Jan 28, PuSh Festival: Smulovitz score for Dreyer's JOAN

Just received a Spotlight email from the PuSh Festival profiling both Reid Farrington's PASSION PROJECT, which plays on the Pacific Theatre stage Jan 27 - Feb 6, but also its sister project, a screening of Carl Theodor Dreyer's silent film masterpiece on which the Farrington piece is based, with a live performance score by Vancouver composer Stefan Smulovitz. The presentation of these two radically contemporary engagements with this seminal film provides an extraordinary opportunity to engage with one of the great works of spiritual cinema.

I strongly encourage anyone who plans to see either work to book tickets for both. In fact, Pacific Theatre will be moderating a conversation with Smulovitz and Farrington between the 7pm and 9pm showing of THE PASSION PROJECT on our opening night, Wednesday February 27, the night before the premiere (one performance only) of his score at the Cathedral. That promises to be a fascinating interaction, between two cutting-edge artists from separate cities who have immersed themselves in the world of Dreyer and St. Joan.


PuSh 2010 Curatorial Statement: The Passion of Joan of Arc
by PuSh Festival Executive Director Norman Armour

There are some curatorial decisions that take seemingly never ending thought, consideration, re-consideration, strategizing with logistics, timing venue and the like. Other choices can feel instantaneous. They have a sense of grace. Commissioning Stefan Smulovitz to write an original score for Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc could not have been simpler, more immediate, more straightforward.

Like This Riot Life, our commissioned song cycle by from Veda Hille for the 2007 PuSh Festival, reaching out to Stefan is reaching to an artist who is synonymous with the contours of Vancouver’s contemporary performing arts scene. Think of his ongoing project, the Eye of Newt Ensemble, and what comes to mind is a fluid, morphing group of the city’s finest musicians. Think of the countless live films scores he and Eye of Newt have engineered over the past decade; the list is truly endless. These structured improvisations have ranged from intimate encounters with Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin at the now defunct Blinding Light Cinema to the legendary Silent Summer Nights film and music events in Commercial Drive’s Grandview Park. The Sunday eve grand finale would involve a “Monster Orchestra” of upwards of twenty musicians, singers, and even at times maestros Coat Cooke and Giorgio Magnanensi playing tag team, as a sort extreme musical sport.

Stefan is a leader in our community. This is true just by considering the level of respect, admiration and love that both artists and audiences feel for him. Made complete with the stunning voice of Viviane Houle, 10 players, new text by Colin Browne and the church’s magnificent Tracker organ, you won't want to miss this one-night only concert.

The Passion of Joan of Arc is part of the 2010 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and is presented with Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. January 28 at 8pm, Christ Church Cathedral. Click here for full details.

Dec 13: New Christmas Presence added!

We've sold a ton of tickets for our special "Unplugged" Christmas Presence at Pacific Theatre, 2pm Sunday December 13 - a strictly acoustic matinee that will be a blast! But those Vancouver events always sell out, so over the years we've added other off-site shows: this year we're in the Valley with a jazz/gospel/soul night on Dec 19, and back for another memorable night at the lovely Sutherland Church on the North Shore on Dec 20. But hey, it's Christmas time! When nothing succeeds like excess. So if you live south of North Vancouver and East of Abbotsford, you might want to check a map and join us for our evening show on December 13...

Christmas Presence on the "South Shore"
Sunday, December 13 7:30 pm

Featuring…

* Readings by Ron Reed and Kaitlin Williams of Pacific Theatre

* Songs & music by recording artists Michael Hart, Carol Peters, Garth Bowen, and Roy Salmond

* Refreshments, goodies, and more!

Cost: $15.00 Tickets available at the show venue

Ladner Christian Fellowship
5545 Ladner Trunk Road

More info: 604-946-4430

Dec 5/6: Abendmusik Advent Vespers

The Abendmusik Vesper Choir is an ensemble of 16 singers from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. The choir gives evening services at Thanksgiving, Advent and Lent where we provide an opportunity to worship and meditate with music, spoken word and silence. Please feel free to bring friends who might appreciate this type of music and this opportunity for reflection -- no applause, no sermon, no announcements.

