“Big ideas. Big themes. Big artists.” These are just some of the words PuSh International Performing Arts Festival artistic and executive director Norman Armour uses to describe the just-announced lineup for the 2017 festival.

The 13th annual interdisciplinary fest runs from January 16 to February 5 next year, and among its highlights are its first productions from South Korea and Portugal, as well as several genre-pushing shows from Britain.

But, as Armour alludes to, the range is just as noteworthy for what themes the productions tackle as where they come from. England’s Caroline Horton & Co. works with China Plate to find innovative new ways to explore anorexia in Mess; South Africa’s Third World Bunfight takes on the torturous politics of the Democratic Republic of Congo with its reimagined Macbeth opera; and England’s Paines Plough and Pentabus Theatre Company takes on depression, aiming to list stuff worth living for in Every Brilliant Thing.

“There’s a real boldness to the artists,” Armour says, pointing to people like Portugal’s Tiago Rodrigues or South Korea’s Geumhyung Jeong. “It’s talking about uncomfortable things. It’s artists as leaders who are interrogating the present and suggesting what some way forward might be.”

And as usual, the “big ideas” are shows that push genre and form into bold new territory, whether it’s Backstage in Biscuit Land’s mix of improv, comedy, and puppetry; FOLK-S, Will you still love me tomorrow?’s wild reimagining of traditional Bavarian slap-happy schuhplattler dance; or Garden of Earthly Delights’ interactive, Hieronymus Bosch–inspired shadow performance.

One of the “biggest” undertakings is dirtsong, a multimedia musical celebration of Australia’s indigenous cultures that Armour says took him three years to bring here. Presented with Coastal Jazz, the show by Black Arm Band celebrates diversity, indigenous languages, and the peoples’ connections to the earth in a concert on February 4 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

“It was comissioned for the truth-and-reconciliation [process] in Australia, with 12 indigenous languages. In Australia the indigenous contemporary scene is really quite remarkable,” Armour explains. “To me it’s also speaking to things that should be spoken to....It’s going across the country and we have First Nations artists joining it. This is a work that I think is going to be an occasion.”

Below, find a full list of the lineup announced tonight at the Fox Cabaret, where you can find Club PuSh shows on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the fest. You can also pick up the 2017 program guide at JJ Bean, Choices Markets, and other select locations. Tickets and ticket packages (includeing early-bird rates of $103 for four shows or $148 for six shows) are available as of 10 a.m. on Tuesday (November 8) at pushfestival.ca.

Main Stage shows

Macbeth – Third World Bunfight (South Africa)  (Presented with Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre & Vancouver Opera. Jan 16, 17, 19–21 at the Vancouver Playhouse) A radical adaption of Verdi’s opera set in the Democratic Republic of Congo with mineral mines, machine guns and a corporate cabal. African musical idioms, contemporary costumes, projection and bold set design make this a true Macbeth for our times.

Oil Pressure Vibrator – Geumhyung Jeong (South Korea) (Presented with Centre A. Supported by Centre Stage Korea & SFU Woodward’s. Jan 17–19 at SFU Studio D at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts ) Geumhyung Jeong, winner of the 2016 Hermès Foundation Award, takes audiences on her quest for autoerotic satisfaction with an industrial excavator. This is a courageous and transgressive performance that challenges notions of sexuality, technology and the body.

Mess – Caroline Horton & Co. / China Plate (England) (Presented with caravan & Vancouver International Children’s Festival. Supported by Arts Council England & British Council. Jan 18–22 at the Waterfront Theatre)  Josephine, joined by best friends Boris and Sistahl, is putting on a play about anorexia. With wild invention, laughs galore and great songs to boot, this show tackles the realities of the disorder and its impact while offering hope for recovery.

Sweat Baby Sweat – Jan Martens (Belgium/Netherlands) (Presented with The Dance Centre. Supported by Performing Arts Fund Netherlands. Jan 18–20 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre)  Romance and sexuality are distilled to their physical essence in this brilliant piece of dance between one man and one woman. Minimalist with maximum exertion, each new contortion between the couple brings added tension, their portrayal of love growing more profound.

