Fundraising Campaign: 110% RAISED!!!! 24 hours and 54 minutes before our deadline

Updated Friday February 27 at 11:06 pm...

WE'RE DONE!!!!

We told you at the end of November that we needed money to see us through to the end of February. A rather daunting $56,000.

By the end of December, you'd sent us over $35,000.  Staggering.  And we knew we could go ahead with our production of My Name Is Asher Lev.  

By the end of January, another $10,000.  

But by February, it had slowed to a trickle.  A few more gifts as we hit the last week of February, but it wasn't looking like we'd make that last five grand.

Until I drove up to my house Friday night, and my next door neighbour waves me over. Marty, from Long Island. He's sitting in his car: that's where he goes to smoke. He rolls down his window. "Ron, get over here. I gotta tell ya something." Imagine Julia Mackey as Jake Spleen.  "Get in."  I got in.  "I'm going to give you five thousand dollars."

He didn't know anything about our deadline. He didn't know anything about our campaign. He's just my neighbour. All he knows is, I run a theatre, he's never been there, but he knows theatres need money. 

I told him it was a miracle, if he didn't mind me saying. I told him five grand was pretty much exactly how much money I needed to reach the $56K I had to raise in the next three days.  And he goes, "Yeah, something told me I was s'posed ta give it to ya.  Five thousand."    

So how's that for a dramatic finish?  Got me thinking about the Christmas movie I thought about many times in December, as your gifts kept arriving.  No, not How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  Another one.

So I came in and put on the last chapter, and thought about George Bailey, and what makes a man wealthy.

Thanks.  Merry Christmas, everyone.

Ron "George Bailey" Reed

PS Sunday afternoon, an email from some other PT friends. They're sending $5000. Wow.

PS Here's how it played itself out...

200 + 200 + 25 + 100 + 18 + 12.56 + 480.5 + 100 + 50 + 25 + 5000 + 400 + 50 + 5000 + 500 + 150 + 150 + 150 + 35 + 50 + 100 + 50 + 20 + 200 + 50 + 250 + 150 + 50 + 50 + 50 + 50 + 50 + 25 + 20 + 100 + 100 + 20 + 2000 + 1000 + 25 + 20 + 25 + 25 + 30 + 1000 + 25 + 150 + 50 + 40 + 27 + 100 + 50 + 100 + 10 + 100 + 50 + 250 + 30 + 1000 + 1000 + 2000 + 250 + 25 + 10 + 25 + 11.50 + 6 + 100 + 300 + 4325 + 250 + 100 + 100 + 1000 + 150 + 100 + 100 + 20 + 50 + 40 +20 + 200 +50 + 40 +100 + 47.01 + 50 + 400 + 1000 + 10 + .66 + .48 + .45 + .96 + 100 + 20 + 500 + 50 + 500 + 150 + 100 + 500 + 1200 + 1000 + 300 + 50 + 5 +250 + 300 + 300 + 75 + 300 + 150 + 200 + 100 + 100 + 200 + 25 + 5 + 500 + 1000 + 50 + 500 + 10 + 40 + 40 + 100 + 50 + 300 +250 + 5 + 200 + 100 + 101 + 25 + 20 + 200 + 1000 + 50 + 150 + 70 + 20 + 50 + 20 + 80.75 + 20 + 5 + 50 + 500 + 50 + 20 + 1500 + 250 + 250 + 25 + 40 + 200 + 144.15 + 72.08 + 192.50 + 1500 + 100 + 50 + 100 + 20.72 + 25 + 100 + 10 + 25 + 50 + 100 +100 + 200 + 500 + 10 +5 + 50 + 50 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 50 +25 + 60 + 30 + 5000 + 5000 + 1100 in bids on our Silent Auction Art Show in the lobby = $61,476.32!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, as before, heartfelt thanks to everyone who has donated so far. We have the best audience in the world!!!

'a' train | apprentice notes 1

Grettings Soul Fooders.

Evan Frayne here , your friendly neighborhood apprentice! We have probably spoken on the phone or you've listened to me do the Front of House speech before one of the shows at PT this season. But for everyone else I haven't met, greetings.

I am one of the cast in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train and we are coming to the end of our first week of rehearsals. After the first read, we spent a couple of days doing table work which means we go through the play scene by scene and talk about the characters, ideas, images and actions of the play. Angela Konrad(the director) has been a great facilitator of discussion and is turning out to be one of the most collaborative directors I have worked with.

