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

DRAG-BURLESQUE EXPLORATIONS of David Bowie’s music, a bioacoustic opera about the life cycle of a frog, and an African-dance-infused story of a boy growing up in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide: these are just some of the performances just unveiled for the cutting-edge rEvolver Festival, running May 22 to June 2 at The Cultch.

Tickets and festival passes are now available for Upintheair Theatre’s 12th edition of the event, featuring 11 main-stage shows and several touring productions, as well as three special presentations, three works in progress, and two staged readings.

Programmed by Upintheair Theatre resident curators Sarah Roa and Sindy Angel with artistic director David Mott, the main-stage and touring productions span diverse voices in Canada’s contemporary performance scene. As ever, the roster features genre-busting fare that boldly mashes up cabaret, comedy, dance, multimedia, opera, theatre, and more.

The touring shows include Calgary’s @interWEBBED, by HEYwire Theatre’s Lauren Brady; Halifax’s Plays for the End of the World, by Scaredy Cat Theatre’s Cole Hayley and Chelsea Dab Hilke; Victoria’s tony wrestles a stranger, by Tony Adams; and Kamloops’s Station2Station, by Rowdy Spectacles Collective’s Glenn Hilke.

On the mainstage, shows include The African Dream, by Afrobeats Van’s Isaac Gasangwa; The Ballad of Georges Boivin, by Bouche Theatre Collective and The Creatus Project, in association with Western Gold Theatre; Cloaks by Olympia Tomasta; A Life Sentence by Why Now Theatre Collective’s Jarred Stephen Meek; Multi-Vs, by Affair of Honor’s Nathania Bernabe and Jackie T. Hanlin; ParaNorma PI, by BadPuss Productions’ Hilary Fillier; Silent Howl by Sarah Hin Ching U; Soft tongues: a bioacoustic opera by Jami Reimer; The Routine by Mycelium Theatre’s Joylyn Secunda and David Secunda; and What the F-Word is Going On? by Garvin Chan.

Look for special presentations such as Neworld Theatre’s Earth Case Scenario, with Alen Dominguez and Chelsea Haberlin; Please Wait While We Connect You with The Troika Collective’s Aliya Griffin, Caroline Sniatynski, and Manuela Sosa; and The Izo Afro-Dance Workshop by Afrobeats Van’s Gasangwa.

Three works-in-progress will give a peek into the creation process, with three works in progress and two UpDrafts Staged Readings.

For passes and tickets, hit The Cultch box office here.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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