The Videogame Poetry Show: Select Your Character

Naked poetry alert! Victoria’s Tongues of Fire return with Poetry in the Raw

Poet Missie Peters on the upcoming Tongues of Fire Fundraiser: Poetry in the Raw

Poetry in the Raw: Poetry in Motion

Poets baring their soul…and a whole lot more

It’s spoken with emotion. It’s spoken in motion. It’s spoken naked.

It’s the fourth annual Poetry in the Raw, Victoria’s award-winning nude poetry show featuring ten poets bravely baring their bodies and their souls as they perform original works of startling intensity.

Poetry in the Raw 2010 combines words and motion, with an all-star line-up including performances from Ingrid Hansen of SNAFU Dance Theatre, members of the Vancouver Slam Team and the Victoria Slam Team as well as body-themed treats by Solstice Cafe and tunes by DJ Dodd.

Poetry in the Raw is a fundraiser to help send the Victoria Slam Team to the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Ottawa. Last year Victoria hosted this prestigious event, bringing over 70 spoken word artists to Victoria. The Victoria Slam Team 2010 is Dave Morris, Megan Ann Ward, Matthew Christopher Davidson, Jeremy Loveday and Stephen Thompson.

Not Your Grandma’s Poetry Productions creates innovative events featuring emerging spoken word artists. In February 2011 Not Your Grandma’s Poetry will produce the Victoria Spoken Word Festival.

Tongues of Fire is a Victoria-based spoken word community. Since 2004 Tongues of Fire has held bi- monthly open mic shows with features at the Solstice Cafe. It supports all forms of spoken word, especially raw.

Poetry in the Raw

Monday, September 27

Doors @ 7:30 PM

Victoria Events Centre, 1415 Broad St

Tickets $15 @ Solstice Cafe, $18 @ the door (18+)

Check out the facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148395335193466

Vic Fringe Bump – The Big Smoke

Jeremy Banks tells us why we should see his Fringe show

ARBUTUS PRODUCTIONS • NANAIMO, BC

By Ron Fromstein

Comedic Monologue • 65 minutes

PG 14+ • Adult Themes

Door: $11 regular /$9 student & senior • Advance $13/11

Official Fringe Page

The Big Smoke tells the tale of Tommy, as he moves from his teeny town of Wawa to The Big Smoke and realizes that he might not be quite as straight as everyone once thought. fringetastic.com

Fringe Extra – Jer’s Theatre Journey

SHOWTIMES

Fri Aug 27, 6:15

Sat Aug 28, 3:30

Sun Aug 29, 7:00

Mon Aug 30, 9:45

Sat Sep 4, 2:15

Sun Sep 5, 7:00

Vic Fringe Bump – Ginger Ninjas

The Ginger Ninjas want you to see their show

SNAFU DANCE THEATRE & BLACK BELT PROD • CANADA

Created & Performed by Elliott Loran & Ingrid Hansen, Directed by Britt Small

Physical Theatre • 60 minutes

Tween and Up

All Seats/Door $11 • Advance $13

Official Fringe Page

SNAFU ★★★★ 1/2 Pick-of-The-Fringe “Most Innovative Show”, Victoria’s Critic’s Choice Award “Best Fringe Show 2009”. No one understands kids these days. Especially ginger kids. Frankie and Nubbs live in a Universe all their own … but all that changes when a mystery letter catapults the pair into the journey of a lifetime. “F-ing weird.” Wes Borg, Ginger Comedian snafu.liquidbeat.com/

SHOWTIMES

Thu Aug 26, 6:45

Sat Aug 28, 9:15

Sun Aug 29, 5:30

Thu Sep 2, 7:45

Fri Sep 3, 9:30

Sat Sep 4, 9:45

Victoria Fringe Bump: Dave Morris is an Asshole (and you can be one too!)

Dave Morris tells us why we shouldn’t go see his show in the Victoria Fringe

DAVE MORRIS • VICTORIA, BC

By Dave Morris

Improv Storytelling Spoken-Word • 60 minutes

PG 14+

All Seats/Door $11 • Advance $13

Official Fringe Page

Dave Morris is a storyteller, poet, improviser, and sometimes… an asshole. In this one-man improvised storytelling show, Dave Morris takes suggestions from the audience and weaves them together to create an an inspiring story exploring what it means to be an asshole and how everyone, in their own special way, is one. davemorrisisa.com

SHOWTIMES

Thu Aug 26, 10:00

Sat Aug 28, 8:15

Sun Aug 29, 4:00

Wed Sep 1, 6:30

Sat Sep 4, 11:15

Sun Sep 5, 1:00 pm

Vic Fringe Bump – Public Confessions of a Public Servant

A quick note to all the companies that have been sending me press releases for their upcoming Vancouver Fringe Shows:

With regrets I am unable to offer the free Video Listings promotional section of the site to you this year as I have recently moved from Vancouver to Victoria. However, if you send me a YouTube link to your own video promo for your Fringe show I would be happy to feature it on the site along with the official Fringe promotional copy.

