Several times a year, Rumble hosts the Living Room, a gathering for the artistic community to get together and talk about what’s going on. All of it. It’s a great opportunity to connect, network, and share news in a casual and fun environment. Refreshments are served. (That’s for the mingling….mingling snacks.)

So listen, think, speak. Be welcome. Expect creative contributions around provocative ideas, and some good laughs.

More info here!

April 27, 2026 – Where My People At? A Black Artists & Industry Workers’ Salon

Calling all Artists of the Black/African diaspora! We’d love to connect with you! 

Rumble Theatre in collaboration with GVPTA and host, Adonis King, invite Black artists and cultural workers to Where My People At? A Black Artists & Industry Workers’ Salon. Happening Monday, April 27 at 7:30 pm at Progress Lab (1422 William St.).  

How often have you heard that we’re “hard to find”? *eyeroll emojil* We know that the Black population is steadily growing in Vancouver, but how many of us still find it hard to find a Black artistic community? There is a long and significant history of Black Arts and excellence in BC. For instance, the widely known Hogan’s Alley was home to several influential Vancouver artists and athletes including Leonard Lane, Ernie King, Barbara Howard and the Gibson Siblings. The Sepia Players, Vancouver’s first Black theatre company, was founded in 1969! 

The community was here, and despite the city’s best efforts, we’re still here. So, come join us for an intergenerational Black Artist’s chat and hangout. Meet your elders and the next generation. Eat some food and deepen the bonds of our community as we explore the legacy of Black Arts in Vancouver; past, present and future. 

We will be joined by special guests; Celeste Insell, Siobhan Baker and Britany Buren. 

Doors will open a half hour early at 7 pm. Light food and refreshments will be provided. 

This is a FREE event and registration is required. 

Time: 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 pm)
Location: Progress Lab 1422 – Studio (1422 William St – map)
Tickets: Free Registration Here! (Capacity is limited, please RSVP ahead of time)

Got questions you want to bring to the Living Room? Fill out the Registration Form or email Alisha the day before with the Subject Line: Living Room Questions for April 27th, and the questions you have relevant to the theme.

About the Artists

Adonis Critter King is a queer, Black, trans and non-binary, inter-disciplinary artist, theatre creator, writer, director, producer, and dramaturg. Their work uses Afrofuturism and Afro-surrealism to explore the intersection of the divine and the mundane, technology and spirituality, horror and joy, to examine the change and sacrifices required for our personal and collective liberation.

Adonis was the 2016 Youth Poet Laureate of Victoria, received the 2020 Witness Legacy Award for Social Purpose and Responsibility Through Art, and the JAYMAC Outstanding Production Award (2025).

Celeste Insell was born in Jacksonville, Florida in the early 1950’s. Her family moved around but in the 1960’s they finally settled in the Bronx.

In her early twenties, she moved to Toronto and studied acting at Ryerson (TMU) and Drama Studies at York University. In the 1980’s, in Vancouver, Celeste landed a role in an Arts Club production; and was cast in a hit production of “For Colored Girls” at City Stage. In 1982, She was also cast in her first Principal speaking role in a made for TV movie performing in a scene with Bette Davis.

She has written plays and poetry; given spoken word performances; and organized community events. During the 1990’s she was active in the Black community; and helped found “Crossroads Theatre ”in the 1980’s (a multicultural theatre company) and was also an Associate Producer for a Sepia Players production called “A Double Bill”.

Siobhan Barker is a published, nationally recognized, and multiple award winning bilingual creative and performer honouring ancestral teachings of the Griot. Having worked in schools, festivals, and special events, they are celebrated as a mesmerizing storyteller that captivates audiences of any age. They have developed a groundbreaking ceremonial practice of opening events in recognizing and celebrating African ancestors across the diaspora. They are an expert consultant in equity, disability justice, accessibility measures, body liberation, and the Director of Hogan’s Alley Society Community Care; Housing, Culture & Land Stewardship Programs.

Britney Mocca is a Vancouver-based actor with 10+ years of experience in film and television. Her credits include High Potential, Upload, and Untamed. She trained at Capilano University and holds degrees in Psychology and Performing Arts. Britney also teaches at Arts Umbrella and is currently in fellowship training as a film programmer.

The post Living Room Series – Where My People At? A Black Artists & Industry Workers’ Salon appeared first on Rumble.

Composer + Musician Anju Singh and Bharatnatyam Dance Artist Arno Kamolika will share 4 short experiments from their research studio dates supported by Rumble Theatre. The artists are exploring this classical Indian dance form in relationship to contemporary music and composition as the two artists survey the potential for collaborations between Arno’s movement work and Anju’s sound work for music, dance, theatre, and opera applications.

This informal event will show experiments in progress rather than completed works and invite visitors to learn more about the two artists’ research.

To learn more about Bharatnatyam Dance click here.

The post Open Studio Visit With Anju Singh and Arno Kamolika appeared first on Rumble.

Karen Hines is an award-winning, genre-defining creative. As a writer, director and cult-comedian, she is the long time director of High Performance Rodeo favourites, Mump & Smoot.

Also known for her short films featuring the character Pochsy, Karen has traveled the globe to international critical acclaim.

My Name Is Karen is a work-in-progress and a satirical examination of the “Karen meme”.

