one of the three "Plays To Catch This Week" in yesterday's Province.

Mourning Dove (Pacific Theatre to Nov. 15)

The excruciating Robert Latimer story, told by playwright Emil Sher. With its Christian mandate, Pacific Theatre often goes for plays that pivot on moral quandaries. This one revolves around a father's mercy-killing of his child. With the excellent Kerry van der Griend and Ron Reed

Tickets: 731-5518 or at our website

Check out playwright Emil Sher's comments here, or some backstage photos here

PACT With The New Government

"How could we ever know each other in the slightest without the arts?"

(quote from The Hidden Mountain by Gabrielle Roy, featured on the Canadian $20 bill)

Theatre Community Looks Forward To Working With New Government

Toronto, October 15, 2008 - The Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) would like to congratulate all of the 308 successful candidates who were elected to Canada’s 40th Parliament yesterday.

During the election campaign, arts, culture and heritage figured prominently in national discussions about quality of life in Canada, the economy, and Canada’s profile in the world. PACT looks forward to working with all MPs and all parties to continue this important discussion and to help develop policies and programs that will benefit all Canadians.

"The arts are essential to our country and our communities. The arts should not be a luxury available only to a privileged few – arts should be accessible to everyone," said the re-elected Conservative Government.

At this critical juncture, PACT will press the Government to move on their commitments made prior to and during the election campaign”, said Lucy White, Executive Director of PACT. “Millions of Canadians enjoy Canadian theatre every year and government investment in the arts and culture sector will ensure that Canadians will have affordable access to the arts in their own communities.

As part of their election platform, the Conservative Party made a number of commitments to invest in the arts sector. They include:

· The extension of maternity benefits to include independent contractors, which will enable some artists to take maternity leave;

· The creation of a Tax Credit of up to $500 similar to the Child Fitness Tax Credit, which will include some arts activities for children under the age of 16. A committee will be convened to determine which arts activities are eligible; and

· A commitment to not re-introduce Bill C-10, which would have allowed the government to revoke tax credits given to films that the government deemed to be contrary to the public interest.

Commitments to Canada’s cultural policy from other parties included increased investment in the Canada Council for the Arts, the introduction of income-averaging for artists, and the reinvestment of over $45 million in arts funding programs that have been cancelled in 2008.

“Prior to the election, the Government pledged to reinvest funds and develop new arts and culture programs that were housed in the Departments of Canadian Heritage and Foreign Affairs. It is critical that funds previously earmarked for the arts are reinvested in arts programs and not lost to other sectors within the far-reaching mandates of the Departments. We want to work with Government to ensure that investments and programs are good value for Canadians”, added Lucy White.


The Professional Association of Canadian Theatres is a member-driven organization that serves as the collective voice of more than 140 professional Canadian theatres. For the betterment of Canadian theatre, PACT provides leadership, national representation and a variety of programs and practical assistance to member companies, enabling members to do their own creative work. PACT is a founding member of the Canadian Arts Coalition, which is the largest group of artists, arts executives and business leaders ever assembled from across the country who are united in the view that greater investment in the arts is essential to Canada’s future.

Oct 23-25: Film, Faith, and Justice - Seattle

This from IMAGE Update

The Other Journal is hosting the third annual Film, Faith, and Justice festival from October 23-25, 2008. The event, which is held at Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, features eight powerful films from the 2007-2008 Human Rights Watch Traveling Film Festival, including Up the Yangtze, Project Kashmir, and Letter to Anna. The films are complimented by engaging lectures and discussion panels that articulate personal and communal faith responses to the issues raised in these films. The speakers at this year's film and lecture series include Christopher Heuertz (Executive Director of Word Made Flesh), Dr. Eugene McCarraher (Dept. of Humanities & Augustinian Traditions, Villanova University), Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock (Award-Winning Author, Co-Director of Faith Voices for the Common Good), Dr. J. Kameron Carter (Theology & Black Church Studies, Duke Divinity School), and local community leaders. To buy tickets or learn more about this event visit here.

THE FILMS

A Promise to the Dead
Filmmaker Peter Raymont travels to Chile with Ariel Dorfman in late 2006, when Augusto Pinochet, Allende’s overthrower and Dorfman’s long-time nemesis, is dying. Raymont follows Dorfman through emotional reunions with his friends and fellow resistors, to personal landmarks that are powerful both emotionally and historically.

Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo, this extraordinary film sensitively yet unflinchingly brings to light the plight of women and girls caught in that country’s intractable conflicts.

