Boring, Terrible Stuff: BC Arts Still Under Seige

A snapshot of the financial challenges Pacific Theatre, along with the rest of British Columbia's arts community, is facing at present.

Back at the end of August, British Columbians were shocked to learn that the Liberal government had slashed all Access BC funding to arts groups in the province. (Access BC distributes the revenues from gaming in British Columbia: since this policy was instituted, gaming has become the de facto source of funding for arts groups in our province, taking the place of any increase to the BC Arts Council during those years). Less than a week after this announcement, the government partially reversed its decision, choosing to honour its written commitment to groups which had been provided with three-year funding commitments, but still falling far short of it's commitment to direct at least one third of revenues from the "social ill" of casinos and other gaming to "socially beneficial" organizations such as arts groups. But single-year recipients and new applicants (such as Pacific Theatre) remain completely frozen out of this funding stream.

On other fronts, the news is equally bad. At present, the Liberal government intends to slash funding to the BC Arts Council, the key provincial body responsible for managing arts funding (see figures below). British Columbia already has the lowest level of support for the performing arts of any province in Canada, and even in the face of serious economic difficulties in provinces such as Ontario, no other Canadian province is resorting to a reduction in arts spending to deal with present fiscal challenges. Even the federal Conservatives strengthened their support to the arts during 2009, extending for three years their increased commitment to the Canada Council For The Arts. Mr. Campbell stands alone.

It is true that current economic realities call for sacrifices from every sector. But a detailed statistical analysis of the provincial budget reveals that these devastating cuts to Provincial arts funding massively exceed the cuts to funding in any other sector: "There are 114 items in the budget with expenditures of $1M or higher. Arts & Culture funding moves from the 57th highest expenditure at 19.5M in 2008/2009 to the 100th highest expenditure in 2009/2010 with less than 3.7M in funding. When the 114 expenditures are ranked by gain or loss, the picture becomes even more clear. With a loss of more than 80%, Arts & Culture suffers the second worst cuts - with the worst being another Arts-related line item (BC Arts & Culture Endowment Special Account)!"

Click on chart for large format view

Diane Brown of Ruby Slippers (who directed our premiere of CARIBOO MAGI) has written clearly and passionately about the current realities, and suggests steps forward. While her company's multi-year funding was restored, she continues to advocate for fair treatment of other organizations, and to call for some sort of sustainable plan for arts funding in our province.

Here's Diane...

We are artists, cultural workers and supporters of a civil society, and we call on all those who believe in the value of arts and culture in our communities. Join us in bringing public attention to the recently announced, brutal cuts to our sector by the BC government.

Despite recent announcements reinstating funding to multi-year clients of Gaming grants, funding to the arts and culture sector has NOT been restored; the provincial government is planning to cut over 80% of what has consisted of only 1/20th of 1% of the provincial budget.

According to our most recent sources, 85%-92% of core provincial funding for arts and culture will be cut by 2012, from both tax-based and non-tax-based [gaming] streams. The arts and cultural sector is bearing the brunt of discretionary cuts compared with other areas. During this economic crisis we are willing to make reasonable sacrifices, but cannot accept outright decimation of the sector.

Total support for arts and culture organizations in BC from 2008-2012, including all sources (Gaming, BC Arts and Culture Special Endowment, Direct taxpayer investment) are:
2008/2009 – 47.8 million
2009/2010 – 42.219 million (as of February)
2009/2010 – 23.075 million (suddenly, as of September)
2010/2011 – 3.749 million (not including Gaming funds)
2011/2012 – 3.675 million (not including Gaming funds)

No other province in Canada has reduced support for the arts sector, a sector that, according to government statistics, produces significant returns on investment. This is a sector that creates both social and economic capital. The arts are a critical part of many stimulus strategies being enacted around the world.

Most Western governments are recognizing the importance of investing in the Arts and Cultural sector as part of economic stimulus that creates jobs, attracts skilled workers and entrepreneurs, supports cultural tourism, and which lies at the core of the Creative Industries such as Film, Media, and Design. Investing in the arts and culture is investing in our future.

• Every dollar invested by the provincial dollar in the arts and cultural organizations returns between $1.05 and $1.36 directly to provincial treasuries through tax revenues (Ministry of Tourism, Culture & The Arts)
• The City of Vancouver concluded that every dollar spent on arts and cultural activity by the City resulted in almost twelve dollars in economic activity (2007 Cultural Plan)
• BC has the largest percentage of its labour force in arts occupations from among the 10 provinces (Hill Strategies)
• The BC arts, culture, and heritage industries generate 80,000 jobs in the Creative sector and $5.2 billion annually (Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture Service Plans)
• UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta ) suggests that the cultural sector will grow by 4% between 2009 and 2013 - double the estimate for the rest of the economy
• The second pillar of the Olympic Games is Culture; maintaining investment in the sector will allow BC to fulfill its commitments to the Winter Games and to meet its related goals of increasing Cultural Tourism and leaving a legacy in communities across the province.

Write to your MLA describing why culture matters to you. Encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to do the same. Be civil and passionate. Most elected officials are people in our communities who are trying to do a good job, and need to be reminded about what is important to us. Help us remind them.

Write to your MLA
Write your City Councillors
Write the Premier's office - Premier@gov.bc.ca
Write the Minister of Finance - rich.coleman.mla@leg.bc.ca
Write the Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts - kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca

Connect with your local arts and cultural organizations to volunteer or make a donation.

Visit the Alliance for Arts and Culture website to keep informed and connected.

Oct 10: Rickie Lee Jones, "Balm In Gilead"

"Rickie Lee Jones has been a restless artist since her debut album in 1979. This fall, she releases her twelfth album, Balm In Gilead (Oct 20), a collection of originals that continues in the same spiritual vein as her last record, Sermon on Exposition Boulevard." New Yorker

"Balm in Gilead is an extraordinary collection of emotionally powerful, texturally rich and endearing songs, many of which have been 'incubating' with Jones over the last several decades.

This record is unique because most of it was written over the last 20 years," she says. "All the other records, I've written in a year or two or three after finishing the previous one. This one has threads from many, many years. Some were just written recently, most were finished recently but started a long time ago. 'Wild girl,' for example, which ended up being about my daughter, was started before Flying Cowboys, and it was waiting all these years to finish. For me, the album feels close to a debut, because the only time you ever have to spend all these years writing a song is your first record, right?