Cast & Crew

Karen Hines – Creator and Performer
Blake Brooker – Dramaturgy
Peter Moller – Images

Produced by:

June Fukumura and Paige Louter

Karen Hines’ high performance satires have won multiple production and literary awards and citations including twice being finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre She is the author of The Pochsy Plays, All the Little Animals I Have Eaten, Drama and Crawlspace among others – all published by Coach House Books. She is a Dora Award-winning performer and director (Pochsy, Mump & Smoot) and her short films featuring the character ‘Pochsy’ have screened on five continents. Combining such disparate elements as magical realism, pink brand feminism, performance clown and horror, Hines’ works have won her a reputation as "One of the gems of Canadian theatre" (Toronto Star). Her true life real estate horror Crawlspace (Boca del Lupo, cross-Canada tour) is currently streaming on CBC Radio and her Pochsy IV recently closed to sold-out houses at Toronto’s VideoCabaret. Hines is a Gemini nominee and for three years played “Karen” in the Emmy Award-winning Newsroom (CBC/PBS)

Paige Louter (she/they) is a queer theatre creator and producer based in so-called Vancouver. She holds an MA in Drama and Theatre from the University of Galway, and works as a performer, writer, outside eye, and intimacy director. Paige produced The Café (ITSAZOO/Aphotic) and Sunrise Betties (ITSAZOO), produced/assistant directed Meeting (ITSAZOO/Pacific), co-produced and performed in The Wolves (With a Spoon/Rumble; Jessie Nomination: Outstanding Production) and performed in The Lonesome West (Cave Canem), Twelfth Night (Tottering Biped) and Coarse: The Brontes (Edinburgh Fringe). Year-round, they work as ITSAZOO’s Co-Artistic Producer and Currently Arts’ Operations Manager. Upcoming: solo shows God Joke Play and Nod.

June Fukumura is a multidisciplinary, nisei (second-generation) Japanese-Canadian theatre artist living on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, colonially known as Vancouver. She is the Co-Artistic Director of Popcorn Galaxies, an experimental theatre company dedicated to re-enchanting the everyday through unconventional, site-responsive and site-specific new works. Since 2013, Popcorn Galaxies has created over fourteen productions and has been presented in Vancouver, Richmond, Edmonton, Whitehorse, and Dartmouth. Her personal artistic practice includes: acting for theatre/film/tv/voice over, clowning/bouffon, puppeteering, directing, dramaturgy, devising, and writing. She has worked with a number of theatre companies across Canada including The Stratford Festival, Theatre Calgary, Arts Club Theatre, Theatre Replacement, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, The Chop Theatre, Little Onion Puppet Co., The Biting School, and Hong Kong Exile. As a dyslexic artist, she also works as a speaker, advocate, and educator. She is passionate about creating diverse, inclusive, and safer spaces for all neurodiverse and neurodivergent artists. June holds a BFA in Theatre Performance and a Certificate in Sustainable Community Development from Simon Fraser University.

Supported by:

My Name is Karen is made possible with financial support of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. 

The post My Name is Karen appeared first on Rumble.

Several times a year, Rumble hosts the Living Room, a gathering for the artistic community to get together and talk about what’s going on. All of it. It’s a great opportunity to connect, network, and share news in a casual and fun environment. Refreshments are served. (That’s for the mingling….mingling snacks.)

So listen, think, speak. Be welcome. Expect creative contributions around provocative ideas, and some good laughs.

More info here!

March 26th, 2026 – Mental Health Through An Artist’s Lens Long Table

Join us for a special Living Room edition where the evening will bring 14 participants together to dive into this topic in the form of a Long Table Discussion. 

What is a “Long Table” you ask? It’s a discussion format created by artist Lois Weaver. Inspired by the need for more inclusive and informal public conversations, this form uses a long table to encourage self-moderated dialogue and establish an “everybody has a seat at the dinner table” community-based atmosphere.

Co-facilitators: Alisha Davidson, Angie Descalzi, Carmen Ostrander

Paper, pens and markers will be provided along with tea and snacks.

Time: 5:30 pm (doors open at 5:00 pm)
Location: Progress Lab 1422 – Studio (1422 William St – map)
Tickets: Free Registration Here! (Capacity is limited to 14 people, please RSVP ahead of time)

Got questions you want to bring to the Living Room? Fill out the Registration Form or email Alisha the day before with the Subject Line: Living Room Questions for March 26th, and the questions you have relevant to the theme.

FAQ’s

What is a Long Table?

A Long Table, conceived by Lois Weaver of the lesbian theater duo Split Britches, is a physical space and non-hierarchical process for people gathering in conversation on topics of communal concern. It allows for an abundant, free flow of ideas, opinions, information and energy. The Long Table structure requires a physical long table to embody an “everybody has a seat at the dinner table” atmosphere; chairs, paper table cloth, pens and markers for note taking, scribbles, etc and an etiquette sheet. Learn more about the project, origin and etiquette practice for the Long Table here.

What if I just want to listen, do I have to participate in the conversation?

You are 100% welcome to just sit and listen.

Why this topic in this format?

Associate Producer Alisha Davidson was interested in holding a living room to give space for artists to talk openly about the state of mental health; not just within the context of the industry but also the greater context: the price of living still climbing, funding cuts, social and political shifts, and global and climate upheaval a.k.a..how are ya’ll doing right now?

We are all dealing with a lot; while still making art and while still confronting the ways in which our global communities are splintering and understanding ways we can stand up against violent systems of imperialism. But how do we actually talk about it? The heavy or the taboo? Hence, the Long Table format was brought to Rumble’s attention as the format itself was born from the need to explore difficult topics openly, equitably and non-hierarchically.

Do I have to disclose any personal information?

There is absolutely no requirement to disclose anything you don’t want to.

What should I bring?

Bring your whole self, as you are!

What is the intention of the space?