The Video Listings section is of course available to any Victoria-area companies, or companies traveling here for the Fringe starting August 26. Email me at vanstage(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.

It will look a little something like the following. Missie, take it away!

Creator Missie Peters tells us why we should check out

Public Confessions of a Public Servant

at the

For anyone who has ever suffered the horrors of cubicle life comes Public Confessions of a Public Servant, a brand-new show that combines poetry and theatre to tell the adventures of one young public servant.

“Well, I’ve worked for nine ministries in three years – that’s a record,” said writer and performer Missie Peters. “This show is a combination of real-life stories and poems inspired by my experience as a public servant.”

Directed by Atomic Vaudeville’s Alex Wlasenko, Public Confessions is Peters’ first solo show. Whimsical, irreverent and entertaining, Public Confessions follows Peters as she navigates the bureaucracy and shares her tips on staying sane in government.

Missie Peters is a Victoria-based poet and improviser. She is a two-time Victoria poetry slam champion, a member of Tongues of Fire, one-half of the improvised spoken word duo SpeakEasy and the director of Not Your Grandma’s Poetry Productions.

The Victoria Fringe is an eleven-day, un-juried international theatre festival, featuring over sixty comedy, drama, dance, and spoken word companies from around the world in fifteen downtown venues.

Public Confessions of a Public Servant

Victoria Event Centre, 1415 Broad St

Tickets $11.00 Visa buttons $2.00

Show Times:

Thursday, August 26 6:15pm

Sunday, August 29 4:00pm

Tuesday, August 31 6:15pm

Wednesday, September 1 8:00pm

Friday, September 3 6:15pm

Saturday, September 4, 2:45pm

To find out more about Missie Peters visit www.missiepeters.com.

For ticket and show information visit www.victoriafringe.com.

Audition Notice – Glass City Theatre

Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train

“How many sons of god you know drive a Lexus?”

Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis

Directed by Angela Konrad

Produced by Glass City Theatre

Presented by Pacific Theatre

Auditions will be held on Monday, August 16th from 10:00am – 5:00pm at Pacific Theatre (12th Ave and Hemlock St, Vancouver, BC) by appointment only. Please prepare a short monologue, not to exceed two minutes. Actors will also be expected to read sides from the play. Callbacks are Tuesday, August 17th at Pacific Theatre. The show will rehearse full-time February 21 – March 11th, and then run March 11th – April 2nd.

This is a NON-UNION, PAID gig.

CASTING:

2 males

1 female

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:

Mary Jane Hanrahan (Female, 25 – 45, any ethnicity) – Feisty, burned-out Irish Catholic attorney

Valdez (Male, 25 – 45) – Viciously authoritarian corrections officer

D’Amico (Male, 25 – 35) – Prison guard

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY-

To be considered please submit cover letter, resume and headshot by

e-mail to Auditions@glasscitytheatre.com | Please put in subject line: ‘A’ Train Auditions

Deadline: August 9th, 2010

www.glasscitytheatre.com

Neanderthal Arts Festival premiers next week

A HUGE up to the brains behind Left Right Minds and Upintheair Theatre for taking the mammoth by the horns and kick-starting a brand new indie theatre festival in Vancouver. Taking its cues from Toronto’s Summerworks, Neanderthal is a juried fest that includes both local and national works, 6 in total. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure about the name when I first heard it, but their smart marketing and terrific branding won me over, and the festivals tag line revealed its brilliance:

Boom. Love it. Break a bunch you guys, here’s to a long and lucrative evolution.

Click here for the official web site

Moving on – Chapter 1: Art-iculation

Greetings gentle reader, deepest apologies for the extended radio silence over here at TNS. We’ve started work on a new chapter that’s begun by pulling up stakes and moving from Vancouver to Victoria, home of the legislature, a pervasive air of polite and – of course – some killer independent theatre. (Hello Victoria! Come see me at Veneto, corner of Pandora and Douglas if you’re thirsty.) I don’t think much will change around here on the ol’ blog, Victoria has always been part of our scene, but the free Video Listings service for the Greater Vancouver Area is – with regrets – suspended. (Unless someone wants to pick up the mantle over there? Anyone?) I will continue to offer the service to the Independent Theatre Nation in Victoria, drop me a line if you’d like more information or to advertise your upcoming show (vanstage (at) gmail (dot) com).