Balm in Gilead's songs flow easily through its roots and soul fabric; it reflects the lifetime work of a woman, whose very name is a genre. She's joined on the record by Ben Harper, Jon Brion, Vic Chesnutt, Bill Frisell, Victoria Williams and Alison Krauss among other highly talented friends." antimusic.com

"The song Rehab is possibly inspired by American playwright Lanford Wilson’s own Balm In Gilead, a 1965 production that centres on a New York café that plays host to thieves, heroin addicts, and male and female prostitutes. And, of course, given the biblical nature of her last work, The Sermon On Exposition Boulevard, the relevance of the album title to the Book of Jeremiah is clear." wearsthetrousers.com

Oct 13: Bob Dylan Christmas Album

"Bob Dylan will confound both his fans and his detractors with Christmas in the Heart (Oct 13), a collection of traditional holiday songs that will benefit the hunger charity Feeding America." New Yorker

"The collection will feature holiday standards including Must Be Santa, Little Drummer Boy, Winter Wonderland and Here Comes Santa Claus.” Rolling Stone

Mike Mason Website Launch! "The Blue Umbrella" Coming Soon!!

Wowie Zowie! On the eve of the release of his remarkable new book "The Blue Umbrella" (coming in October), local writer Mike Mason has just launched a new website, and it's swell. ("Purveyor of fine sentences" indeed!)


How about this? The new site's got...
"A trailer of The Blue Umbrella!
An audio interview!
Slide show!
Tons of pix just like in a glossy magazine!
Exclusive Web Only material!
Unpublished short stories!
Blog Page!
Excerpts from 2 books-in-progress!
And much, much more!"

Lots of Pacific Theatre / Soul Food connections here. I met Mike back in the earliest days of PT's history, through Loren Wilkinson at Regent College. We became friends, and collaborated on turning his book of short stories "The Furniture of Heaven" into a theatre piece. "Furniture" was one of our first Emerging Artist showcases, featuring - can you believe it! - Lucia Frangione (ESPRESSO, CARIBOO MAGI, CHICKENS, HOLY MO, etc, etc - at that time our first PT apprentice), Craig Erickson (before theatre school, Stratford, Shaw, Bard On The Beach, or GOD'S MAN IN TEXAS, GRACE, etc, etc), Anita Wittenberg (before I AM THE BROTHER OF DRAGONS, Chemainus Theatre, AGNES OF GOD, MOURNING DOVE, etc, etc), Karen Ydenberg (before she was an opera star), John Hetherington (DRAGONS PROJECT, etc) and Andrea Smith (YOU STILL CAN'T, WRINKLE IN TIME, and half a zillion other Stones Throw shows). Crazy.

Mike and I ended up in a writers group together - still going strong - and fellow WG member Tim Anderson (DREAMS OF KINGS AND CARPENTERS) not only designed Mike's new website, but helped us choose one of my photos for the cover of the reissued book - which tickles me to no end. (I'll put up the alternate cover ideas over at the Oblations blog - again, lots more threads leading back to Pacific Theatre or our writers group).

But what's most exciting in all of this is Mike's new book, "The Blue Umbrella." (Who knew novels had trailers? Love the narrator!)

Mike's been mostly known for his non-fiction, books like the classic "The Mystery Of Marriage," "Practising The Presence of People" (hoping to coax Mike into reading an excerpt at PRESENCE), "Champagne For The Soul," "The Gospel According To Job," and lots more. But a few years ago he returned to his first love and started work on a novel. Our writers group was frankly astonished: Mike's writing is always strong, but this book is truly something remarkable. The story is gripping, the prose is extraordinary: I think this book is going to be read by a lot of people, for a long time. After hearing it grow, chapter by chapter, over the months and years, I can't wait to hold the real thing in my hands! And settle in to read it all over again.

Sept. 14th: Collier, Young, Conway Memorial Fundraiser

Frequent PT performer Julia Mackey (last seen in HOLY MO) is putting on her stellar one-woman show JAKE'S GIFT to raise funds for the Collier, Young, Conway Memorial Fund. It's an absolutely beautiful show, and for a fantastic cause. Don't miss it! Please check out www.eaglebaymemorial.com to learn more about the fund.

Jake's Gift

The Cultch (1895 Venables St.)

Pay-what-you-can

www.thecultch.com

www.juliamackey.com

Monday, Sept. 14th at 8pm

A Province Without Art

People are gathering at the Art Gallery today, dressed in grey, to protest the chaos in BC's provincial arts funding. In case I don't make it - not sure I have any grey in my closet - here's the word from film maker Steven Soderbergh...

"I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating. I don't care if it's a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theatre, a piece of music. Anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us. I think this world would be unliveable without art . . . Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for this."

Steven Soderbergh, Oscar acceptance speech

Rory Holland comments on the arts in BC

The Arts
Rory Holland, An Examined Life

Maybe, by mistake, Colin Hansen, the Finance Minister in BC did the Arts community a favour this week by drastically reducing their funding in this budget and his promise to pretty much cut funding in the future.

By doing so he has forced the issue for us, the citizens of this province.

Everywhere you go in British Columbia Art is all around. Artists, working for often less than minimum wage, labour on our behalf through words, pictures, music, or movement trying to decipher and communicate meaning. Art is not the message, but the messenger.

Without the voice of the messenger what happens?

The thing about Art is that it’s quiet. It just goes about its business with little fanfare. Everyday thousands of British Columbians experience some form of art public or paid for. What impact does that have on their workplaces, or their families, or their interactions at the grocery store?

We might only realize its importance in its absence.

Since the funding cuts were made public the protest has not come from us, who benefit from the art, but from the artists themselves. Who is standing with them? Are we implicitly agreeing with the government through our silence?

Colin Hansen has come out of the closet and boldly stated what has been the underlying, disappointing truth. We don’t value art.

Auditions for Doerksen musical, PRODIGAL GOD

A number of PT actors have been involved over the past few years in workshops developing Brian Doerksen's new musical, PRODIGAL GOD - Morris Ertman, Katharine Venour, Craig Erickson, Thomas Gage, moi. Now they're shooting for a premiere during the Olympics, and auditions are on...

