Inside Vancouver

Transgender Drama: The Silicone Diaries in Vancouver, thru Feb 25

by Remy Scalza in Entertainment on February 15, 2012

Nina Arsenault is a classic blonde bombshell. But she wasn’t always that way. Born in 1974 in an Ontario trailer park as Rodney Arsenault, Nina lived her life as a man until 1996, when she underwent the first of more then 60 surgeries to transform her into the perfect woman.

Arsenault relays the sometimes harrowing, sometimes inspiring story of her transformation in the one-act play The Silicone Diaries, appearing in February at the historic Cultch theatre. Her surgical odyssey spanned more than eight years of cosmetic operations, with medical bills totaling more than $150,000.

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Transgender Drama: The Silicone Diaries in Vancouver, thru Feb 25

The famous play about nothing: Waiting for Godot at the Cultch

by Remy Scalza in Entertainment on January 9, 2012

Even if you don’t follow much theatre, you might have heard about Waiting for Godot. It’s the famous play by Samuel Beckett, which premiered in France in 1953, about absolutely nothing. Two guys wait on the side of a road for a few days – then the curtain falls. End of story.

And though it might sound like a weird form of audience cruelty, Waiting for Godot has actually been electrifying and intriguing viewers for decades. Vancouver audiences can decide for themselves whether Waiting for Godot is a masterpiece or a bore this month during the play’s run at the Cultch, presented by Blackbird Theatre.

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The famous play about nothing: Waiting for Godot at the Cultch

Weirdest Theatre Festival in Vancouver: The Fringe Sept 8-18

by Remy Scalza in Events on September 5, 2011

What would happen if a theatre festival allowed anyone – from unknown amateurs to established pros –to perform? That’s exactly the question that Vancouver’s oddest Thespian happening, the annual Fringe Festival, seeks to answer.

Over the course of the 11-day festival, 89 different troupes will deliver more than 700 individual performances. Offerings, which are staged at seven main venues scattered around the waterfront Granville Island neighborhood, range from more-or-less conventional plays to innovative pieces that explore questions of gender and sexuality to alternative works that push the limits of bizarre.

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Weirdest Theatre Festival in Vancouver: The Fringe Sept 8-18

More Summer Outdoor Theatre: Salmon Row in Steveston

by Remy Scalza in Entertainment on August 23, 2011

The history of Vancouver is deeply intertwined with the history of the salmon industry. Now, a great new piece of outdoor theatre probes deep into the Lower Mainland’s fishing past – both the good side and the bad.

Salmon Row is a 90-minute production staged against the backdrop of the historic Britannia Heritage Shipyards, beside the Fraser River in Steveston. The play is produced by Mortal Coil, the same troupe that brings us Stanley Park’s Halloween and Christmas trains.

The play explores how the salmon industry has impacted the lives of a succession of peoples, from the First Nations who first inhabited the area to the Asian and European immigrants who later came to work in the massive canneries along the river. And, for the most part, the impact has been pretty grim.

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More Summer Outdoor Theatre: Salmon Row in Steveston

Live Theatre on Spanish Banks: Aug. 11-28

by Remy Scalza in Entertainment on August 11, 2011

Watch out Bard on the Beach – Here comes theatre in the sand.

Starting today and continuing through Aug. 28, Spanish Banks beach will be the setting for a unique one-hour play titled Sea of Sand. Staged by quirky Vancouver theatre company The Only Animal, the site-specific mystery will be presented daily around 7 p.m. at the far western end of the beach (near the dog beach). Continue reading:
Live Theatre on Spanish Banks: Aug. 11-28

Transgender Drama: The Silicone Diaries in Vancouver, thru Feb 25

The famous play about nothing: Waiting for Godot at the Cultch

Weirdest Theatre Festival in Vancouver: The Fringe Sept 8-18

More Summer Outdoor Theatre: Salmon Row in Steveston

Live Theatre on Spanish Banks: Aug. 11-28

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