Provide a meaningful space for exchange, reflection and the sharing of ideas. Bring our own expertise based on our lived and shared experiences. Start conversations that are on-going (removing the need to finish them).

The post Living Room Series – A Long Table on Mental Health Through An Artist’s Lens appeared first on Rumble.

Kids Market is organized by Parents for Palestine. We are a multi-racial, interfaith, inclusive community of families on unceded Coast Salish territories. We support a Free Palestine. We advocate for safety, dignity, and love for all children. We are building a world where Palestinian children can thrive on their ancestral homelands without fear. Together, we are creating an inclusive, welcoming movement. We build child-friendly spaces, organize Palestinian-centered cultural and educational events, engage in solidarity work, and use our voices as parents to demand justice for Palestinian people

We accept cash and card payments! Follow @ParentsforPalstineYVR for a sneakpeek of everything we have to offer!

Accessibility

The post Kid’s Market for Palestine appeared first on Rumble.

What the Critics Have Said About The Effect:

“The Effect evokes the deliciously unsettling feeling that all of us are nothing more than bundles of chemicals in ongoing experiments” – The Guardian

“a knockout human drama” – London Theatre

“a parable for the modern age” – Harpers Bazaar

About the Show

Is it Love?
Or is it Chemical?

A dark, razor-sharp thriller by Emmy-winning writer of Succession, Lucy Prebble. The Effect dives into the chemical nature of love through the lens of a clinical drug trial. Connie and Tristan enter a study for a new dopamine-regulating antidepressant. They fall in love. Or do they? As dosages rise, desire and obsession intensify, and the boundary between genuine emotion and altered chemistry begins to blur. This provocative and timely co-production between Rumble Theatre and ITSAZOO Productions asks: If you can’t trust your heart and you can’t trust your mind—what’s left?

Content Advisory: This is a close-proximity experience with flashing lights, haze and loud sounds. This production includes sexual content, adult language, discussions of depression and mental health, and portrayals of pharmaceutical trials.

Ticketing

Preview – $20
Artist / Discounted performances – $25
All other shows – $30 REGULAR / $40 I ︎ INDIE THEATRE

Click here to get your tickets!

Progress Lab is wheelchair accessible.

If you have any specific access needs or if ticket prices are a financial barrier please email: Angie at angie[at]rumble.org

Show Schedule

WEEK 1

Preview: Friday, November 7 at 7:30 pm

Opening Night: Saturday, November 8 at 7:30 pm

Discounted Evening: Monday, November 10 at 7:30 pm
Discounted Evening:Tuesday, November 11 at 7:30 pm

Evening: Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30 pm
Evening: Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Evening: Friday, November 14 @ 7:30 pm

Discounted Matinee: Saturday, November 15 @ 2 pm

Evening: Saturday, November 15 @ 7:30 pm – $30 & $40 tickets.

WEEK 2

Discounted Evening: Monday, November 17 at 7:30 pm
Discounted Evening: Tuesday, November 18 at 7:30 pm

Evening: Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30 pm
Evening: Thursday, November 20 at 7:30 pm
Evening: Friday, November 21 at 7:30 pm

CLOSING NIGHT: Saturday, November 22 at 7:30 pm

Plan Your Visit

For more information on how to get to Progress Lab 1422, please click here.

Meet the Cast & Creative Team

Paige Louter / CONNIE

Paige Louter (she/they) is a queer theatre creator and producer based in so-called Vancouver. She holds an MA in Drama and Theatre from the University of Galway, and works as a performer, writer, outside eye, and intimacy director. Paige produced The Café (ITSAZOO/Aphotic) and Sunrise Betties (ITSAZOO), produced/assistant directed Meeting (ITSAZOO/Pacific), co-produced and performed in The Wolves (With a Spoon/Rumble; Jessie Nomination: Outstanding Production) and performed in The Lonesome West (Cave Canem), Twelfth Night (Tottering Biped) and Coarse: The Brontes (Edinburgh Fringe). Year-round, they work as ITSAZOO’s Co-Artistic Producer and Currently Arts’ Operations Manager. Upcoming: solo shows God Joke Play and Nod.

Andy Kalirai  / TRISTAN

Andy Kalirai (he/him) is an actor and writer born and raised in Vancouver. He’s trained with Railtown Actors Studio and Tempest Theatre. Select credits include: Guards At The Taj (Vancouver Fringe), I & You (Tempest Theatre), Zahak: The Serpent King (The Biting School), and Gemini (Monsoon Festival) which he also wrote.

Meghan Gardiner / DR. LORNA JAMES

Theatre credits include: The Cull, The Sound of Music, Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Story: the Musical, Blood Brothers, Paradise Garden, Evita (Arts Club Theatre), How The World Began (Pacific) The Boy in the Moon (Neworld Theatre), The Music Man, I Lost My Husband (Gateway Theatre), Dead Metaphor, Urinetown (Firehall Arts Centre) and The Last Five Years (Western Canada Theatre). Television credits include: The Flash, Family Law, The Good Doctor, Firefly Lane, A Million Little Things, Beyond, Backstrom, The L Word, Motherland, Supergirl and several Hallmark movies. Meghan is a YWCA Women of Distinction nominee and has written ten professionally produced plays.

Anthony Santiago (he/him) / DR. TOBY

Anthony is delighted to be making his ITSAZOO and Rumble Theatre debut.

