Monday, April 16, 2018, 7pm to 9pm
PL1422, 1422 William St
FREE admission; no advance registration required

Emerging artists! Our final Living Room of the season is happening on Monday, April 16.

This time out we’re going to talk about what it takes become an effective Artistic Director. What decisions go into programming a season? How are art, finance, talent, and audience expectation all balanced?

Our guests for the evening are two of Vancouver’s most prominent Artistic Directors: Ashlie Corcoran of the Arts Club Theatre and Jovanni Sy of Gateway Theatre.

We hope you can join us for what’s sure to be an amazing conversation!

The Living Room is produced with support from the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance.

Peter Anderson in The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius. Photo: Tim Matheson.

by Colleen Murphy
Adapted from William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus
Produced by Rumble Theatre and presented by The Cultch

November 22 – December 3, 2017
The Historic Theatre at The Cultch, 1895 Venables Street, Vancouver, BC

Here’s what the critics said about the show:

“The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius is deranged, darkly funny, and perverse, but its subversiveness also serves a purpose, and it makes for an unforgettable experience” — Andrea Warner, The Georgia Straight

“I can’t recommend this show enough” — Paul Durras, BC BookWorld

“The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius encourages us to get comfortable with discomfort, to revel in the outrageous and to trade our tears for laughter” — Lauren Donnelly, Vancouver Weekly

“I can’t remember the last time I saw a show that got me so excited I thought I might lose my marbles” — Colin Thomas, colinthomas.ca

“If you need a really good laugh and you’re okay with dark, grisly, bloody, grotesque, rude and crude – all wrapped up in the French clowning style called bouffon – you will love Titus Bouffonius as much as I did” — Jo Ledingham, Joledingham.ca

“This show is smart. The heady mix of bouffon revelry and Shakespearean trauma is fuel for an edgy comedy, and playwright Colleen Murphy has dug deep into both worlds to concoct an experiential feast” — Chelsey Stuyt, Vancouver Presents

“The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius at first presents itself as a chaotic project by confused misfits, but in reality it is an intelligent (if not eloquent) commentary on the Shakespearean classic and the complexities of the world which we navigate” — Ljudmila Petrovic, SAD MAG

“The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius might give you a lot to talk about the next day…we were all pretty much speechless” — Tiva Quinn, iliveineastvan.com

Click here for more details about the show

Photo by Wendi Wirawan; design by Kristen Johnson

We’re thrilled to announce that Indian Arm — the first play we commissioned as part of our adaptation program — has been awarded the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama.

Hiro Kanagawa, playwright

The play resonated with the audiences who saw our premiere production of Indian Arm in 2015. And it clearly resonated with the GG peer assessment committee, as well.

The committee praised Indian Arm as “a timely and evocative manifestation of the characters’ struggle with their relationship to the land. Hiro Kanagawa masterfully navigates the tension between Indigenous and settler identities as they work to figure out how we can live together. Mythic. Heart-breaking. Poetic.”

To read more about the GG winners, click here.

Welcome to Rumble Theatre’s 2017-18 season! This year is one of discovery, as we present a world premiere production by one of Canada’s foremost playwrights and foster up-and-coming theatre artists through our unique mentorship opportunities.

“We’re really inspired by the creative potential that exists when we bring different artists and art forms together,” says Stephen Drover, who comes into his fifth season as Rumble’s Artistic Director. “And this season is all about what can come of making these connections, both for our work on stage and behind the scenes. What happens when Shakespeare, French clowning, and one of Canada’s most celebrated playwrights meet? What kind of excitement occurs in a room with some of our most promising young directors and one of the nation’s best directors? And what conversations are had between the emerging artists community and Vancouver’s seasoned pros when pressing topics are brought up? This year we’ll find out.”

Peter Anderson in The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius. Photo: Tim Matheson.

First up is the world premiere production of The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius—our commissioned adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus by two-time Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Colleen Murphy. An inspired marriage of Shakespearian text, contemporary dialogue, and the French clown technique of bouffon, the show is an utterly unique look at war, rage, grief, and the delicate intersection of the beautiful and the grotesque in our world today. It runs November 22 to December 3, 2017 at The Cultch. (Buy your tickets now for the best seats!)

Weyni Mengesha, Directors’ Lab 2018 instructor.

Directors’ Lab returns in February 2018 to offer emerging theatre directors the rare opportunity to spend a week learning their craft from a Master Director. Leading this year’s Lab will be Weyni Mengesha, the acclaimed director and dramaturge who guided the smash Canadian theatrical hits ’da Kink in My Hair and Kim’s Convenience. Weyni will also share her knowledge and skills with emerging actors in a one-day Actors’ Workshop that follows Directors’ Lab.

