The Georgia Straight - Holiday Arts - November 25, 2021

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021 | FREE

Volume 55 | Number 2806

RCMP ARRESTS

Private law on unceded territory

TOWERING INFERNO BMO’s colourful housing lingo

HOLIDAY

ARTS

East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland, featuring the Mad Hatter, is landing at the York Theatre; plus, seasonal concerts, theatre, and dance

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PuSh FESTIVAL

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TRANSLINK CRITIC

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SYNTHIA KISS

NEWS

Transit advocate keeps up the fight for improved bus service

CONTENTS

November 25 - December 2 / 2021

9

COVER

East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland offers families a chance to return to the theatre over the holiday season.

by Carlito Pablo

By Martin Dunphy Cover photo by Tim Matheson

4

COMMENTARY

The Mounties are able to arrest Indigenous land defenders on unceded West’suwet’en traditional territory due to the application of private law.

By Charlie Smith

6

REAL ESTATE

BMO described the overheated housing market as a “towering inferno” in the spring, noting that a “fire still burns” in autumn.

By Carlito Pablo

e Online TOP 5

e Start Here Activist Nathan Davidowicz thinks that TransLink shortchanges Vancouver residents in providing bus service because Vancouverites make up 50 percent of regional transit users. Photo by Mstar.

N

athan Davidowicz estimates that Vancouver needs about 50 kilometres of additional bus service.

The longtime transit advocate explained that this would put every resident in the city within five minutes by foot to a bus stop. “That’s what accessibility is,” Davidowicz told the Straight in a phone interview.

Davidowicz noted that Vancouver riders make up 50 percent of regional transit users served by TransLink, so he believes that the city should have the best bus service in the region. It’s because buses are the most efficient way to move people around the city.

This means fi lling gaps in the grid so bus stops are within a five-minute walk, or a distance of 400 metres. In addition, buses should be arriving every 10 minutes or better, and hours of service should be improved as well. “We used to have 18 latenight buses, but now only 10. In 2016, there were 12,” Davidowicz said.

With reference to the five-minute walk, the transit advocate didn’t pluck that standard out of thin air. It was used by Vancouver when it worked for a decade on its Greenest City Action Plan. One of the city’s targets was to have every resident living within a fiveminute walk of a park, greenway, or other green space by 2020. In a 2021 final progress report, staff noted that the city achieved modest improvement in this area.

Instead of getting better bus service, Davidowicz said, Vancouver has seen bus routes cancelled over the years. He mentioned East 1st Avenue, Grandview Highway, and 16th Avenue east of Cambie Street as examples of where buses have disappeared. The advocate also pointed to cancellations of bus stops in many parts of the city.

“Many of these bus stops with shelters and benches existed in the same location since the 1950s,” he noted.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

Davidowicz turns 70 in December, and his transit activism goes back a long way. It started when he was a math and statistics student at UBC some 50 years ago.

He said there were only three bus routes to the university during his time in the early 1970s. (Now there are 13.)

“I started asking questions, why there is no more bus service and so forth, and that’s how I got involved,” Davidowicz said.

One of the campaigns he was part of was the push for a UBC bus on 49th Avenue.

“We had a successful 30,000-name petition in 1973 and 1974, and then the bus started in March of 1975,” Davidowicz said about the old route that started in the east at Kingsway and Nelson Avenue in Burnaby. Today, the 49 bus connects Metrotown Station to UBC. During the 1980s, he chaired a transit advisory committee formed by city hall.

Vancouver has the fortune of having Davidowicz as a tireless advocate for transit because of its mild weather.

He was 15 years old when he and his family moved to Canada from Israel, where he was born. They settled first in Montreal.

However, his parents didn’t like the weather in the east. “It’s too cold. It snows, so we came here after four years,” Davidowicz recalled.

He recently participated in the city’s virtual open house regarding plans for Broadway. Davidowicz asked if a bus service will be provided on Arbutus Street north of West Broadway, where a new subway station will be located. He told the Straight that city staff informed him that TransLink doesn’t intend to operate buses there. “How do you expect all the people in Kitsilano north of Broadway to get to that station unless there is a bus on Arbutus?” Davidowicz asked. “Not everybody can walk or cycle. There are many seniors in Kitsilano and many disabled people I see all the time.” g

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

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Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 55 | Number 2806 #300 - 1375 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6H 0B1 T: 604.730.7000 F: 604.730.7010 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com

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EDITOR Charlie Smith GENERAL MANAGER (ACTING) Sandra Oswald SECTION EDITORS Mike Usinger (ESports/Liquor/Music) Steve Newton SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Jeff Li ART DEPARTMENT MANAGER Janet McDonald

Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.

1 2 3 4 5

Five people stabbed in Yaletown during large fight near Canada Line station.

Parade of storms to resume after devastating floods and mudslides.

Fundraising campaigns launched for Duffey Lake mudslide victims’ families.

AbCellera Biologics wins B.C. tech industry company of the year anchor award.

Canadian governments post combined $325.5-billion “historic deficit”. @GeorgiaStraight

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

3

COMMENTARY

Private law enables the arrests of land defenders

The RCMP could swoop down on unceded Wet’suwet’en traditional territory because of a court injunction

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by Charlie Smith

ecently, someone asked me to provide context regarding the RCMP’s arrests of Indigenous land defenders on traditional Wet’suwet’en territory.

It’s pretty simple: enforcing private law is so much easier than investigating criminal offences.

With injunctions, all the Mounties need to do is set up an exclusion zone and then grab anyone, including journalists, who ventures beyond the RCMP boundary.

The recent arrests are part of an ongoing

saga in this province.

Last year under article 9.1 of the Provincial Police Services Agreement, Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth authorized the B.C. RCMP to redeploy resources within the Provincial Police Service. That enabled the Mounties to dispatch a large number of members into traditional Wet’suwet’en territory to enforce an injunction obtained by Coastal GasLink.

Farnworth has since been elevated to deputy premier.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

Heavily armed officers enforced an exclusion zone on unceded lands in the midst of a weather emergency to ensure that work will proceed on the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Photo by Dan Loan.

Here’s the first question that opposition MLAs need to ask: did Farnworth authorize the RCMP to redeploy the Provincial Police Force again—in the midst of a provincial weather emergency—so that more RCMP officers could be deployed against climate activists?

If so, it seems like an odd time to shift police resources when so many roads and highways have been washed out in the midst of unprecedented flooding.

The B.C. RCMP has published updates on its “enforcement on the injunction granted to Coastal GasLink”. In the first, it stated there was “considerable damage” to the Lamprey Creek Bridge at the 44-kilometre point of the Morice Forest Service Road. In addition at the 64-kilometre point, there was a vehicle on fire and a decommissioned excavator.

In the second update, the Mounties mentioned “obstructions, blockades, two building-like structures as well as a wood pile that was on fire around a drilling site”.

These were at the two-kilometre mark of the Marten Forest Service Road.

What was left unsaid is that the B.C. RCMP has chosen to enforce private law.

That was done instead of arresting suspects for violations of criminal law described in the two RCMP statements. And the Mounties have chosen to enforce private law “deployed in military garb, armed with assault weapons and dog teams”, according to a news release issued by the Gidimt’en Land Defenders.

The penalties for violating an injunction can be far more severe than breaking a criminal law. That’s because disobeying a court order can result in indefinite jailing.

In an article in the UBC Law Review in 2000, then law student and current University of Ottawa professor of law and medicine Amir Attaran stated that getting “prosecuted” under civil law was “prejudicial”.

At that time, Attaran revealed the existence of a Crown counsel policy manual statement. It maintained that where “civil disobedience affects only a selected group of individuals, those individuals should generally be encouraged to apply for a civil injunction to stop the disobedience”.

