The Georgia Straight proudly sponsors the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

From January 16 to February 5, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival comes to various venues around Vancouver.

For the 13th annual edition, artists from 11 countries will showcase innovative, transformative art across a vast expanse of performance disciplines.

PuSh Festival artistic and executive director Norman Armour says that "we have gathered fearless, visionary creators from around the globe to ignite dialogue and exploration on a litany of pressing themes: inclusivity and isolation, memory and mental health, love and conflict, gender and sexuality, and more. These artists are society's true leaders, showing us the way forward, while illuminating the past and interrogating the present."

This year, festivalgoers can look forward to 21 Main Stage shows, six Club PuSh shows, the PuSh Assembly, free movies in the PuSh Film Series, professional workshops, and artist talks.

The Main Stage shows include an adaptation of Verdi's opera Macbeth set in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a human library, Australian indigenous ensemble Black Arm Band, a minimalist rendition of William Faulkner's classic novel As I Lay Dying, an immersive journey inspired by a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and a dance duet that explores the physical essense of romance and sexuality.

Tickets for the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival start at $10 and are available online or by calling 604-449-6000.