East Van Panto: West Van Story gets an extended run thanks to overwhelming popularity
Theatre Replacement’s nearly sold-out holiday tradition continues at The Cultch’s York Theatre to January 11
East Van Panto: West Van Story. Photo by Emily Cooper
WEST VAN CURLER Holly and her love interest, East Van bowler Joes, are sticking around for an extra week of hilarious performances this holiday season.
The main characters in Theatre Replacement’s raucous East Van Panto: West Van Story hit The Cultch’s York Theatre last week, and because of overwhelming demand, the show is getting held over. Originally set to run from November 21 to January 4, 2026, the Panto will now see additional performances on January 8 and 9 at 7 pm, January 10 at 2 pm and 7 pm, and January 11 at 2 pm.
When Stir reviewed the Panto’s opening, we shared that it “excels at chaotically grand musical numbers, undercut with biting satire, shameless kid-friendly silliness, and adult-friendly subversive politics.” Dawn Petten absolutely nails her role as megadeveloper Boberta Rainy, the prissy, power-suit-wearing villain of the show who’s hell-bent on erecting condo towers across the East Side; and Tom Pickett brings levity to the Panto as the delightful Evie, an anthropomorphized East Van Cross.
This year’s East Van Panto was written by Marcus Youssef and Pedro Chamale, and riffs on both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. In our interview with the pair of playwrights here, long-time East Van resident Youssef noted that the production doesn’t pick favourites when it comes to poking fun at Vancouver’s age-old East-West rivalry.
“I think the responsibility of any good satire—and the Panto is family-friendly satire in my mind—is to point the satire at ourselves as well,” Youssef said. “Satire that only satirizes who we all might consider ‘the other’ isn’t interesting to me.”
Over 16,000 people see the East Van Panto annually, and tickets for the main run are nearly sold out—grab ’em while you still can. 
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