Selected theatre credits include: Death and the King’s Horseman, King Lear, The Diviners
(Stratford Festival); Oliver!, Anne of Green Gables: The Musical (Gateway Theatre);
Heaven, Angels in America (The Citadel Theatre); Company (Raincity Theatre); Coriolanus, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Winter’s Tale (Bard on the Beach); A Prayer for Owen Meany, Dark
Road, Superior Donuts (Ensemble Theatre Company)

Film & TV: Motherland: Fort Salem, Sonic the Hedgehog, SCTV

Other: Four-time Jessie award nominee and two-time winner; two-time Ovation award nominee.

Much love to my Beloved wife Alexis and my kids James and Nya-Manet

Jiv Parasram/ DIRECTOR

Jivesh Pararam (He/Him) is an award-winning multi-disciplinary artist, and facilitator of Indo-Caribbean descent. His work has toured Nationally and Internationally. Jiv is the founding Artistic Producer of Pandemic Theatre, and became the Artistic Director of Rumble Theatre following three years as the Associate Artistic Producer at Theatre Passe Muraille. He was a member of the Cultural Leader Lab with the Banff Centre and Toronto Arts Council. His public service work has included collaborations with the Ad Hoc Assembly, The Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and as an advisor to the National Arts Centre. His current cultural practice centres decolonization through aesthetics. As both a creator and a dramaturge Jiv has been involved in the development of numerous new plays and creation projects, several of which have gone on to be nominated for a Governor General’s Literary award in Drama. 

Lisa Goebel (she/her) / INTIMACY DIRECTOR

Select credits: choreographer/intimacy director for Bright Star (GTP/Mirvish), The Dark Lady (Bard on the Beach), A Doll’s House (Arts Club), and Pride & Prejudice (Western Canada/Gateway). Associate movement director/intimacy director for Choir Boy (Arts Club), and intimacy director for Die Fledermaus (Vancouver Opera), Yaga (Touchstone Theatre), and Waitress (Arts Club). Lisa is a certified intimacy director through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and is a graduate of Studio 58.

Jack Goodison / TD & SOUND DESIGNER

Jack (He/Him) is a Technical Director and Sound/Video Designer who originates from the UK, now living in Vancouver. He works to create an atmosphere that immerses the audience into the world of the show, letting them escape reality and lose themselves in theatre. He has worked all across the UK and now designs on the ancestral and stolen lands of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations. 

Select TD/design credits include: Theatre Conspiracy (Himmat), Rice and Beans Theatre (Peace Country), Pi Theatre / Seizieme Theatre (Polygraph), Rumble Theatre (Las Pasiones de Don Pasquale; Chochito Rey; A Tavola), Axis Theatre (Where Have All the Buffalo Gone), Douglas College (The 39 Steps; Jane Austen Action Figure; Orlando; Mad Forest), Vancouver Opera (The Pearl Fishers).

Christine Quintanta (she/her) / COSTUME DESIGNER

Born in Los Angeles to a Mexican-American father and a Dutch-British-Canadian mother, Christine is now a grateful visitor to the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. Christine is an actor, playwright, and (very) emerging costume designer. For Rumble Theatre, she has served as co-playwright and costume designer for Shakespearean telenovela Chochito Rey (workshop production) and co-creator of Good Things To Do (digital tour).  For ITSAZOO Productions, she has been a faithful audience member for every show in Vancouver.  Thank you to her mentor Laura Fukumoto, and her fashion designer mom Kim Brower for their inspiration and support! Christinequintana.ca 

Monica Emme / SET, PROPS, PROJECTION DESIGNER

Monica Emme (she/her) is a set designer, props and puppet creator, and general maker, currently based in Vancouver.  Monica holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Toronto Metropolitan University and a diploma of Stagecraft and Event Technology from Douglas College.

Some favourite credits include: Set design: Every Day She Rose (Zee Zee Theater), Snow White (Carousel Theatre for Young People), Hadestown Teen Edition, & Newsies Jr. (Arts Umbrella); Production design: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Arts Umbrella); Props: Peace Country (Rice & Beans Theatre), In My Day (Zee Zee Theatre), & Stuart Little (Carousel Theatre for Young People).

Find Monica at www.monicaemme.com

Phil Miguel (he/him) / LIGHTING DESIGNER

Originally a health care worker for the FVRD for over a decade, Phil decided to take his life in a slightly less dramatic direction and began his career in theatre. Over the most recent decade he has been a designer, director, actor, and producer in Vancouver spawning two theatre companies (Clockwork and Cave Canem) with multiple acclaimed and nominated productions. His past designs include lights for the best production nominated Lonesome West with Cave Canem Productions, set for Gramma with Pacific Theatre, and props for Wakey Wakey with Pacific Theatre. As production manager he enjoys learning how to create reconstructable pumpkins and sanskrit scrabble tiles and trying to figure out how to make things concurrently water and fire proof.

Maria Zarrillo (they/them) / STAGE MANAGER 

Maria Zarrillo (they/them) is a queer, non-binary Arts Manager with a background in organizational leadership, producing, stage management, advocacy, and research. They have worked with a variety of companies and communities in these capacities both locally and nationally. In addition to their freelance career, Maria is the Managing Director of Rumble Theatre. Maria is a graduate of Studio 58’s production program, the University of Winnipeg with a major in Theatre & Film and a minor in Human Rights, and has a Master of Arts in Justice Studies from Royal Roads University. Maria’s research looks to Queer Utopian Theory as a framework for addressing systemic inequities in the Canadian performing arts sector.

The post The Effect appeared first on Rumble.

‘The horse in Arabic is a symbol of freedom. But to us, this horse is much more. This horse is us.’