I'm struck by the depth of the characters in "A" Train. Each one of them has a compelling, justified argument for what they think and do. I find myself agreeing in one moment with Angel, the young man accused of shooting a man, and in the next, completely discounting his arguments as naive.

Another great discovery is the conflict within each of these people. I play Charlie D'Amico, Riker's Island prison guard who befriends convicted killer, Lucius Jenkins. At one point, Charlie has to take a hard look at this "friendship" he has developed. Is it right, is it good, can he live with himself having been changed by his relationship with this man?

Let me know if you have any questions about the play, or our rehearsal process. I'll be dropping in periodically to post so please leave your questions or comments below. I'd love to hear if you've read the play or seen it on stage somewhere.

That's it for this apprentice note, see you next time!

stephen remembers david

At Monday's table reading of Stephen Adly Guirgis'  Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train, I noticed the dedication at the front of the script...

And I remembered part of Butch Honeywell's monologue from the end of The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot...

A little later I'm sittin' on the couch when this girl -- my future wife -- she just comes up to me by herself and she says: "I saw you in that play the other night. You made me cry".... Two days later, we went out on a date....On the way back, I was driving her home, and we passed by this house where my friend Dave Hoghe used to live who had died ... I hadn't been by his house since he passed. The family didn't live there no more. But when I saw the house, I got struck with this feeling, and I asked her if she wouldn't mind if we just pulled up in front of that house and just sat for a moment. She said; "Sure". So I parked, and we just sat in the car for a while. Quiet. Not sayin' nothin. And before I knew it, Mister Iscariot, I was tearing up -- cuz this kid, he had been a real good friend of mine, ya know -- and then, I just started crying, Mister Iscariot, I couldn't help myself and I couldn't shut it off. And I was real embarrassed, and she just, she just held me while tears and snot and whatnot just poured outta me and on to her little white sweater... And she didn't mind about that ... She didn't mind at all ..."

feb 23 | lookout gallery reception

feb 18-20 | tom pickett | east end blues

Beloved PT company member Tom Pickett (Playland, Driving Miss Daisy, Master Harold & The Boys, more) is part of the cast of what looks to be a wonderful show this weekend by our friends at Vancouver Moving Theatre. Denis Simpson was one of the creators of the show before his passing last fall: Pacific Theatre audiences will remember him from The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

Come and hear two of Vancouver’s finest gospel and blues singers in East End Blues and All That Jazz. This Black History Month celebration of the life and times of the Downtown Eastside’s historic black neighbourhood is a tribute to the contributions that African-Canadians have made, and continue to make, to the cultural and social fabric of our city.

Join us on a musical tour: walk down memory lane to the Fountain Chapel – heart and soul of the historic community; jive at the legendary Harlem Nocturne, drop into fine eateries such as Vie’s Chicken and Steak House and the Country Club; and reflect on the elusive Hogan’s Alley – bulldozed by the installation of the Georgia Viaduct in the early 1970’s.

The Gibson Family were the proprietors of the Country Club, while Thelma, Len and Chic Gibson danced and sang in just about every club in the East End, from the Smilin’ Buddha and the Mandarin Gardens to the Harlem Nocturne.

"In good times and in bad, music provided the courage and strength to make life more pleasant for everyone. We sang sorrow songs and social songs, freedom songs and glory songs and most of all we sang the blues."

Singers Candus Churchill and Tom Pickett, pianist/musical director Bill Costin and bass player Timothy Stacey are sharing the stage with Master of Ceremonies, the well known Downtown Eastside raised actor Chic Gibson, and his sister, guest singer Thelma Gibson.

This soul-stirring evening of gospel and blues, jazz and memories was created by Denis Simpson and Vancouver Moving Theatre’s Savannah Walling, assisted by Mr. Leonard Gibson and with contributions by Chic and Thelma Gibson.

The late Denis Simpson, was a multi-talented artist and activist, with career highlights including; starring in the Broadway Production of Jesus Christ Superstar, singing with The Nylons, hosting the children’s TV series The Polka Dot Door, winning a Dora Mavor Award for his performance in Ain’t Misbehavin’ and a Jessie Award for his show Denis Anyone? Chic, Thelma and Leonard Gibson grew up in the Downtown Eastside to become accomplished artists, performing in Vancouver’s first live television show Bamboula, and touring internationally and across Canada. They have won awards for their contributions to the black community and achievements in the performing arts. Dancing professionally on local stages at the age five, the late Mr. Leonard Gibson became the first black dancer in Canada to train in classical ballet and choreographed and taught across North America and Europe.

my name is asher lev | audience response

MY NAME IS ASHER LEV has opened and the reviews are pouring in!  We'd love to hear your thoughts as well - post a comment below, on our website, or facebook wall.

