The Georgia Straight proudly sponsors rEvolver Theatre Festival

Upintheair Theatre presents the rEvolver Theatre Festival from May 14 to 26 at the Cultch (1895 Venables Street). The rEvolver Theatre Festival, formerly the Neanderthal Arts Festival, is a cutting-edge performing arts festival that showcases work by emerging artists and companies.

This year’s mainstage series will feature five local companies. Alley Theatre will present Kayak, a witty play about the global environmental crisis written by Jordan Hall and directed by Rachel Peake. Kayak won the 2010 Samuel French Canadian Playwrights Contest.

Vancouver’s Zee Zee Theatre will present Tucked and Plucked: Vancouver’s Drag History on Stage, a hilarious play created and performed by Dave Deveau and Cameron MacKenzie. The play, which has been billed “The Rosie O’Donnell Show meets Jerry Springer”, follows two “drag husbands” through Vancouver’s bedazzled history.

Sea of Green will be performed by Vancouver’s StarStar Theatre. The play written by Andy Garland and directed by Mika Laulainen won the 2009 Uprising National Playwriting Competition and was inspired by the 2009 Iranian Election protests.

Safe/Guard and Feast: Robert Leveroos features two visual poems that employ found objects, movement, light, and sound. Meanwhile,Tomorrow Collective’s Brief Encounters: Rekindled is an interdisciplinary performance series that pairs artists from diverse backgrounds into one, new piece. The pairings are actor Jeff Gladstone with DIY media producer Laura Lee Schultz, and dancer Wen Wei Wang with filmmaker Pia Massie.

Rounding out the mainstage series are two other Canadian companies. Ramshackle Theatre from Whitehorse will perform Sci Fi Double Feature, a cardboard puppet show filmed and projected onto a big screen. Created by Brian Fidler and Edward Westerhuis, Sci Fi Double Feature will appeal to audiences of all ages.

Edmonton’s Surreal SoReal Theatre will present Big Shot, a play written and performed by Jon Lachlan Stewart and directed by Georgina Beatty. The play about a boy who witnesses a shooting on Vancouver’s Skytrain was nominated for two Edmonton Sterling awards and two Calgary Betty awards.

Tickets to individual performances can be purchased online at the Cultch box office.