Further to Monday’s post on the Vancouver edition of the upcoming Canada-wide Wrecking Ball political theatre cabaret, the Alliance for Arts and Culture have listed the complete docket of talent for the night, and it sounds phenomenal.
The writers involved are Vancouver playwright Lucia Frangioni (Espresso), Canadian theatre giant Judith Thompson (The Crackwalker, Lion in the Streets), local author Michael Turner (Hard Core Logo) and media personality Bill Richardson. They will create “brief, explosive plays about the election: the candidates, their policies, and the controversies”. Each of these new works will be written within a week of the Wrecking Ball, to ensure their topicality.
The Ball will be directed by The Electric Company’s Kim Collier and Jonathon Young, and Lyric Stage Project’s Michèle Lonsdale Smith (Jonathon and Michèle are both onstage right now in the Arts Club’s production of Doubt), among others. Music will be provided by local punk icon Joey “Shithead” Keithley of D.O.A. and host John Mann of The Spirit of the West. Featured actors will be “a luminous cross-section of talent from Vancouver’s theatre, film and television communities”.
Sounds like an awesome night even if it wasn’t politically motivated. Admission to the event is free. Donations will be taken at the door for The Department of Culture www.departmentofculture.ca, a brand new initiative whose purpose is to challenge the political parties on funding for the arts. For more info, visit www.thewreckingball.ca. The event is on Monday, October 6th at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. Be there from 7:00-8:30 pm to hear representatives from each Federal Party debate the arts, and stay for The Wrecking Ball election cabaret from 9:00-10:30 pm.
Simon Ogden 