Zee Zee Theatre’s annual storytelling project returns with The Rainbow Elders & Allies Collection
Community-engagement project gives people the chance to hear queer histories one-on-one, 20 minutes at a time
Zee Zee Theatre presents The Rainbow Elders & Allies Collection on November 5, 6, 12, and 13 at the Vancouver Public Library central branch
THE RAINBOW ELDERS & Allies Collection marks the in-person return of Zee Zee Theatre’s annual storytelling project, now in its 12th year.
Co-curated by Allan Morgan, Melanie Ray, Alysha Collie, and Dallas Yellowfly, the 2022 community-engagement project focuses on 2SLGBTQIA+ elders whose experiences have helped shape Vancouver’s queer history and future. Event-goers have the chance to speak one-on-one with a Rainbow Elder—storytellers of diverse sexualities, genders, and lived experience sharing true stories from their lives—for 20 minutes at a time.
“The stories of our Rainbow Elders come from the perspective of a singular experience in the history of the world,” Morgan says in a release. “Many of us navigated through a time where being homosexual was diagnosed as a mental illness, and societal disdain rampant and dangerous. The changes we have witnessed and advocated for have changed the landscape immensely. Through these simple tales from our elders shared one-on-one with another human, we can help weave the tapestry of our rainbow cloth.”
An audience participant might hear about the lengths a lesbian couple went to to adopt a child in the 1990s or what it was like to be an out gay Canadian immigrant in the 1960s, notes producer Jordy Matheson. “Because so much of LGBTQ2SI+ history has not been documented, it is vital to listen to the people who hold this history, to remember them, and to carry these stories forward,” Matheson says. “Some are painful, others heartwarming, but all deserve to be told.”
The Rainbow Elders & Allies Collection is free. Sign-up is at the door of the Third Floor Atrium at the Vancouver Public Library’s central branch.
Related Articles
Free open house at VIVO Media Arts Centre features live performances by Matthew Ariaratnam, Andromeda Monk, Sapphire Haze, and Anju Singh
Festival co-curated with The Cultch’s Heather Redfern features the workshop premiere of Payette’s musical On Native Land, plus a new choral composition
Performing alongside pakhavaj artist Tejas Tope, Dagar explores the virtuosity of dhrupad, India’s oldest-surviving classical style
White rabbits and Magritte clouds, as Visions Ouest presents film of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s epic and affecting multimedia performance
Castalian String Quartet, violist Timothy Ridout, cellist Zlatomir Fung, and pianists Angela Cheng and Benjamin Hochman will perform two concerts in one day at the Vancouver Playhouse
Innovative show created by Rodney DeCroo, Samantha Pawliuk, and David Bloom melds music, theatre, and poetry inside a giant fish
The a cappella work by Joby Talbot is meant to be seen and heard
Conductor-composer to lead Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canadian premiere of his sweeping mix of Western and Asian traditions, November 8 and 9
Renowned countertenor and Renaissance viol consort play a German Baroque programme based on the latter group’s Signum Classics album
Shawn Kirchner’s exhilarating folk oratorio blends familiar and new carols in an immersive multidisciplinary exploration of winter mysteries
Surrealism is a major influence on the Belgian big band coming to Vancouver courtesy Music on Main
Adaptation of Strauss’s beloved operetta opens Vancouver Opera’s 65th season with cheeky adapted dialogue and musical delights
Vancouver-raised, New York-based artist’s 2022 recording of the works was praised by Glass himself as “a highly dynamic and expressive performance”
Friends of Chamber Music concert features well-loved works by Ravel and Beethoven, alongside a contemporary piece by Israeli composer Matan Porat
Group melds folk traditions, klezmer music, and urban energy into a unique style as it raises money for Ukraine’s humanitarian and military efforts
The artist’s quintet comes to the Ironworks on November 2, as part of the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society’s IronFest V weekend
Appearing at the Kay Meek Arts Centre, Vancouver Island pair fuels its blues and folk with curiosity and joie de vivre
Show written and hosted by Patricia Ward Kelly features scenes from the American icon’s most beloved films set to a live symphony
Representation is at the core of the artist’s new cabaret-style show
Juno Award-winning group weaves doo-wop, R&B, country, and blues with themes of social justice and human dignity
The 65th-season opener features a witty new script by Mark Crawford and a Sweet Charity-worthy array of colourful retro costumes
In this classic of German expressionism screening at the Shadbolt, “Every frame is like an album cover,” says the postrock band’s Simon Dobbs
The trio leader has fully integrated Latin and Caribbean sounds into his approach
Concert program Rest includes two new choral arrangements of the artist’s songs among other diverse works
Evening featuring Fauré’s Requiem and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms offered moments of stunning beauty and clashing dissonance
Award-winning artist’s piece inspired by Chinese and Sanskrit texts tells of six stories from the life of the Buddha, and of a prince’s path to enlightenment
Featured works include “The Raven Conspiracy” by Yellowknife’s Carmen Braden and “Seasons of the Sea” by Rosemary Georgeson and Jeffrey Ryan