Advent Vespers

Abbotsford: December 5, 2009

Vancouver: December 6, 2009

Lenten Vespers

Abbotsford: March 27, 2010

Vancouver: March 28, 2010

All services are at 8:00pm

Venues

Abbotsford

Emmanuel Free Reformed Church

3386 Mt. Lehman Road

Vancouver

Knox United Church

5600 Balaclava Street

More information about the Abendmusik Vesper Choir can be found here.

WARDROBE ushers needed

Wanna volunteer for a free trip to Narnia?

We are still looking for some ushers for our performance of THE LION, THE WITCH, & THE WARDROBE. The show runs Nov. 12th - Jan. 2nd, so please be sure to come out and lend a hand if you are at all available between these dates. Don't miss this opportunity to see the show for free. And if you've already come to volunteer - then volunteer again and see the show from the opposite side of the stage this time!

The show runs every Wednesday to Saturday night with evening performances at 8pm, and matinee showings on Saturdays at 2pm. We also have NEW Tuesday Evening performances on Nov. 24th, and Dec. 1st in addition to our added performances between Dec. 28th - Jan. 2nd. If you are at all available during any of these days, please let me know as soon as possible so I can book you in right away. Please remember that we can accommodate up to 4 ushers per show, so please invite your friends along. No experience is necessary as we provide training at the beginning of every shift, so please let your friends know.

At this point in time we need to fill most time slots so whatever day works best for you is the day we'll slot you in, however we really could use some help on Nov. 24th, 25th, 26th, and 28th (evening show only). Keep in mind that each slot is filled on a first come first serve basis, so you may want to request more than one date in the event that your first choice is already filled. Remember that you are encouraged to usher more than once if you have the time.

We look forward to seeing you at the theatre this season!

Cheers,

Alison

P.S. If you would like to be added to our e-mail list for volunteering and ushering, please contact...

Alison Chisholm
Theatre Administrator | Pacific Theatre
alison@pacifictheatre.org

Note from Marcus

If you saw THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, you won't forget Marcus Youssef - he played El Fayoumy, the prosecuting attorney. Well, Marcus is Artistic Director at NeWorld Theatre, who are also feeling the same sort of extreme financial duress as Pacific Theatre. Given yesterday's Soul Food post Some Hope For Restoration Of Arts Funding, it would be easy to relax and say, "Well, that's taken care of. It's all going to turn out fine." But as a reminder that that ain't necessarily so, here's a recent email from our friends at NeWorld...


. . .

As you know, these are very challenging times for the arts and culture in BC. Our provincial government has pulled an extraordinary bait and switch. After co-opting arts organizations with the Olympics (I'm proud to say we are only tangentially involved), they have turned around and begun to implement wholesale decimation to provincial investment in culture (and numerous other civil-society sectors).

They are planning a 90% cut to arts and culture investment next year. 90% to a line-item that represents less than %.05 of the provincial budget. It's beyond outrageous, and it makes no economic sense.

We believe this is an all-out attack on places where people come together for REASONS OTHER THAN PROFIT.

We are fighting tooth and nail to change it. I have met with the minister twice. Adrienne and I are involved in half a dozen major events and actions. And, boldly, we need your help. More than ever. We can't do this alone. Please a consider a donation, and please consider one that is larger than you've previously offered us.

This is an excerpt from my most recent presentation to the Minister:

"When we met in August, Minister, you told me that 5 million dollars saved from the BC Arts Council could pay for 5 one million dollar non-invasive breast cancer detection machines. I hear that. Like all of us I know about disease. And death. My mother's in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. She can no longer talk, doesn't know who I am, and can't remember anything. Except for music. Do you know "Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash? It was mum's favourite song when she was a teenager, and to this day when I put it on the little stereo in her nursing home room, she taps her index finger ever so slightly, and smiles. It's not breast cancer machines, Minister, you're right. But nor is it a frill. And I believe with all my heart that it is what we will remember at the end."

