Dramatic Works Series
at The Cultch Vancity Culture Lab (1895 Venables Street)
Generously supported by the Lochmaddy Foundation, the 2019 Dramatic Works Series will shine a light on dramatic content at the Fringe!
This year’s Dramatic Works Series participants are being mentored by Raes Calvert, a Métis theatre artist from Vancouver. As a performer he has toured nationally and internationally with Axis Theatre, Green Thumb Theatre, Urban Ink, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Neworld Theatre, and Presentation House Theatre. After graduating Studio 58, he and colleague Sean Harris Oliver began Hardline Productions. With Hardline, Raes has co-written and co-created numerous shows including: Heptademic Redux (Vancouver Fringe), Our Neighbourhood (hive2 newbees), Coercion (Neanderthal Theatre Festival), Redpatch, and Cativo.
 | Legoland Ragamuffin Productions Surrey, Canada Playwright: Jacob Richmond Siblings Penny and Ezra Lamb have been home-schooled on a hippie colony all their life. They have been dying to visit the outside world, described to them only as “Legoland.” Once the colony is busted for being the largest marijuana grow-op in Saskatchewan, the opportunity finally arrives. However, it is not as joyful and loving as expected. Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / Coarse Language |
 | Two Modern Noh Plays by Yukio Mishima Midtwenties Theatre Society Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Yukio Mishima mtstheatre.com Upon a successful run last year, Midtwenties Theatre is proud to be back to premiere Two Modern Noh Plays By Yukio Mishima for the 2019 Dramatic Works Series. A 20-year-old poet falls in love with a 90-year-old woman and a young girl waits for a long-forgotten lover in this double-bill of two Noh plays by famous Japanese writer, Yukio Mishima. “Hauntingly enigmatic, subtle and beautiful, Mishima’s masterpieces reach back into the deep past of ancient myth and brings into the modern world stories that are part fairy-tale, part surreal drama.”—Broadway World Poetic / Intellectual / Intimate / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / All Ages |
 | 4.48 Psychosis Ruckus Theatre Collective Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Sarah Kane Kane’s own poetic and haunting account of clinical depression is fragmented stylistically by three performers who have learned the entire text. Each night, they will allocate the text in the moment, making every performance unique. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Rawly powerful and laceratingly honest.” —The Telegraph ⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Pushing the edges of what can be performed on stage.” —DC Metro Theater Arts Intense / In Your Face / Intimate / 18+ / Coarse Language |
 | The Most Massive Woman Wins Splendiferous Theatre Vancouver, Canada Playwright: Madeleine George splendiferoustheatre.wordpress.com Four women of various shapes and sizes sitting in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic explore their perceptions of body image. From painful childhood memories to frustrations with the opposite sex, these experiences both haunt and empower these women. “A thought-provoking glimpse at the anguished consequences for women trying to conform to society’s often unattainable image of female beauty.” —Martin Hernandez, LA Weekly “Packs a powerful punch.” —Kathy Flynn, Discover Hollywood Magazine Funny / Tear-Jerker / In Your Face / 14+ / Violent Content / Sexual Content / Nudity |
 | Guards at the Taj SACHA (Vancouver) Burnaby, Canada Playwright: Rajiv Joseph A flourishing empire, an architectural marvel, one of the cruelest acts in (perhaps fabricated) history, intense drama, and at the centre of it all... a weird bromance? Adele Noronha and Andeep Kalirai star in playwright Rajiv Joseph’s sharply written story of two Imperial Guards who stand on duty at the famed Taj Mahal in India in 1648. “Joseph writes sly, funny dialogue laced with jolts of lyricism, and the initial exchanges between the two guards are highly captivating, even if some of the play’s verbal detours are more bewitching than enlightening.” —Hollywood Reporter Weird / Intense / Poetic / Multicultural / 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content |
 | Red Blake Valletta Vancouver, Canada Playwright: John Logan Under the gaze of his young assistant Ken, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: a series of murals for New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Play, Red is a raw and provocative portrait of an artist’s ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. “Intense and exciting... a study in artist appreciation, a portrait of an angry and brilliant mind that asks you to feel the shape and texture of thoughts. ... Red captures the dynamic relationship between an artist and his creations.” —The New York Times Intense / In Your Face / Intellectual / 14+ / Coarse Language |