Electric Company Welcomes
Carmen Aguirre

ECT is in the midst of an exciting company transformation. For the past 20 years, our Artistic Core has been comprised of our four founders; Jonathon Young, Kim Collier, Kevin Kerr, and David Hudgins. In this new chapter, we are expanding the Artistic Core to include new artists with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and practices, who share similar values of the Electric Company, including collaboration, artistic excellence, and accessibility. We sought out an artist who has created thematically rich work, is community-minded and accessible, inventive and generous. We are thrilled to announce the first artist to join our Artist Core since the company was founded: Carmen Aguirre.

Carmen is an internationally renowned playwright, actress, best-selling author, and theatre creator. You may have seen her collaboration with Electric Company Theatre in Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, a piece that Carmen co-created and starred in at Electric Company in 2001. She has written and co-written over 25 plays, and is a cornerstone of the Vancouver theatre community. Says Kim Collier, “Carmen is a powerful artist…the social commentary in her work will continue to add to the cultural landscape of city, province, and country and deepen our understanding of gender, difference, sexuality, and politics. We know that having Carmen join our conversation will enrich our company, our art, and our legacy as a company. I love Carmen very much and can’t wait to sit down with her and dream about what is possible.”

Carmen says, “I was floored, honoured, and humbled when I was approached by The Electric Company to join their Artistic Core. Not only are they prolific ground-breakers and risk-takers, they are Canadian theatre pioneers, largely responsible for landing Vancouver on the theatre-world map. The Electric Company and I were in the same class at our alma mater, Studio 58. We met as young, wide-eyed students and together trained rigourously, witnessing each others’ sometimes harrowing journeys into becoming artists. They are colleagues and they are my sister and brothers. I look forward to what our collaborations will teach me, and, more importantly, I am excited to share those collaborations with the world.”

You can read more about Carmen’s work here. Welcome Carmen, we could not be more excited to have you join the beating heart of Electric Company Theatre.

40 Days and 40 Nights in Vancouver

Jeremy James Returns with New Workshops

Internationally renowned theatre instructor Jeremy James is returning to Vancouver, and Electric Company is teaming up with Radix Theatre to present two different workshops with him, May 7-13. These workshops are ideal for actors, directors,  choreographers, dancers and all students of performance.

Body, Space and the Imagination II: The Journey
Building on preliminary exercises introduced in Jeremy’s last Vancouver workshops in 2011 and 2016, this workshop deepens research into some of the most fundamental principles of performance and play.
May 7 – 11

Before the Word: Tensions, Tics and Character Traits
Exploring frameworks for improvisation which support research, preparation, and character development in a devising and rehearsal process.
May 11-13

“Jeremy is able to devise approaches I have searched for throughout my life as an actor. He is a true master, who shares his humanity and insight at every moment.” juan antonio quintana | actor and director | madrid

For more details, including prices, course descriptions, and how to register, click here. For any questions, please email Andrew at Radix Theatre.

Where in the World are Our Electrics?

This past month, Kim Collier set up shop in Ottawa down the hall from our new Artistic Producer, Clayton, in order to direct the National Arts Centre‘s carried away on the crest of a wave. David Yee’s work, which won the 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award for drama, shares nine stories about the cataclysmic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Says Yee about Kim Collier, “(The work is) in such good hands. She’s genius…her pursuit of what is honest and what is human in her work has been really, really inspiring.”

The Ottawa Citizen called Kim’s staging “ingenious”, while the Globe and Mail said “Collier stages with unsettling simplicity”. Kim directed homegrown actors Kayvon Khoshkam, Adrienne Wong, Andrea Yu, Chirag Naik and Jenny Young, who will also appear in The Full Light of Day at the Vancouver Playhouse in January 2019. Now Kim is rehearsing 40 Days and 40 Nights in Toronto at the Theatre Centre and getting ready for her return to YVR in May.

We were happy to welcome Jonathon Young back to the west coast for the sold-out run of Betroffenheit at The Vancouver Playhouse. He and Crystal Pite of Kidd Pivot used this hometown time to hunker down in Progress Lab and cook up their next show, which the Canada Council for the Arts awarded the highly competitive “New Chapter” award. And speaking of Crystal Pite, she just won a second Olivier for her work, Flight Pattern, at the Royal Ballet. If you still haven’t seen Betroffenheit, the show is headed to Toronto before jetting off to Europe for April and May, and finishing the tour in Montreal in June. Click here for all of the tour dates and ticketing information for the final tour of the production that the Globe and Mail called “rare and staggering”.

Around Town…

ATTENTION THEATRE CREATORS!
Are you working on a new play/musical/dance show/multidisciplinary performance and feeling stuck, uninspired or just simply needing a test audience? Resounding Scream Theatre and Upintheair Theatre are accepting applications for the 6th installment of PLUNGE, a showcase of emerging artists’ work in development. PLUNGE will be presented at Upintheair’s Revolver Festival on Sunday, June 3, 2–4 PM at the Cultch’s Green House Studio.

What is PLUNGE? 3 artistic projects will be selected to do a 15–20 minute presentation (either a workshop performance or staged reading), followed by an audience talk back facilitated by Resounding Scream Theatre aimed at receiving audience feedback advance the piece in its development process. Participants will be given a $200 honorarium, and RST will provide a performance space and coordination of the event.

Questions? Email Linda or click here for more information.

As always, we are grateful for any gift you can give to help make our big dreams a reality. Click here to donate, or email us to learn more about how your support can change the future of Vancouver theatre.

Love,
Kim, Jonathon, Kevin, David, Clayton, Shantini, and Jen

Our mailing address is:
1422 William Street
Vancouver, BC
V5L 2P7

Electric Company acknowledges that our work and events take place on the traditional, unceded territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.