Sept. 10-20: The Saddest Girl in the World

Former Pacific Theatre apprentice Tina Teeninga will be performing her own one-woman show THE SADDEST GIRL IN THE WORLD at the Fringe! Co-directed by Dirk VanStralen (who you may have seen in THE WOODSMAN) and Kathy Parsons (A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR), this is one to watch! Check out her press release below...

IN SHORT: Natya dreams of far-off homeland. Ava dreams of jewels. Laura dreams of joining the corporate ladder. 10 characters and one actor showcase a gem of a story about immigration, ethnic misconceptions, and the follies of the big city. Runs: September 10^th-20th, Carousel Theatre’s Studio Space. For tickets e-mail www.ticket.vancouverfringe.com or visit Vancouver Fringe Festival Box Office.

“««««! Teeninga holds our attention with her talent alone.” (WFP)

Winnipeg critics and audiences alike praise Otherwise Productions’ The Saddest Girl in the World

Vancouver, BC - September 10^th-20^th, as part of Vancouver International Fringe Festival

The Saddest Girl in the World received multiple accolades from critics at its world premiere in Winnipeg: “««««! Teeninga accomplishes an impressive feat… she expertly delineates the two characters, switching between them every few minutes….she wrings actual suspense from her humanistic story and displays a poet's gift for simile…she holds our attention with her talent alone” (Winnipeg Free Press). “««««! Teeninga moves effortlessly from optimist to pessimist to realist, trading accents almsot by the minute. A journey worth taking" (Winnipeg Sun).

Audience members also responded with enormous excitement: “"If you're interested in experiencing a masterfully crafted story, or you simply want to see a talented performer at work—engaging the audience and making it look easy—then I highly recommend this one. Don't miss it!" (Cory Wreggitt). "Teeninga's creative energy brings to life the beauty of innocence, the pain of experience, and the reality of cultural tensions. Very engaging!!" (Loewen).

This touching, hopeful piece is co-directed by Dirk VanStralen (The Woodsman, Cariboo Magi) and Kathy Parsons (A Bright Particular Star), who also dramaturged the play.

BC Liberals Slash Arts Funding

Really alarming news out of Victoria, as the Liberal government guts arts funding through its BC Access fund. Not a direct blow to Pacific Theatre, as we have not previously received funding from this source, but had strong reasons to believe that we would begin to be funded in this cycle. On the one hand, you can't lose what you never had: on the other, we had put some revenue from this source in our tentative 2009/10 operating budget, and hoped that it would ease us through an ambitious season faced with the current economic climate.

But far more troubling is the widespread impact of this action on the arts community at large. Below, snapshots of the impact on two valued local companies, The Vancouver Chamber Choir and Ruby Slippers Theatre. The VCC's Violet Goosen served on Pacific Theatre's board of directors for many years, and as a seasoned arts administrator she is quoted at length in The Vancouver Sun article. Diane Brown directed PT's premiere of CARIBOO MAGI a few years back: this morning I received an email from her outlining the devastating impact of this announcement on her company. These companies are not exceptional cases: there will be a similar impact on arts organizations throughout the province.

I understand that things are tough for everybody in this current economy, and there is immense pressure on the provincial government to steer a way through difficult fiscal times. But if 40% cuts to BC Arts Council funding weren't enough of an indication that the current Provincial government is placing a disproportionate share of the burden on arts organizations (in a province which already has nearly the worst level of arts funding in the nation), surely this announcement confirms that perception.

I am again reminded of Winston Churchill. When asked to cut funding for the arts to finance the war effort, he replied, “Then what are we fighting for?" (quoted by Colin Jackson, "Toward A Surplus Of Meaning."


ARTS COMMUNITY HOBBLED BY $20-MILLION CUT IN FUNDING
Denise Ryan, The Vancouver Sun, August 30 2009

VANCOUVER — Dozens of arts organizations received word late Friday that the provincial government is slashing their gaming grants, including groups that had been guaranteed three-year funding.

“It’s a disaster,” said Bryan Pike, executive director of Word on the Street, which may have to cut literacy programs.

The $20-million in cuts will hobble the arts community, said Spencer Herbert, NDP critic for tourism, arts and culture. Arts community members were in shock and tears at Herbert’s Denman street constituency office yesterday as they scrambled to come up with a plan. Some even suggested a class-action lawsuit against the B.C. Liberal government, said Herbert.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir, one of the organizations that had its three-year “guarantee” pulled, will suffer a $60,000 shortfall this year. “Based on our letter from them last year, we planned our season and our program,” said choir general manager Violet Goosen. Goosen said she started to shake when she heard. “This came out of nowhere.” she said. “We we will have to cut outreach programs that bring music to schools and low-income families.”

Many arts organizations, like the Vancouver Children’s Festival, which is losing a grant of approximately $90,000, had already completed their seasons, and are now facing massive deficits. “It’s like the government is just passing their deficits on to our non-profit organizations,” said Pike.

Goosen called the cuts, which come on top of a 40-per-cent cut to the B.C. Arts Council, “a perfect storm” for arts in B.C. “We could have managed if we had a timely warning,” said Goosen. “I’ve worked with many governments over 30 years and none has treated the arts as poorly as this one.”

Last week, The Sun reported that the province’s lottery grants program would focus on social organizations and reduce or eliminate grants in several other categories this year. No one from the ministry would comment on the changes announced in a news release.


The effect of funding cuts on RUBY SLIPPERS THEATRE
Excerpted with permission from an email by the company's Artistic Director, Diane Brown

Dear Friends,

“The humanities done right are the crucible within which our evolving notions of what it means to be fully human are put to the test; they teach us, incrementally, endlessly, not what to do but how to be.”
Mark Slouka, in an article from Harpers Magazine, Dehumanized

Like dozens of arts organizations across British Columbia, Ruby Slippers Theatre had an agreement with the B.C. Government. In that agreement dated April 2008, they stated in writing that over the next three years, our company would receive $120,000 paid in $40,000 installments each spring. A legally binding agreement we assumed, we planned our seasons accordingly, hired people, signed contracts, rented theatres and rehearsal halls, bought advertising, etc. We completed one of our most successful seasons ever at the end of 2008/09.

We are still waiting for our 2008/09 installment of $40,000 and have just been told that it is not coming. In an email on Friday afternoon Aug. 28th, we were informed without any warning or any public consultation that after “a review” of the program, our money is not forthcoming. They are not honouring the agreement. They are not paying the money that they promised and owe us. Moreover, they are not honouring the rest of the agreement for the next two years. Ruby Slippers Theatre is now forced to cancel most of our 2009/10 season, break contracts with people, put people out of work, and look at the biggest deficit ever in our 20 year history.