Built from the debris of a major invasion, the Horse of Jenin sculpture became a constant presence in Alaa’s life growing up in Occupied Palestine. It stood proudly in the center of the city for twenty years, symbolizing hope and resistance.

Then, on OCT 29, 2023, an Israeli bulldozer entered the city, ripping the sculpture from its place — and from its people.

Now, Alaa is left wondering… What happened to the horse?

Combining storytelling, mask and stand-up comedy, The Horse of Jenin explores the everyday life of a boy growing up in Jenin in Occupied Palestine who, like every child in the world, just wants to play and have fun.

Content Advisory: Recommended for ages 13+. Contains mature themes.

The post The Horse of Jenin appeared first on Rumble.

An outdoor summer concert 

August 16, 2025 at 8:00 pm

Grandview Park ( Commercial Drive at Charles St.)

Admission: FREE! (bring a lawn chair or a blanket)

Featuring 

D’arcy Han
Robyn Jacob
Saina Khaledi
Amy Stephen

This free outdoor concert – a new collaboration between The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) and Little Chamber Music, supported by Rumble Theatre – promises a beautiful evening of intercultural music: the perfect playlist for a summer evening on the Drive.

Vocalists D’arcy Han, Robyn Jacob, Saina Khaledi, and Amy Stephen will perform a colourful selection of folk/pop/contemporary songs, which they have arranged specially for this concert, accompanied by a VICO chamber ensemble that includes Molly MacKinnon (violin), Laine Longton (cello), Dai Lin Hsieh (zheng), Mike Brown (bass clarinet), Saina Khaledi (santour), Amy Stephen (accordion and harp), and Jonathan Bernard (percussion).

This “Grandview Park Playlist” weaves together strands from Chinese, Persian, Celtic, and North American West Coast cultures into a fresh, uniquely Canadian tapestry of sound. Come for dinner on the Drive, and stay for an hour of “music that sounds like Vancouver looks” (as Alexander Varty once described the VICO’s programming in The Georgia Straight). Bring a blanket or a lawn chair, and join us in the park!

******

The VICO and Little Chamber Music respectfully acknowledge that this concert takes place on the traditional, unceded territories of the Coast Salish people, in particular the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Waututh First Nations. 

We also extend grateful thanks to the following funders and community partners, whose support is crucial to this project:
The Canada Council for the Arts, City of Vancouver Cultural Services, the Province of BC (Community Gaming), and the BC Arts Council.

******

D’arcy Han

Beijing born, Vancouver raised D’arcy Han has been singing and performing since she made her vocal debut on Chinese national TV at the age of 7. As a vocalist and artist, she performed at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and toured the USA, Europe, and Asia with her many music projects. In 2017, D’arcy appeared on Sing! China (“The Voice”) with an international audience of over 400 million. The program vaulted this Canadian singer/songwriter to celebrity status. This was followed up by special performances and appearances at national television events including the Chinese Spring Gala show, the Miss World 2017 Final, the Silk Road International Film Festival, the Strawberry Music Festival and China International Fashion Week, and more. In 2018, her debut EP This is Me, reached #4 on the BBC Soul Charts, and is still peaking on Spotify and other online mediums. From stadiums to intimate stages, D’arcy captivates with what critics describe as a uniquely charming voice paired with an unmatched classiness in personal style and stage presence. An honorary member of the Canadian Association of Songwriters, D’arcy co-writes, produces and collaborates with songwriters/producers, artists, and performers from both North America and Asia. She is a cultural ambassador, committed to bridging people through music, acting and performances.  

Robyn Jacob

Robyn Jacob is a composer, pianist, vocalist and educator living and working from the unceded territories of the Sḵwxwú7mesh, Xwməθkwəyəm and Səl’il’wətaʔ Nations, also known as Vancouver. Her compositions include commissions by Grammy Award-winning Third Coast Percussion (Chicago), Architek Percussion (Montreal), Grammy Award-winning Sō Percussion (Brooklyn), Chor Leoni (Vancouver), and the Victoria Symphony, as well as collaborations with visual artists and instrument makers. Her avant-pop project Only A Visitor (Mint Records) has toured internationally and released four albums to date. She has released two albums with her duo project The Giving Shapes in collaboration with harpist Elisa Thorn. Her new solo project Immix explores the emotive narratives of voice and electronics. From 2012 – 2024 she was part of the multi-disciplinary art collective Publik Secrets, whose work includes a variety of public space interventions, performances, installations and ephemeral gatherings, including Gamelan Bike Bike, which she co-led with artist and composer George Rahi for over ten years.

Saina Khaledi

Saina Khaledi, an Iranian-Canadian musician, achieved significant recognition by emerging victorious in the Iranian Santour Festival in 2003. Holding a diploma from Iran’s most prestigious music school, the Tehran Music Conservatoire, Khaledi dedicated herself to her musical education and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 2007. Subsequently, she relocated to Canada in 2009. Since her arrival, Khaledi has performed extensively across various countries, including Iran, Austria, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, and

Canada. Her performances have showcased her versatility as a composer, soloist, and collaborator with esteemed groups such as Music On Main, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO), Vashaan Ensemble, Vancouver Bach Choir, BC Chinese Music  Ensemble (BCCME), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO), Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Allegra Chamber Orchestra, Richmond Choir, VanChoir, Medusa Society, Artemis Society, National Orchestra of Iran Conservatoire, Mellal Orchestra, and Hamnavazan Ensemble.  Currently, Khaledi holds teaching positions at Capilano University, and offers private lessons.