By Heart – Tiago Rodrigues / Teatro Nacional D. Maria II (Portugal) (Supported by Consulate General of Portugal. Jan 19—21 at Performance Works) Inspired by George Steiner’s words, “Once 10 people know a poem by heart, there’s nothing the KGB, the CIA or the Gestapo can do about it,” distinguished playwright and actor Tiago Rodrigues teaches 10 audience members a poem. Rodrigues offers a personal, touching show about the power of art, not just to inform and inspire, but also to elude and fight oppression.

As I Lay Dying – Theatre Smith-Gilmour (Canada)  (Presented with Arts Club Theatre Company. Jan 19–Feb 12 at the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre) William Faulkner’s classic novel of one family’s trek to lay its deceased matriarch to rest is adapted with remarkable innovation. With few props and no sets, these masters of physical theatre miraculously conjure another world through spectacular movement, lighting and sound.

Garden of Earthly Delights – Mere Phantoms (Canada)  (Presented with grunt gallery & CSA Space. Jan 19–21 at the CSA Space)  Inspired by the Hieronymus Bosch painting of the same name, this immersive journey guides viewers with shadow projections and sound, moving from lush jungle to urban maze through a cityscape. This is illusionism at its finest—refined down to a beautiful binary of black and white.

Human Library – Stop the Violence (Denmark) (Presented with Zee Zee Theatre. Supported by Vancouver Public Library. Jan 21, 22, 28, 29; February 4 & 5 at the Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch)  Back by popular demand, the worldwide phenomenon and PuSh Festival favourite invites people to borrow a human book. Readers of this living literature will get a taste of other lives, perspectives and possibilities.

Town Choir – Theatre Replacement (Canada) (Presented with Theatre Replacement Supported by Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Vancouver Public Library and Westbank. Jan 22, 29, Feb 5, Various locations)  Songwriters in cities across Canada type out observations of their surroundings and transmit them to Vancouver, where the Vancouver Youth Choir transforms them into song. Stories come from afar at fibre optic speed to become musical works of art.

Four Thousand Holes – Vicky Chow/Ben Reimer (Canada) (Presented with Music on Main. Jan 23 & 24 at The Fox Cabaret) Genre-bending drum kit whiz Ben Reimer and virtuosic pianist Vicky Chow bring their talents together to perform the world premieres of works by Music on Main’s composer-in-residence Nicole Lizée and the acclaimed Vincent Ho, as well as John Luther Adams’ Four Thousand Holes.

Portraits in Motion – Volker Gerling/Aurora Nova (Germany) (Presented with The Cultch Jan 24–26 at the York Theatre) An incandescent, flickering glimpse of human persona and essence. Striking portraits from photographic flipbooks are projected live onto the large screen. Charming stories behind each flipbook are recounted, bringing to life these frozen instances in time.

The City and the City – Upintheair Theatre & The Only Animal (Canada) (Presented with Upintheair Theatre & The Only Animal. Jan 24–29, 31; Feb 3–5 at Russian Hall) China Miéville’s award-winning tale of two fictional cities unfolds as spectator becomes participant in a murder mystery. Audience members are “cast” upon arrival and equipped with ear buds and transmitter to receive cues throughout the play to collectively crack the case.

Concord Floral – Erin Brubacher, Cara Spooner & Jordan Tannahill (Canada) (Presented with Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Surrey Civic Theatres & Touchstone Theatre. Supported by Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Seedlings Foundation, TELUS Community Board, Vancouver Foundation. Jan 25–29  at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre)  Drawing on Boccaccio’s The Decameron, award-winning playwright Jordan Tannahill paints a powerful scenario: 10 teens seek refuge in an abandoned greenhouse from a plague they brought upon themselves. This critically acclaimed theatre thriller is cast with youth from across the Lower Mainland.

Every Brilliant Thing – Paines Plough/Pentabus Theatre Company (England) (Presented with caravan. Supported by Arts Council England, British Council. Jan 26–29 at Performance Works)  In this heartrending yet hopeful play about depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love, comedian and performer Jonny Donahoe—with the help of the audience—delivers a list of all things worth living for, starting with ice cream.

Zappa Meets Varèse & Oswald: The Present Day Composer Refuses to Die Turning Point Ensemble (Canada)  (Presented with Turning Point Ensemble. Supported by SFU Woodward’s. Jan 27–29 at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts)  The 30-piece Turning Point Ensemble and one of Canada’s boldest composers, John Oswald, give two artists ahead of their time—Frank Zappa and Edgar Varèse—the performance their mad inventions deserve.