In the business world, the government’s kind of behavior would result in lawsuits. They should be accountable and responsible for their agreements, and are guilty of breach of contract and public trust.

To slash and burn the arts and culture sector, one of the few sectors in B.C. that is actually stimulating the economy, is horrendously foolish and short sighted. It makes no economic sense, and absolutely no social sense. What then is the cultural legacy we are leaving our children? An Olympic t-shirt?

Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals are destroying a sector in B.C. that was stimulating the economy and thereby financially benefiting all British Columbians, and laying waste to a rich cultural legacy for generations to come. . . .

Sincerely,

Diane Brown
Artistic Director, Ruby Slippers Theatre

Sep 24-26: PRESENCE opens PT Season! Anna Vandas, Peter LaGrand, Sheree Plett, Eisenhauer...

I'm psyched. It's been a couple years since we had our last non-Christmas CHRISTMAS PRESENCE, and I've been itching to do another. PASSION, CONFESSIONS, TESTIMONY, and now... PRESENCE.

I'm looking at readings from Douglas Coupland, Nick Hornby, A.J. Jacobs, Anthony Bloom (former boss of the Russian Orthodox Church, dontcha know), Luci Shaw, Billy Collins, Mike Mason, and more. Our jazz pianist Nelson Boschman will be there with folks from our more-or-less "PT House Band," and some great musicians headlining. Not everybody's completely confirmed for every night yet, still waiting on schedules to coalesce, but right now I can confirm...

Sep 24 at PT: Anna Vandas, Peter LaGrand
Sep 25 at PT: Anna Vandas, Peter LaGrand, Sheree Plett & Jeremy Eisenhauer
Sep 26 on the North Shore: Anna Vandas

More to come, but I wanted to give you a sneak preview. SO excited to have Peter playing at a PT show at last! I first heard him when he opened for Over The Rhine a few years back, and he shared the stage with Miriam Jones in a concert on our stage this spring.

And... Wow. Completely new to Pacific Theatre, Anna Vandas. Check this out...

Of course Sher and Jer, who need no introduction: JESUS MY BOY, CHRISTMAS PRESENCE, CONFESSIONS, etc.

Just back from a cross-Canada tour - CBC Radio 3 interviews and all! - with a whole new set of influences: Buddy and Julie Miller, for starters!


More to come!

Sept. 10-20: nggrfg

Andrea Loewen writes...

Our upcoming Simon the Zealot and Pilate in THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, Denis Simpson, is a busy man. You may remember him as an original founding member of acapella group The Nylons, as co-host of TV's THE POLKA DOT DOOR (my personal favorite childhood show), of from his previous work on the Pacific Theatre stage in DRIVING MISS DAISY. Well, now he's directing, and his show is coming to the Vancouver International Fringe Festival:

Small Brown Package Productions

& Guy Un-Disguised

(With the kind assistance of Origins Theatre Projects)

proudly present:

nggrfg

Written and performed by Berend McKenzie

Directed by Denis Simpson

Vancouver’s Small Brown Package Productions is pleased to team up with Edmonton’s

Guy Un-Disguised to present a new play by award-winning actor/writer Berend McKenzie

(creator of the smash Fringe hit "Get Off The Cross Mary”).

Directed by Canadian theatre legend Denis Simpson, nggrfg is a riotous and poignant one-man

tour-de-force about being black and gay in a world that doesn't always have room for either. Inspired

by words that are used to oppress, nggrfg explores the impact of those words in intimate terms.

Berend McKenzie performs four revealing and hilarious vignettes that tell the story of a queer black

kid finding his way through the minefield of straight white Canada: from navigating the schoolyard, to

the perils of dating, to the “glamour” of showbiz and the quest for identity.

nggrfg received its world premiere at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival –

and the reviews are in!

***** 5 STARS – Vue Weekly

***** 5 STARS – CJSR Radio

“Who knew? The show with the most confrontational title at the Fringe — just fill in the vowels — turns out to

be a sweet, funny, poignant little multi-scene memoire of what it’s like to grow up out of synch, in a couple of

major ways, with the other kids… finely chiseled, touching… This is entertaining stuff.”

Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal

“…an examination…of the pain, humour, bewilderment, exhilaration, alienation, terror and love of growing up in

Alberta as a gay African-Canadian boy in the 1970s and 80s. It also happens to be a superb play…excellent.”

Minister Faust, CJSR

Vancouver-based writer/performer Berend McKenzie was awarded the Vancouver Hero Award for the

Vancouver Fringe run of his first play, “Get Off the Cross, Mary”, and was voted Best Actor in the Vancouver

Sun’s Fringe Reader’s Poll for his performance in “Beyond Therapy”. Film and TV credits include “Catwoman”,

“Andromeda”, and “Cold Squad”.

nggrfg Plays at the Warehouse Theatre at the Vancouver Fringe:

Thur. Sept. 10 @ 10:25 PM Wed. Sept. 16 @ 8:30 PM

Sat. Sept. 12 @ 6:45 PM Fri. Sept. 18 @ 10:35 PM

Mon. Sept. 14 @ 7:40 PM Sun. Sept. 20 @ 8:45 PM

Visit: SmallBrownPackage.com

Sep 3: Trace Bundy & Laurell at PT

Mike Wipf (Torah student in THE QUARREL) produced last week's enjoyable CD release concert for Zaac Pick, which also featured Sheree Plett & Jeremy Eisenhauer (JESUS MY BOY, CHRISTMAS PRESENCE, and - soon! - PRESENCE). He's got another show up next week, right on our very own stage: I've not heard Trace Bundy, bue we've been on the verge of having Laurell play for PT events a number of times - she's swell, check out the song that plays on her website!)


Trace Bundy
with special guest Laurell
Thu Sep 3, 8pm
Pacific Theatre

Tix
$18.50 by phone (778) 882-0393
$21.50 online (because of service charges)
$20 day of show

Aug 20-29: Kat Gauthier in MACBETH

Remember Kat Gauthier, who was so lovely as Sky in YOU STILL CAN'T?