"Thank you for Asher Lev. I thought it was one of the best productions I have seen for a long time. Like so many, I too, read the novel 30+ years ago and it stayed with me till today. Your production was a synthesis of everything that is good about theatre - a rare case of the wonder full agreement of actors, script and audience working together in seamless harmony. My congratulations to Morris for his admirable leadership in forging the alchemy required for the designers, actors and technicians to exceed all expectations. Bravo. With respect and admiration, Simon Johnston (Artistic & Executive Director, Gateway Theatre)

"Thank you for creating this wonderful production of My Name is Asher Lev. It was a perfect evening of theatre - a touching, funny, disarmingly honest performance by all three actors. I am coming back this week to see it again." | Sally McLean, email

"I am a huge fan of the books by Chaim Potok (The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev) and I loved both the book and the play adaptation of the latter. I have always admired how the productions staged at Pacific Theatre brilliantly creates a bigger world in a small space. Such creative challenges must be a treat for the production staff :) My Name is Asher Lev was extremely well acted by all three actors. Special mention to Mr. Nathan Schmidt whose fluid transition to various male characters in a continuous scene makes you forget that they are being played by one actor only. That takes a lot of focus and attention to the characters distinct details. I highly recommend this moving and intelligent play. | Karlo Santos, email

"The play’s surprisingly visceral power is also very much due to the work of director Morris Ertman and his strong and supremely talented cast. ... My Name Is Asher Lev is a triumph on the stage." | Steven Schelling, The Westender

"My Name is Asher Lev shows considerable intelligence and honest emotionality. ... The playwright, as well as this production, presents Asher’s formative relationships with passion and delicacy. Nathan Schmidt plays a number of characters, including Asher’s furiously intelligent father, a rambunctious uncle, and the crusty Kahn. Impressively, Schmidt disappears into these roles. And there is no more transparent actor in town than Katharine Venour. Her portrait of Rivkeh is skinless—and moving. In his Vancouver debut, Giovanni Mocibob, a recent arrival from Alberta, commands the stage as Asher." | Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

"All the male roles--Aryeh Lev, the Rebbe, Kahn--are excellently portrayed by Nathan Schmidt by simply removing a hat or putting on a prayer shawl. ... Katharine Venour portrays the women, including Asher's long-suffering mother and the chic gallery owner with an artistic prodigy on her hands. Venour, as always, is compelling: a quiet, sorrowing mother modestly dressed in headscarf and somber garb and Anna, quick and assertive in her little hat, bright green suit and fur stole." | Jo Ledingham, Vancouver Courier

"The production, My Name is Asher Lev, was outstanding......very powerful. And the acting was excellent. My husband and I have been recommending the play to our friends." | Anita Bowes, email

‎"Yesterday evening my friends and I attended My Name is Asher Lev. On behalf of my friends and myself I want to say how excellent the production was. From the moment the play started until it's ending we were totally engaged with the characters." -audience email

"i was so, so impressed with this show. man, i'm always amazed at what you folks can make me believe in that little space. this show should receive an award for its amazing set design as well as its acting. that was just brilliant." facebook

"I was very deeply moved by the play. Also, I invited my brother (and partner) from Edmonton to come and see the play on the next weekend. We discussed it. The play’s script, artistic set design and use of props and theatrical devices were all very good but I think that it was good because the drama of the conflict and the believability of the characters was so thorough." | Ed Konrad

"Pacific Theatre has done it again, giving us another little gem of a play. ... I was completely caught up in this battle between these two immovable forces - the implacable demand of the father that his son value faith over art, and the inescapable drive of the son to follow his creative drive. It is a heart-wrenching play, beautifully done and well worth seeing." | Gillian Lockitch, Review From the House

"My Name Is Asher Lev continues in the tradition of Pacific Theatre to bring its audiences shows that are spiritually uplifting." | John Jane, Review Vancouver

"Growing up I never had the opportunity to read Potok’s novel, but through this stage adaptation it is easy to see how it could have had a profound effect on any young man (or woman) struggling with their own questions about life. And while I may be too old now for the story to have that same effect, My Name is Asher Lev still managed to touch me, knowing that my struggle to find my own answers was worth it. Such is the power of passion. Such is the power of life." | Mark Robins, GayVancouver.net

"wow -that was awesome tonight! i was spellbound and hardly moved an inch the whole way through. this story hits home." Bev, facebook