Letter to Anna
Anna Politkovskaya was a brave and tenacious journalist for one of Russia’s only independent journals, Novaya Gazeta. Anna used her journalist platform to strongly criticize Russian military actions in Chechnya. On October 7, 2006, she was shot dead in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment building. A few years before her untimely death, filmmaker Eric Bergkraut met Politkovskaya while making a documentary in which he filmed some powerful, frank interviews with the late reporter. This film is a celebration of the life of an extraordinary woman and mother, a fearless defender of the people, “the conscience of Russia.”

The Sari Soldiers
Filmed over three years during the most historic and pivotal time in Nepal’s modern history, this is an extraordinary story of six women’s courageous efforts to shape Nepal’s future in the midst of an escalating civil war against Maoist insurgents, and the King’s crackdown on civil liberties.

To See if I’m Smiling
Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old girls are drafted for compulsory military service. This film is a disturbing look at the actions and behavior of women soldiers in the Israeli army who, stationed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, help maintain the 40-year-old occupation of Palestinian territories.

USA vs. Al-Arian
A passionate, outspoken pro-Palestinian activist, university professor Sami Al-Arian was charged in 2003 with funding and supporting a Palestinian terrorist group and held in prison awaiting a trial for two-and-a-half years. USA vs. Al-Arian is an intimate family portrait that documents the strain brought on by Al-Arian’s trial, a battle waged both in court and in the media.

Project Kashmir
Two American friends, one Hindu and one Muslim, enter the war zone of Kashmir to investigate the 60-year rivalry between their homelands India and Pakistan. How does a young generation remain hopeful in this endless war? Beautifully lensed by award-winning cinematographer Ross Kauffman, the film captures the physical splendor of Kashmir, while expertly interweaving deeply moving personal stories of Kashmiris with those of the two American women, who strive to reconcile their ethnic and religious heritage with the violence that haunts their homeland.

Up the Yangtze
A symbol of China’s economic prowess, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the world’s largest, and China’s biggest engineering feat since the Great Wall. It also represents the end to a way of life and livelihood for two million people along the Yangtze. Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang crafts a beautifully photographed and moving metaphor for life in contemporary China, as well as a disquieting glimpse into a future that awaits us all.

Pacific Theatre Launches its 25th Season with the Question, What Would You Do For Love?

Pacific Theatre Launches its 25th Season With the Question,
What Would You Do for Love?

Pacific Theatre launches its 25th Anniversary season with the question, what would you do for love? MOURNING DOVE by Emil Sher (Hana’s Suitcase), a challenging work inspired by the Robert Latimer story, explores the dilemma faced by a farm couple whose teenage daughter, Tina, is wracked by severe and unremitting pain. They are confronted with an indescribably difficult puzzle: will the doctors’ best efforts relieve her suffering or should the father should pursue another, final alternative?

Met with critical acclaim in Ottawa, Kitchener, and Halifax, MOURNING DOVE confounds easy sentimentality with bracing humour, even in the face of great suffering. This Vancouver production is directed by Angela Konrad (Grace) and features Kerry van der Griend (Grace), Anita Wittenberg (Agnes of God), Ron Reed (A Man for All Seasons), and Laura Van Dyke (Remnants – A Fable). This sensational cast is backed by an equally outstanding design team including Lauchlin Johnston (scenery), Matt Frankish (lighting), Naomi Sider (costumes), and Clint Lindsay (sound). Stage Management by Lois Dawson.

Pacific Theatre is pleased to be hosting special talkbacks on October 23, 30, and November 6 with Dr. Paul Chamberlain, who will facilitate an open forum for interested audience members to talk about this play in particular and the issue of mercy killing more broadly. Dr. Chamberlain has authored several books and published numerous articles in the field of ethics, physician-assisted suicide, philosophy of religion, and apologetics. He has participated widely in public debates and has made guest appearances on numerous radio and TV programs.

It will be impossible not to be moved by this complex piece, regardless of one’s view on mercy-killing. MOURNING DOVE runs at Pacific Theatre October 17-November 15, with a preview performance October 16 and actor talkback October 24. For tickets ($17-34) call 604.731.5518 or buy online at www.pacifictheatre.org, or come by the box office in person Tues.-Sat. 12-5 (non-show weeks) and 12-7 (show weeks). Group discounts available!

Details: MOURNING DOVE by Emil Sher
When: Oct. 17-Nov. 15 Wed–Sat at 8pm, Sat at 2pm (Preview Oct. 16-$11 in advance or
PWYC at door)
Where: Pacific Theatre, 1420 West 12th Ave (at Hemlock St), Vancouver, BC
Tickets: $17-34 (GST incl.) – to reserve call 604.731.5518, or buy online at pacifictheatre.org,
or at box office.