Amy Stephen

Born in 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta, Amy Stephen grew up in Vancouver, BC and now resides in Coquitlam. Amy was a founding member of internationally-acclaimed celtic funk ensemble ‘Mad Pudding’ and is currently a member of Vancouver’s World Music Collective. She writes and performs cultural fusion music with her husband, Persian vocalist Amir Haghighi, and is a popular studio musician and performer around Vancouver, playing piano, accordion, celtic harp and penny whistle.

The founder and director of Vancouver’s Aurora Celebration Choir and the Coquitlam Celebration Choir, Amy obtained a B.Mus. and a B.Ed. from UBC, studying conducting with James Fankhauser, and sang with the University Singers and the University Chamber Singers. Since then, she has sung with various groups around Vancouver, including the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Vancouver Cantata Singers and Musica Intima. 

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO), founded in 2001, is a contemporary classical music ensemble – one of the world’s first concert orchestras devoted specifically to performing new intercultural music on a grand scale. It is currently the only professional ensemble of its kind in Canada. The ensemble includes Western strings and winds (violin, viola, cello, contrabass, oboe, flute, clarinet) alongside Chinese erhu, pipa, sanxian, zheng, and sheng/suona; Persian kamanche, tar/setar, oud, and tombak; percussion from many world music traditions; and a variety of other instruments as required. Through composition, performance and educational outreach to both music professionals and the general public, the VICO supports the development of BC composers and musicians of diverse backgrounds (including Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Indian, Persian (Iranian), Latin and South American, Vietnamese, North American and European). Since repertoire for the VICO’s novel instrumentation does not already exist, creating new works (150+ new Canadian compositions since 2001, and counting!) is an integral component of all our programming – providing a framework for bringing musicians and composers together to learn from each other, in a uniquely collaborative process. The VICO’s programming includes standalone concerts and our biannual Global Soundscapes Festival; public educational events; a biannual Summer Academy, professional development workshops for established and emerging musicians and composers; the creation and distribution of educational materials (video, audio, text) via the web; outreach and collaboration with other artists and organisations in the contemporary and world music scenes of Vancouver, Canada, Europe and Asia; and more. https://www.vi-co.org

Little Chamber Music

Little Chamber Music (LCM) is a non-profit performing arts society that supports diverse artistic practice through the creation of distinctive, free public events that combine music (new music/classical music/world music) with other art forms such as dance, poetry, and storytelling, as well as local history. Founded in 1990, LCM quickly became highly regarded as an innovative presenter of new music in Vancouver. As resident series at the Cultch, it gained acclaim for commissioning and producing original work (The White Album Concert, Cam Wilson’s Playground Rhymes for Grownups). From 2012-2015 Little Chamber Music was in residence with the Vancouver Park Board as part of their Field House Artist program, and in January 2015, Mark Haney became the first Composer in Residence for Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery. In the years that followed, LCM created more than 25 free events at the cemetery that welcomed a total audience of over 12,000. During the pandemic, Little Chamber Music launched the Isolation Commissions, a series which saw $30,000 donated by the community and redistributed to almost 150 artists who created 130 short videos, which have accumulated over 85,000 views to date. LCM welcomed new leadership in 2024 with Molly MacKinnon stepping in as Artistic Director. Molly has a long history of working with the organization as a performer, producer, and artistic associate. She is extremely excited to continue and expand on LCM’s reputation for innovative, interdisciplinary, community-minded projects. littlechambermusic.com

The post Grandview Park Playlist appeared first on Rumble.

Come hang out with the Rumbler’s on May 25th for our Tremors Launch Party!

Get to know the artists in this year’s Tremors Festival, and share some bevvies with friends and community members, while munching on delicious tacos.

Lineup:

4:00 pm – Part 1: Reading of excerpts from a new experimental work by Elio Zarrillo (If We Be Friends)

BREAK – FREE TACOS and a cash bar!

7:00 pm – Part 2: A special cross-disciplinary presentation with Little Chamber Music of “Fantasy Vignettes” by Erin James.

Ticketing

Part 1 – If We Be Friends (PWYD tickets here)

Part 2 – Fantasy Vignettes (PWYD tickets here)

Please note: Folks can attend both events, but must book tickets separately.

About the Shows

If We Be Friends – By Elio Zarrillo

This showing of If We Be Friends (a play about queer teenhood, zines, Shakespeare and unquestionable resistance), will offer a look into the work’s set and projections design exploration process. The team has been in workshop melding and performing text and image in highly imaginative ways through live analog projection, continuing the play’s translation and transformation of play-text to zine to live theatrical performance.

Elio Zarrillo – Playwright
Stefanie Infantino – Projection Designer
Ashley Aron, Dale MacDonald, Nora Vision, Anais West – Performers

About the Artist

Elio Zarrillo spends their days making plays and poems with and for their loved ones. Originally from Treaty 1 territory, they are currently based on the unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing & Theatre at the University of British Columbia. Recent produced works include The Outside Inn (co-written with Sharon Bajer – Prairie Theatre Exchange, Festival Antigonish), Volare (Prairie Theatre Exchange) and The Show (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). Other works-in-progress include PEACHES (National Queer & Trans Playwriting Unit, Theatre Projects Manitoba), LIAM and If We Be Friends.

Fantasy Vignettes by Erin James, presented by Little Chamber Music

Fantasy Vignettes is a time-traveling journey through 400 years of violin fantasias, brought to life with evocative costumes constructed specifically for each composition. From the earliest notated violin fantasia by Étienne Nau to works by Telemann, Schumann, Price, Schoenberg, and a new commission by Mari Alice Conrad that employs sewing machines and accessories as instruments, each piece explores improvisation, identity, and freedom. Erin James’ dual artistry as violinist and textile designer is woven throughout the program, culminating in an original composition and costume that stitches together and reimagines concert material to create something entirely new. Fantasy Vignettes is both a sonic and visual exploration of history, imagination, and the power of reinvention.