According to Attaran’s article, the RCMP’s policy on civil disobedience at that time reinforced this approach: “In accordance with the direction of the Ministry of Attorney General, a low key non-confrontational approach has been adopted and the criminal law is sanctioned for only significant acts of violence or property damage…”

That led Attaran to conclude: “Taken together, the Attorney General and RCMP policies create a regime in which public authorities foreclose the use of the Criminal Code offences relevant to civil disobedience and blockading—such as mischief, intimidation, breach of the peace, contempt, and so on—leaving only remedies in private law.”

Attorney General David Eby oversees policy in his ministry. Under the Attorney General Act, he “must advise the heads of the ministries of the government on all matters of law connected with the ministries”.

Here’s the second question that opposition MLAs need to ask: is Eby continuing with the policy of foreclosing the use of the see next page

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Cody Merriman, the husband of Gidimt’en camp leader Sleydo’, was one of those arrested by the Mounties before being released with conditions to reappear in court. Photo by Dan Loan.

Criminal Code offences relevant to civil disobedience to clear the way for antipipeline protesters to be jailed indefinitely for violating a court injunction?

In granting the injunction to Coastal GasLink in 2019, Justice Margaret Church went out of her way to explain why the land defenders’ actions were not in accordance with Wet’suwet’en law. It was her way of addressing concerns about the federal and provincial government issuing permits to a pipeline company on unceded territory.

Not long after Church issued her injunction, TC Energy agreed to sell 65 percent of its interest in the Coastal GasLink pipeline to New York–based KKR and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo). It acts on behalf of 31 pension, endowment, and government funds in Alberta. KKR is a New York-based private equity fund manager.

The Trudeau government appointed Church to the B.C. Supreme Court bench in 2016. In 2018, the Trudeau government and the Horgan governments approved the $40-billion liquefied-natural-gas plant, export terminal, and pipeline that’s at the centre of this dispute.

The Canadian legal and regulatory

environment is set up in a way that convinced KKR to buy into a fossil-fuel pipeline crossing unceded Indigenous territory to support this carbon-spewing infrastructure project. By one estimate, the LNG project and its associated infrastructure will bring an increase of up to nine million megatonnes in annual B.C. greenhouse gas emissions. That’s after factoring in all the fracked natural gas that will be shipped to the facility.

This amounts to 13 percent of all B.C. emissions in 2018.

KKR knew that if anyone engaged in civil disobedience against this pipeline— and in support of responsible climate policies—private law would apply. And they would be arrested.

This is the context behind what’s happening in northwestern B.C. this past week.

The arrests have taken place in advance of another expected atmospheric river walloping B.C. It will likely result in more road washouts and flooding.

Regardless of this, as long as Farnworth is the deputy premier and Eby is the attorney general, there will always be enough RCMP officers available to enforce private law on unceded Indigenous territory. g

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

5

REAL ESTATE

BMO says the “fire still burns” in housing market

L

by Carlito Pablo

ast spring, the chief economist of BMO described Canada’s housing market in a fiery fashion.

Douglas Porter called it a “towering inferno”, as record-high sales and prices broke into uncharted territory.

It’s now autumn, and the market continues to flare.

“The Fire Still Burns” is how BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic partially titled his recent report about Canadian home sales.

“No surprise here,” Kavcic wrote.

“The market is still drum tight, and demand is still feasting thanks to low mortgage rates, a strong job market, expectations of continued price gains, and

probably some additional activity ahead of mortgage rate hikes (especially for those with a contract in hand),” the BMO economist continued.

Kavcic made the commentary on the same day that the Canadian Real Estate Association released its report about sales.

CREA noted that 2021 is “already a record year” even though sales in November and December are yet to be accounted for.

From January to October, a total of 581,275 residential properties across Canada traded hands.

That number surpassed the annual record of 552,423 sales for all of 2020.

CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

METROLAND REALTY

This Vancouver home at 3737 West 21st Avenue was listed on November 9 for $3,299,900, and Zealty.ca tracking shows that it was purchased on the same day and for that very same price.

noted in a media release on November 15 that 2021 “continues to surprise”.

“Sales beat last year’s annual record by about Thanksgiving weekend so that was always a lock, but I don’t think too many observers would have guessed the monthly trend would be moving up again heading into 2022,” Cathcart stated.

In October, national home sales increased 8.6 percent month-over-month from September.

Meanwhile, the benchmark price of a home in Canada rose 2.7 percent monthover-month in October.

On a year-over-year basis, the price jumped 23.4 percent.

As for listings, the number of properties that came on the market increased 3.2 percent from September to October.

“A month with more new listings is what allows for more sales because those listings are mostly all still getting gobbled up; however, with demand that strong, the supply of homes for sale at any given point in time continues to shrink,” Cathcart stated.

The CREA economist continued, “It is at its lowest point on record right now, which is why it’s not surprising prices are also re-accelerating. We need to build more housing.”

Going back to BMO’s Kavcic, the bank economist noted that new listings in October were down 19.6 percent compared to last year.

This resulted in the sales-to-new listings ratio rising to 79.5 percent in October.

The CREA report noted that the ratio was 75.5 percent in September and 73.5 percent in August.

The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 54.8 percent, the association explained.

Against such backdrop, Kavcic noted that “price momentum is accelerating again”.

The BMO economist provided what he

refers to as the “bottom line”.

“The Canadian housing market is well overdue for higher [interest] rates, and momentum is still pointing upward until it gets them,” Kavcic wrote. g

House

OF LITTLE VALUE

d AN EAST VANCOUVER property with what looks like a livable home has a 2021 assessment of $1,764,600.

Most of the value—$1,705,000—for 1248 East 22nd Avenue was alloted for the 49.5- by 122-foot lot.

Based on B.C. Assessment’s valuation, the one-and-a-half storey home with three bedrooms and two baths is worth only $59,600.

On November 5, the Kensington-Cedar Cottage neighbourhood property near Kingsway and Knight Street was placed on the market with an asking price of $1,999,988. It was marketed for its “great development potential”.

Based on the listing, a new owner could build up to three new housing units, subject to confirmation by the City of Vancouver.

“House of little value,” the listing declared about the 1920 dwelling. After six days, a buyer picked up the property for $2.3 million.

The “land-value only” deal was tracked by real-estate sites fisherly.com and Zealty.ca. g

by Carlito Pablo

LIQUOR

Whisky Advent Calendar operates on many levels

S

by Mike Usinger

ons of Vancouver Distillery’s first-ever whisky advent calendar was inspired by one of the great traditions of Christmas, but take a close look at the box that houses 24 miniature bottles and you’ll also find no shortage of Easter eggs.

Remember how, earlier this year, SOV’s small-batch distillers James Lester and Richard Kraus made a seamless first foray into the whisky world with their awardwinning Cigarettes on a Leather Jacket?

Not to spoil one of the surprises found in the lovingly illustrated, hand-assembled box, but look on the left side-panel and you’ll see a retro-cool biker in a black motorcycle jacket puffing away on a smoke.

“There are so many inside jokes on the box,” Lester acknowledges in an interview with the Straight. “In 2020 and 2021 we were producing hand sanitizers along with every other distillery, so there’s a picture of our bartender sitting on a pile of hand sanitizer roasting marshmallows over a campfire.”

The Easter eggs there? One would be that Sons of Vancouver’s next whisky release will be dubbed Marshmallows Over a Campfire.

Another is that said the distillery’s bartender

We wanted something that people would really want to have.

– James Lester

Sons of Vancouver’s first Whiskey Advent Calendar comes with 12 bottles of blended whisky, 12 whisky liqueurs, and no shortage of Easter eggs for those who’ve followed the distillery’s story.

is dressed like a man who loves, in no particular order, beachfront luaus in Kauai, Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii, and everything ever recorded by Don Ho. “He always wear a Hawaiian shirt, which is his whole thing,” Lester says with

a laugh. “There’s the ghost of Elvis in one of the windows, and the distillery casks are featured as well—they’ve kind of become celebrities at the shop here. Basically we wanted to do call-outs to as many things as we could.”