As for my own work as a theatre artist, well, that’s the fun part. I have no idea, and it’s perfectly thrilling. A change this big seems a perfect time to collect and reflect, so a lot of that will be happening in these pages for the next little while. I hope you’ll join me in a bit of a look back at the last stage of my career.

For starters, before I’m able to move on I should be able to articulate my reasons for doing my art as well as this:

“Dance disappears almost at the moment of its manifestation. It is an extreme expression of the present, a perfect metaphor for life. Dancers sculpt space in real time, working inside a form that is constantly in a state of vanishing. We have no artifacts. I find it strangely beautiful to be creating something that is made of us – made of our breath and blood and bones and minds. Something that is made of the space we occupy and made of the space between us. We embody both the dance and its disappearance.”

- Crystal Pite

For Babz

At peace at last. But her work continues…

This One Goes to Eleven: Ron Reed

Meet Ron Reed, the Founding Artistic Director of Pacific Theatre, the resident theatre company of the intimate theatre space in the Chalmers Heritage Building at 12th and Hemlock. Ron founded PT in 1984, and the company has resided in its current digs since ’94. They have received an epic 75 Jessie nominations since then.

Ron is a prolific actor, playwright, director and blogger; helming Soul Food Vancouver (quite possibly Vancouver’s very first theatre blog) since 2006. He’s a Jessie nominee himself, and is Artist-in-Residence at Trinity Western University.

His most recent work, Refuge of Lies, is onstage at PT until May 1st.

1. In one word, describe your present condition.

Scrambling.

2. In as many words as you like, describe the present condition of the Vancouver theatre scene.

Lively, adventurous, supportive. It hasn’t always been like that: we have much to celebrate.

3. Please discuss the mandate and philosophy of PT.

To tell stories that explore spiritual experience. To treat each other well, even in the chaos of live theatre production. To do plays that interest us. To have fun. To offer the widest range of work possible within a given season that will serve our audience and our artists and our mandate: from the audacious Last Days Of Judas Iscariot straight to the family-friendly The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, then the aesthetically risky Passion Project and Refuge Of Lies into a musical theatre chestnut like Godspell – how’s that! Also, a huge commitment to providing an artistic home to artists who love what we’re about: nurturing emerging artists, providing opportunities for our artists to do work they care about, staying engaged with specific playwrights over years.

4. Where does Pacific Theatre fit into the theatre ecology of Vancouver?

The mandate is unique, providing huge artistic/stylistic range while keeping a clear focus that is recognizable, and which really matters a significant audience. Not that we’re the only game in town with this sort of material, any more: it’s no longer out of bounds to deal directly with spiritual, even religious, even Christian themes and characters. But it’s where we live, and people seem to value that.

5. How well are we as an industry responding to the current government’s treatment of us of late?

We’ve put up a good fight, and I’m proud of us. And grateful to those who’ve invested more time and energy in it than I. Thornton Wilder: “Every good and excellent thing stands moment by moment on the razor’s edge of danger, and must be fought for.” God bless the fighters.

*may not actually be Ron Reed, Theatreist...

6. How has your theatre blogging affected your work, and that of your company’s?

It gives me a lot of personal pleasure. Sort of like keeping a journal / scrapbook, but other people can enjoy it as well. Also, I’m a born enthusiast: I see something I like, I’m compelled to tell people about it. Somebody I know is doing something cool, I want everybody to know. For our company? Maybe it enhances ticket sales, but mostly it lets people be much more involved with what’s going on at the company. Community building: I like that.

7. What should we as an industry be doing better to extend ourselves further into the consciousness of the potential audience?

I don’t like those kinds of shoulds. We don’t have the money to be significantly present in broadcast media, so we won’t be a pervasive presence in the public mind, that’s all there is to it. Still… Do your best work, keep having fun, and build community around you by engaging your audience in any aspect of the process and the work that you possibly can.

8. Who are your great theatrical influences?

Libby Appel and Robert Benedetti, my acting teacher and mentor (respectively) at CalArts. Morris Ertman, who’s directed me in a billion plays, and from our earliest days has shaped the way I think about everything theatrical. And so many of my fellow artists: when they are bold and inspire me to keep trying stuff, when they delight me with their creation and keep my courage and motivation and spirits up. Steven Soderbergh: “I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating. I don’t care if it’s a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theater, a piece of music. Anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us. I think the world would be unlivable without art.”

