The Elves Club is one of the Sunshine Coast’s best Christmas charity fundraisers, and this is their big push. The telethon will feature a lot of our abundant local performing talent and runs on Eastlink Community TV from 2 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8. And it’s free to attend the broadcast at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. You might keep a little cash on hand, as volunteer first responders will be on the streets around Gibsons with their empty boots. You can also drop off a gift at the donation table in Sunnycrest Mall or make a secure online donation at elvesclub.ca.
Woody Sed
Woody Guthrie was the father of the modern protest song and provided the model for the many provocative, North American folk singers who would emerge in the 1950s, ‘60s and beyond. Woody Sed is a play about his life and times, featuring 19 songs and “a cascade of 25 colourful characters, all bundled up in a true to life tale.” The play is written and performed by Thomas Jones. At the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons, Tuesday Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. Tickets $20 adults, $15 seniors, $10 youth (10 to 18), from share-there.com.
A Christmas Carol
Actor Richard Austin will be reading Charles Dickens seasonal classic A Christmas Carol at the Sechelt Library twice over the coming days: at 1:30 p.m. on Monday Dec. 10 and Tuesday Dec. 11. Harp music will precede the reading, at 1 p.m., and afterwards there will be Christmas carols at 3 p.m. in the community room. Tickets are $2, with proceeds to the Sechelt homeless shelter and the Sunshine Coast Food Bank.
Boy meets girl, then…
In Comfort and Joy sounds like a seasonal discomfort story that Dickens might have appreciated and should generate a few winces and quite a few laughs. A man and woman fall for each other, but then their families meet. The David King play is the latest production of Off the Page, with a cast of actor/readers that includes Nathan Barrett, Janet Hodgkinson, Amy King, Steve Mousseau, Wanda Nowicki, and Louise Phillips. At the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. Admission is by donation.
Winter Song
Two concerts by the Pender Harbour Community Choir promise traditional Christmas carols, songs from festive films and seasonal music by its director, local composer Kenneth Norman Johnson. Friday Dec. 7 at the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday Dec. 9, at the Pender Harbour School of Music in Madeira Park, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tickets $20, children under 12 free. Available from choir members, EarthFair Store in Madeira Park and the Sechelt Visitor Centre.
Undulations
Roberts Creek potter Beth Hawthorn is showing some new work in an exhibition called Undulation, at The Kube Studio in Gibsons until Dec. 30. Wheel-thrown clay and assembled wall pieces, “minimal in style and rich in form.” There will be an opening reception on Friday Dec. 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. Keely Halward and Mike Clarke will provide some music, at #104 - 875 Gibsons Way.
Jane Munro
Griffin Prize-winning poet Jane Munro, who has published six collections of her work, reads poetry and prose about the B.C. coast, on Saturday Dec. 8 at Gibsons Library from 2 to 3 p.m. Free.
Treasure Island
It’s your last chance to catch the Driftwood Players’ popular Brit-style Christmas pantomime show, which moves to Sechelt and changes many of its local references from Gibsons to mid-Coast. Lots of audience interaction and pie fights, although only the cast get hit with the custard. At the Chatelech Secondary School Theatre in Sechelt, Saturday Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 adult and $10 for students and children, available at Laedeli Gifts, The Blackberry Shop, Sechelt Visitor Centre, and share-there.com.
Best commercials
Who knew? There is more than one screen competition in Cannes. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has put the world’s best advertising for 2018 from TV, cinema and social media, “drawn from about 5,000 entries from the world’s best advertising agencies,” into a 115-minute film. It screens Monday Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m., at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. SC Film Society members $5, non-members $9. Tickets at the door or online.
Christmas fairs
Among the assortment of seasonal pop-up craft sales are the Holiday Market Faire at the Gibsons Public Market Saturday Dec. 8, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
At Roberts Creek Hall there will be the sixth annual Last Chance Christmas Market with works by more than 30 artisans and crafters. Lunch and tasty treats provided by Perogies Galore in the kitchen. Saturday Dec. 8 and Sunday Dec. 9, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
FibreWorks Studio and Gallery in Madeira Park will be offering their fine crafts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7, 8 and 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Look for the yurts at 12887 Sunshine Coast Highway.
Soundscapes
Roberts Creek composer Giorgio Magnanensi will activate known-and-unknown spaces at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. He will be doing an electro-acoustic installation with transducers in the storage room, as well as creating a sonic collage in a layered soundscape in the lobby.
Submissions
If you have an event you’d like considered for Art Beat, please let Rik know by 11 a.m. Tuesday at arts@coastreporter.net. Space is limited.