"Just returned from the show. Just excellent, in all aspects. Simple but dramatic staging, well performed. And character development, which is why the theatre. Thank you!" | John Goodwin, facebook

"All in all, My Name is Asher Lev is yet another strong example of work from Pacific Theatre, and I’d recommend you check it out." | Darren Barefoot, darrenbarefoot.com

"Last night I saw this brilliant performance at the Pacific Theatre, this moving story had the audience focussed on the 3 actors who played multiple characters." | Richard Wolak, Taste and Sip

"Wonderful production of Asher Lev, well done Giovanni and welcome to the Vancouver theatre scene. Wonderful performance Kathryn as always. The "model" scene was very creatively and sensually done, very tasteful!! Thank you PT for another wonderful evening of theatre." | Fiona Topp, facebook

"Minimalist sets and strong performances make Asher Lev @PacificTheatre surprisingly stong! Go see it! http://pacifictheatre.org/" | @WEVancouver, twitter

"Brought the family to see Asher Lev tonight. Just about the best thing I've seen at Pacific Theatre. Magnificent storytelling, wonderful actors. Great directing and lighting, perfectly scored music. I felt like the audience was participating in a living painting. So moving that a couple of times I just wanted to break down crying. But I didn't as I thought I might disrupt the play with my nose-blowing." | Ruth Dallas Rich, facebook

"Want to sense the tension between being who you are as artist, and what is expected? Must see My Name is Asher Lev @PacificTheatre" | @RoseMariArt, twitter

"@PacificTheatre a standing ovation for #mynameisasherlev! #ilovetheatre #WOW" | @JustinneRamirez, twitter

"Saw Asher Lev yesterday… it’s been a very long time since I’ve been so moved by theatre. All three characters were amazing in their emotional range — Nathan, though, was especially brilliant. It took me a few hours post-performance to regain my equilibrium, and I am left pondering themes of love, acceptance, and the resilience of the human spirit…" | sheila, website comment

"Get your tickets for My Name is Asher Lev! It was amazing!! Go see it now!" | Vanessa Hui, facebook

My Name Is Asher Lev runs at Pacific Theatre until February 25

tickets | information

feb 18/19 | twu + vso | bach b minor mass

TWU Choirs perform with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Bach & Beyond - Bach Mass in B Minor
February 18 & 19, 2011
8:00 pm

"one of the most moving and beautiful testaments of faith ever set to music"

Bramwell Tovey, Conductor
Trinity Western University Choirs
Laura Whalen, Soprano
Susan Platts, Mezzo-Soprano
Colin Ainsworth, Tenor
Gregory Dahl, Baritone

tickets

asher lev | book giveaway

This Wednesday, February 16th we'll be giving a copy of the book MY NAME IS ASHER LEV by Chaim Potok away to an audience member!

The giveaway will be chosen via a random, pre-show draw - no fuss, no muss.  If you haven't got your ticket yet to see MY NAME IS ASHER LEV then don't miss this chance to double your Asher-exposure!

For more info or to book tickets, call our box office at 604-731.5518 or book online.

MY NAME IS ASHER LEV closes Friday, February 26th.

feb 28 | phoebe macrae recital | twu

Quests: Scenes for Solo Voice
Feb 28 | 8pm
Trinity Western University

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students. For more information, visit the TWU website.

Acclaimed soprano performs one-night concert at TWU
Nuns, kings, and comic strips inform an evening of unforgettable music in Quests: Scenes for Solo Voice.

On February 28, Trinity Western University presents acclaimed soprano Phoebe MacRae in a performance of dramatic works for unaccompanied voice. A guest artist concert hosted by TWU’s School of the Arts, Media and Culture, the evening unites music and theatre in a diverse program spanningpieces from the 12th Century to the present.

MacRae, a UBC alumna with a Master of Music (Opera), was instrumental in the selection of the repertoire. “What inspires me about this collection of works are the pervasive themes of quest…for power, for love, for enjoyment,” reflects MacRae. “The material sheds light on the human condition with pieces chosen for their beauty, tragedy, comedy, and even absurdity. It has the potential both to challenge and confirm your concept of what music is.”

“TWU has a long-standing commitment to guest artists,” says Associate Professor of Music Allan Thorpe, D.M.A., “In this concert we are also proud to premiere the work of SAMC composer David Squires, Ph.D., Come Away, his piece inspired by the Song of Solomon and originally written in 1977, has been revised with a new text especially for this performance.”