We are making the case for the ESSENTIAL ROLE arts and culture plays in a healthy, caring, economically viable and democratic society. And we need your help.

I'll say it again. We Need Your Help. It'll help ensure the survival of arts and culture in BC. And it'll help us avoid layoffs and tour cancellations, and it'll ensure the survival of our upcoming shows and community projects, which we're so proud of. These are projects like the new Ali and Ali show, @ the Cultch in April, and touring to Toronto in the fall; a program for youth-at-risk with Leave Out Violence; our new shared production/rehearsal space, Progress Lab 1422; our environmental, walk-about piece PodPlays, premiering at the 2011 Push Festival ... and on and on and on.

. . .

Marcus, on behalf of Adrienne and Kirsty, and Camyar and our Board, + our many, many contractors, suppliers, colleagues, partners, and sister organizations.

To assist NeWorld, visit their website for more information

Some hope for restoration of arts funding

One of the ways BC artists have been working to address the proposed cuts to arts funding by the BC Liberals is through a Facebook group called "Organizing Against Campbell's Cuts To The Arts." Here's a recent note from the group.


Dear members,

Today the Report on the Budget 2010 Consultations by the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services was released, and they've recommended restoration of arts funding. The full report can be found here, and the relevant arts-related portion is excerpted here.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in to the committee and all the work done by Keith Higgins, Amir and the Alliance for Arts, and all the many who presented at the hearings, because as the report states, the impact was strongly felt by the committee.

But we need to keep fighting now - there's no guarantee the government will take these recommendations to heart.

Lindsay Brown

Lots more at the website Stop BC Arts Cuts

Dec 8: Vancouver Arts Network, The Joy Of Christmas

THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS
Vancouver Arts Network
Autumn Brook Gallery
1545 W.4th Avenue

Tuesday, December 8, 7:00PM to 9:00PM

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday December 8th, artists from the Vancouver Arts Network will treat you to an evening of music, art and dessert.

The evening is hosted as part of City in Focus' Joy of Christmas celebration and is an opportunity for artists, business and non-profit leaders in BC to gather.

If you are an artist and would like to show your work at this event, please email vancouverartsnetwork@gmail.com by November 25th.

Blessings,


Joycelin Ng
Associate, City in Focus
Director, Vancouver Arts Network

If you're interested in attending, please RSVP to vancouverartsnetwrok@gmail.com by November 30th. Tickets are $25.

Nov 29 / Dec 5: From Dust, Eastside Story Guild

The world is made up of stories, not atoms.

Muriel Rukeyser

Friendship

Here are the pieces we read and played tonight at Peter and Suzanne's. For more about Jonathan's music check his website, where you can download and order his recordings.

Set The First
Exiled | Jonathan Anderson
The Four Loves, "Friendship" | C.S. Lewis
Road Noise | Jonathan Anderson
Thoughts On Fence-Building | Tim Anderson
Broken Record | Jonathan Anderson
Friends For The Journey, "Journal Entry" | Luci Shaw
The Long and Winding Road | The Beatles

Set The Second
He Came From The Mountains | Bruce Cockburn
My Hubris Lives Next Door | Tim Anderson
Hours On A String | Jonathan Anderson
Stories from the Vinyl Cafe, "Rock Of Ages" | Stuart McLean
Astronauts | Jonathan Anderson
With A Little Help From My Friends | The Beatles

Video Interview with WARDROBE Sound Designers Jeff and Corina

Here it is folks! The second video interview thus far for THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE (opening tomorrow night!) This time it's with Jeff Tymoschuk and Corina Akeson, power sound design couple also known as The Burnaby Sound Machine.

November 19: Diane Tucker at the Pelican Rouge Coffee House

Diane Tucker has been involved in Pacific Theatre for years, reading her poetry at CHRISTMAS PRESENCE and other such events. Ron let you all know about her novel, His Sweet Favour a couple of months ago. Now The Arts Council of White Rock is giving you a chance to hear the words straight from the author's mouth.

