Travel Blog

8 Mar

5 Can’t-Miss Plays in Vancouver This Month

Mies Julie is playing at the Cultch Theatre this month.  Photo sourced from thecultch.com.

Mies Julie is playing at the Cultch Theatre this month. Photo sourced from thecultch.com.

Spring is springing in Vancouver … and with it a new season of theatre in the city.  Here’s a look at five can’t-miss plays premiering in Vancouver over the next month:

Floyd CollinsThe newly restored York Theatre on Commercial Drive is the setting for this Broadway musical. The action centres around the true story of a man who becomes trapped 100 feet underground while exploring a cave in 1925 Kentucky.  A media frenzy ensues while his friends and family frantically try to free him.  March 11-March 30; York Theatre; tickets start at $19

Chelsea Hotel – The Songs of Leonard CohenBack for another run is this popular musical inspired by the life and works of Canada’s own bard, Leonard Cohen.  Six performers play 17 different instruments in a tribute to the exceptional songwriter and a bygone world of Beat poets, artists and musicians.  March 18-March 29; Firehall Arts Centre; tickets start at $15. (A travelling version of the production can also be seen at various venues outside Vancouver through March 15.)

Helen LawrenceThe gritty Vancouver of 1948 is the setting from this dark and moody production.  Designed by visual artist Stan Douglas and penned by DaVinci’s Inquest’s Chris Haddock, the play is a mixed-media spectacle that takes a noir look at gambling, vice and corruption in the city.  Action onstage is complemented by images projected simultaneously on screen, creating two story lines at once. March 13-April 12; Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage; tickets start at $29.

Mies Julie: Loosely based on the 1888 play by August Strindberg, this steamy production looks at race and sexuality in contemporary South Africa.  On a remote farm, the daughter of an Afrikaans farmer falls in love with one of her father’s servants.  The lingering tensions of the post-apartheid era are laid bare as the romance spins out of control with deadly consequence. March 25-April 19; The Cultch; tickets start at $31.

ProudThis controversial Canadian play takes a satirical, sometimes hilarious look at Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  In this reimagining, the Tories took Quebec in the last federal election.  A young, attractive MP offers Harper a new tool in his arsenal … or so he thinks.  April 5-April 19; Firehall Arts Centre; tickets from $15

Planning to see other can’t-miss plays in Vancouver this month? Let us know below. 

Follow me on Twitter @RemyScalza

Article source: http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2014/03/08/5-cant-miss-plays-in-vancouver-this-month/