The medieval work on the program is Ursula Antiphons by Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a nun who is one of the earliest women composers identified by name. Among the evening’s contemporary works, Cathy Berbarian’s Stripsody is known for its unusual notation. The piece owes its title to the comic strip style that the score emulates. Consider it the “graphic novel” of the evening.

Rounding out the program are an excerpt from Hommage à T.S. Eliot by Sofia Gubaidulina, Récitation 3 by Georges Aperghis, and excerpts from Love Songs by Ana Sokolovich.

chaim potok | paintings

Brooklyn Crucifixion

These paintings by Chaim Potok can be found at the Chaim Potok website

The Spectrum Blog

The late Jewish writer Chaim Potok (1929-2002) is probably best known for his novels, many of which explore the struggle to reconcile religion and modernity. Potok was raised as an Orthodox Jew and was ordained as a Rabbi. In his lifetime, he wrote nine novels, three children's books, and numerous stories, plays, and articles.

Potok is arguably best known for his novel, The Chosen, which was made into a film and a Broadway play. My Name is Asher Lev, which Potok called his most autobiographical novel, is the struggle of a gifted artist torn between his art and his orthodox traditions that reject art. In the front of this book is a quotation from Picasso: "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth."

Potok was an accomplished painter, in addition to being a writer and a Rabbi. In a fascinating intersection between art and life, Potok himself created "Brooklyn Crucifixion," a painting central to the heartrending climax of My Name is Asher Lev. "Brooklyn Crucifixion" (shown at left) hung in Potok's home. (Click on thumbnail to view larger image.)

And in case you haven't read the compelling story that is My Name is Asher Lev, here's how it begins:

My name is Asher Lev, the Asher Lev, about whom you have read in newspapers and magazines, about whom you talk so much at your dinner affairs and cocktail parties, the notorious and legendary Lev of the Brooklyn Crucifix.

I am an observant Jew. Yes, of course, observant Jews do not paint crucifixions. As a matter of fact, observant Jews do not paint at all--in the way that I am painting. So strong words are being written and spoken about me, myths are being generated: I am a traitor, an apostate, a self-hater, an inflictor of shame upon my family, my friends, my people; also, I am a mocker of ideas sacred to Christians, a blasphemous manipulator of modes and forms revered by Gentiles for two thousand years.

Well, I am none of those things. And yet, in all honesty, I confess that my accusers are not altogether wrong: I am indeed, in some way, all of those things.

Potok asserted that the conflict between tradition and modernity is constant and that the tension between religion and art is lifelong. His personal struggle seems apparent in "Brooklyn Crucifixion." And yet despite this seemingly agonizing struggle, Potok remained active as an artist/writer and engaged in the religion of his upbringing until his death in 2002.

My Name Is Asher Lev runs at Pacific Theatre until February 25

tickets | information

asher lev | book covers

By now you've seen the beautiful artwork for PT's production of MY NAME IS ASHER LEV all over town, or so we hope.  Before it was a theatre poster, of course, Asher was a book cover.  Here's a collection of the various cover art for MY NAME IS ASHER LEV through the ages.

For reference, here's the artwork created for us by Kolke Design:

And now... the books!

My Name Is Asher Lev runs at Pacific Theatre until February 26

tickets | information

mar 10 - apr 9 | joy kirkwood | place des arts

Note from Joy Kirkwood: "I noticed your current show Asher Lev and as a visual artist and a person of faith it is a favourite book of mine. I’m planning to see the play. I also have an upcoming art show at Place des Arts in Coquitlam. While not overtly spiritual I feel my beliefs are woven into the fabric of my work and it is a show that would appeal to families. In the last weekend there will be a family day activity that ties into my work as well." 

asher lev | more photos

feb 21 | fallen angel screening | randy stonehill performance

If they add eat and tweet, I'm there!

Premier theatrical screening of the Award-winning documentary
Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman
Live music with Randy Stonehill (Larry Norman’s best friend)
Feb 21 | 7PM
Gracepoint Community Church | 3487 King George Boulevard | Surrey

Combine the onstage magnetism of Mick Jagger, the lyrical brilliance of Bob Dylan and the fragility of Brian Wilson, and you would have only begun to scratch the surface of Larry Norman.
Experience an evening of forgiveness and witness a glimmer of grace against the backdrop of moral failure. Includes a Q&A with the director of the film, David DiSabatino, and a meet & greet.

BUY TICKETS

Local Producer/Contact: Bill Hogg - 604-996-1034

asher lev | photos II

A few production photos of MY NAME IS ASHER LEV, taken by our very own Ron Reed.