9. What would you like to see more of on Vancouver stages?

Story.

10. What are your top 3 theatre reads?

Writing In Restaurants, David Mamet (but not his others!)

Eric Bentley’s essays and criticism from the fifties

Story, Robert McKee

But mostly it’s art that inspires me, not books about the art. Theatre, film, photography, poetry, dance, all of it. “Go thou and do otherwise.”

11. What’s next?

I’m acting in Godspell, which will be a blast. The past several seasons I’ve directed PT’s Emerging Artist showcase at the end of the season: this time it seemed like it would be more fun to act in it instead. (And I didn’t want the headache of directing the damn thing! Leave that to Sarah Rodgers…) Godspell had a huge impact on me in my early years, and I’m hungry to be in the middle of it. And scared (which is good) – I’m no song and dance man! Bring it on.

The Arts Club’s New Revue Stage re-opens tonight

Congratulations to Bill Millard, Howard Jang and company on the grand re-opening of the Revue Stage on Granville Island. It looks like the latent potential of this space is set to be realized, and kudos to the AC’s directive to dedicate it to ‘new and innovative theatre’ and emerging artists. The makeover looks mighty sexy, sleek and simple. Check out their blog for an introduction by Bill himself.

The space launches tonight with Anosh Irani’s My Granny the Goldfish. Break many legs in there, gang.

Photo by David Cooper

Has this internet social marketing business got you all befuddled? We can help

Did you somehow end up at the administration end of the Arts Industry? Been beating your fists against a wall of decimated funding and shrinking attendance? Struggling to make sense of all this chatter about the ‘new marketing’? You are so not alone.

At this point in the constant evolution of business, “Social Media” – or whatever you want to call it – is not going anywhere anytime soon. We know this because everybody keeps saying that your company has to get on board with it, that you have to dedicate staff hours to it or risk extinction, that it’s the future, man.

Well, we have no idea if it’s the future. No one does, that’s why it’s called the future. But what we know right now is that social networks can provide a unique and potent set of tools for building interest in your business. The trick is to not go crazy trying.

Rebecca Coleman and I – after some years of wading through the jungle of these varied networks – have been offering workshops through the Alliance for Arts and Culture to help Arts organizations and their administrators get a handle on the cacophony of information that assaults you every time you get close to the computer. We have a new session coming up on Tuesday, April 27 if you and your company feel that you need a guide (or two) through the noise.

We’ll talk about how social networks work of course, but more importantly we’ll talk about why you should use them. The most important thing I’ve learned from working with arts organizations on marketing is that if we don’t have a clear and simple picture of what we’re working towards with these tools, we’ll burn out mighty fast. There has to be a better reason to learn new skills than ‘it’s what everyone is doing’.

We’ll give you the why’s. We’ll debunk this ridiculous notion of ‘social-media gurus’.  It’s not a new language. It’s a way to get at people that speak the same language. The point of social networks is that they put us all on a level playing field. How far you go on that field is entirely up to you.

Here’s the pitch:

The Workshop

Rebecca Coleman and Simon Ogden are pleased to present their immensely popular workshop: Demystifying Social Media.

Marketing our work has changed. We can no longer rely upon purchasing advertising or looking for editorial coverage in traditional forms of media like newspapers, radio, or TV. Using social media to reach our audiences is becoming more and more important. But when it comes to reaching your audience through social media, you can’t use traditional methods of marketing. The game has entirely changed.

This workshop will cover the basics of social media marketing, how it differs from traditional forms of marketing, how to join a social media network, and the etiquette of the community.

Note: An advanced workshop (Demystifying Social Media II) will follow in the afternoon. Separate registration required.

Facilitators: Simon Ogden is a produced playwright and the managing director of Lyric Stage Project (LSP), an outgrowth of Lyric School of Acting. He is also the marketer and publicist for LSP, and promotes the theatre industry through his online theatre magazine The Next Stage.

Rebecca Coleman has been a freelance theatre publicist since 2001. An actor, writer and producer, she has become increasingly interested in using social media to market the arts, and writes about the subject frequently on her blog, The Art of the Business. Rebecca is the author of The Guide to Getting Started With Social Media for Artists and Arts Organizations, which will be available for purchase for $19.95 at the workshop.

From past clients:

“I enjoyed the little tips and insider secrets they provided”

“Both presenters were very knowledgeable, relaxed, respectful and focused.