And then of course there’s the whiskies.

Sons of Vancouver was immediately embraced after opening in 2015 for its wildly popular and award-winning Amaretto, and Tiki Nation takes on Coconut Liqueur and Blue Curaçao. Earlier this year Cigarettes on a Leather Jacket immediately established the distillery as a multiple threat—despite being new to the whisky game, SOV took home gold at the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition with the release.

Beyond the fact that it’s a fun way to jump into the Christmas season, Lester

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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from previous page

says the Whisky Advent Calendar makes the most of the fact Sons of Vancouver now has multiple whiskies on the go, but generally in small batches.

“We wanted to put something out where people could get a feeling for the range of products that we have, but which didn’t involve us burning through all the whisky we have, which would mean a year of two of no releases,” Lester says. “For us, this was a way to help establish the distillery as a bit of a whisky maker, while also controlling our volume.”

And that idea of positioning Sons of Vancouver as being serious about the spirit was as important as having fun with the 12 blended whiskies and 12 whisky liqueurs that make up the package . On the bottom of the Whisky Advent Calendar you’ll find a quick note which serves as a shout-out to an industry that continues to grow at a grassroots level: “In this collection you will find some remarkable, sippable and extremely flavourful drams but also some experimental things full of smoke and spice. Not everything released here will be available again or guaranteed to return next year.

We believe there is a really incredible opportunity in Canadian Whisky, right now, to make great flavourful blends that aren’t seen terribly often in the category. Most of our whiskies lean towards over-proof and high rye mash bills but there are malts and blends included here for everyone’s enjoyment. If you like what you try over the next

If you firmly believe that there should be no peeking under the tree in the days leading up to Xmas, we’d suggest not looking too closely at the labels on the above Whisky Advent Calendar bottles.

24 days, we encourage you to shop around and try other small distillers. In our opinion some of the best Canadian Whiskies are being put out by small producers and are being very overlooked at this moment.”

To reveal the contents of even the first few days of the Sons of Vancouver Whisky Advent Calendar would spoil the magic of an early Christmas gift. Think about it—no one’s supposed to start popping windows, or peaking at what’s going to be under the tree, in the middle of November.

Laughing, Lester will allow that not every experiment worked out when SOV was in the creation phase with its various whiskies and liquers.

“Honestly, one of the things that I was most excited about was an upside-down pineapple-cake whisky,” he recalls. “I had this idea to make a sort of a tiki-based

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

whisky—something similar to what you might find in a rum-style. The upside-down pineapple cake did not make the cut. It wasn’t even close. But I’ve got a really good idea that I think we could pull off for next year.”

For the whiskies and whisky liqueurs that turned out smashingly, the liquor elves were busy for weeks at the distillery. After being designed and fabricated by Great Little Box Company in Richmond, each box was assembled by the Sons of Vancouver team, and then packed, in a specific sequence, with bottles that had to be hand-filled.

“It was honestly the biggest undertaking, beside opening the distillery, that we’ve ever done,” Lester says. “Starting with the design—we had to invent a box where the bottles would stand up. Our whole thing at Sons of Vancouver is under-promising and over-delivering. When you were a kid and

got the Nestle chocolates in the advent calendar, getting to punch them out every day was something that you were really excited for. Globally, there are only a couple of 24day whisky advent calendars. We wanted to do something that would blow people’s heads off. Something that they would see, hold in their hands, and go ‘This feels important.’ We wanted something that people would really want to have.”

Sons of Vancouver has sold out of its Whisky Advent Calendars at the distillery, but you can still find them in B.C. liquor stores with a little calling around. But hold off on popping that first window—and not just because you’ll end up ruining the surprise: starting on December 1, Sons of Vancouver will be taking to its Instagram page to talk about the whiskies each day right up to Christmas.

“We’ll do every release, day-by-day,” Lester notes. “We’ll do that at 8 p.m. each day, so hopefully that will give everyone time to crack the bottle before we ruin the surprise.

We’ll do tasting notes and cocktail recommendations where appropriate. I don’t want to spoil anything, but a few of them make for really great cocktails with whatever you have lying around the house.”

So keep the Whisky Advent Calendar on hand, cue up Elf, A Christmas Story, or Black Christmas, and break out the candy canes, mandarin oranges, and rum balls.

Right down to the Easter eggs, Sons of Vancouver has just made the most wonderful time of year a little more wonderful. g

HOLIDAY ARTS

Alice panto features fresh, super-Vancouver vibe

T

by Martin Dunphy

he annual East Van Panto show has always been known for its Commercial Drive sensibilities and left-ofcentre take on just about anything.

Nothing is really too sacred to be skewered, and its production elements of catchy tunes, goofy laughs, kid-friendly language, and audience interaction—often wrapped up in a beloved childhood tale—has made it a holiday family favourite on the East Side for almost a decade.

And even though people come from all over Vancouver every year to catch the Christmas treat on display at the York Theatre on the Drive, it has always radiated a neighbourhood vibe—especially for those who live close enough to walk to the northwest corner of Commercial and East Georgia Street.

To hear both the writer and director of this year’s Alice in Wonderland panto speak of it, though, that nod-and-a-wink familiarity is looming as much more of a factor than politics in this year’s presentation, especially since last year’s pandemic shift to an online-only version.

“I feel like it is a reflection of the community,” director Meg Roe told the Straight by phone from the York’s lobby, “acknowledging that we can come back and be together— more than maybe taking swipes.

“It’s more about community, more specifically the East Van community and, even more specifically, Commercial Drive.”

Roe—a veteran theatre actor, director, and sound designer who has worked for organizations from Bard on the Beach to Ruby Slippers Theatre to the Shaw Festival—said she and her family live just six blocks from the York’s footlights.

“You feel like you’re working on something inside your own community,” she noted. “This is right here and right now.”

Screenwriter Sonja Bennett (Preggoland, Kim’s Convenience, Letterkenny), originally tapped almost two years ago to script the postponed Alice panto (her first), told the Straight in a separate interview that she got “a little choked” working again in person with fellow entertainment professionals.

“It was incredibly moving,” she said by phone. “I felt very grateful to be able to connect with people again.

“I would guess that this will be the first show that many people will have seen since the pandemic began.”

Bennett lived in the neighbourhood for about 15 years until very recently. She and her two kids are good friends with Roe and her three children. “This neighbourhood is where I raised my kids: it’s sort of a love letter to East Van,” Bennett said.

East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland is the ninth panto coproduction between Theatre Replacement and the Cultch, which operates the York Theatre. This year’s offering, though bringing back live audiences,

The Mad Hatter (Amanda Sum) and Alice (Dawn Petten) are two of the many memorable characters in the Cultch and Theatre Replacement’s hyperlocal East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland, which will be performed at the York Theatre over the holiday season. Photos by Tim Matheson.

will also be available to watch online again, an option that Cultch executive director Heather Redfern said was dictated by many of last year’s remote watchers.

“Our audience told us just how much they loved being able to share their favourite holiday tradition with their friends and families far and wide,” Redfern said in a recent release, “so online is becoming another facet of the East Van Panto tradition.”

No worries, though, lest it seem that some East Side knowing nod or secret handshake is needed along with a ticket to gain admission to or understand the show. The local references aren’t restricted to fair-trade coffee beans and activists protesting in parks.

A previous Wizard of Oz panto, for example, had Dorothy and Toto landing at the intersection of East Hastings and Nanaimo, but they were transported from Port Coquitlam. And they might have killed the wicked East Van Witch, but her ruby slippers were red Fluevogs. Similarly, jokes about yoga pants and real estate probably resonated as much, or more, with Kitsilano residents than Drive diehards.

For her part, Roe said her first panto experience was generally more about hilarity than locality, despite her acknowledgement of the local connection.

