The Flame: Lunar New Year Edition marks inaugural show in Richmond, February 10
Storytelling series features true tales told by Once Upon a Time’s Beverley Elliott, drag artist Maiden China, and more
The Flame at The Cultch’s Historic Theatre in 2012.
Gateway Theatre presents The Flame: Lunar New Year Edition on February 10 at 7:30 pm
TRUE STORIES TOLD by the People Who Lived Them is the motto of The Flame, a storytelling series co-created by Deborah Williams in 2009. Richmond audiences will get their first taste of the event this month in a special Lunar New Year presentation at the Gateway Theatre.
Themes of family and fresh beginnings are at the centre of the upcoming session hosted by Williams. Audiences will hear authentic personal tales from eight storytellers over the course of the evening.
Ontario-born actor Beverley Elliott, perhaps best known for playing the role of Granny on Once Upon a Time and co-creating and starring in five Mom’s the Word plays, will perform at the event. So will Kendell Yan, a.k.a. Maiden China, an intersectional feminist drag performer who is part of Vancouver’s all-Asian drag family House of Rice; and Sarvin Esmaeili, an Iranian-Canadian actor, writer, and progressive activist who co-created and co-performed One of a Kind by Theatre for Young Audiences at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival.
Sarvin Esmaeili in Carousel Theatre for Young People’s 2023 The Family Flame at the Waterfront Theatre.
Other featured storytellers include Manila, Philippines-born and -raised mezzo-soprano Renee Fajardo; writer-musician Wong Wing-Siu; actor Chris Nowland; filmmaker Samantha Sun; and theatre artist Jaylon Han, who recently co-curated Zee Zee Theatre’s Queer Asian Stories Collection at the Vancouver Public Library.
This edition of The Flame will also feature live music by Taiwanese-Canadian singer-songwriter Darling Sparrows, whose warm musical style is derived from soft-rock and folk influences.
While The Flame: Lunar New Year Edition is already sold out, those who would like to be notified of additional tickets that become available can join an email interest list.
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