Katharine Venour as The Women

Giovanni Mocibob as Asher

Giovanni Mocibob as Asher, Nathan Schmidt as The Men

Giovanni Mocibob as Asher, Nathan Schmidt as The Men, Katharine Venour as The Women.

Katharine Venour as The Women, Giovanni  Mocibob as Asher

Giovanni Mocibob as Asher

Nathan Schmidt as The Men

Set detail

Katharine Venour as The Women, Giovanni Mocibob as Asher, Nathan Schmidt as The Men

My Name Is Asher Lev runs at Pacific Theatre until February 25

tickets | information

lucia frangione | playwrighting workshop

Our gal Lucia Frangione is holding a playwrighting workshop with Gallery 7 Theatre in Abbotsford!  Budding playwrights would be more than lucky to get to work with this fine lady, author of CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR, HOLY MO, ESPRESSO, CARIBOO MAGI, and CHICKENS. Here's the info:

Sharpen those pencils and get those thinking caps on! Here's your chance to learn from a living, breathing (and produced!) playwright from Vancouver. Learn how to brainstorm, pre-write, develop characters, write dialogue, prepare a script for performance and more. This workshop is perfect for writers looking for input on an existing work, for writers who may be thinking about writing a play and for writers looking to expand their general skills.

Costs:
$65.00 - Individual Workshop
$58.50 - Individual Workshop - Season Pass Holder Discount
$55.25 - Workshop Two-Pack (available when registering for a second workshop.)

To register, please call 604-504-5940 or go online to www.gallery7theatre.com

freud's last session | nyc

With Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries in previews at Second Stage, and this one recently opened at the West Side Y (produced by Carolyn Rossi Copeland, formerly of the Lambs Theatre Company in NYC, and Julie Taymor's Spiderman (music by U2) in perpetual previews at Foxwood's, maybe it's time for a quick trip to NYC...

Freud's Last Session
by Mark St. Germaine
The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre
at the West Side Y

"In his book The Question Of God, Dr Armand M. Nicholi, Jr. writes, 'After Freud immigrated to England, a young Oxford professor visited Freud during this time but has not been identified. Might it have been C.S. Lewis?'
On September 3, 1939, the date of their meeting in Freud's Last Session, Dr Freud was 83 years old to Prof Lewis' 41. Lewis' conversion took place when he was 33 years old. Freud is at the end of a long and brilliant career. . . ."

feb 2 | the meal

While Richard Wolfe was directing THE BUSY WORLD IS HUSHED - about a woman working with a new non-canonical gospel - he was working on this project, derived from the Gnostic Gospels - and, curiously enough, The Gospel Of John...

The Meal
feb 2 | 8pm | performance works

Four singers swig wine and break bread while anxiously awaiting a late guest of honour.

The Meal is a funky and theatrical new song cycle by Rick Maddocks, inspired by the Gnostic Gospels and Bunuel's film The Exterminating Angel. This world-premiere performance features Rick Maddocks and the Lost Gospel Ensemble, which includes musicians from a host of local indie bands, including The Beige, Fond of Tigers and The Nautical Miles.

The Georgia Straight describes Maddocks’ work as “smart and angry songwriting, given a perverse sheen of beauty,” while Greg Potter of TV Week says, “Rick Maddocks’s lyrics are pure poetry.

The Meal is part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival’s Club PuSh. There is one show only on Wednesday Feb. 2nd at 8PM at Performance Works on Granville Island. Tickets are $25 at Ticketstonight.ca or 604-684-2787.

More information

feb 1-5 | new generations | twu

Directors Becky MacDormand, Jordan Schuurman,
Jessica Van Elk, Clare Arney, and Gwendolen Groen

Latest TWU Offering is a 5-Course Meal…of Theatre

Trinity Western University presents the second instalment of New Generations, SAMC Theatre’s annual emerging artist festival running February 1 to 5. With five plays presented back-to-back, each performance is like a multi-course meal of delicious theatre.

The evening’s entertainment includes edge-of-your-seat suspense, quirky comedy, and everything in between. Each play is student-directed under the mentorship of Jessie-winning director Angela Konrad, and two are world premieres penned by TWU playwriting students.
“Directing my own play for New Generations is a phenomenal opportunity for me,” says 4th year Theatre major Gwendolen Groen, who directs her recently completed script Closing Up. “I am so excited to be instrumental in making my characters go from words on a page to living, breathing human beings.”