Limbo Circus Theatre presents...
William Shakespeare's "MACBETH"
August 20- 29 8pm | Aug 23 @ 4:00pm + 10:00pm | Pay-what-you-can Aug 25 | No show Aug 24
Little Mountain Studios, 195 E. 26th @ Main Street
778 996-2339
limbocircustheatre@gmail.com

To what lengths would you go to control your own fate? This question is explored in a passionate and unconventional telling of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy.

Using diverse design components, this Limbo Circus Co-op unearths the roots of the Bard’s haunting tale of vaulting ambition. From flashlights to traditional theatre lights, recorded music to original compositions, from classical to modern influences, we have created a world that is all our own.

With artists from Studio 58, Capilano University, Douglas College, University of Calgary, University of British Columbia and Trinity Western University, this production boasts an innovative and creative theatre experience for people from all walks of life.

Directed by Kevin Bennett. Featuring: Rachel Aberle, Scott Button, Raes Calvert, Joy Castro, Rhys Finnick, Carly Friesen, Katherine Gauthier, Elizabeth Kirkland, Andrew Lynch, Pandora Morgan, Jenna Reed

Sept. 24-26: Presence

Not to dampen your summer-spirit, but as much as we try to forget, September is just around the corner. It's not all bad news though! With the change of seasons comes a new show at Pacific Theatre: PRESENCE. Think Christmas Presence without the Christmas. Come out to see the some new faces and some of the usual suspects from past PT events as they stage readings and play music that will entertain, inspire, and just plain tickle your fancy.

September 24 and 25th at Pacific Theatre

September 26th at Sutherland Church on the North Shore

$11-22

"First she takes Manhattan": Libby Skala's TIME TO DANCE in NYC

We brought Libby Skala to Pacific Theatre a couple seasons back to do her one-woman show LiLiA!, which was a great success. This spring she was back with A TIME TO DANCE, and now the show is in the New York Fringe. Check out these reviews! (Who says New York's a tough theatre town? They love Libby!)

THE NEW YORK TIMES
"A Time to Dance provides a worthwhile reason to bask in the company of a tenacious woman who fled Nazi-occupied Austria for New York. Funny… captivating… charming… Ms. Skala's convincing portrayal is the reason Polk is brought to life with such vibrancy." ~ Gia Kourlas

TIMEOUT NY
“With elegant triumph, Skala manages to hold the audience’s attention—and keep it smiling—with a pointed tale of hardship.... She ultimately leaves the audience with a …message of belief in a great and invisible love, and of faith in the strength of one’s ‘core’ that nothing can touch.” ~ Katy Reddin


BACK STAGE CRITICS PICK
“A Time to Dance is a sparkling one-woman show. A vivacious actor, Skala brings childlike exuberance and lots of freeform expressive dance movement to her poignant portrayal of an undaunted survivor.” ~ Lisa Jo Sagolla

CURTAIN UP
“If survival is an art, then A Time to Dance vividly underscores that truth. The magic of the show is in its almost child-like simplicity and total lack of gimmicks. Skala deftly impersonates Lisl and credibly tells her story…with unswerving accuracy.” ~ Deirdre Donovan

TALK ENTERTAINMENT
“Emotions flow as beautifully as [Skala’s] movements across the stage…a fascinating, humorous and touching journey. Libby Skala won “Best Solo Performer” for A Time to Dance at the London Fringe Festival. She will undoubtedly be in the running to win the same at this Festival also.” ~ Oscar Moore

BLOGCRITICS
“A must-see! A Time to Dance is truly uplifting without being saccharine, and that is perhaps the greatest miracle of all.” ~ Jon Sobel

LIFE UPON THE SACRED STAGE
“I had tears of happiness in my eyes at the end of Libby Skala’s one-woman play…[Skala] was shimmering as Lisl. I strongly encourage you to see this beautiful show.” ~ Retta Blaney

J.B. SPINS
“Dramatically well structured, Polk's story has the potential to appeal to a wide commercial audience as an inspiring story of the immigrant experience.” ~ Joe Bendel

And last but not least a lovely blog review

Aug. 19-22nd: BASH: LATTER-DAY PLAYS, Xua Xua Productions

Andrea Loewen writes...

Another show from my side-project, Xua Xua Productions. Neil Labute's dark triad of one-act plays titled BASH: LATTER-DAY PLAYS has just opened! CLOSES SATURDAY!

From religion to journals (online or otherwise) to reality shows, people have always been looking for ways to confess. In Xua Xua Productions’ presentation of Neil Labute’s BASH: LATTER-DAY PLAYS, three confessions are drawn out of the basement and into the spotlight. These three dark one-act plays inspired by Greek mythology, the Bible, and pop culture, feature Labute’s trademark talent for hunting down the sinister underpinnings of the all-American glow and yanking it to the forefront. “The difference between a perfectly decent person and a monster is just a few thoughts.” –Neil Labute.

August 19-22nd at 8pm (2pm matinee on Saturday)

2-for-1 preview Aug. 18th

Carousel Theatre (1411 Cartwright Street)

$12-15

Go to www.bashplay.com for tickets, or email bash.play@gmail.com

To Aug 29: WARDROBE and OKLAHOMA at Chemainus

Pacific Theatre will be bringing Vancouver audiences our lovely two-hander version of THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE that premiered in 1998 with Anthony Ingram and Miriam Brown (Gutierrez), then played at the Norman Rothstein for 22,000 people in 2003 with two casts: Anthony Ingram and Tiffany Lyndall-Knight under Morris Ertman's direction, and Julia Mackey and Paul Moniz de Sa (who won a Jessie for his work) that I directed. This time it will be back in the intimate setting of Pacific Theatre, Kerry VanderGriend at the helm (CHICKENS, THE FARNDALE CHRISTMAS CAROL), with Kyle Rideout (HALO, BEGGARS AT THE WELL OF IMMORTALITY, and plenty of roles at Bard, etc) as Peter and Donna-Lea Ford (THE NERD) as Lucy.

But if you can't wait until November, or happen to be on Vancouver Island, check out a similar two-handed version of the C.S. Lewis classic at Chemainus, starring none other than Mack Gordon (who played the romantic lead in YOU STILL CAN'T this spring), and directed by David Nykl, who toured with Pacific Theatre's DRAGONS PROJECT way back when, appeared as Jake's brother Marty in MERCY WILD, and will be back on our mainstage in REFUGE OF LIES next spring. And while you're there, CTF has a hit on its hands with OKLAHOMA, starring Tracy Neff - who blew me away in GUYS & DOLLS last December at the Gateway, and who we hope to see on our stage before too long.
CHEMAINUS THEATRE FESTIVAL presents...

