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
Josephine, A Burlesque Cabaret Dream Play
The Trail & District Arts Council presents international award-winning one-woman biographical musical Josephine, a burlesque cabaret dream play, at The Bailey Theatre on Monday, February 2 at 7:30 pm as part of the Performing Arts Trail series.
Critically-acclaimed off-Broadway and International touring show Josephine, a burlesque cabaret dream play returns to the West Kootenays with new content, new songs, and some stunning new costumes. A combination of cabaret, theatre and dance, Tymisha Harristells the story of the iconic Josephine Baker, the first African-American international superstar and one of the most remarkable figures of the 20th Century.
Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis in 1906, and while only achieving moderate success in the United States, she became an international superstar after moving to France in the early 1920’s. She starred alongside white romantic leading men in films in the 30’s, had multiple interracial marriages and homosexual relationships, and performed in men’s clothing before the term “drag” existed in the lexicon.
Josephine was also a spy for the French Resistance, a civil rights activist, and the mother of 12 adopted children from 4 continents. Her success in France and Europe often gave her the opportunity to live freely without the racial oppression of her home nation, though she never stopped yearning for acceptance in America.
Josephine debuted at the 2016 San Diego Fringe Festival where it won "Outstanding Solo Performance" and "Best Show". Josephine toured throughout North America in 2017, picking up awards and 5 star reviews at every stop, including the 2017 Fringe Encore series award for “Outstanding Production” award. For the off-Broadway run at Soho Playhouse, where it sold out performances and received high critical acclaim., Tymisha Harris was nominated for a 2018 Vivian Robinson AUDELCO Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.
Then, in the summer of 2018, the show traveled across Canada to five festivals, and was the top selling show at every one of them, earning another dozen awards. And, in 2020, the show received rave reviews, sold out and extended its run at the Adelaide Fringe Festival (the second largest in the world), and received a coveted “Critics Circle Award”.
Josephine "…is a perfect piece of theatre for the time we are currently in" ★★★★★ - Plays To See NYC
“In a period of profound division in the world, we are excited to present the story of a woman who broke boundaries of race, gender, and sexuality in a time before America had begun coming to terms with the concept of diversity.” - Producer/Director/co-Creator Michael Marinaccio
Tymisha Harris (aka “Tush”) has been performing professionally for over 25 years. Her early credits include assistant choreographer and backup dancing for the 90’s pop group N*SYNC, backup dancer for LFO, and a featured role in the hit movie series “Bring It On”. More recent endeavors include the national tour of “Rock of Ages”, a European tour with the innovative and world-renowned Pilobulus Dance Theater Company, and founding member and Assistant Director/Choreographer of the successful Orlando based troupe, VarieTease.
About the company:
Created by Tymisha Harris, Michael Marinaccio, and Tod Kimbro
Performed by Tymisha Harris
Directed and Produced by Michael Marinaccio
Book and Music Direction by Tod Kimbro
Additional Choreography and Direction by Sean Cheeseman (So You Think You Can Dance)
Single tickets are $30. Under 30 years is $15.
7-show pass $188 or Pick Your Own season by becoming a Patron Member for $25 and get 20% off Trail Arts Council presentations and other benefits. All tickets available online at trail-arts.com, by phone at 250-368-9669, and in person at the Bailey Box Office at 1501 Cedar Ave., Trail.
Reminder - please do not wear strong smelling perfumes or colognes to the Bailey Theatre as the building is a scent free zone. Thank you for your cooperation.
This performance celebrates Black History month and is made possible thanks to the support of our funders the BC Arts Council, BC Live Performance Network, and the Government of Canada. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.
The Mosquitos – New Absurdist Theatre
"Things are changing rather quickly. We no longer share a reality".
A group of old friends get together for a dinner party, while rumours of an unimaginable change swirl around them. How will they face total transformation?
An absurd comedy of manners with an existential heart, The Mosquitos is original new theatre written and directed by Slocan Valley playwright Marya Folinsbee. With equal parts humour and pathos, The Mosquitos reconsiders our place in the ecosystem, asking;
How do we create a coherent life together when we understand the world so differently?
A meditation on politics, relationships, (mis)information and the role of art in making meaning, The Mosquitos is inspired by absurdist classics like Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros and Samuel Beckett's Happy Days (and, by life in these times).
This world premiere features a talented ensemble of local performers and artistic team:
Written and Directed by Marya Folinsbee
Featuring Performances by:
Emily Ryan
Kozmo Sammartino
Roger Carter
Patricia McLaughlin
Karmelle Spence-Sing
Lindsay Clague
James Shaw
Aaron Pickett
Mike Funergy
Sound Designer Jeremy Sauer
Projection Designer Brian Lye
Mask & Puppet Designer Elaine Weryshko
Stage Manager Martina Avis
Technical Director Terry Brennan
Production Designer Marya Folinsbee
Creation support from The Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance.
Production support from The BC Arts Council.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts
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.
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
