PuSh International Performing Arts Festival unveils full program for January 20 to February 6, 2022
A live, 14-show program spotlights work from here and as far away as the U.S. and U.K.
Joseph Toonga’s Born to Manifest. Photo by Richard Davenport
Vivek Shraya’s How to Fail as a Pop Star. Photo by Dahlia Katz
THE PUSH INTERNATIONAL Performing Arts Festival will unveil three world premieres and two Canadian premieres at a fully live event from January 20 to February 6, 2022.
After a significantly downsized event during pandemic-lockdown 2020, the interdisciplinary fest has just announced a return to a 14-show program by local, national, and international artists. With an emphasis on artists from across Canada this year, PuSh will also present works from the U.S. and United Kingdom.
World premieres span Do you mind if I sit here? by Theatre Replacement, a multimedia extravaganza that imagines social planners visiting Russian Hall three decades into the future, discovering a squatter who has lived there through environmental catastrophe; The Café, ITSAZOO Productions and Aphotic Theatre’s day-in-the-life exploration of the cultural mosaic of a Vancouver coffee shop, created by nine diverse playwrights; and Leah Abramson’s Songs for a Lost Pod, a lyrically innovative nine-song cycle.
Canadian premieres include American artist Steve Lambert’s Capitalism Works for Me! True/False, a provocative installation project that’s an interactive, street-level billboard where you can vote on an issue. Elsewhere, U.K. dance-theatre artist Joseph Toonga’s Born to Manifest is a kinetic expression of pride and defiance in the lived experiences of young Black British men.
Other highlights include Ruby Singh’s Vox Unfold, a powerhouse vocal work that employs 4DSOUND technology; and Vivek Shraya’s theatrical memoir How to Fail as a Pop Artist.
The diverse roster also includes Crow’s Theatre and Cliff Cardinal; Tarragon Theatre and Black Theatre Workshop; Joe Jack & John; LION LION; and Collectif Aalaapi|La Messe Basse. A lot of the shows are copresentations with local groups, such as The Dance Centre, Full Circle: First Nations Performance, Indian Summer Festival, the Talking Stick Festival, Music on Main, Touchstone Theatre, The Firehall Arts Centre, SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, and others.
Club PuSh, the festival’s more intimate venue for outside-of-the-box work and interactive experiences, also returns at Performance Works, with three nights curated by the frank theatre company, the Talking Stick Festival, and Immigrant Lessons (February 2 to 4). Think drinks, drag artists, DJs, musicians, and street dancers.
The Closing Night Party and the final Club PuSh will take place at the same venue on February 5.
Meanwhile, the PuSh Assembly makes a comeback, its symposium stimulating dialogue through free talks.
For the first time, a new collaborative leadership team at the helm of PuSh has developed the program: Jason Dubois, Gabrielle Martin, and Full Circle Performance’s Margo Kane (who also heads the fest’s Indigenous Arts Community Relations and Decolonization Initiatives).
All tickets will be on sale for the 2022 PuSh Festival starting on November 24, 2021 at pushfestival.ca, where you can also see the full roster and schedule of shows.
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