Rounding out the season are our regular mentorship activities and community events. We welcome two Student Ambassadors—Olivia Lang (University of British Columbia) and Shanae Sodhi (Studio 58)—who will serve as liaisons between Rumble and their respective school communities while receiving mentorship from us. The Living Room is back to offer emerging artists an informal space in which they can interact with their peers while learning about a career in theatre from professional artists. The first session is September 25, 2017—please stay tuned for an announcement of upcoming topics and guests. Last but not least, we’ll celebrate the spooky season on October 28, 2017 with our fourth annual Halloween party: The Revenge of the Hot Mess Halloween.

For more detail, check out the full Rumble Theatre 2017-18 season announcement.

March 24 – 26, 2018
Performance: Monday, March 26 at 7pm, Progress Lab 1422
Free admission to performance; no advance registration required
Check out the event page on Facebook

The 48-Hour Crock Pot

The 48-Hour Crock Pot lives again!

The first iteration of this exciting event took place in 2014 and was initiated by our then-Student Ambassadors Karina Darychuk and Naomi Vogt. Their intention was to break down the barriers between different theatre training programs and to foster a sense of a larger community of emerging artists. This year, our current Student Ambassadors, Shanae Sodhi (Studio 58 at Langara College) and Olivia Lang (University of British Columbia), are bringing it back to engage a whole new cohort of emerging artists by asking them to consider who we work with to make theatre and how we make it.

The Crock Pot will bring together students from different theatre training institutions around the Lower Mainland and challenge them to create a piece together. They’ll have only 48 hours (!) to devise “something meaningful” — with the help of a few prompts. This resulting work will be presented on Monday, March 26 at 7pm, in the PL1422 studio. Please join us to see what these fearless young artists cook up!

March 29, 2018, 6 – 9pm
Progress Lab 1422

The scholar Peggy Phelan once claimed that the ontology of live performance is its disappearance. It is here for a moment in time, and then it is gone. But, as Rebecca Schneider has argued, every performance also leaves remains: in the bodies of its creators; in the memories of its audiences; and in the paper trails and material detritus that attest to the different phases of its development. At this event we’re hoping to collect some of those remains as they pertain to the recent history of Vancouver performance. Building on the spirit and energy of the recent Our Present Dance Histories project that culminated at the 2017 Dance in Vancouver Biennale, we have invited members of the Vancouver performance arts community to contribute to and help divine the story we might tell from examining the remains of Vancouver performance.

Here, the evidence is put in your hands. A few sheets of paper set the scene and indicate the problems. Archival materials such as newspapers, photos and sticky notes may be sorted and related by the group in order to create a ‘method of history.’ At this celebration, we hope to spark in the community a sense of the presence of Vancouver’s performance history.

If you’re interested in joining us for Ephemera, it’s not too late to RSVP! E-mail cwatson@rumble.org to get yourself on the guest list. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Rumble Theatre invites emerging directors who are interested in a theatre mentorship opportunity to apply for Tremors, our festival of emerging talent. Tremors will take place August 16 – 25, 2018 at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver.

About Tremors

Tremors is a vehicle for emerging artists to build networks, receive professional mentorship, develop their craft, and work on exciting plays. Each show will be directed, designed, performed, and stage managed by a company of emerging artists working with the guidance of professional mentors. Rumble provides mentorship from professional theatre practitioners, rehearsal space, production budget, publicity and marketing, production management, performance venue, and a small honorarium to all participants.

Eligibility

For the purposes of Tremors, Rumble defines an “emerging artist” as a theatre practitioner (actor, designer, stage manager, technician, director) who is within five years of their professional debut. The ideal emerging artist has completed (or nearly completed) formalized training, is not yet a full member of a professional artists’ association (e.g. CAEA) and intends on making their living in the theatre. Alternatively defined as an artist who self-identifies as “young-in-craft”. For the purpose of this application, directors must be able to demonstrate past work (including projects as a part of a training program).

Submission procedure

Applicants are asked to submit via email a CV and a cover letter outlining why they are interested in taking part in Tremors. Applicants are also invited to share their “wish list” of plays they’d one day like to work on. (We’ve already chosen the scripts for Tremors but this is a good way to get to know you!). A short list of applicants will be contacted for interviews. Rumble will assemble the creative teams.

We encourage submissions from artists who self-identify as members of under-represented communities. We hope to create artistic teams that represent the diversity of Vancouver.

Part-time rehearsals will begin mid-June 2018 (based on the availability of the teams). Ample availability is an asset. Directors will be expected to be available full time from August 12 to 16, 2018. Please include a brief statement of availability (including potential scheduling conflicts) in your application.

Submissions should be sent to jhood@rumble.org with the subject heading “Tremors Director 2018”. Deadline for submissions is March 14, 2018.

Monday, February 26, 2018, 7pm to 9pm
PL1422, 1422 William St
FREE admission; no advance registration required

Emerging artists! Please join us for our third Living Room of the season (and the first of 2018) as we consider the real price of working for free in our industry. When should you stop doing unpaid work? Or should you always make time to work gratis? What factors help you choose a project? How do you value yourself, your time, and your art?

Director Sarah Rodgers and actor Raugi Yu will lend their voices and knowledge to the conversation, while Jamie King serves as moderator.

The Living Room is produced with support from the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance.