Beauchamp : Brand new Character Comedy with The Coach
BEAUT BEAUCHAMP is The Coach. A straight talkin strategist of “the field”, who’ll rally your sorry self up off the bench and right into The Game.
A new hour of character/clown comedy, written & performed by Aaron Pickett, with special guests. Produced by The Vallican Whole and Material Theatre, this is our April offering for the Up Close & Intimate Series.
What if a collage football coach went on a psychedelic adventure, discovered the meaning of the creative life, and was tasked with giving a team of artists a pre-game pep talk?
This one-act, a hybrid of stand up comedy and character performance, is a silly and profound examination of what makes an artist tick, reflecting on courage, communion, self-doubt and perserverence, the battle against artificial intelligence and disposable “content” culture, and the enduring human impulse to create and iterate.
If you were at the New Works Cabaret at the Whole last October, you may have seen an excerpt from this show.
Tickets available at the door – $25, $15 for low-income community members. Concession will be open.
We need a few volunteers to help at the door and in the kitchen – you get in for free! Contact us to help out!
The Last Five Years
Polarity Productions is proud to present The Last Five Years, an intimate and emotionally rich musical by Jason Robert Brown, coming to Nelson this February. This contemporary two-person musical explores the five-year relationship between Jamie, a rising novelist, and Cathy, an actor struggling to find her footing — told through intersecting timelines that move in opposite directions.
The Last Five Years offers a stripped-down, deeply personal theatrical experience that examines love, ambition, and the ways connection can both bind and divide us. Known for its powerful score and honest storytelling, the show resonates with anyone who has navigated relationships alongside creative dreams and personal growth.
Performances run February 26–28 and tickets are $30, with tiered ticket pricing available to keep the production accessible to the community. Polarity Productions continues its commitment to presenting thoughtful, human-centered theatre that invites reflection and conversation.
Stupid F***ing Bird - A Staged Reading by the Valley Gems
Rural Theatre & Performance Lab
Rural Theatre & Performance Lab at the Vallican Whole
Saturday October 18th – Sunday the 19th
Registration now open:
$20-$40 per workshop, or $75 -$100 for the whole weekend. Lunches included both days.
Email slocanvalleygems@gmail.com to register.
To apply to perform at the Brave New Works Cabaret, please send a short description of your piece, approximate length, and your performer bio to slocanvalleygems@gmail.com. Work should be “new” or in-progress, original theatre/performance work. Feel free to ask questions if you need more details! Approximately 6-8 slots available, depending on length and number of applications. Honoraria provided for all performers!
Saturday Schedule:
9:00 AM – gather
9:30 – 10 AM – warm-up
10:15 – 1:15 – Performing with Larval Mask
1:15 – 2:15 – Lunch & Chat
2:15 – 4:15 – The Natural Actor
7:00 – doors open for
7:30 – Brave New Works Theatre Cabaret
Sunday Schedule:
9:00 AM – gather
9:30 – 10 AM – warm-up
10 – 12 – Intro to Improv
12 – 1PM – Lunch & Chat
1 – 3 – Co-creation time, deepening with content, collaboration, OR go home
See below for workshop descriptions so far
Thank you to the RDCK’s ReDi Grant program for funding support for this project!
Performance with Larval Mask
Enter the strange, simple, and magnetic world of Larval Masks. Rooted from the winter carnival of Basel, Switzerland and reimagined by Jacques Lecoq, these oversized, beginnings of life masks are a gateway to embodiment, archetype, non-verbal storytelling and dream space. This is physical poetry, where breath, stillness, and silhouette speak louder than words.
Larval work sharpens the performer’s ability to explore presence; by stripping back, listening with the body, and building story from tension, space, and rhythm with the unknown.
Ideal for performers, educators, writers, and anyone curious about the full-body language beneath text. The full-faced mask is a revelation and invitation to encounter the architecture of play and possibility.
Facilitator: Elaine Weryshko
The Natural Actor- Exploring the Craft of Acting
We will investigate the actor’s work as an expression of truth and the deep understanding of human nature. In preparation for an upcoming Valley Gems project, we will use Anton Chekhov’s, “The Seagull” and the Stanislavski Method as a jumping off point for the session.
Facilitator: Val Campbell
Intro to Improv with Michelle Hart
This intro to improv class covers the basics of long-form improv, including “Yes, And,” listening, and how to say YES – AND to your scene partner. We’ll focus on building confidence and spontaneity in a collaborative performance!
Facilitator: Michelle Hart
Your Story, Your Stage
YOUR STORY YOUR STAGE
Beginner-friendly, inclusive & accessible workshops
September 6-7 | Oxygen Art Centre
A rare opportunity for creativity and self-expression in the Kootenays - at an unbeatable price!
Optional Sunday evening showcase: Share your piece (poem/comedy/song/scene) with a live audience if you're feeling it. No pressure!
WORKSHOPS & FACILITATORS
Saturday, Sept 6 | 11:30 am
Associate Professor Emerita (Drama) from University of Calgary's School of Creative and Performing Arts. Theatre artist, movement educator, and producer of Shakespeare on the Shore in New Denver.
Saturday, Sept 6 | 2:30 pm
Award-winning actor, playwright, and folklorist specializing in African and Afro-Diasporic oral storytelling. Creator and performer of the touring solo show Black and Rural, Vibrant Basin podcast host.
Sunday, Sept 7 | 11:30 am
Decade-long drag entertainer from Kelowna, podcast host of Dénht'ā, appeared on Call Me Mother, and host of Nelson shows including Hard Leather Honey and Swipe Right: a Drag Dating Show.
Sunday, Sept 7 | 2:30 pm
Final prep and supportive feedback before the evening showcase.
Sunday, Sept 7 | 6:30 pm
Share your creative work with a live audience!
PRICING
- FREE spots available!
- Full series: $20
- Individual workshops: $10
Register: tinyurl.com/yourstoryyourstage
AUDITIONS for new original absurdist theatre: The Mosquitos
AUDITION this February for Material Theatre’s newest production, the premier of a new full-length play, The Mosquitos, written by Marya Folinsbee.
In The Mosquitos, a group of old friends get together for a dinner party while around them, the human world seems to be enduring an inexplicable, bizarre and total transformation. Will this be their last dinner together as human beings? Inspired by 20th century absurdists like Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett, The Mosquitos asks: "how do we share the world when we no longer share a reality?”.
We’ll be casting up to 14 parts. Rehearsals start in March 2025 with production week in the first and second weeks of June. Rehearsals will take place in Nelson and/or the Slocan Valley, based on the best arrangements for cast and crew. Performances in the Valley at the Vallican Whole, and in Nelson at the Capitol Theatre.
All artists will be paid for their work
Production support from The Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, the BC Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
20/40 Auditions
20/40 Sketch Comedy Show Auditions.
Sunday, Dec 15th, 2024
Book a 10-minute slot between 5:50 PM - 6:50 PM
Auditions held at Nelson Studio 88 (402 Victoria street)
What’s the show?
20/40 is an experimental theatre show composed of twenty acts performed in forty minutes, the twist is the audience picks the order. This show is written and performed by the selected ensemble cast and directed by Michelle Hart. We’ve only ever performed sold out shows in Nelson, so get ready!
What do I need to do to audition?
-Perform an original 1-5 Minute monologue or sketch (This can be character monologues, two hander sketch, fun song, speech, dance, anything that you think would fit this narrative).
Sign up to audition through out google docs:
https://forms.gle/94AxHWbo5aDRiVt28
Radio Free Kaslo, December 6, 2024
I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.
— Pablo Picasso
There's no doubt that theatre — whether a West End London musical, a performance of Hamlet at Stratford, or a one-act comedy performed by a plucky group of amateurs in a small-town auditorium — can be transformative.
On today's show I sit down with actor and director Lynn van Deursen, who has blessed the tiny mountain village of Kaslo with many outstanding theatrical moments over the years. We talk about her effort to put together a community theatre group, the recent plays staged at Kaslo's venerable Langham Theatre, and chat about Lynn's take on theatre generally, and Kaslo community theatre in particular.
If you like your entertainment live and in person, you don't have to be a Kaslo resident to enjoy our conversation!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/030dI1tgAG5y0f2O33N1X0?si=OWWsmTbURYa3S1sIXf3-iA