“It doesn’t stick much to the panto rules, the English panto tradition,” she said of the

It’s bouncy and fun and pretty universal – director Meg Roe

early 19th-century version of the British holiday musical-comedy heritage. “It’s fresh and super-Vancouver—it’s ours.

“But it’s always about the silliest choices and the biggest laughs. It’s bouncy and fun and pretty universal.”

And Roe added of the Alice rehearsals, “Most of my days I spent laughing out loud.”

Bennett said that, perhaps surprisingly, her zippy script wasn’t timed to cater to kids’ shorter attention spans. “It’s very quickly paced,” she said, “but I write for Letterkenny, which has a rapid-fire pace.

“And I myself have a very short attention span,” she admitted, “so it’s a good fit.”

Both of the panto first-timers conceded that contributions from the veteran returning cast and crew not only eased their

introduction to the genre but improved the product immensely.

“This panto is so extremely collaborative,” Bennett said. “A lot of the people supporting us, they really know what works. These guys are pros, and they know a lot more than I do.”

She said that suggested tweaks to her final draft—“I would say my first draft was much less silly”—came from improvising cast members, Roe, and the stage manager and were “always way better than I wrote”.

Roe said she loved working with longtime panto vet Veda Hille’s music and lyrics, a sentiment enthusiastically seconded

by Bennett (“I have a huge crush on Veda Hille!”), and they both praised actors Mark Chavez, Amanda Sum, Raugi Yu, Dawn Petten, and newcomer Ghazal Azarbad.

“I just love watching these actors,” Roe declared, with Bennett adding that Chavez “is a brilliant improvisor”.

Roe said she makes a point of attending opening night. “It’s like a celebration.”

Bennett said she’ll be there as well.

“I’m very excited. I’ll bring my kids and they’ll think I’m cool for a couple of hours.” g The Cultch and Theatre Replacement present the opening night of East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland on Friday (November 26) at the York Theatre. The show continues until January 2.

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

9

HOLIDAY ARTS

Local playwright embraces autofiction in Lights

P

by Charlie Smith

laywright and actor Adam Grant Warren has some things in common with his character, Evan Chaulk, in his new play Lights. Both have parents in Newfoundland, where the production is set. And Warren readily acknowledges in a phone interview with the Straight that Evan is a deeply personal creation.

“His upbringing is an agglomeration of a number of experiences I went through,” Warren reveals.

Evan is also a teacher, which is something Warren did for a while after graduating with an English degree from Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“His relationship with his parents is dif-

ll p !

Fu e-u ced n n Li ou n An

ferent than the relationship with my parents,” Warren continues. “His relationship is rooted in my relationship with my wife.”

But Warren the playwright and Evan the character became increasingly different with successive drafts of Lights.

“I think that’s a fairly common thing when the characters become their own things,” Warren says.

As a playwright, he asks himself over time what the characters need and what they want in the moment.

“It drifts away from your lived experience, so that mine is the foundation, but it does leave room for the fiction,” Warren notes. “I’m a big fan of the word autofiction.”

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

Adam Grant Warren not only plays a lead character in Touchstone Theatre’s upcoming production of Lights, he also wrote the script, drawing on his own experiences. Photo by David Cooper.

He certainly had a great deal of time to rework Lights. Touchstone Theatre was planning to produce it before the pandemic but it was delayed on more than one occasion. The world premiere will finally take place on December 3 at the Firehall Arts Centre following a preview on the previous evening.

Directed by Roy Surette and costarring Susinn McFarlen as his mother Nancy, Lights focuses on a son who returns to the family home at Christmas.

Warren doesn’t want to divulge too many details about the play before its debut. He will allow, however, that Lights is really about love and care.

“The show came about for a number of reasons,” he says. “but one of them is because I live in Vancouver and my parents still live in Newfoundland. They’re getting older and I’m getting older.”

He wrote the early drafts before the pandemic, but it’s been “contemporized” for the times he’s living in now. That wasn’t a huge leap because one of the show’s underlying themes is “this notion of crossing over a great distance and experiencing a sense of isolation”.

Certain lines and certain moments in Lights were changed, which added a sharper focus, in his opinion.

“I’m starting to feel the size of the country,” Warren says. “And I’m starting to feel the distance from my parents as they age. I’m starting to be aware of what there may be in their future and what might be in my future with them. The show sort of arose out of that.”

While the pandemic has been challenging for many Vancouverites, it hasn’t been as disruptive to Warren, apart from his play being delayed. That’s because he often worked at home before the emergence of

COVID-19, so that didn’t change.

“The one thing the pandemic made challenging for me was staying engaged and wanting to stay engaged with the practice of theatre,” Warren says.

That’s because he didn’t know in what form theatre might re-emerge—or if people would even want to see live plays in the future, made him feel sad.

Although Warren worked in the film industry for a few years, earning a Leo Award nomination for Conocerlos (Get to Know Them), he’s always maintained a deep love of theatre. While he appreciates the artistry in films, he considers that art form to be “inorganic”: whatever is filmed is collected and taken back into an editing bay, where it’s chopped up and pieced together.

“Theatre is not like that,” Warren says.

“Theatre exists as a whole.”

He describes theatre as a “living, breathing organism” that shifts and changes with each performance, no matter how many times a play has been rehearsed.

“Every show is different,” Warren insists. “Every performance is different.

Everything is different.”

That extends to the audience, which he described as a “force in itself”, adding to the organic nature of theatre. In fact, he believes that audiences can have an enormous impact on a production. Depending on who is in the seats, he notes, his lines land differently.

“The ones that I kind of love are the ones you didn’t really plan to land and they really do,” Warren says. “That’s part of the liveness and that’s why I love it.” g Touchstone Theatre present Lights in association with the Firehall Arts Centre from December 3 to December 12. A preview will take place on December 2.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

11

ARTS G E O R G E F R I D E R I C H A N D E L’ S

Dance in Vancouver remains relevant in unusual times

O

by Charlie Smith

I N T H E VA L L E Y THURSDAY DECEMBER 9, 7:30 HOLY ROSARY CATHEDRAL 646 Richards Street, Vancouver

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Tickets available at

chilliwacksymphony.com As per BC Public Health Officer order, proof of vaccination and masks required.

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

ne of the most anticipated events on Vancouver’s contemporary dance card has three cocurators this year. The 13th biennial Dance in Vancouver, which runs from Wednesday (November 24) to Sunday (November 28), features a wide range of ticketed and free events, which can be taken in live or online.

The Dance Centre presents the festival, which is being steered by Melbourne-based guest curator Angela Conquet, Vancouverbased Raven Spirit Dance artistic director Michelle Olson, and artistic associate Starr Muranko.

In a phone interview with the Straight, Muranko said that the trio has embraced the theme “dance for unusual times” by ensuring that everything in the lineup is relevant to today’s endlessly strange pandemic era.

“We’re asking people to slow down for a moment; take a break,” Muranko said.

The cocurators also want dance lovers to really ask themselves what they’re witnessing at Dance in Vancouver.

“What does it mean to come together in space either physically or online together?”

Muranko said.

The opening event features three short films by two local Indigenous artists, Sierra Tasi Baker and Tasha Faye Evans, all centred around Indigenous themes. That will be followed by a dialogue between two Indigenous thinkers in the arts: choreographer Dalisa Pigram (Yawuru/Bardi) and playwright, director, and dramaturg Yvette Nolan (Algonquin).

Muranko said that she expects that this opening will convey concepts or ideas from Indigenous teachings that can help people come to terms with these tumultuous times.

“Angela [Conquet] is very involved and very connected to different Indigenous artists in Australia,” Muranko said. “She’s an amazing ally in that regard.”

One of the highlights on the ticketed program is a dance presentation of Cedar Woman. This is a work-in-progress created by Evans in collaboration with artist Ocean Hyland.

Another ticketed performance is Dumb Instrument Dance’s Made in Voyage. It’s a trio of solos featuring Ziyian Kwan, Shion Skye Carter, and Justin Calvadores at Morrow (336 West Pender Street) from November 24 to 27 and from December 1 to 4.

