Glowing ghosts, expressive masks, and more in A Wonderheads Christmas Carol, to December 11 across the Lower Mainland

Highlights include a vine-bearded Ghost of Christmas Present and an adorable puppet Tiny Tim

A Wonderheads Christmas Carol is at Surrey’s Bell Centre for the Performing Arts on December 6, Chilliwack Cultural Centre on December 8, New West’s Massey Theatre on December 10, and North Van’s Centennial Theatre on December 11, with performances across Vancouver Island after that. Find dates and showtimes here.

IF YOU’VE NEVER caught A Wonderheads Christmas Carol, now’s your chance to see the giant puppet-driven tradition that has toured the world, from Hawaii to Shanghai over holiday seasons past.

The show is perhaps best described as animation come to life, with its glowing ghosts, expressive face masks, and 10-foot-tall puppets. Music is also a big part of the appeal, with an original score composed by LA-based band, The Singer and the Songwriter.

Highlights include a gigantic vine-bearded Ghost of Christmas Present, a towering, chain-covered Marley, and just about the cutest little Tiny Tim you’ve see in any rendition of the Dickens holiday classic.

Wonderheads is a multi-award-winning physical theatre company that specializes in mask performance and visual storytelling; based in Victoria, it was founded by Kate Braidwood and Andrew Phoenix.

Check out the video below for a sense of the magic, and check out the link here for all the show locations and dates.

Articles

Homecoming follows three generations of Filipinx women on a magical cross-continent journey

The Cultch and Urban Ink present Kamila Sediego’s play that explores cultural identity and familial duty

Theatre review: Fat Joke's brutally honest comedy-talk is a fearless indictment of fatphobia

Theatre schools, the BMI, critics, and casting auditions: everything’s fair game in a show that flips easily between biting, big laughs and darker reflections

Valerie Methot's psychological thriller I KNOW YOUR SECRET dissects the dangers of social media

Some Assembly Theatre Company play, created in collaboration with diverse youth, reminds audiences of the internet’s exciting opportunities and frightening risks

Fat Joke mixes standup comedy, storytelling, and research, at The Cultch's Vancity Culture Lab, April 25 to May 5

Taboo-buster Cheyenne Rouleau traverses more personal terrain in new one-woman show

Cutting-edge rEvolver Festival unveils lineup for event May 22 to June 2

Centred at The Cultch, contemporary-performance celebration spans bioacoustic opera and African-dance-infused theatre

Theatre review: You used to call me Marie… is an artfully crafted love story reaching across Métis history

The Cultch, Savage Society, and NAC Indigenous Theatre coproduction balances joy and solemnity for a transporting vision

The Cultch's 2024-25 season to span an East Van Panto Robin Hood, Ronnie Burkett, and Cliff Cardinal’s As You Like It, or the Land Acknowledgement

Company’s just-launched lineup will feature everything from fast-fashion-inspired acrobatics to conceptual hip-hop, across four venues

Pi Theatre hosts its three-show Phucking Phunny Celebration of Comedy on May 4

Pi Provocateur performance featuring stand-up comedians and Tightrope Impro Theatre will take place at brand-new Little Mountain Gallery

John Waters brings his outsider comedy to the Rio Theatre with two nights of film and spoken word

The countercultural icon of fringe cinema riffs the dangers of smoking, mainstream acceptance, and trigger warning in advance of his appearances at the Rio Theatre on April 25 and 26

Theatre review: Sexy Laundry's bedroom comedy feels tame after 20 years

Actors find gentle laughs in story of a 50-something couple trying—and failing—to reignite their romantic spark

Theatre review: This Is How We Got Here provides levity as it explores the weight of grief at the Firehall Arts Centre

In the wake of loss, family and friends struggle to navigate inner turmoil, even as they inadvertently hurt each other in the process

Realwheels Theatre presents play-reading series Zombies, Mannequins, and Talking Heads, May 9 to 11

Company to showcase scripts by Jordyn Wood, Alex Masse, and Adam Grant Warren at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre

Maurice explores resilience and reinvents language, at Théâtre La Seizième to April 20

Play tells true story of an economist whose stroke left him aphasic—and his character communicates with the help of an audience member

Theatre review: Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery cranks up the comedy in a taut staging at the Gateway

Quick character switches, overt set changes add to the laughs in adaptation of classic tale

Arts Umbrella unveils mainstage productions for annual Expressions Theatre Festival

Among the shows running from April 26 to June 21 are Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella and brand-new Canadian musical The Quest

In You used to call me Marie, playwright-actor Tai Amy Grauman digs into Métis women’s stories

The artist and politician draws on her own Callihoo ancestors, and fills new play with fiddle and dance

Bard on the Beach returns for 35th season from June 11 to September 21 in Vanier Park

Diana Donnelly’s take on Twelfth Night opens the season, which also features Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, and Measure for Measure

In Sexy Laundry, director Diana Donnelly unpacks intimacy and longevity in long-term relationships

Arts Club Theatre Company stages Michele Riml’s international-hit play about a couple seeking to rekindle their sex life 25 years into marriage

In This Is How We Got Here, playwright Keith Barker reflects on moving forward after unfathomable loss

Firehall Arts Centre presentation centres a close-knit family relearning how to coexist in the wake of trauma±

I KNOW YOUR SECRET premieres with Some Assembly Theatre Company, May 1 to 4

Valerie Methot’s psychological thriller navigates the dangers of social media with a creative team of diverse youth and artists

Theatre review: Parifam takes an enigmatic look at repression and self-expression

Atmospheric new play at The Cultch about two women in exile from Iran revolves around duality and secrets

Stir Q&A: Director Barbara Tomasic offers clues to Ken Ludwig's comical Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery

Multitasking characters and carefully choreographed mayhem at the Gateway Theatre

Theatre Under the Stars announces CATS and School of Rock for summer season, July 5 to August 24

Two-show subscription pack tickets now on sale for outdoor performances at Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl

Theatre review: Blasts of colour and danceable music as high-energy Hairspray returns

Broadway Across Canada’s Hairspray production oozes with fun and heartfelt messaging

Keith Barker's This is How We Got Here runs at Firehall Arts Centre from April 13 to 28

Play follows a close-knit family dealing with the lingering trauma of an unexpected loss

Shadbolt Centre for the Arts hosts Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, April 18 and 19

Play by Wild Philley Productions is based on American journalist Didion’s best-selling memoir that deals with her husband’s sudden death and daughter’s illness