MOURNING DOVE: On Set

stage manager's desk

puppets

shed

kerry onstage

offstage: wall

backstage: painting gel frames

SOUL FOOD: Painters, Doves, Sons, Briefs, Jazz, more

Rare opportunity to hear painter Chris Anderson at Trinity Western this week (Oct 15/16), presenting the 2008 Distinguished Lecturer series;  "Till We Have Faces Revisited: The Image of Christ in Culture," "Beauty in the Ordinary Places of Life" and "Art Overcome by Grace: New Hope for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful Community."

Then MOURNING DOVE opens at Pacific Theatre on Friday (Oct 17). You know it will be emotionally powerful and thought-provoking, inspired as it is by the Robert Latimer story, but what's hard to convey in a press release is how funny and life-affirming the play also is. How do you tell people that a play about a man who ends his daughter's life is entertaining, and full of laughs? It doesn't sound, I don't know, respectful. But believe me, it is. This show is pure Pacific Theatre. Angela Konrad directing, Kerry Van Der Griend, Anita Wittenberg, Laura Van Dyke and I performing. The next night (Sat Oct 18) we'll follow the performance with a book launch for Shawn MacDonald's PRODIGAL SON, which Touchstone and PT premiered in a memorable production a couple seasons back.

Also, Anthony Ingram in PINTER'S BRIEFS continuing at Studio 16 (til Oct 16) - vintage Pinter, very well served. Nelson Boschman Trio continues Wednesday evening gigs at the Blenz in Yaletown (through Oct 29).

A little further away, but worth marking on your calendar. TARTUFFE at Trinity Western (Oct 22- Nov 1). Pacific Rim Quartet, Pacific Theatre's resident string quartet, with their first concert of the season coming up Oct 26.

*

When Winston Churchill was asked to cut funding for the arts 

to finance the war effort, he asked, 

“Then what are we fighting for?” 

(More here)

Oct 15/16: Chris Anderson, painter, Distinguished Lecturer, TWU

If it were not the case that I'd by lying if I said there is anything I'd rather be doing than rehearsing a play, then I would say I was kicking myself that I won't be able to attend these Distinguished Lecturer addresses at Trinity Western this coming week. But it is, so I won't. But you could. So, do.

Chris Anderson will be speaking on the following topics on campus next week, as Trinity Western University's 2008 Distinguished Lecturer

Oct 15 Chapel hour 11:00-11:40 "Till We Have Faces Revisited: The Image of Christ in Culture"
Oct 16 Chapel hour 11:00-11:40 "Beauty in the Ordinary Places of Life"
Oct 16 Verge Series Talk 7:30 "Art Overcome by Grace: New Hope for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful Community"

Bio for Chris Anderson

For over a decade, the art of painter Chris Anderson has addressed the theme of American cultural traditions and life in the contemporary home and neighborhood.

Anderson studied visual art in Italy, at the Tyler School of Art in Rome, in New York at the Pratt Institute of Art, and in California, at Scripps College (BA, 1971) and the Claremont Graduate University (MFA, 1973).

The artist has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including fellowship grants from The National Endowment for the Arts (Painting), New York Foundation for the Arts (Painting), and Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation (Painting) among others.

From 1996 to 2000, Anderson lived and worked as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Arts in Berlin. In addition, Anderson has been the recipient of numerous residency fellowship awards from foundations in the U.S. and abroad, most recently from the Fieldstead Foundation for work in Austria, England, and Scotland.

She has guest lectured or taught for numerous art institutions, including the Columbia University Graduate Department of Art, the University of Notre Dame, and Regent College in Vancouver, Canada.

The work of Chris Anderson has been shown extensively here and abroad and may be found in over fifty public and corporate collection, including The Art Institute of Chicago; Kebble-Villa Museum, Germany; Bilbao International Exhibition Centre, Spain; The Washington Gallery; and The Rockefeller Arts Center.

Chris now lives in Lower Manhattan and works in her studio at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City's Garment District.

Oct 6-16: PINTER'S BRIEFS with Anthony Ingram held over

Anthony Ingram writes...

Hi folks.

For those of you who weren't able to make it over to the North Shore, and those of you who want to see it again...

Pinter's Briefs previews Tuesday Oct 6 at 8pm,
Opens Wednesday Oct 7 at 8pm
Runs until October 16th

at Studio 16 - on 7th Avenue just West of Granville Street.

WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING:

"Simon Webb and Anthony F. Ingram are in top form for this riotously funny and, of course, absolutely absurdist take on life in the no-so-United Kingdom"
- the Vancouver Sun

"a heart-stopper; hilarious and crushing in equal measures"
- the Globe & Mail

"Blackbird Theatre, the independent company that has established itself as the local source for high-quality classic drama, has put together a fascination evening of early Pinter pieces for two actors."
- the Province

hope to see you there.

Anthony F. Ingram

Oct 22 - Nov 1: TARTUFFE at TWU

All the details at Theatre TWU website