OKLAHOMA!
to August 29
Music by Richard Rodgers
Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein
Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs
Original Dances by Agnes De Mille

Filled with all the exuberant melodies you remember, including Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin', The Surrey With the Fringe On Top, I Can't Say No, People Will Say We're in Love, and, of course the title song, Oklahoma! This 1944 Pulitzer Prize winner ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances when it originally opened on Broadway. Later it enjoyed award-winning revivals, national tours and a movie which won the Academy Award. Featuring Tony Barton and Tracy Neff.

AND...

THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE
From the story by C.S. Lewis
Dramatized by Le Clanche Du Rand

Join Lucy and Edmund as they enter the magical world of Narnia. A bold adventure for all! "We are what we believe we are" - C.S. Lewis For Ages 6+

$10 per person - 4 tickets for $30 | Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Aug 19: Zaac Pick release with Sheree Plett

Mike Wipf (he was a Torah student in THE QUARREL) sent me word that Sheree Plett will be singing at a release party Wednesday night. Zaac Pick is new to me, but I'm liking what I hear at zaacpick.com - especially Maybelline, so far, and Summer Moon that's got Sheree singing beegees and a swell cello....

Hey All,

Just a reminder that tomorrow night is the night! Come out for some cheap drinks and a great show. See you ALL there!

Zaac Pick's 'Fierce Wind' EP Release Party!
Full Band! Cheap drinks!
with Daniel Huscroft, and Sheree Plett
Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

St. James Community Square
www.sjcommunitysquare.org
3214 West 10th Avenue
(Corner of 10th & Trutch)
Vancouver, B.C.
V6K 2L2

www.zaacpick.com
www.myspace.com/zaacpick

Nov 5-8: Honeymoon Bay Poetry Retreat, Richard Osler

Richard has read his work at Pacific Theatre events like CHRISTMAS PRESENCE and TESTIMONY, and I bet his dynamic, energetic presence would make for a splendidly inspiring creative environment.

Thursday November 5th to Sunday November 8th. All-in cost: Double Occupancy $300, Single Occupancy $425.

Date Change! Owing to an unforseen scheduling conflict I have had to move the October Retreat date to November 5th to 8th. But the good news is that means low season rates! This translates into an all inclusive cost of $300 double occupancy (queen-sized beds) and $425 for single occupancy (queen-sized bed). This includes nine high quality meals and all other retreat costs!


Weekend Structure. We will start with a 1 PM lunch on Thursday and a one and a half hour poetry writing session on Thursday afternoon followed by another one-and-a-quarter- hour session Thursday evening. We will have a two and half hour writing session on Friday and Saturday morning and a shorter-wrap up session on Sunday morning. On Friday and Saturday evening there will be time to share favorite poems and some of your own writing. We will use specific writing reflections based on the poems of some of the outstanding poets of the past century as a way to engage our own thoughts and words.And we will be inspired by each other.

Retreat facilitator. Richard Osler, 58. Poet, workshop facilitator and businessman.

Retreat Centre. The Honeymoon Bay Lodge and Retreat Centre near Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island (90 minutes from either Victoria or Nanaimo) This centre, owned and operated by a charitable foundation, is a five star facility with an executive chef. All meals are provided ( high quality!) and each room has two queen-sized beds and a three-piece bathroom. Please check out this link www.honeymoonbayretreat.com for a virtual tour.

Cost. Reasonable! Thanks to the great package offered by Honeymoon Bay the all-in cost including all meals prepared by staff at the lodge and selected by the participants (dinners) from a menu selection is reasonable! See above. A non-refundable deposit of $100.00 is required to secure a place. WIth the deposit should be a post-dated cheque dated October 15th for the balance owing. The amount of the post dated cheque will be refundable if the cancelled space is filled by another retreatant. Cheques should be made payable to Richard Osler and sent to 1046 Queens Ave., Victoria, B.C. V8T 1M8.

Who should come? Anyone who wants a weekend of reflection and unexpected words.

Who to Contact: Email or phone Richard Osler (osler@shaw.ca) or 604 836 7875.

Response Time. Soon! We have ten rooms available which means a minimum of about 10 to 12 retreatants.We have about 5 to 6 rooms left.

"Most people…think that writing means writing down ideas, insights, visions. They feel that they must first have something to say before they can put it on paper. For them writing is little more than recording a pre-existent thought. But with this approach true writing is impossible. Writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals what is alive…The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know. Thus, writing requires a real act of trust. We have to say to ourselves, ‘I do not yet know what I carry in my heart, but I trust that it will emerge as I write.’ Writing is like giving away the few loaves and fishes one has, trusting that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare “to give” away on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath…and gradually come in touch with our own riches.” Henri Noewen

Aug 14-22: Lucia Frangione in VIA BEATRICE

Got a note from Lucia while in rehearsals for this one. Such a lovely singer - do you remember her in HOWARD BUYS A MOTORHOME? That love song she sang to Howard? Brought tears to me every time she sang it. Cia wrote: "I'm starring in a new operetta by Jenn Griffin and Peggy Lee with Marco Soriano and Laura DiCicco, Fugue Theatre, it's playing at The Festival House on Granville Island, we open August 14th and run to the 22. Only 8 shows. It's structured more like a play with music. I think the composing in this show is rather astonishing. The poetry in the libretta is arresting but in particular the music itself is very contemporary, haunting and dissonant and yet melodic and full of story. It's a moving show, good cast. New and wobbly as most plays are, but worth seeing for sure. . . Okay, gotta go sing in three octaves now while being seduced by a handsome Italian guy in Rome in the midst of my suicide attempt. Gotta love the opera!"