In Closing Up, what starts out as an ordinary closing shift at a middle-of-nowhere café in the Yukon gets funny, then scary, then touching as two strangers discover more about each other than they bargained for. From dishpit battle wounds to haunting emotional scars, life happens and it’s no cup of decaf.

The other playwright to look out for is Cara Lowdermilk, whose witty romantic comedy August in the Spring tells the story of a brilliant but socially isolated girl with Asperger’s Syndrome. Cara’s promising play is directed by classmate Becky MacDormand.

“It’s such a privilege to be selected for a festival like this, where my peers are premiering original work,” says Vancouver’s Jessica Van Elk, an aspiring director in her third year at TWU. “I’m honoured to have my work showcased to the community, and hope this experience will help prepare me for my own productions once I graduate.” Jessica is directing The Role of Della by John Wooten, a wildly unpredictable sprint through the world of auditions and fiercely competitive actresses.

Also on the menu is David Ives’ Sure Thing, directed by Jordan Schuurman; a fast-paced New York comedy following the ups and downs of a blind date like no other. And Clare Arney directs Still Stands the House, a chilling suspense thriller set in the Canadian prairies during the Great Depression. Written by the award-winning Gwen Pharis Ringwood, it is one of Canada’s most acclaimed and frequently performed plays.

Starring Kylie Bartel, Brandon Bate, Rachel Bell, Cody Friesen, Tia Glenn-Cooke, Mary-Kate Goody, Kristina Hutchison, Heather James, Melissa Koch, Ashley MacKenzie, Matt Macris, Bryan Sandberg,David Shoffner, and Matt Warnock. Stage managed by Dan Giroday with lighting designed by Crystal Dodding.

Evening performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm, February 1 – 5 with a Saturday matinee at 2pm. For more information and tickets, visit www.twu.ca/theatre or email theatre@twu.ca.
Trinity Western University, in Langley, BC, is a provincially chartered, independent Christian liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies university, enrolling approximately 4000 students. TWU offers 42 undergraduate majors, ranging from biotechnology, education, theatre and music, to psychology, communications and biblical studies. TWU's 16 graduate degree programs include nursing, counselling psychology, marriage and family therapy, business, theology, linguistics, and leadership, and interdisciplinary degrees in English, philosophy and history. TWU holds Canada Research Chairs in Dead Sea Scroll Studies, Developmental Genetics and Disease, and Interpretation,Religion & Culture.

asher lev | director's notes

Here are the notes from director Morris Ertman on MY NAME IS ASHER LEV - running January 28-February 26th.

This story has had a profound impact on many who have read it. Chaim Potok has created an intimate tale that crystalizes the difficulty of making one’s way in the world when the vocation that calls to a young person differs from the expectations of one’s parents and community. In one way or another, that struggle has been happening in homes for generations, and across cultural boundaries. The tone of the arguments is familiar, even if the details of the conflict are different. It would be easy to focus on the romantic notion of the leaving of family, liberating oneself to become all one can be. Potok doesn’t let his characters off that easily. Anything or anyone that ever mattered in our lives will require more from us than we think we can actually give. In this story, Asher Lev’s gift requires everything.

Asher is a part of a tradition that values family, and has seen the families of it’s people torn apart and destroyed by Hitler and Stalin with the kind of savagery that marks a people, drawing their tattered remnants together in it’s wake. It is a tradition that has a very pragmatic and tangible mission in the world - a mission of cultural, religious and familial restoration. Asher Lev’s home is caught up in that mission.

It is a strange irony of life that the time when our children need us the most is also the time when our vocations demand the most from us. Generation after generation now live in that tension, creating weariness that clouds our ability to really see and hear the people who we care most deeply about. So, this story will have resonances familiar to all people who are passionate about their sense of purpose in the world, whatever side of the generation gap they find themselves on.

The brilliance of a great story, so specifically set in a given culture, is that we find ourselves inside it somehow. Chaim Potok is just such a storyteller. I encourage you to read the sequel to My Name is Asher Lev, titled The Gift of Asher Lev. Stories, like life, never really finish till life is finished.

-Morris Ertman, Director

My Name Is Asher Lev runs at Pacific Theatre until February 25

tickets | information

david adams | visiting mr. green | chutzpah

Remember David Adams? He was the funny and charismatic Joseph in 2009's JESUS, MY BOY. Here he is again, this time in VISITING MR. GREEN at the Presentation House Theatre. The production is a part of the Chutzpah! Festival, a long-running Vancouver festival of Jewish performance art. Always a place to find some exceptional performances, the Chutzpah! Festival is definitely worth checking out - a risky thing for us to say, given that their dates cut right into our production of MY NAME IS ASHER LEV. I guess that means they must really be good, doesn't it? 

