Stir Cheat Sheet: 12 theatre shows to check out this spring in Vancouver
From a Pulitzer finalist about pre-teen competitive dancers to a masterclass in Hong Kong food, there’s plenty to dive into this season
Dance Nation.
VANCOUVER’S THEATRE SCENE is sizzling this spring, with several can’t-miss shows on offer. The selections span familiar stories—there’s Pride and Prejudice and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, to name a couple—along with exciting premieres that touch on everything from Hong Kong cuisine to dystopian bee-humans.
Here’s a glimpse at what’s in store throughout the season.
A Taste of Hong Kong
March 6 to 15 at Vancity Culture Lab
Food plays a central role in this coproduction by Pi Theatre and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre directed by Richard Wolfe. Derek Chan’s character Jackie Z gives a masterclass in dishes like curry fish balls, siu mai, and pineapple buns to dig into the culture and history of Hong Kong. Written by Anonymous, the play also illuminates the prevalence of self-censorship in Canada.
Home Deliveries
March 21 to April 13 at the Jericho Arts Centre
A Telus technician, the exterminator, a guy from craigslist—stay-at-home moms Violet and Florence know no bounds when it comes to the lovers they’ll seduce to escape the confines of their crumbling marriages. Presented by United Players of Vancouver in association with Ruby Slippers Theatre, the production delves into the realities of coping with depression, long-term relationship struggles, and the pressures of parenthood. The play is written by Catherine Léger; it’s an adaptation of Québécois filmmaker Claude Fournier’s 1970 erotica flick Deux femmes en or, which has amassed quite the cult following over the years.
Zahf Paroo as cab driver Jalal in Behind the Moon. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt
Behind the Moon
March 27 to April 6 at Vancity Culture Lab
The Cultch presents this Touchstone Theatre production by Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award–winning playwright Anosh Irani about a man named Ayub, who migrates to Toronto from Mumbai and struggles to build a life for himself. Set against the backdrop of his workplace, a restaurant called Mughlai Moon, the story touches on themes of faith, loss, and brotherhood when cab driver Jalal walks into the eatery and disrupts Ayub’s world.
Ins Choi: Son of a Preacherman
April 2 to 13 at Pacific Theatre
Canadian writer and performer Ins Choi, the mind behind Kim’s Convenience, brings the details of his own life to the stage with a mix of storytelling and live songs. He’ll share everything from the creative process he swears by to what it was like growing up in a Korean church led by his pastor father. Director Kaitlin Williams is at the helm of the show, which also features a live band consisting of musician-actors Ben Elliot, Rachel Angco, and Haneul Yi.
Darcey Johnson in DEAD DRONE. Photo by David Mott
DEAD DRONE
April 11 to 19 at the Russian Hall
Amid a dystopian reality where wildfires are spreading at an alarming pace, the air quality is steadily worsening, pollinators have vanished from the planet, and humans spend all of their time doom-scrolling social media indoors to escape. (Unfortunately, that plot doesn’t sound so far-fetched these days.) What better way to solve the problems at hand than a subrace of hybridized bee-humans to replace the pollinator population? Upintheair Theatre presents this piece of speculative fiction written by artistic director David Mott and directed by Tamara McCarthy. Ultimately, the work addresses what it means to love in the digital age.
Pride and Prejudice
April 17 to 26 at Gateway Theatre
Jane Austen’s timeless classic novel gets a revamp in this stage adaptation by Kate Hamill. When outspoken, marriage-avoidant Elizabeth Bennet and the wealthy Mr. Darcy meet, assumptions and societal pressures get in the way of their romance. The coproduction by Gateway Theatre and Western Canada Theatre will be presented in English with both Traditional and Simplified Chinese surtitles.
Dance Nation
April 23 to May 11 at the York Theatre
A finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize, Clare Barron’s exploration of ambition and friendship centres on a group of pre-teen competitive dancers who plot to take over the world. Mindy Parfitt directs and Amber Barton choreographs the Cultch presentation. The New York Times said the work “conjures the passionate ambivalence of early adolescence with such being-there sharpness and poignancy that you’re not sure whether to cringe, cry or roar with happiness.”
Casey and Diana
April 24 to May 25 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Inspired by real events, Nick Green’s play takes place in 1991 at the peak of the AIDS crisis. Diana, Princess of Wales (Lindsey Angell), is about to make a historic visit to Casey House, Canada’s first free-standing AIDS hospice. The hard-hitting drama speaks to the power of community, joy, and compassion amid the pain of a pandemic. Andrew Kushnir directs the Arts Club Theatre Company show.
(From left) Maia Beresford as Doralee, Irene Karas Loeper as Violet, and Madeleine Suddaby as Judy in 9 to 5 The Musical. Photo by Emily Cooper
9 to 5 The Musical
April 25 to May 11 at Massey Theatre
In this Rolodex-era workplace comedy presented by Royal City Musical Theatre, office manager Violet, divorcée Judy, and secretary Doralee scheme up a way to get their boss—a man they call a “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot”—fired, all to the tune of Dolly Parton. Irene Karas Loeper, Madeleine Suddaby, and Maia Beresford star as the three women, while Valerie Easton and Chris Adams direct.
Ce que je sais de vrai
April 30 to May 10 at Studio 16
Théâtre la Seizième presents this psychological drama about four siblings who struggle to define who they are beyond what their parents expect of them. Their parents, Bob and Fran, are empty-nesters whose tranquillity is shattered as conflicts break out and truths surface. In French with English surtitles.
The Frontliners
May 1 to 11 at the Firehall Arts Centre
Following the success of The Wrong Bashir, Zahida Rahemtulla has created another comedic drama. A Blackout Art Society, Firehall Arts Centre, and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre production directed by Derek Chan, The Frontliners is set in an East Vancouver hotel in early 2016. There, three overwhelmed employees scramble to find homes for new families from Syria in the middle of a housing crisis.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
May 9 to June 8 at Metro Theatre
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first musical collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice riffs on the biblical story of Joseph, whose father Jacob gives him a magical multicoloured coat as a gift one day. But Joseph’s 11 brothers are wrought with jealousy, and—appallingly—sell him into slavery. When Joseph is propelled to the heights of Egyptian grandeur thanks to his ability to make predictions, karma comes around for his family in a dramatic way. The play features such favourites as “Any Dream Will Do” and “Close Every Door,” along with more unique songs, like the French ballad “Those Canaan Days” and country tune “One More Angel in Heaven.”
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