As part of the series sponsored by the Arts Council of White Rock and District, Diane Tucker will be reading from her brand-new novel, His Sweet Favour. This event takes place on Thursday, November 19th at 7:30 p.m. It will be held at the Pelican Rouge Coffee House, located in White Rock's Central Plaza (SW corner of 16th Avenue and 152nd Street). The Arts Council wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts in supporting this reading.

Diane Tucker grew up in southeast Vancouver, BC, where she appeared in various plays and musicals before deciding to be a writer. She has published two books of poetry: God on His Haunches (Nightwood Editions, 1996), which was short-listed for the 1997 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, and Bright Scarves of Hours (Palimpsest Press, 2007). His Sweet Favour is her first novel. Tucker lives in Burnaby, BC.

“His Sweet Favour is so alive, you’ll swear that Favour, the budding actress narrator and heroine of this book, was an actual honey-haired girl who came of age and learned about love during her final year of high school in the 1980s. You won’t be able to stop thinking about her (or the rest of the cast of characters in this highly readable, virtuoso performance of a sad and “sweet” story), and you’ll see — you’ll wish the book would never end.” — Russell Thornton, author of House Built of Rain

Nov 28: Elektra Unveils Luci Shaw - Ed Henderson Christmas Piece

Not the first time we've enthused about Elektra. Karen Augusta - played Dolly in TENT MEETING at PT, sang at CHRISTMAS PRESENCE and PASSION - was with the choir, probably still is. But this time we're stoked because their Christmas offerings will include the premiere of a new work by composer Ed Henderson (brother of Chilliwack's Bill - based on the Christmas poetry of Luci Shaw! PT's first Christmas show, back in 1984, included something by Luci, and she's been a fixture ever since.


Elektra Women's Choir
Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director
present

Chez Nous: Christmas with Elektra

November 28, 2009 * 2 pm
New Westminter Christian Reformed Church
8255 13th Ave, Burnaby

November 28, 2009 * 7:30 pm
Ryerson United Church
2195 W 45th Ave, Vancouver

with guests
* Zing! Children's Choir, Lisa Reimer, Artistic Director
* Ed Henderson, guitar
* Jodi Proznick, acoustic bass
* Bramwell Tovey, piano
* Stephen Smith, piano & organ

Chez Nous: Christmas with Elektra is your invitation into the season as the choir celebrates the approaching holidays with music ranging from ancient carols to brand new commissions from Ed Henderson and Tim Corlis.

The featured work is William Mathias' lyrical setting of Salvator Mundi, a Christmas carol sequence based on seven carols from the 15th - 17th centuries. Mathias was considered one of the greatest of Welsh composers, whose technical sophistication never got in the way of his love of lyrical vocal lines and the sense of text, occasion and emotional spirit of his music. Salvator Mundi calls for "piano 4 hands" and we are honoured to welcome the VSO's Maestro, Bramwell Tovey, to share the piano bench with Elektra's own Stephen Smith.

Artistic Director, Morna Edmundson, has gathered some of Vancouver's top musicians to join in the festivities and share their musical gifts. Elektra is pleased to welcome composer and guitarist, Ed Henderson, Jodi Proznick on acoustic bass, and Zing! Children's Choir directed by Lisa Reimer to Chez Nous: Christmas with Elektra.

Expect familiar carols to sing along with, new favourites, seasonal readings and treats for the kids, and of course, the brilliant singing of Elektra to help launch your holiday preparations!

Tickets $26 | $20
Available through Elektra members or through
Ticketmaster 604.280.3311

Elektra Women's Choir
elektrawomen@yahoo.ca
604.739.1255
www.elektra.ca
download Elektra from iTunes

Cia in T.O.

Photos Out of the Wardrobe

Our first photo shoot for WARDROBE! Photography by Tim Matheson.

Kyle Rideout as Peter and Donna Lea Ford as Lucy.

Kyle Rideout as Peter and Donna Lea Ford as Lucy.

Kyle Rideout as Peter and Donna Lea Ford as Lucy.

Kyle Rideout as Peter and Donna Lea Ford as Lucy.