"One of the most produced plays in the world."

Presentation House Theatre and The Chutzpah! Festival are pleased to present the Western Canadian Premiere of Visiting Mr. Green by Jeff Baron.

86 year old widower Mr. Green is almost hit by a car driven by young corporate executive Ross Gardiner. Found guilty of reckless driving, Ross is ordered to spend the next six months making weekly visits to Mr. Green. What starts off as a comedy about two people who resent being in the same room together develops into a gripping and poignant drama, as family secrets are revealed and old wounds are opened. The production features David Adams and Nicolas Rhind and is directed by PHT General Manager, Neil Scott. Set and Costume design is by Drew Facey. Eugene Mendelev designs the Lights and Sound is by Michael Rinaldi. Jennifer Stewart is the Props Designer and Heidi Quicke rounds out the team as our Stage Manager.

This is the Western Canadian premiere of a show originally produced in 1996. The show went on to be produced over three hundred times, in 37 countries, and translated into 22 different languages.

Visiting Mr. Green previews on Thursday, February 10, at 8 pm, and opens Friday, February 11. It then runs nightly (except Mondays) through until February 27. There will be Saturday matinees at 4 pm and Sunday matinees at 2 pm. The preview tickets are all $12. There is a pay-what-you-can matinee on Saturday, Feb 12th at 4 pm. Presentation House Theatre is located 4 blocks from the Seabus terminal.

Tickets $28. Call 604-990-3474 or click here.

feb 5 | matt epp | house concert

This summer at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival I didn't manage to hear Matt Epp, but I heard about him, and bought some of his music to listen to. I really like it: not far from Jeremy Eisenhauer, and one song - This Old House - features a duet with a woman singer who sounds for all the world like Sheree Plett. So that bodes well, wouldn't you say? My favourite is Follow Me: here's the refrain;
.    Your life is gonna change
.    I know you're gonna come through
.    There's always someone here for you.
.    Foxes have their holes and birds they have their nests
.    But I the son of God have nowhere to lay my head
.    Follow me...
Add some tasty accordion, and you've got the idea.
Anyhow, Matt is playing a house concert here in Vancouver, and provided you RSVP before you show up, and maybe bring some food to share around, you're all invited!

HOUSE CONCERT W/ MATT EPP!
Saturday, February 5 · 8:00pm - 11:00pm
hosted by Katherine Ritchie
1612 East 20th Avenue, Vancouver
with special guests, Geometric Shapes! (According to facebook)

Hey friends!

Matt Epp, who recently played at the Vancouver Folk Festival, is playing at our house on Feb. 5th and you don't want to miss it!!

Matt is an exceptional performer/ singer/ songwriter (check out his music on Myspace or YouTube) and we are incredibly lucky that he wants to play here, providing us with an opportunity to invite all our friends and have an awesome time together!

Tickets, which you can get from me or one of my roommates, are $20 each. The proceeds all go towards Matt's upcoming tour with his new band The Amorian Assembly.

Their most recent CD (not to be officially released until April) will be on sale at our house!

It will be "potluck" style, so if some of you could bring an appetizer/dessert/beverages that would lend nicely to the atmosphere!

There is limited admission (our house can hold 50 odd people reasonably comfortably) so make sure to confirm your attendance as soon as possible. Preferably get your ticket as soon as you know you're coming, otherwise we can reserve a ticket for you which you can pay for some time before the concert or at the door.

If you have friends who you know would want to come, go ahead and invite them! They'll just have to get in contact with me or one of my roommates for a ticket.

I look forward to seeing you there!!

Katherine
katherineritchie1@yahoo.com
604-842-8315

feb 5-19 | marion bridge

Daniel MacIvor is one of Canada's best-known playwrights, and he seems constantly fascinated by people of faith - usually Catholics. Definitely true in Marion Bridge, published in 1999, widely performed since.

Theatre of Infinity presents
Daniel MacIvor’s
MARION BRIDGE
Feb 5-19 | 8 pm
Havana Theatre | 1212 Commercial Dr

website
tickets

asher lev | word cloud

click image to enlarge

The entire script of My Name Is Asher Lev was entered into Wordle,

which generates “word clouds” based on frequency of word usage in any text

My Name Is Asher Lev

runs January 28 - February 26

at Pacific Theatre