Erin James –  violin, concept, composition, costumes
Todd Yaniw – piano
Mari Alice Conrad – composition, narration, sewing machine + accessories

About the Artist

Erin James is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice lives at the intersection between music, visual art and text. Her musical interests range from baroque to contemporary and she thoroughly enjoys any piece that is singable or danceable. Erin is equally at home as a chamber musician, soloist, theatre artist and orchestral player and her career has taken her across Asia, Europe and North America. If all goes well, by the time you read this, Erin will have successfully obtained her Doctorate in Music. This will round out her list of qualifications including a Masters degree from the Royal College of Music in London, a Bachelor’s degree from UBC and a Diploma in Fashion Design from George Brown College.

The post TREMOLO: Tremors Festival Launch Party appeared first on Rumble.

Rumble Theatre is proud to announce the return of Tremors Festival, a three-night bash of experimental and interdisciplinary live performance happening June 6–8, 2025. Five daring new works from across Canada converge at Progress Lab 1422, inviting you into an evening of sci-fi, fantasy, hip-hop, and the thing of dreams. With a vibe that’s equal parts theatre, community shindig, and art party, this biennial festival will light up East Vancouver with new and in-progress works by some of the country’s most exciting theatre makers.

From poetic space memes to absurdist spirits, immersive lullabies to fun dream-games, this year’s festival asks audiences to explore transitions, dreams, and the space in between.

It all kicks off with TREMOLO: Tremors Launch Party on May 25, featuring excerpts from a new experimental work from Elio Zarrillo (If We Be Friends) followed by a special cross-disciplinary presentation with Little Chamber Music of Fantasy Vignettes by Erin James.

Featuring New Works by

Cameron Peal
Christine Genier
Kern Albert & Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Howard Dai
Paige Louter

Ticketing – How to watch shows at Tremors?

Each show is performed every night of the festival; audiences can choose between one of two tracks that run simultaneously:

Track 1

Dear Star Trek (Christine Genier)

Nod (Paige Louter)

Dream Machine (Howard Dai)

Track 2

Panoptikon (Kern Albert & Donna-Michelle St. Bernard)

Pelmet & Sables (Cameron Peal)

Dream Machine (Howard Dai)

One ticket gets you three shows (Dream Machine is experienced by the entire audience)

Can’t decide on which track? Choose “SURPRISE ME” and roll the dice when you pick up your ticket to leave it all to fate.

Want to see them all?  Attending two nights will allow you to catch all the shows.

Performances begin at 7:00 pm (but come early for the bar and games!).

Launch Party: TREMOLO

Date: May 25, 2025
Location: Progress Lab Studio
Time: Doors open at 4:30 pm
Tickets: pay-what-you-decide (each event sold separately)

• 5:00 pm – If We Be Friends by Elio Zarrillo (excerpts) 
• Break – FREE TACOS FOR ALL! 
• 7:00 pm – Fantasy Vignettes by Erin James, a concert presented by Little Chamber Music

For more information on TREMOLO please click here.

Festival Programming

Pelmet and Sables by Cameron Peal
Unceded Coast Salish Territories, MST (Vancouver, BC) 

~A brief moment that would make sense (if it could) but it can’t (even though there is effort)~

This is a play for two actors. The characters are two non-human spirits who set out to discover what it means to be human by experiencing death. For them, death is only a vague concept because neither of them can die, despite how hard they try to find out. And they definitely do try. The show is an absurd, surrealist comedy looking to express grief, life, death, and the way that language falls short of the experiences of life.

Cameron Peal – Writer, Director
Ivy Charles – Co-director
Sherine Menes – Performer
L Danger – Performer

About the Creator

Cameron Peal (he/they) is a Vancouver based (Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Waututh territories) theatre artist, from the Nisga’a Nation of Northwest BC. He is currently the Indigenous Outreach Coordinator at The Cultch. His current passion is in exploring the abstract; “how can I express something beyond the boundaries of what’s literal, what’s already clear?” His work looks to blur the boundaries between art forms and genres.

To date he has worked as an actor, director, writer, dancer, in community outreach, some minor producing, and offered dramaturgical support to friends and colleagues for film and theatre from time to time. Studio 58 graduate.

Dear Star Trek by Christine Genier
Ta’an Kwäch’än, Kwanlin Dün, Tagēesh Chän ancestral lands (Whitehorse, YT)

~A teasing breakdown of Star Trek, Representation, and the promise of the Prime Directive~

Dear Star Trek. A love letter with memes. And some notes. Christine Genier takes us on a journey through the pleasures and pains of pop culture and the final frontier from an Indigenous perspective. A life long Trekkie, Christine mixes her powerful and humourous storytelling with memes in a fun, teasing breakdown of Star Trek, Representation, and The Problem with Chakotay.

Christine Genier – Writer/Performer
Jacob Zimmer – Collaborator
Nora Paton – Tech Director

About the Creator

Christine Genier (Ta’an Kwächän Council) – Poet, performer, writer, broadcaster, and language keeper – takes us on a journey through the pleasures, impact and obligations in pop culture media from her perspective as a fan and Indigenous woman.

A life long Trekkie, Christine mixes her powerful and humorous storytelling with memes in a fun, teasing breakdown of Star Trek, Representation, and the promise of the Prime Directive.”

