The home-grown circus Satio opens the biggest-ever, 15-day 2018 Sechelt Arts Festival, with performances Friday Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday Oct. 7 at 2 p.m., at the shíshálh Nation Longhouse.
Satio (which is Latin for “seedling”) is not in the style of Ringling Bros. or Barnum & Bailey. As you’d expect from show director Gerardo Avila, a former member of Cirque de Soleil, it is “nouveau cirque.” Included in the all-ages extravaganza featuring mostly local, “home-grown” performers, will be Taiko drummers, pounding out their heart-racing beats along with shíshálh Nation drummers, and more live music from The Rakish Angles, along with aerial artists, stilt walkers, mimes, youth circus artists, acrobatic dancers, and dancers of the shíshálh Nation, plus special guests, acclaimed Butoh/contemporary principal dancers Jay Hirabayashi and Barbara Bourget from Vancouver’s Kokoro Dance. Tickets are $25 advance, $30 at the door and $15 for students. See secheltartsfestival.com for advance tickets and the full schedule of festival events.
Art, the play
Friday night (Oct. 5) also offers the opening of the play Art at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. Three casual male friends venture into a crackling maelstrom of relationship, philosophy and art in this play by French playwright Yasmina Reza, directed by Sally Williams. There will be 10 more opportunities to see this adult-language play, with some matinées, before it closes Sunday Oct. 21. Tickets $25, from Sechelt Visitor Centre, Wilson Creek Shell, Laedeli Gifts, and online.
Comedy night at the Heritage
Vancouver-based comedian Charlie Demers headlines Comedy Night at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons Saturday Oct. 6. Local comic Toby Hargrave will host, and another special guest is also promised. Demers is not just a very funny guy, he’s a playwright, author, radio personality and new father, territory he explores in his latest comedy album, Fatherland.
Hargrave is an international touring headliner in his own right, an alumnus of the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and CBC’s The Debaters. The show is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, available at Laedeli Gifts, Sechelt Visitor Centre and at the Share-There and Heritage Playhouse websites.
Met Opera: Verdi's Aida
It will be 1 p.m. at the Met in New York City, and 10 a.m. at Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt, early enough that you can skip the gown and tux. Soprano Anna Netrebko sings her first Aida at the Met, with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as her formidable rival in what’s promised to be a “monumental production,” brought to the Sunshine Coast via satellite, Saturday Oct. 6. Tickets are $24 general admission; $20 for seniors and students.
Live music at the Market
Dave Roughley and Donna Leigh-Newsom play from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Gibsons Public Market, 473 Gower Point Road. The concert is free.
A new look at Van Gogh
On Sunday Oct. 7 at 2 p.m., Raven’s Cry Theatre will offer Of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies, a 90-minute documentary. It’s a new look at Vincent Van Gogh, through the legacy of the largest private collector of artworks by the Dutch painter: Helene Kröller-Müller (1869-1939), who, in the early 20th century, ended up buying nearly 300 of his works, paintings and drawings. It “not only tells us about Van Gogh’s art and his genius, but it will also allow us to understand the importance of drawing as part of his artistic technique,” a release says.
All tickets are $11 and are available at the door
Fall Fairs
Pender Harbour holds its 18th annual Fall Faire on Saturday, Oct. 6, with lots of free kids’ activities, a hay ride, artisans’ works, a chili cook off, amateur photo contest and more. It runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Madeira Park.
Also celebrating its 18th year is the Gibsons Fall Fair. It promises many craft vendors, a hospital auxiliary bake/craft sale and raffles, great door prizes, a Lions Club concession booth, and family fun for everyone, with all proceeds donated to local charity. It’s at Quality Garden & Pet greenhouses, 325 Pratt Rd. on Saturday Oct. 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday Oct. 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Inspirational film
French filmmakers Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent have created a documentary that features known solutions to many of today’s societal problems in their film, Tomorrow. As an alternative to showing us all the worst that can happen, this documentary focuses on the people suggesting solutions and taking action. “If we can see it, we can be it.” Produced in 2015, it is as relevant as ever today. It screens Wednesday Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m. (doors 6:15 p.m.) at the theatre at Chatelech Secondary School, Sechelt. Admission free, donations accepted.
Submissions
If you have an event you’d like considered for Art Beat, let Rik Jespersen know at [email protected] by noon Tuesday. Space is limited.