A third ticketed event, the Biting School’s Orangutang, will be at the Russian Hall on the same dates. It’s a world premiere choreographed and performed

by Arash Khakpour.

The other ticketed event is a double bill.

Kelly McInnes’s Blue Space will be followed

by Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien’s Mid-Light:

Starr Muranko and Michelle Olson are two of the festival’s curators. Photo by Melanie Orr.

A Translucent Memory at Scotiabank Dance Centre on Friday (November 26).

Muranko pointed out that there’s a wide variety of free events, including some with international perspectives.

One example is a discussion between three artists from Asian diasporas: Nirmala Seshandri (Singapore), Priya Srinivasan (Australia), and Bageshree Vaze (Canada). Another talk with Anna Chan (Hong Kong), Karen Cheung (Hong Kong), Bilqis Hijjas (Malaysia), and Faith Tan (Singapore) will address how Vancouver-based artists can gain access to the Asian independent dance scene. The moderator is Co.ERASGA founder Alvin Erasga Tolentino.

The closing keynote dialogue will feature Dancers of Damelahamid executive and artistic director Margaret Grenier (Gitxsan/Cree) and Maori protean artist Charles Koreneho.

Sadly, one of the scheduled speakers, celebrated Sto:lo author and poet Lee Maracle, passed away earlier this month.

Dance in Vancouver will honour her at a November 28 event at the Annex. There, Evans will explain how Maracle contributed to the creation of Cedar Woman.

“It was so sudden and so unexpected, and such a huge loss across Canada,” Muranko said of Maracle’s death. g

HOLIDAY ARTS

Arts groups bring some musical warmth to holidays

S

by Steve Newton

TURENEN CONDUCTS VANCOUVER CHAMBER CHOIR IN WASSAIL

even Vancouver arts organizations will bring joy to local music fans with in-person performances this holiday season.

Please note: COVID-19 protocols set in place by the current Provincial Heath Orders include proof of vaccination and the use of masks.

On December 17 at Pacific Spirit United Church the Vancouver Chamber Choir under conductor Kari Turunen will offer Wassail, its holiday concert featuring English carols both old and new, as well as a performance of Benjamin Britten’s masterwork, A Boy Was Born.

“Britten was only a teenager when he wrote A Boy Was Born,” reads the event info on the VCC website, “an ambitious cycle of variations on a simple melody that guides listeners through many styles and characters from breathtaking beauty to explosive joy. The music showcases Britten’s precocious talent, skilled beyond his years.”

DALA LEADS BACH CHOIR IN ST. NICOLAS

Starting things off on November 30 is the performance by the Vancouver Bach Choir of Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas at the Orpheum Theatre. The cantata will feature the Bach Choir and children’s choirs, the VSO School of Music Sinfonietta, pianists Stephen Smith and Kin Ming Wong, and tenor soloist Asitha Tennekoon.

“It’s literally based on the saint who is the inspiration for Santa Claus,” the choir’s music director, Leslie Dala, told the Straight in a phone call. “And we’re partnering for the very first time with the Sinfonietta, which is a very high-level youth orchestra.

It’s kind of perfect because Britten wrote it for a number of schools celebrating an anniversary, so the premiere was actually performed almost exclusively by young people.”

GAZE JOINS VSO FOR TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS

The next day, on December 1, the Vancouver Symphony kicks the holiday vibe into high gear with the first show of its Traditional Christmas series, which is hosted by Bard on the Beach’s Christopher Gaze and takes place at various Lower Mainland locations.

December 1 will see two shows at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre; December 2 has a stop at Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre; December 3 has two performances at West Van’s Kay Meek Centre; December 4 brings two shows to New Westminster’s Massey Theatre; and then on December 18 and 19, the VSO returns to its home base of the Orpheum Theatre.

Other VSO holiday concerts at the Orpheum include The Nutcracker on December 9, with Gaze hosting selections from Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece; A Dee Daniels Christmas, featuring the Vancouver jazz diva, on December 10 and 11; a kids’ concert on December 12 featuring the Oscarnominated animated film The Snowman; and Home Alone in Concert, where the comedy classic is screened with a live performance of John Williams’s score by the symphony, on December 16 and 17.

And the Vancouver Symphony will carry on a VSO holiday tradition at the Chan Centre on December 17 and 18, when violin soloist Lara St. John leads the orchestra in a performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

LICHTE LEADS CHRISTMAS WITH CHOR LEONI Bard on the Beach artistic director Christopher Gaze joins the Vancouver Symphony to host its Traditional Christmas series, with shows in Surrey, New West, and at three Vancouver venues.

QUICK DIRECTS WELSH MEN’S CHOIR IN SING WE NOW OF CHRISTMAS

On December 5, the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir, led by music director Jonathan Quick, will perform its Sing We Now of Christmas program at Massey Theatre, a joint concert with Winter Harp, where classical and Celtic harps combine with flutes, violin/fiddle, rare medieval instruments, percussion, poetry, and song. On December 7, the VWMC will be joined at the Surrey Arts Centre by flutist Paolo Bortolussi and mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater; on December 13 at South Delta Baptist Church, Bortolussi and soprano Skye Wilkinson will perform, along with members of the South Delta Secondary School Choir, who will perform their own set of carols. The final performance of Sing We Now of Christmas will take place on December 16 at Centennial Theatre, where Wilkinson, saxophonist Julia Nolan, and members of the Argyle Secondary School choir will join in.

orchestral glory, with additional selections from the ballet. Alongside this seasonal favourite, the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra, a full-sized big band, will perform Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s arrangements of the Nutcracker.

Also on December 17, and continuing on December 18 and 20, is the Chor Leoni Men’s Choir’s Christmas With Chor Leoni, which takes place at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church.

Joining the choir in a program that includes such seasonal faves as “Deck the Halls”, “Winter Wonderland”, and “Hark, see next page

DELISLE DELIVERS THE MAGIC OF YULE WITH THE UGC

On December 11, the Universal Gospel Choir performs We Rise Again, The Magic of Yule at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Directed by Lonnie Delisle and featuring the UGC Band, the program includes seasonal favourites (“Joy to the World”, “Ave Maria”), inspirational pop anthems (“This Is Me”, “A Beautiful Noise”), soulful world music, and get-up-and-groove gospel tunes.

SYMPHONY 21 JAZZES UP THE NUTCRACKER

On December 15 at the Chan Centre, Symphony 21 presents a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite in its full NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

13

HOLIDAY ARTS

Trace composer integrates tradition with the future

I

by Charlie Smith

t’s no small task creating music for an Indigenous origin story rooted in the cosmos. But that’s what Eliot Britton faced as the composer and sound designer for Trace, a multimedia contemporary dance show by Torontobased Red Sky Performance.

“There’s a lot going on conceptually with the stars and traditional knowledge— and dance and choreography,” Britton tells the Straight in a phone interview.

According to the University of Toronto professor of composition and music technology, job one was understanding the large-scale concept. Next, he says, was calibrating the emotional intensity of scenes for this Anishinaabe story. Then, he talked

to the executive and artistic director, Sandra Laronde, as well as the choreographers and dancers, about their ideas.

“A lot of it is dealing with the logistics of what the dancers need to support the choreography,” Britton explains. “The material doesn’t start with me, necessarily.”

In many instances, he points out, the choreography was already well developed before he wrote the music.

“So I’m there to create something that supports that, and kind of blends in with the story elements,” he adds. “But a lot of it is about movement. It’s not so prescriptive as trying to explain a story—like a film.”

At other times, the music came first. As for inspiration, he was guided by sound

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worlds described conceptually by Laronde.

“Then I will go out into the world and really dig into related materials,” Britton reveals.

“A lot of Trace is built up out of the sounds of my great uncle’s violin because I come from a Métis background on my dad’s side.”