Panoptikon by Kern Albert & Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
T’karonto; Dish with One Spoon Covenant (Toronto/Hamilton, ON)

~Lend me some sugar. I am your neighbour~

Panoptikon aims to illuminate the experience(s) of incarceration. Based on first hand accounts, the composition comprises monologue, spoken word and hip hop in a series of snapshots about isolation, aggression, softness and sandwiches.

Donna-Michelle St. Bernard – Producer, Performer, Co-Creator
Kern Albert – Co-Creator, Performer
Shanae Sodhi – Director, Producer
Makambe K. Simamba – Dramaturge
Stephon Smith – Sound Designer
Brianna Bernard – Lightning Designer
Nawa Nicole Simon – Movement Coordinator
Kareem Vaude – Performer
Nicci Pryce – Performer

Advisories/Trigger Warnings: this show contains references to violence, sexual violence, and institutional cruelty.

About the Creators

Donna-Michelle St. Bernard aka Belladonna the Blest is an emcee, playwright and agitator. Her playwriting is focused in the 54ology: The First Stone, Diggers, Give It Up, The Smell of Horses, Just Now, Click Click, Cake, Sound of the Beast, A Man A Fish, Salome’s Clothes, Dark Love and Gas Girls. Other offerings include theatre for young audiences, opera libretti, collaborative works and weird reflections. As director, she has worked on The F Word (Cheesman/Miranda), Our Fathers, Sons, Lover and Little Brothers (Simamba), Job’s Wife (Nolan), Oops! (Feld). DM is currently an associate artist at lemonTree Creations, artistic director of New Harlem Productions. She is co-editor with Yvette Nolan of the Playwrights Canada Press anthologies Refractions: Solo and Refractions: Scenes, as well as editor of Indian Act: Residential School Plays.

Kern Albert is a poet, emcee and actor. Originally from Trinidad, Kern comes to Toronto by way of London, England and Brisbane, Australia where he spent time both among the colonizers and the native Aboriginals. He has lent his world-worn gaze to the stage as an actor in The Dutchman (lemonTree), Prison Skin (New Harlem). As a playwright his works include The Last Pig in Afghanistan and Roominhouse (with DM St. Bernard). As a vocalist, Kern ran with hip hop ensemble The Dope Poet Society, then with Seeds Sown, followed by a stint as a drummer with the Awakening. He has been known to operate lights, build sets and offer dramaturgy.

Dream Machine by Howard Dai
Unceded Coast Salish Territories, MST (Vancouver, BC) 

~In this world, dreams are your currencies and imagination is your most useful tool; the more you dream, the richer you are! But is it all as simple as it seems?~

This show is heavily inspired by Taiwanese variety / game TV shows. Through the gesture and form of a lottery draw, the work seeks to explore the parallel between immigration and gambling: The process of immigration, the immigrant’s wish for their children, and the sacrifice they have to make. It is an immersive experience that will directly summon the audience’s dreams and aspirations that may be present in their life, or have long forgotten about. I want to curate a space where players meet each other through their dreams, and uplift each other with their ambitions.

Howard Dai – Creator, Performer

Featuring: Alexa Fraser, Cindy Kao, Hannah Meyers, Pascal Reiners, Jessica Wong, Stephanie Wong, & Conor Wylie.

Advisories: audience participation/interactive elements.

About the Creator

Howard Dai is a Taiwanese actor and theatre artist based in so-called Vancouver whose work has been seen across Canada. His performances and creations have existed in theatre, films, public spaces, Zoom screens, Google Sheets, automated phone calls, interactive websites, and virtual reality. He was most recently seen onstage in Halifax, Ottawa, and Stratford. Howard was mentored by Charles Douglas in movement and performance capture. He is a member of the Five Blessings Collective, an associate artist with rice & beans theatre, and holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU School for the Contemporary Arts (www.howarddai.com)

Nod by Paige Louter
Unceded Coast Salish Territories , MST (Vancouver, BC) 

~An immersive theatre experience to lullaby your brain, caffeinate your heart, and manifest your dreams. Hopefully they’re nice ones~

I am drawn to creating work that has a seed in my own life but that grows into something bigger and weirder that can delight, arrest, transform, and sometimes challenge.

I’m deeply interested in experimenting with processes that are responsive to my shifting health and energy capacities, and how that can positively impact the quality of my work and the way an audience experiences it.

I’m also interested in poking at the idea of comparative suffering, and how we can better support both the people in our lives who are struggling daily with health issues such as fatigue, and those who might just be having a really bad day after a sleepless night. I think there’s room for both!

Paige Louter – Creator/Performer
June Fukumura – Dramaturg
Shona Struthers – Sound Designer/Composer
Phil Miguel – Lighting Designer
Karen Hines – Outside Eye

Advisories/Trigger Warnings: upsetting dream content, quick lighting changes.

About the Creator

Paige Louter is a queer theatre creator and producer based in so-called Vancouver. She holds an MA in Drama and Theatre from the University of Galway, and is pursuing an intimacy direction practice alongside her work as a dramaturg, performer, and writer. Credits include producing The Café (ITSAZOO/Aphotic) and Sunrise Betties (ITSAZOO), and performing in Twelfth Night (Tottering Biped) and Coarse: The Brontes (Sarah Deller). Year-round, they work as ITSAZOO Productions’ Co-Artistic Producer and Currently Arts’ Operations Manager. Upcoming: solo show God Joke Play and assistant directing Meeting (ITSAZOO/Pacific Theatre/Neworld Theatre.)

The post Tremors Festival 2025 appeared first on Rumble.