The World Premiere of Fugue Theatre’s experimental operetta
VIA BEATRICE
Aug 14-16, 19-22
Playwrights Theatre Centre

A woman travels to Italy after the suicide of her daughter. They were supposed to take the trip together. Practically giving up all hope for life itself, the woman stumbles upon a haunted tour of Rome led by a slick Italian tour guide. He has his own demons. Together, they become entwined with the ghost of Beatrice Cenci in a roller-coaster ride of sensuality, fright, grief and hope. This seductive operetta stars Laura Di Cicco, Lucia Frangione and Marco Soriano, with each performer acting and singing multiple parts.
Writer and Librettist: Jennifer Griffin
Composer, Musical Direction and Musician: Peggy Lee
Direction: Matthew Bissett
Musician: Ron Samworth

Performances:
August 14, 8 p.m.
August 15, 8 p.m.
August 16, 2 p.m., pay if you can
August 19, 8 p.m.
August 20, 8 p.m.
August 21, 8 p.m.
August 22, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Collier, Young, Conway Memorial Established

Reposted by Andrea Loewen from Simon Ogden's post Collier, Young, Conway Memorial Established on The Next Stage.

A few weeks ago, an unimaginable tragedy struck the family of Kim Collier and Jonathon Young, the ever-inspirational power couple at the forefront of the Vancouver Independent Stage industry. They lost their daughter Azra and her two young cousins; Phoebe and Fergus Conway, to a freakish flash cabin fire in Eagle Bay on the shores of Shuswap Lake.

It should be an immutable law of the universe that you don’t outlive your children. We join the community in offering our love and thoughts and deepest condolences to the families.

A memorial scholarship is being set up in the name of the children, and donations are being accepted to help with the costs of its development. If you would like to contribute you can drop a cheque off at any Bank of Montreal in Canada payable to Collier, Young, Conway In Trust, or you can mail one to

C. Reid
c/o The Cultch
1895 Venables Street
Vancouver, BC V5L 2H6

You can visit the official site for the Eagle Bay Memorial here, and you can join Tributes and Prayers for the Collier, Young, Conway Families on Facebook here.

Aug 12-22: Diana Squires in LAUNDROMAT in laundromat!

UPDATE: Dice will be interviewed this afternoon on CBC Radio's "On the Coast." If you're near a radio at around 4 p.m. you can tune in to 88.1 FM and hear all about THE LAUNDROMAT. . . . If you've been in one of my acting classes, there are a few scenes you're likely to have seen. One play that's in heavy rotation is Marsha Norman's Third & Oak: The Laundromat. It seems that at least one survivor of my tutelage retained enough affection for the piece to tackle a full production - in a laundromat, no less! Brilliant. Diana "Dice" Squires will be playing Deedee, and she notes "Former PT apprentice Christie Maxson is stage managing and TWU grads Jackie Faulkner & Joshua McFaul are also on the team as Costume/Laundry Designer and Recording Technician." I'm not missing this one!


THE LAUNDROMAT by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman
Aug 13-15 19-22 (pay-what-you-can preview Aug 12)
Swan Laundry - 1352 Burrard Street
Doors 8pm, show 8:30

Directed by Tamara McCarthy ~ Starring Brenda Matthews & Diana Squires
Tickets - $12 - scarletsatin@live.com (seating very limited...book in advance!)

In Scarlet Satin Productions’ The Laundromat, one wash-rinse-dry cycle sends the audience spinning back to the world of 1979 where, for two desperate housewives, nothing is as it seems. In the intimate setting of a real laundromat, watch two strangers from different worlds stumble in with delicates in hand and reluctantly share their deepest secrets.

With her characteristic humour and realism, playwright Marsha Norman introduces Deedee, who bounces from fidgety to feisty, hitting every hilarious extreme in between; and Alberta, whose restrained propriety masks both tenderness and sardonic wit.

“The themes of loss, loneliness, and the continuous struggle to make sense of our selves and our lives, are as relevant today as when the play was written,” says Tamara McCarthy, whose recent directing work at Carousel Theatre earned rave reviews and a Jessie nomination. “It’s a delight to be telling this simple, beautiful story in a non-traditional performance space.”

With rolling carts and brightly coloured bubbles, Swan Laundry offers a world ideally suited to the play’s warmth and retro appeal. Owner Carolyn Currie says, “They told me they wanted to perform the cutest show in town at the cutest laundromat in town…I couldn’t resist!”

The Laundromat marks the debut of Scarlet Satin Productions, an independent theatre company dedicated to creating opportunities for women and forging professional connections for emerging artists while producing unique and thought-provoking theatre. More info at http://scarletsatin.wordpress.com.

Directed by Tamara McCarthy, featuring Brenda Matthews and Diana Squires, The Laundromat plays at 8:30 p.m. August 13-15 & 19-22 with a pay-what-you-can preview August 12. General admission $12. Swan Laundry, 1352 Burrard Street. Seating very limited – reserve tickets through scarletsatin@live.com.

For a chance to win two free tickets to Opening Night, e-mail Scarlet Satin Productions the correct answer to this question: Which play won Marsha Norman the Pulitzer Prize?

Media Contact: Diana Squires
Artistic Producer, Scarlet Satin Productions
604.825.3879
scarletsatin@live.com

Aug 5-20: The Road To Canterbury, Queen E Park

Peter Carlone was a treat as one of the Special Agents in YOU STILL CAN'T, and he's front and centre in this fun CANTERBURY update. An exciting night for the cast, last night; real-life SWAT teams, real-life scatalogical humour. Ah, the vissicitudes of site-specific theatre!

Itsazoo Productions presents
The Road to Canterbury
Queen Elizabeth Park (meet at Bloedel Conservatory)
Aug 7-20 @ 7pm
Previews Aug 5 & 6 @ 7pm
2pm matinee Saturdays, no show Sundays
604.221.6604 | itsazoogm@gmail.com.

Itsazoo Productions, who brought the sold-out Grimm Tales to Mt. Douglas and Queen Elizabeth Parks last year, is pleased to present The Road to Canterbury. A modern-day re-imagining of The Canturbury Tales (by Grimm Tales author Sebastien Archibald), The Road To Canterbury, lead by a Chaucer enthusiast, takes the audience on a tour of Queen Elizabeth Park, and five of Chaucer’s tales. The Road to Canterbury runs (Vancouver).

Updated for the 21st Century, Archibald’s take on The Canterbury Tales features contemporary counterparts of Chaucer’s classic characters telling hilarious, insightful, and often sordid tales of love, power, and religion. Five tourists, who are (unbeknownst to them) modern versions of The Canterbury Tales’ classic characters, partake in a guided tour themed around Chaucer’s life and times. The tour is lead by a chipper Chaucer enthusiast, who leads the audience through the beautiful landscape of the Park. However, he quickly looses control of the proceedings when various “audience members” take over and begin telling their own stories, complete with re-written modern pop songs. The Knight is now a mercenary. The Wife of Bath has morphed into a gin-swilling British socialite. The Miller has transformed into a beatnik. The Road To Canterbury showcases the timelessness of The Canterbury Tales and the themes it explored with three main tools Chaucer would no doubt approve of: wit, satire, and music.