Daniel O'Thunder, by Ian Weir

Ian Weir is a very fine Vancouver playwright who's just released a fascinating new novel. In his email, he wrote "this one was a labour of love -- the central character is a kind of cockeyed Dickensian Christ figure, and in its way the novel deals with questions of faith." Local bookstore, here I come!

DANIEL O'THUNDER
A rollicking, comic and ultimately haunting tale of fist-fighting, faith and fine madness
by Ian Weir

In the 1850s, in the slums of the great city of London, Daniel O’Thunder, a troubled but charismatic former prize-fighter turned evangelist, runs a safe house for those in need of food, shelter, prayer and good counsel. But in London’s dark streets, an ancient evil is wreaking havoc, throwing into peril the lives of its most vulnerable souls. O’Thunder, getting on in years but still wielding a right fist dubbed “The Hammer of Heaven”, returns to the ring to start training for his greatest fight yet – with the Devil himself.

Surrounding O’Thunder is a strange collection of people who love him: Jack, a spectacularly failed cleric and worse actor who is the compiler of O’Thunder’s story; J.T.”Jaunty” Rennert, one-time recruiting sergeant, shady small-time operator and O’Thunder’s self-styled best friend; and Nell, the gold-hearted, foul-mouthed young prostitute who ultimately carries her love for O’Thunder into the wilds of the Cariboo gold-rush in faraway British Columbia, where the novel reaches its extraordinary apotheosis.

Daniel O’Thunder is a novel of amazing wealth of character and variety of voice. Comedy bumps up against cruelty, tragedy against farce, inhumanity against love—a dazzling debut that is hilarious, harrowing, and deeply moving.

Douglas & McIntyre

WARDROBE Video Interview with Kerry van der Griend

Here it is folks! The first video interview for Pacific Theatre's upcoming presentation of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. First up: director Kerry van der Griend.

November 20-29: after homelessness

Judy Graves is a beloved, radical Soul Food pal, works at the City of Vancouver as the advocate for the homeless. She's stoked about this show by Headlines Theatre. If you're a fan of Boal and Theatre Of The Oppressed and all that, you need to know about Headlines Theatre Company.

Headlines Theatre presents
after homelessness…

Homelessness. We see it everyday. It breeds rejection and desperation. We want to help, but we block it out in order to live with it, to cope, to keep on going down the street.

We know solutions exist – but how do we tap into them? How do we create safe and affordable housing in Metro Vancouver?

Headlines is offering a creative response: using theatre as a conduit to explore solutions together.

Enter after homelessness… a Forum Theatre play; a fun, dynamic, audience-interactive evening created and performed by people who have been homeless.

The project includes the Community Dialogue Sessions: housing the homeless, a series of moderated panel discussions that will get at the nuts and bolts of creating safe, affordable and supportive housing and a group art exhibition at Gallery Gachet for the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival.

after homelessness… and the Dialogue Sessions will generate a Community Action Report which is designed to inform policy. Headlines Theatre has written agreements from six major organizations, including the City of Vancouver, the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness, BC Housing and the Mental Health Commission of Canada, to receive the report for their research.

Theatre Making Policy. Speak out and be heard.

November 21 to 29, 2009
Preview November 20 • Tickets 2 for 1
Firehall Arts Centre - 280 E. Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC
Reservations: 604.689.0926 - Tickets: $10 + $2 advance purchase fee

December 1 to 6, 2009
Holy Trinity Cathedral - 514 Carnarvon Street, New Westminster, BC
Reservations: 604.871.0508 - Tickets: $10

Free tickets available at various homelessness support groups

Reservations recommended

http://headlinestheatre.com

Nov 22: JOE: THE MUSICAL staged reading, Langley

In development, book and music by a former TWU student of mine...

JOE: The Musical
staged reading with live band

Sunday, November 22 | 7pm

Langley Evangelical Free Church (corner of 208th and 48th in Langley)

This is the modern story of the Biblical character Job. Come out, listen in and provide feedback as you wish. Script and music by local Langley artist.

Mar 11 - Apr 3: Strindberg's EASTER at Chemainus

Ooooh! Look what's coming next spring to PT's sister theatre on Vancouver Island, the Chemainus Theatre Festival. Rare opportunity to see this particularly Soul Foodish Strindberg.