The proud member of the Manitoba Métis Federation also drew on the material of Nelson Naittuq Tagoona, a throat singer from Baker Lake who integrates beat-boxing into his performances. Tagoona’s imaginative work has given birth to the term throatboxing. In addition, Britton wove in futuristic synthetic elements because Trace was not intended to be a presentation of something that looks or sounds old.

That’s in keeping with Laronde’s vision of elevating and expanding contemporary Indigenous performance in Canada.

One of Britton’s challenges was coming up with music quickly enough to meet the demands of an evolving stage production that integrates the human and natural worlds.

“So much of what I do is slow and meticulous and it has to be built one little piece at a time,” he says, “whereas dancers are vibrant, living creative beings that create things, and it all kind of comes together in the moment.”

To speed up the composing process, Britton relied heavily on technology to create what he describes as a “bio-organic sound”.

“If I didn’t have computers, I would be stuck behind a piano barking orders at performers in real time,” Britton says. “Then everything would probably be limited to what you could do in 1940.”

Being Métis gave him a distinct advantage because the Anishinaabe creation story was definitely not new to him. When he attended school in Manitoba, this was a big part of what students discussed in school.

In addition, his uncle gave him a book

Trace is a contemporary dance show about an Anishinaabe origin story. Photo by Rob Divito.

about American Indian myth and legends, which also included the creation story.

As a composer with a background in dance-music production and orchestral and instrumental music, he says there is no cooler project than working on Trace within the context of Canada in the 21st century. “I’m proud of the fact that I’m part of something that is connecting with people in a way that’s positive,” Britton says. “It isn’t just about always examining the past but is instead kind of really looking toward the future.” g DanceHouse Vancouver and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs present Red Sky Performance’s Trace from Wednesday (November 24) to Sunday (November 27) at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.

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@TouchstoneInVan #LightsTT Photo by David Cooper Pictured: Susinn McFarlen and Adam Grant Warren

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

the Herald Angels Sing” will be violinist Cameron Wilson, pianists Tina Chang and Karen Lee-Morlang, and guitarist Keith Sinclair.

“It’s our biggest event of the season,” Chor Leoni artistic director Erick Lichte told the Straight by phone. “I’m just so excited to bring people together for that time, and I think after this time apart from one another, it’s gonna feel particularly sweet. We’ve got a really fun program, and one with a lot of beauty and a lot of heart as well.”

Lichte pointed out that the choir’s version of “Silent Night” is not to be missed.

“Especially the way we do it,” he said, “where the choir typically surrounds our audience with candles and we sing that piece together. And there is again something about that connection that you feel at that time of the year. I’m so excited to do that, especially in our new space at St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church. They’ve reno-

Chor Leoni artistic director Erick Lichte is a big fan of his choir’s version of “Silent Night”.

vated that church—it’s been a three-year renovation—and the space was always gorgeous, but it is even more beautiful now.

So having that celebration of the season in that room has always been a very special thing for me, and that song is, I think, the quintessential one for that experience.” g

ARTS

The 18th PuSh Festival transforms perspectives

B

by Steve Newton

ig news for the Vancouver arts scene: the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival has just announced the lineup for its 18th annual edition, which takes place from January 20 to February 6 next year.

The event will happen at various venues across the Lower Mainland, featuring 14 works of theatre, dance, music, and multimedia by local, national, and international artists.

Canadian companies and artists taking part in the festival include Crow’s Theatre/ Cliff Cardinal, Tarragon Theatre and Black Theatre Workshop, Theatre Replacement, Joe Jack et John, Lion Lion, Collectif Aalaapi/ La Messe Basse, Vivek Shraya and Canadian Stage, Leah Abramson, Aphotic Theatre, ITSAZOO Productions, the Talking Stick Festival, the frank theatre company, Immigrant Lessons, Music Picnic/Njo Kong Kie, MAYDAY Danse, and Ruby Singh.

“PuSh has always been an accelerator, animating our imaginations and transforming our perspectives,” lead programmer Gabrielle Martin said in a news release. “The 2022 PuSh program is a timely catalyst, facilitating an emergence from our social hibernation with works that incept, evoke, activate, and confront.

“In a time when we are all making sense of where we are after what has come to pass,” she added, “this year’s festival lineup helps us situate ourselves in the com-

Theatre Replacement’s Do you mind if I sit here? is just one of the 14 innovative theatre, dance, music, and multimedia works that make up the 2022 PuSh Festival. Photo by James Long.

plexity of human experience.”

Martin joins Margo Kane and Jason Dubois in the newly formed PuSh Collaborative Leadership Team, which will manage the organization and lead the 2022 festival.

Kane will also contribute to programming, Indigenous arts community relations, and decolonization initiatives.

“At this crucial time in history,” Kane said in the release, “we need to embrace ways to truly engage in right relations, both new and old, and affirm a willingness to find ways to work together that honours the contribution of all and that exemplifies ‘good medicine’ for our many communities.”

The festival will feature three world premieres from Canadian artists and companies—Do you mind if I sit here? by Theatre Replacement, The Café by ITSAZOO Productions and Aphotic Theatre, and Leah Abramson’s Songs for a Lost Pod. There will also be two Canadian premieres from international companies: Capitalism Works for Me! True/False by the U.S.’s Steve Lambert and Born to Manifest by Joseph Toonga of the U.K.’s Just Us Dance Theatre.

Club PuSh, the festival’s platform for outside-of-the-box work and interactive experiences, features three nights curated by Vancouver collaborators the frank theatre

company, Talking Stick Festival, and Immigrant Lessons from February 2 to 4 at 9 p.m. at Performance Works.

“Club PuSh is a spot where you can enjoy drinks, connect with our artists, and party with your fellow PuSh-goers,” the news release said. “It’s also the venue for fantastic performances in a relaxed, casual atmosphere: drag artists, DJs, musicians, and street dancers are all throwing down here.”

Other highlights of the festival include: • Ruby Singh’s Vox.Infold, presented with the Indian Summer Festival. It runs January 20 to 23 and January 25 to 30 at Lobe Studio and features Singh with a powerhouse vocal ensemble that includes Dawn Pemberton, Inuksuk Mackay, Russell Wallace, Tiffany Ayalik, Tiffany Moses, and Shamik Bilgi.

• Vivek Shraya’s How to Fail as a Popstar, which runs February 1 and 2 at Performance Works, is a theatrical memoir—mixing anecdote, movement, and music—of singer Shraya’s trip to the edge of fame and back.

• Cliff Cardinal’s William Shakespeare’s As You Like It: A Radical Retelling, which runs February 4 to 6 at the York Theatre. It is described in the release as “a subversive updating of the Bard’s classic that exults in black humour, difficult subject matter, and raw emotion.” g Tickets for the 2022 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival go on sale November 24 and you can find them at www.pushfestival.ca.

Exhibit brings Sistine Chapel images to Vancouver

T

by Charlie Smith

he Sistine Chapel at the Vatican is home to one of the greatest artistic accomplishments in history. It was there in the 16th century that Michelangelo created 33 colourful religious frescoes on the ceiling.

The Italian artist also painted The Last Judgement on the altar wall, depicting the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

These spectacular works of art have attracted millions of viewers over the centuries and been the subject of countless books, movies, essays, and art-history classes.

But when Martin Biallas, CEO of See Attractions Special Entertainment Events, paid a visit 10 years ago, he came away a little disappointed. And it wasn’t only due to the long lineups.

“Once you’re inside, you have 2,000 people screaming and yelling,” Biallas told the Straight by phone from Los Angeles. “You’ve got these massive pieces—60 feet high— and you cannot take photos. They’re very militant about that. Then after 15 minutes, you have to leave.”

He emphasized that people should still see Michelangelo’s original frescoes because they’re so magnificent.

But he thought that if his company could obtain the licensing rights, it could re-create all 33 masterpieces and The Last Judgement in their original size. This would enable people to see them up close without security guards ordering them to put away their cameras.