“This a dynamic theatrical event,” says Chelsea Haberlin, General Manager and Director of The Road to Canterbury. “The synthesis of play and audience in an outdoor environment is a one-of-a-kind experience. This show is alive, it's active and it's hilarious. Furthermore, many of the social and societal criticisms and insights exemplified in The Canterbury Tales are relevant to today.”

Founded in 2004, Itsazoo Productions is a twenty-something theatre company made up of UVic graduates. Their mandate is to create opportunities for emerging artists, produce theatre outside of the traditional playhouse setting, present theatre to a younger and more diverse audience, and to produce new Canadian plays. 2008-09 marked their first theatre season, with four plays produced. They were recently named “Favorite New Theatre Company” by The Westender, and were nominated for their first Jessie Richardson Theatre Award.

From Adrian Chamberlain, The Times-Colonist:
Vancouver playwright Sebastien Archibald has adapted five of Chaucer's stories for Itsazoo Productions. The troupe of talented 20-somethings (many of them University of Victoria theatre grads) do justice to Archibald's madcap opus, which aims primarily to tap into a contemporary comic sensibility.

If you enjoy Saturday Night Live, Little Britain and other sketch-comedy shows, you'll get a kick from the sharply conceived Road to Canterbury. Added plus: Seeing theatre in a oceanside park is a great way to beat the heat.

PS from Ron and the wife of Bath...
"Purity in body and heart
May please some--as for me, I make no boast.
For, as you know, no master of a household
Has all of his utensils made of gold;
Some are wood, and yet they are of use.
The Lord calls folk to Him in many ways,
And each has his particular gift from God,
Some this, some that, even as He thinks good."

Hamlet's Duplex

The New Yorker, August 3 2009

"The Holy Crossing"

NORMAN. Counting down to the long awaited Feast Of The Holy Crossing, it was twenty years ago today! Or it will be in a couple days. August 8, 1969, commemoration at 11:35 sharp, the commemoration right here on KRBY, Radio That's Way Beyond The Norm! . . .


NORMAN. Anybody come yet?
(BEA shakes her head.)
NORMAN. Probably nobody listens to my station.
GRANDPA. So when's air time? For the crossing?
NORMAN. No show today.
GRANDPA. No show. You've been talking about this one for weeks!
NORMAN. I'll do it another time.
GRANDPA. But today's the eighth. You said it had to be August eighth.
NORMAN. I'll do it another year.
GRANDPA. Norman! I can't believe what I'm hearing. What about all the special food you had Sky pick up for you.
NORMAN. You can eat it. I'm not really hungry.
GRANDPA. But I thought it was for some kind of special religious feast, or something.
NORMAN. The Feast of the Holy Crossing of Saint Paul and Saint John.
GRANDPA. Exactly! And wasn't there some ritual we were supposed to do?
NORMAN. I guess.
GRANDPA. Norman, don't guess. You never guess.
NORMAN. Okay, fine! There's a commemoration. At 11:35. But people will be crossing all over the world. They don't need me.
GRANDPA. WE need you, Norm. Whatever this thing is, it's exactly what we need!
NORMAN. Look, it's stupid, okay? Frankly Grandpa, that sort of thing doesn't seem real important today.
GRANDPA. I'm very disappointed in you, young man. I never thought of you as selfish. (Pause.) Norman, I'm sorry. Nobody around here feels much like celebrating anything. Truth be told, I feel the same. Don't even feel up to a funeral today, and that's pretty low. But Norman, that's exactly when we need to celebrate. Something bigger than ourselves. All this will pass, but if we neglect the things that will last through the ages... I want to celebrate. Something. And you know, if Sky was here, she'd celebrate with us. It wouldn't matter to HER that she was in jail.
(A moment's silence.)
NORMAN. You're right. No need to apologize, Grandpa. I've got a party planned. And that's one thing you don't give up on! (Inspired, he strides over to GRANDPA and gives him a sudden, awkward hug.) Thanks. . . .


NORMAN. Ladies and gentlemen, the Feast of the Holy Crossing of Saint Paul and Saint John. And let us not forget Saints George and Ringo.
UNCLE VLADMIR. Ringo!
NORMAN. It was twenty years ago today... (R MILHOUSE holds up a framed copy of the Abbey Road album cover with the inscription "11:35 A.M., August 8, 1969") And now, the feast! Honey Pie, Savoy Truffle, and of course my own invention, Strawberry Fields! (He holds aloft a whipped cream concoction, studded with strawberries.) The Feast Of The Fabs!


Text from "You Still Can't"
Photo #1: Tim, Ron, Alison, Amy
Photo #2: Tim, Ron, Linsy, Alison
Photo #3: Alison

There's Something About Judas

Andrea Loewen writes...

Lately I've had Judas on the brain. I am more than excited for THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT to open the season at Pacific Theatre, and there are many many reasons why. Here are a few:

First of all, just think about it: a courtroom drama to determine the eternal resting place of Judas Iscariot. Witnesses include Mother Theresa, Freud, Judas' mother, a foul-mouthed Saint Monica, and, of course, Satan. It sounds like it could be a bad episode of Judge Judy, but instead each character finds a deeper question or dilemma of Judas' situation as inspired by their "specialty."

The second reason is playwright Guirgis himself. He is an artist in residence at LABrynth Theater Company in New York with co-founding member Philip Seymour Hoffman (heard of him?). He's also got quite a knack for bringing these dilemmas from Galilee into present day, and it looks like he's been looking at questions of faith and redemption for a while. Past plays include JESUS HOPPED THE "A" TRAIN and OUR LADY OF 121ST STREET, both of which feature a plethora of eclectic characters from the Bible and beyond asking all those tough questions.

Finally, the original cast featured none other than Eric Bogosian himself as Satan! Not to mention Sam Rockwell, who later went on to play James Reston Jr. in the film adaptation of FROST/NIXON, and of course, Mr. Philip Seymour Hoffman directing.