Demystifying Social Media: Session 1 (Introductory – morning)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Alliance for Arts and Culture 100- 938 Howe Street

Cost: $50 (+GST) for Alliance members, $75 (+GST) for non-members

Registration: Advance registration and pre-payment are required for all Alliance workshops. We accept cash, VISA, MC, or cheque. Call our office at 604.681.3535 with a credit card number or drop by our office to register and make payment in person.

Cancellation: We reserve the right to cancel workshops if registration is too low.

*Note: we split the full workshop into two parts to accommodate people who may already have a basic knowledge of social networks. You can choose to attend both sessions or take them individually.

Demystifying Social Media: Session 2 (Advanced – afternoon)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Alliance for Arts and Culture 100- 938 Howe Street

Cost: $50 (+GST) for Alliance members, $75 (+GST) for non-members

Registration: Advance registration and pre-payment are required for all Alliance workshops. We accept cash, VISA, MC, or cheque. Call our office at 604.681.3535 with a credit card number or drop by our office to register and make payment in person.

Cancellation: We reserve the right to cancel workshops if registration is too low.

Click here for the official Alliance site

Atomic Vaudeville in Vancouver for this weekend only!

For the uninitiated, Atomic Vaudeville is a Victoria institution, putting on monthly plays consisting of “short-form mélange of theatre, music, song, dance, puppetry and sketch”. Co-creators Britt Small (read her Next Stage interview here) and Jacob Richmond have carved out a rabidly popular entertainment alternative in their home town, and this weekend they’re bringing it to the Anza Club on Friday and Saturday night. Should be a riot.

Tickets are $15 for students and $18 regular available at the door or reserve through email:

Click here to reserve tickets

This One Goes to Eleven: Carole Higgins

Carole is the Artistic and Managing Director for one of the city’s most vital companies: Carousel Theatre for Young People, which has been turning kids onto the magic of performing arts for 35 seasons. She started her career with a BFA in acting from SFU, and performed across British Columbia before taking the Carousel reins.

Carole took the time away from getting A Year With Frog and Toad ready for opening this week to answer 11 Questions for us…

1. In one word, describe your present condition.

Exhausted and exhilarated. I am rehearsing two shows- one during the day and the other at night. I come in to the office at 8:00 am every morning to do admin before heading into the rehearsal hall…. AHHHH!!!!!

2. In as many words as you like, please describe the present condition of the Vancouver theatre scene.

Exciting, challenging and invigorating. Exciting in that there is so much interesting work being done here in Vancouver, and so much variety for audiences and theatre lovers. I love the concept of Hive, and all the site-specific work being done… the new emerging theatre companies that are forming and I love that the Arts Club is staging August: Osage County (an absolutely brilliant script) next season. At the same time, it’s very challenging given the cuts to the Arts here in BC.

3. What’s your favourite thing an audience member has ever said to you about one of your shows?

Hmmmm….tough to choose just one. I think it would be an email we had from a grandparent thanking us for the tender way that we staged the story Love You Forever. For me, staging that moment was a tribute to my dear mom, who left us twelve years ago after a long battle with cancer. My mom loved that story so much.

4. What part do you see Carousel playing in the theatre ecology of Vancouver?

We are Vancouver’s mainstage theatre for young audiences company. I love that so many young people experience theatre for the first time through Carousel Theatre, and hopefully we are encouraging our young patrons to be live-long theatre goers.

5. Jessie talked about the recent government funding setbacks. How are they affecting you as Artistic Director?

It’s scary. We have so many dreams, and now more than ever we are being forced to rely on earned revenue. We have put our touring program on hiatus, but we are going ahead with all other programming.

6. What would be your ultimate dream for Carousel if we could remove all obstacles?

To stage a year-round season of Mainstage theatre for young people, and to have our own theatre venue where we could stage not only our own productions, but bring in outstanding theatre for young audiences productions from across Canada, and around the world.

7. How does a piece get chosen for inclusion in one of your seasons?

I do a lot of research on what other TYA companies in Canada and the US are staging, and I think about different stories I loved as a child, and stories that children today are reading. I also consider suggestions from educators and subscribers. I visit bookstores, especially Kidsbooks. I look for stories that young people can enjoy with their families.

8. What’s your ‘how I fell in love with theatre’ story?

At age three I saw a family friend play a fairy princess in a Christmas pantomime. I was hooked for life.

9. What is your proudest theatrical moment to date?

Our production of Seussical the Musical.

10. What are your top 3 theatre reads?

I wish I had more time to read! All the classics.

11. What’s next?

Frog and Toad opens April 17^th! Then it’s on to our fundraiser the Lawyer Show and then on to our Teen Shakespeare Program this summer.