Images of Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel can be seen in Vancouver. Photo courtesy of See/Bridgeman Images.

On November 19, Biallas’s company opened a show at Vancouver Convention Centre East offering this opportunity. Called Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition, it features high-resolution images of the 34 paintings created by the master nearly five centuries ago.

“We actually had the world premiere six years ago, in 2015, at the Palais des congrès in Montreal,” Biallas said.

Since then, this exhibition has toured the world, from Vienna to New York to Brisbane to Shanghai. It’s also been

shown in four Chinese cities with the next stop scheduled in Beijing. According to Biallas, this was the first religious exhibition ever permitted in Communist China.

Biallas is used to putting on large-scale, themed exhibits. His Los Angeles–based production company has already created Star Trek: The Tour, Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures, The Titanic Official Movie Tour, the Complete Frida Kahlo Exhibit, The Art of Banksy: Without Limits, and Museum of Failure.

Biallas said that it took several years to obtain the licensing rights from the Vatican for images of Michelangelo’s frescoes. “You would send an email and you would wait for six weeks,” he related, “and you would get a reply by mail with a big Vatican seal.”

The return address impressed his letter carrier.

“I thought he was going to have a heart attack,” Biallas said. “He thought it was from the Pope.”

Eventually, See Attractions ended up negotiating with Bridgeman Images, which represents the Vatican.

“That’s basically how we got this,” Biallas said. “In fact, we just renewed the licence for another five years.” g See Attractions presents Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition at Exhibit Hall A of Vancouver Convention Centre East from Wednesdays through Sundays.

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

15

TV / MOVIES

Drag Race’s Synthia Kiss shares show experiences

T

by Kevin Ritchie

he “Brat Pack” on Canada’s Drag Race is down a member. Vancouver has had a strong presence on season 2, with four queens represented.

Kendall Gender, Gia Metric, and Synthia Kiss formed a de facto in-group among the cast that intimidated some of the other queens.

Their familiarity wasn’t just because they hail from the same city. Off-screen, the trio were part of a weekly Vancouver drag show called Bratpack that ultimately served as a kind of Drag Race boot camp.

But alas, there won’t be a Vancouver hat trick at the end of season 2. For episode 7’s Sinner’s Ball challenge, the queens had to design looks based on the seven deadly sins and Synthia Kiss sashayed away thanks to a halfway-there animal-print “Greed” look.

Born in Peterborough, Kiss didn’t actually start doing drag until she moved to Vancouver after graduating from fashion school at Toronto’s Ryerson University.

A designer by day for high-street fashion brands, she says going home on a design challenge stung. But Kiss readily admits the sewing competition among the cast was tough, with Montreal’s Pythia and Ottawa’s Icesis Couture regularly wowing the judges with high-concept creations.

Chatting about her elimination the morning after, Kiss animatedly recounted

was so fun to see Kendall [Gender] and Gia [Metric], who were also part of Bratpack.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE IN THE WERK ROOM GIVEN YOU GUYS WERE SO TIGHT-KNIT?

Synthia Kiss is one of four Vancouver queens on Canada’s Drag Race this season. After judges sent her packing, she spoke about the show in a videotaped interview on Straight.com. Photo by Crave.

her time on the show like she’s your bubbly new best friend. It’s not hard to see why she wound up being cast.

makings of a drag queen. I just went for it.

Let’s shake this into a cocktail and boom!

Synthia Kiss was born. Here I am!

HOW DID YOU BECOME A DRAG QUEEN?

WHAT’S BRATPACK?

I became a drag queen by amalgamating the skills of a needy, attention-seeking middle child, taking dance and art classes, having a desire to own a sewing machine in high school, and getting a degree in fashion design at Ryerson. When I moved to the West Coast, I realized these were the

Bratpack consisted of a changing crew of queens in Vancouver, but the era I was part of definitely was its highlight. We started to really care about numbers being choreographed, looks being cohesive and promotion online. We really gave it our full shot.

And we made it all the way to season 2. It

Eve 6000 put it really beautifully. She was saying it was so nice to see you guys get along and be close but every single queen has their sisters. In a time where you’re most vulnerable—in an unfamiliar, scary environment—you too would love to have a couple Judys besides you being like, “You’ve got this girl.” The three of us had that going on. It did come to a point where I was like, ‘Guys, we got to stay away from each other. We need to socialize and be part of the whole cast.’ I did not want to leave that experience not knowing the other queens.

DO YOU SEE ANY TRENDS BUBBLING UP?

Chunky shoes! Brooke Lynn [Hytes} hated my chunky heels, but they’re definitely going to be a thing. The amount of queens I’ve heard who are having injuries, rolling their ankles, straining their knees—we’ve got two girls this season who hurt their knees death dropping. We need stable footwear, people!

The Spice Girls did it. We can do it, too. g Read an extended version of this interview and watch a video of Synthia Kiss at Straight.com.

Film tells superfan Nav Bhatia’s inspirational story

O

by Charlie Smith

n November 20, the Toronto Raptors’ secondmost famous fan—after Drake, of course—was feted with a movie screening at the Vancouver Playhouse. It was a world premiere, in fact, of Superfan: The Nav Bhatia Story, which will be broadcast on December 3 by the CBC. Bhatia has attended every Raptors’ home game in its history. He also runs the Nav Bhatia Superfan Foundation, which builds basketball courts and camps for kids in Canada and other countries.

The film features interviews with comedian Russell Peters, former NBA superstars Vince Carter and Isiah Thomas, and Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.

“People are telling me it’s a very good movie,” Bhatia told the Straight by phone. “They’re coming out crying. So there must be something good and emotional in the movie.”

His life story is certainly enough to stir the heart. His parents moved away from what is now Pakistan during the horrors of Great Britain’s partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. Up to a million people were killed in communal violence in the period leading up to this event, according to Jacob Bercovitch and Richard Jackson’s International Conflict: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Conflicts and Their Management 1945-1995.

Bhatia’s dad was from Lahore and his mom was from Sialkot. “I remember her saying she came in a train with people loaded on the roof,” Bhatia said. “She had one baby and was expecting another. And she saw the killing. You know, people coming and killing with the swords. It was horrible.”

16

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

Nav Bhatia made history this year when he became the first fan inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

After settling in Delhi, the family built up a thriving business. But the communal violence exploded in a fury again in November 1984 in genocidal attacks on Sikhs following the assassination of then-Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.

“My father barely made it,” Bhatia said. “They were going to put a burning tire on him.”

His family’s business and home were burned. He described this as his family’s “second partition”. He was 33 years old at the time. “After that, we wanted to, as a family, get out of India,” he said. “Me and my wife were the first ones to come to Canada, this beautiful country.”

Life was tough after they settled in a basement suite in Malton, Ontario.

NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

“I did cleaning, janitorial, landscaping, and then I got into the car business as a salesman,” he said.

But then he encountered another “speed bump” in life.

Colleagues at work used racial insults, such as “Paki” and “towel head”, to describe him. He found it odd that he would be called a “Paki” when he hailed from India, not Pakistan.

“I decided I had to work harder than hard to be successful in this environment,” Bhatia said. “With God’s grace and hard work, I became the top salesperson in the country by selling 127 cars in three months, which was a record and still is a record.”

Ultimately, he came to own five dealerships. “I think for the first 20 years I worked almost 100 hours a week,” Bhatia said.

In 2019 when the Raptors won their first NBA championship, he was the grand marshal of the parade. This year, Bhatia became the first fan to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

At the age of 16, Bhatia promised to his mother that he would not cut his hair in order to pay respect to Sikh traditions. He also pledged not to drink alcohol or smoke.

While it hasn’t always been an easy road through life, he’s kept those promises.

He’s proud of the example that he is setting for young Sikhs when they see him in his turban having so much fun cheering on the Raptors. He’s heard young people tell him that if he can do this, they can do that, too.

