What is the new rEvolver Theatre Festival that runs from Tuesday (May 14) to May 26 at the Cultch?

It’s the brainchild of Upintheair Theatre, the folks who used to coproduce July’s Neanderthal Arts Festival, but who have pulled away from that summer event to stage their own series of adventurous new plays by emerging artists. They’re also the people behind the now defunct Walking Fish Festival.

The new fest will encompass seven main-stage shows, along with readings and talk-show talkbacks.

Among the highlights are two works by B.C. playwrights: Kayak, Jordan Hall’s story of a woman who sets out on the water, paddling right into the environmental movement; and Sea of Green, Andy Garland’s depiction of an election day that turns to riots.

Elsewhere, Edmonton’s Jon Lachlan Stewart remounts Big Shot (first seen here at the 2011 Vancouver International Fringe Festival); it’s his story of a SkyTrain shooting as seen through the eyes of an ADD boy and other characters. And in a double bill that challenges theatrical conventions, Robert Leveroos tells a flood story using glass bottles, wooden boxes, and rubber gloves in Safe/Guard, and pairs up with Mirae Rosner to dance around simple objects and family heirlooms in Feast.