March 11 to April 3

STRINDBERG'S EASTER
by August Strindberg

Innovatively staged, this classic drama explores possibility, transformation and hope. A fallen family with an unpaid debt is held in the hands of a vicious creditor. Eleonora, the outcast sister, returns to further disturb the house in this intriguing plot from one of the world's finest playwrights.

"So you see, there exists a grace which is finer than justice, and that is mercy."
August Strindberg

Kathleen Nisbett: Nov 4 performance, Wed fiddle classes

Kathleen Nisbett is a fiddle player who's been around PT from time to time over the years - not Spencer Capier, the other one. Much cuter. Anyhow, she sends this note...


Hello Friends!

Just a little note to let you know about a couple of things I am involved in coming up...

1 - I will be playing an opening set at LITTLE MOUNTAIN STUDIOS Wednesday NOV 4th at 8:30 pm with my bandmate, banjo and guitarist extraordinaire, Steve Charles. We will be opening for Antlers and Anchors.
"Antlers and Anchors is the hairy "alt-folk" musical beast of Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist/composer/producer Michael-Owen Liston, performed by the same. Finding joy in many different musical milieux, Antlers and Anchors wanders happily through the pastures of contemporary chamber-folk, en route to twiggy thickets of various roots musics. Genre lines are gently trampled underhoof, as Michael's improvisational sensibilities collide with his unique clawhammer banjo style.
As a doublebassist and banjoist, Michael has performed with a colourful cast of songwriters, poets, and musical ensembles of all sizes and stripes from across Canada."

2 - I am teaching a regular BEGINNER FIDDLE WORKSHOP at the Native Friendship Centre EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 5PM. We are starting with the very basics of fiddle playing, Tuning, Bowing, Basic Technique and playing some simple tunes. We will progress towards playing tunes for Métis Dance. We meet just before the Louis Riel Dancers workshop at 5:30pm. So if you're interested in some traditional métis dance, you can stick around for the dance workshop with Yvonne Chartrand and the Louis Riel Dancers. This Fiddle Workshop is a "pay what you can" so if you have a fiddle lying around and don't know what to do with it, you've got nothing to lose! Tell your friends!

Native Friendship Centre
E. Hastings at Commercial Dr.
Every Wednesday at 5pm Main Meeting Room
for 1/2 hour


Hope to see you soon!

Kathleen

WARDROBE Specialty Nights!

I am very excited to let you know about the following specialty nights for our upcoming production of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE!

Tuesday, November 17th: Neighbourhood Night!
Work or live in PT’s neighbourhood? Get your tickets for $20 tonight!
Wednesday, November 18th: Eagle Bay Memorial Benefit Performance
All proceeds from tonight’s performance will benefit the Eagle Bay Memorial.
Friday, November 20th: Dress-Up Night!
Dress like a character from Narnia and get 2-for-1 tickets at the door!

THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE Narnia/England Chronology

It's the start of Christmas holidays, and Lucy and Peter are heading back to their family home in London. She's been at boarding school, Peter at university, and they plan to meet up in the Spare Room at Uncle Digory's place to spend a little time together before catching the London train. As they remember their astonishing Narnia adventures, something magical starts to take place, and they are swept up in those events as if they were happening for the first time.

Our staging of C.S. Lewis's novel takes place sometime between the events of The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader and The Last Battle - and, perhaps, sometime altogether different, in Narnian time.

So when exactly is that, in the chronology of the Narnia tales?

In one of the novels we learn that, sometime between Prince Caspian and The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, Digory Kirke lost his country place, and by the time of The Last Battle we find out that it has been destroyed (perhaps by fire?). So this Christmas reunion of Peter and Lucy's happens one Christmas, between 1942 and 1948.

Here's Ron Reed's version of the "England Chronology" of the Chronicles of Narnia, developed when our unique staging of the story was first devised back in 1998.