“I just want to bring the people together with the game of basketball,” Bhatia said. g

CHILL.

Enjoy stress-free reading without the noise on CreatorNews.

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NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

17

SAVAGE LOVE

Being open is important for dumped trans man

by Dan Savage

b I HAVE A friend who is a trans man. Recently he just got out of a shitty relationship.

His ex suddenly lost interest in him and wouldn’t work with him on fixing it. He’s heartbroken. He told me women often reject him once they find out he is trans and he’s tired of endless rejections.

We met in the college town where he still lives, but our entire friend circle (including me) has moved away. Even without the trans part, it’s not easy to be a 30-something single man in a liberal college town. He’s convinced he’s doomed to be alone. I don’t want to be dismissive about his experience as a trans person (I’m a cis woman), but I keep trying to walk the fine line of encouraging my friend to reach out, meet people through community events, volunteering, et cetera. He also mentioned to me that people our age (thirties) are more transphobic than younger people, but he doesn’t want to be the kind of 30-something perv who dates people in their twenties.

My heart aches for my friend. Do you have any advice for him to make more friends and/ or find a new romantic partner?

- Friend Really In Extreme Distress

worse than being dumped by someone who refuses to “work with you on fixing it” is being dumped by someone who already made up their mind to dump you— meaning the relationship was already dead— but then wasted months or years of your life pretending to work on it. So, if your friend’s ex knew it was over, FRIED, they did your friend a favor by refusing to go through the motions of “working on it.”

That would come as cold comfort to your friend, of course, so don’t pass it on to him.

But continue to give him the advice you’ve been giving him, which is both standard and excellent. Get out of the house, do shit,

The only thing

go places, meet people—that’s the same advice I would’ve given him and it’s the same advice every other advice columnist on the planet would’ve given him. And, almost without a doubt, it’s the same advice your friend would’ve given or already has given to a friend of his own after a breakup. That your friend hasn’t taken your advice yet— that he’s still wallowing in his grief—doesn’t mean your advice was bad, FRIED, only that he’s not ready to take it.

As for dating while trans…

I’ve visited a lot of liberal college towns and they tend to be more welcoming and accepting places for trans people than, say, your average Alaskan fishing village. And most women—cis or trans—aren’t going to wanna fuck or date with your friend. (And he is open to dating trans women, right?) I’m gay and most men—cis or trans—don’t wanna sleep with me. Now, men who find me attractive don’t reject me once they realize I’m gay, but being rejected by a woman who initially found him attractive after he discloses that he’s trans?

That rejection is gonna sting more. But your friend can avoid that kind of rejection by disclosing right away. My friends with HIV who don’t wanna deal with the drama of having to disclose and being rejected for it put it out there right away. Since your friend is eventually going to have to come out to the women he dates, putting the fact that he’s trans on his dating profiles—disclosing it right away—tells women who might have a problem with it to keep moving. In other words, FRIED, your friend has the power to flip the rejection script by essentially saying, “I’m trans and if you’re not open to dating a trans man, please show yourself out.” Instead of waiting to be rejected by cis women who won’t date trans men, he’ll be rejecting those women first.

And finally…

If grown-ass adults in their twenties want to date him, your friend should date them.

Refusing to date someone due to something they can’t control or change about themselves—their age—seems discriminatory (ageist!), patronizing (people in their twenties are adults!), and in your friend’s case, hypocritical (he doesn’t enjoy being rejected over something he can’t control or change).

But my hunch is that your friend is just making excuses. Give him a little more time to wallow, FRIED, keep urging him to do the obvious (get out, go places, do shit, meet people), and in a few months your friend will be introducing you to his new partner—and it’s probably going to be someone in their twenties he met at a community event who later saw his profile on Tinder and swiped right on his openly trans ass.

I also wonder if I’m being abusive by asking him to do things that he doesn’t like to do.

When I bring up the topic he insists this is my problem, not his. Is there a way forward?

- Frustrated About Intimate Life Under Restrictive Edicts

forward, FAILURE, there’s only a way out: DTMFA. If you’d like to present your soon-to-be ex-boyfriend with a lovely parting gift, FAILURE, I suggest getting him a toaster and a Fleshlight. Duct tape them together, leave them on your side of the bed, take your shit and go. Because it’s a warm, silent hole your boyfriend wants for a partner, FAILURE, not a woman with a fully functioning suite of female reproductive organs, to say nothing of a woman with needs, wants, or desires of her own. I strongly suspect your exboyfriend won’t miss you or your vagina that b I’M A 30-YEAR-OLD straight, cis woman and bleeds or your ass that poops or your mouth I’ve been in a serious relationship with my that opens and asks for perfectly reasonable AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS things, FAILURE, and I’m confident that even boyfriend for a year.Does I love him and the someone else's drinking bothersex you?

Al-Anon can help. if you miss him at first, you won’t miss him for is mind-blowing when it happens—which is We are a support group for those who have about twice a week when I’mbynot spotting.

We long. You’ll realize being alone is better than been affected another's drinking problem.

For more information please call: 604-688-1716 can only have sex when he initiates, but there’s being with a selfish piece of tyrannical shit.

Yeah, yeah: you love him. You’d pretty more. I’m on the pill and I often spot a little from the second week to the moment my per- much have to love him—or you’d have to convince yourself you loved him—to put iod comes, a side effect with which I am okay.

Volition Consulting Inc. is looking for an Office Administrative Assistant up with his shit for a week, much less a year.

However, if any blood is present, nothing Perm, F/T job, wage: $22.00/h. Requirements: Buthigh theschool, longer can happen since he’s disgusted by it. HeClerical won’t exp. 1-2 years, excellentyou stay in this relationship, Main duties: Provide administrative FAILURE, the greater your frustration and have anal sex because he’s disgusted byEnglish. feces. and clerical support; Conduct telephone Create and maintain documents, resentment will grow, and a day will inevitHe won’t play with me and a toy whenconversations; there’s filing system; Compile data and co-ordinate ably Consult comecustomers; when you’re no longer in love with blood present, even a drop, and he won’t goof information; the flow Assigns advisors, prepare schedules; Schedule him and your self-esteem and sense of sexdown on me at all, as he doesn’t like it. He also Establish appointments; office procedures, other staff. will have been destroyed. Don’t ual agency doesn’t want me touching myself when I gomay supervise Job location and business address: untilBCthe damage is permanent to leave down on him, as he finds it distracting. #200, 171 Water wait St, Vancouver, V6B 1A7 Please apply by e-mail: this asshole. Leave him now. g Opening the relationship is not an option employment.volitionconsulting@gmail.com for him. It seems to me that anything that does not revolve around his penis penetrat- ORIGINAL Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. Email: ing something and coming out perfectly questions@savagelove.net. Column, podcast, books, clean is a turnoff for him. While I feel hurt, and more at www.savage.love!

There’s no way

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GEORGIA STRAIGHT JUNE 25NOVEMBER – JULY 2 / 2020 2 18 THETHE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 25 – DECEMBER 2 / 2021

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Support Groups A MDABC peer-led support group is a safe place to share your story, your struggles and accomplishments, and to listen to others as they share similar concerns. Please Note: Support groups are not intended to provide counselling/therapy.

Please visit www.mdabc.net for a list & location of support groups or call 604-873-0103 for info.

Sex Addicts Anonymous

12-step fellowship of men & women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other, that they may solve their common problem and help others recover from their sexual addiction.Membership is open to all who desire to stop addictive sexual behaviour. For a meeting list as well as email & phone contacts go to our website. www.saavancouver.org

SEXAHOLICS ANONYMOUS - Vancouver, BC For those desiring their own sexual sobriety, please go to www.sa.org for meetings times and places.

We are here to help you from being overwhelmed.

Newcomers are gratefully welcomed.

Call toll free 866-424-8777 Support, Education & Action Group for Women that have experienced male violence.

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