Seven Things to Do in Metro Vancouver Feb.7-Feb 13: Straight White Men, Luna, and more
Credit to Author: Shawn Conner| Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2020 19:00:47 +0000
Whether you’re looking for date ideas, free things to do or just something fun to do in downtown Vancouver, you can’t go wrong with our list of events happening around Metro Vancouver between Feb.7-Feb 13.
Headlining this week’s picks is the Vertigo Theatre/Arts Club co-production of Cipher.
For more ideas, click HERE for our coverage of Vancouver’s arts scene, or HERE to search our entertainment listings database.
Here are seven things to do in Metro Vancouver this week:
When: Feb. 6-March 7, various times
Where: Granville Island Stage
Tickets: $29, at artsclub.com
Winner of the 2018 Alberta Playwriting Competition, Cipher is based on a (fictional) 63-year-old Vancouver Island cold case. A forensic toxicologist investigates, along with a man who has a personal stake in the mystery of the Beacon Hill body (Ellen Close and Praneet Akilla are pictured). The Vertigo Theatre/Arts Club co-production unveils the plot via a traditional, text-based approach and contemporary dance and movement sequences.
When: Feb. 9 at 8 p.m.
Where: Yuk Yuk’s
Tickets: $20 at ryanfundraiser.eventbrite.ca, $25 at the door
Ryan Lachance (pictured) lives with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, the most severe type of CP. But Lachance has overcome his challenge to become a beloved and popular standup come on the local comedy circuit. Unfortunately, he’s been unable to work owing to a severe infection. To raise funds for their fellow comic’s much-needed medical supplies, local comedians are banding together for a fundraiser. The lineup includes Sophia Johnson, Ryan Gunther, Desmond Williams, Gavin Clarkson, Julia Stretch, Nic Enright-Morin, and Charles Demers. One hundred per cent of the ticket proceeds go directly to Lachance.
When: Feb. 6-15
Where: Gateway Theatre, Richmond
Tickets: $29, at tickets.gatewaytheatre.com
Theatregoers who enjoyed SpeakEasy Theatre’s 2019 production of Young Jean Lee’s The Shipment (not to mention anyone who enjoys the spectacle of privileged white men goofing off and getting real) will want to check out Straight White Men. Directed by Chelsea Haberlin (ITSAZOO) and Fay Nass (Frank Theatre), the play is another work by Lee but instead of race, the playwright/button-pusher has set her sights on white privilege and class. The production marks the Canadian debut of the play, which was the first Broadway play by a female Asian-American playwright. A “Talk Forward” with a special guest accompanies each performance.
Picture credit: Luz Gallardo.
When: Feb. 13 at 8 p.m.
Where: Venue
Tickets: $30, at ticketweb.ca
Luna hasn’t been all that active lately; the band has mostly been recording covers (Roy Orbison’s California Blue, for example) for limited-release singles. But most fans of the ‘90s indie-pop group want to hear the old songs anyway, and will no doubt embrace Dean Wareham and co.’s decision to hit the road to play the entirety of 1995’s Penthouse. Rolling Stone listed the record as #99 on a list of the 100 best albums of the ’90s, saying that Wareham “made his name with the Eighties dream-pop trio Galaxie 500, but he really found his muse in these scandalously beautiful guitar ballads.” Seattle-raised singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney opens.
When: Feb. 5-8
Where: Pacific Theatre
Info: $15 at pacifictheatre.org
Stone’s Throw Productions presents three plays curated by Pacific Theatre’s 2019/20 apprentices. In Marsha Norman’s 1980 bittersweet comedy Third and Oak: The Laundromat, a retired teacher meets a reckless young woman in a Kentucky laundromat in the middle of the night (Ariel Slack is pictured). In Dorothy Parker’s Here We Are (originally a short story published in 1931), an awkward young couple head to New York for their honeymoon. And, in Nosegate — an original play written and performed by acting apprentice Chantal Gallant — Santa’s favourite reindeer Rudolph files a harassment complaint.
Picture credit: Alexandre Gilbert.
When: Feb. 12-15
Where: Cultch
Tickets: from $26 at tickets.thecultch.com
Six of Montréal’s best street dancers form human structures that shift, alter, and evolve in synergy with the music in this production, choreographed by Emmanuelle Lê Phan and Elon Höglund of Montréal’s Tentacle Tribe. Elements of contemporary dance, street dance and martial arts are combined in a physical score that echoes the pulse of respiration as inhalations and exhalations sculpt the dancers’ gestures and movements. “The title Ghost alludes to a formless state of being, but can also refer to blockages or traumas, as one faces their ghosts,” the choreographers say in a statement. “Dancers, and also other artists, often talk about being ‘in the zone,’ connecting or catching the ghost. This state transcends verbal communication but is felt and used as a channel for creativity.” Tentacle Tribe’s other shows include the award-winning Threesixnine.
When: Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.
Where: Railway Stage and Beer Café
Tickets: $10 at showpass.com
Vancouver-based Rock N’ Roll Circus celebrates the release of its second album Bottle Rockets and Cherry Bombs. The band’s sound recalls ‘70s FM radio staples like Bad Company; on the new record’s bandcamp page, the description likens the release to Stephen Stills’ Manassas and the Black Crowes’ Amorica, thanks to “more emphasis on extended guitar solos and percussion.” West Coast music scene vets Chris Woudstra, Jeremy Holmes, John Outlon, Liam MacDonald, Aaron Moser, and Scott Smith make up the group. Local hard rockers La Chinga and singer/songwriter Jody Peck are also on the bill.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com