CHRONOLOGY

1888 Digory Kirke born
1889 Polly born
1927 Peter born
1928 Susan born
1930 Edmund born
1931 Lucy born
1933 Eustace and Jill born

1940 Summer: Peter (13), Susan (12), Edmund (10) & Lucy (9) at Digory's (52) to escape London bombing: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE novel

1941 End of summer holiday, Peter (14), Susan (13) & Edmund (11) return to school by train, Lucy (10) off to boarding school for the first time - PRINCE CASPIAN novel

Uncle Digory (53) loses the country place

1942 Summer holiday: Peter (15) at Digory's new place ("in whose house these four children had had wonderful adventures long ago in the war years... but he had somehow become poor since the old days and was living in a small cottage with only one bed-room to spare"), Susan (14) in America, Edmund (12) & Lucy (11) visit Scrubbs - DAWN TREADER novel

1942 Fall term, Eustace (12) back at school 2 weeks with Jill (12) - SILVER CHAIR novel

Some Christmas between 1942 and 1948: While traveling home for Christmas holidays, Peter & Lucy stop off to tour Digory's old place, now administered by the National Trust - our stage adaptation of THE LION, THE WITCH AND WARDROBE

by 1949 Uncle Digory's old place destroyed (by fire?)

1949 Jill (16) & Eustace (16) "the only ones still at school." Susan (21) no longer a friend of Narnia: "Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children." Digory (61) and Polly (60) gather together all except Susan for a supper: Rillian appears. Peter (22) & Edmund (19) travel to London, dig up the magic rings. Digory, Polly, Lucy (18), Jill & Eustace board train to meet up with Peter & Edmund. - LAST BATTLE novel

Nov 27: Diane Tucker HIS SWEET FAVOUR book launch

Diane Tucker has EXCELLENT NEWS: I have finally scheduled a Vancouver book launch for "His Sweet Favour": Friday, November 27, 7:30 pm at the Grind and Gallery, 4124 Main Street in Vancouver. The fabulous Burnaby Mountain Senior Improv Team will be there to perform and I will read from the novel. If you live north of the Fraser (or live south of the Fraser and can't attend my Nov.19 reading) I sure hope you can attend.

Nov 11-29: Glen Pinchin in SCHOOLHOUSE

Mr Kirby in YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, Mr Kirby's son, Grandpa Tony, in YOU STILL CAN'T...


UCFV presents...
SCHOOLHOUSE
By Leanna Brodie

The time: 1938. The place: S.S. #1 Jericho School, a one room schoolhouse just outside the fictional village of Baker’s Creek. There, a delightful but unmanageable group of children meets its match; Melita Linton, an 18 year-old- teacher fresh out of Normal School. Full of warmth and poignant humour, the play chronicles Miss Linton’s struggle to connect with a boy who has cut himself off from everyone, including himself – and to persuade the cautious and close- knit community to open its arms to this stranger in its midst.

Nov. 11 to 29
Thu - Sat 7:30pm
Matinees: Sun, Nov 22 & 29, 2pm & Tues, Nov 17 at 12 Noon

Nov 4-14: Damon Calderwood Goes To War

Damon: A Man For All Seasons, Elephant Man, Salt Company...

Hello to all!

Just in case you missed it the first time, Billy Bishop Goes to War is remounting at the Shaw Theatre in Deep Cove for 8 more shows as we prepare to leave for Fort McMurray to tour.

Cast: Damon Calderwood as Billy Bishop and Gordon Roberts as the Narrator/Piano Player

Tickets are a very low $16/$14 and the shows are from November 4 to 14 (Wed to Fri at 8 pm; Sat at 2 pm only).

The theatre is at 4360 Gallant Ave, North Vancouver, and there is lots of free parking.

Here are some more details:
www.firstimpressionstheatre.com
www.aceproductions.ca

If you are a Canadian and you haven't yet seen this show, it's a must-see! Written by Vancouver's own John Gray, it has toured the world, been on Broadway and won numerous awards. A show about one of Canada's greatest wartime heroes, Billy Bishop, who bravely flew the skies over France nearly 100 years ago.

We would be most honored if you would come see the show.

Warm regards,

Damon & Gordon