Backstage in Biscuit Land – Touretteshero (England)  (Presented with caravan. Supported by Arts Council England, British Council and Vancity. Jan 30–Feb 1 at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre)  Jess Thom cannot stay on script. She involuntarily and repeatedly says “biscuit,” one of the verbal ticks of her Tourette syndrome. In this delightful and enlightening show, what society deems “atypical” allows Thom to soar with a hilarious and unhinged mix of improv, comedy and puppetry.

Sculptress: The Music of Nicole Lizée – Standing Wave Ensemble (Canada) (Presented with Standing Wave Ensemble & Music on Main. Jan 30 & 31 at The Fox Cabaret) Vancouver’s celebrated percussive ensemble, Standing Wave, joins forces with Montreal composer and video artist Nicole Lizée in an innovative and eclectic audiovisual feast for the senses.

Mouthpiece – Quote Unquote Collective (Canada) (Presented with The Cultch. Jan 31–Feb 5 at the Historic Theatre at The Cultch)  Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava play two halves of the same woman: a person grieving the loss of her mother, while attempting to plan the funeral, all envisaged in a bathtub. The two halves overlap seamlessly, but also diverge, revealing a fractured conscious many will relate to.

Wallflower – Quarantine (England) (Presented with caravan Supported by Arts Council England & British Council. Feb 1–3 at Performance Works)  Evoking memories of awkward high school dances, private groove sessions, a romantic slow dance and much more, the performers of Wallflower endeavour to recall every dance they have ever danced. This is storytelling in action, autobiography emerging in movement and music.

FOLK-S, Will you still love me tomorrow? – Alessandro Sciarroni (Italy) (Presented with The Dance Centre & Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre. Feb 2–4 at Scotiabank Dance Centre) The schuhplattler is a Bavarian folk dance in which performers strike their shoes and legs; it’s ecstatic, kinetic, and one walloping workout. In this contemporary interpretation the dancers take the form to physical extremes, performing in various rhythms and configurations with inconceivable endurance.

dirtsong – Black Arm Band (Australia) (Presented with Coastal Jazz Supported by Australian High Commission Canada, CDm2 LIGHTWORKS, Full Circle: First Nations Performance. Feb 4 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre)  Against a backdrop of stunning documentary, this spectacular performance company of Indigenous artists share songs honouring their connection to the earth with driving percussion, didgeridoo and soulful vocals. Deeply moving and intoxicating, this Canadian premiere poignantly coincides with the 150th year of our nation born from the displacement of Indigenous peoples.

Club Push shows (At the Fox Cabaret features shows on Fridays and Saturdays)

Dynasty Handbag – Jibz Cameron (USA) (Jan 20) Jibz Cameron’s alter ego is Dynasty Handbag—a blazing, fearless stage presence. Rowdy, raunchy and queer as folk, she presents a veritable mixtape of songs from a roster of wholly invented artists.

Things a Person is Supposed to Wonder – Bridget Moser (Canada) (Jan 21) Bridget Moser stars in her own series of short, incisive performances employing props, jokes and music. Call it stand-up comedy, whimsical poetry or just plain unclassifiable, Moser’s work is fantastically entertaining and making waves in the arts world.

Point Blank Poets (England) (Presented with caravan Supported by Arts Council England & British Council Jan 27) Five preeminent spoken-word artists with published books, plays and millions of YouTube views tackle the political, the personal and every point in between with burning passion and precision in their Canadian premiere.

Revenge of the Popinjay – AnimalParts (USA/Canada) (Presented with Zee Zee Theatre Jan 28) AnimalParts was founded by Studio 58 graduates Anthony Johnston and Nathan Schwartz. Their experimental rap-horror show blends live hip-hop, storytelling, performance art, and graphic “heterophobia” in an exhilarating dark comedy.

Visitors From Far Away to the State Machine – Hong Kong Exile (Canada) (Feb 3) The 2017 PuSh Festival’s Artists-in-Residence present their profane space oddity that follows two aliens visiting Earth for their honeymoon. Video graphics and nonlinear storytelling fuse in this intergalactic opera spanning thousands of years.

Lido Pimienta (Canada) (Feb 4)  Colombian-born, Toronto-based musician Lido Pimienta has shared the stage with such stars as Tanya Tagaq and A Tribe Called Red. In a night of music for a revolution, she offers a tribute to nature and the de-colonized spirit at the intersection of ethnicity, gender and nationality.