Hot Brown Honey

March 15 to 30 at the Cultch

It was one of last year’s most buzzed-about and empowering shows. Now the Aussie-born, female-driven extravaganza is back with its bold mashup of political activism, hip-hop, dance, poetry, comedy, circus, striptease, and song. It defies categorization, and so do the Aboriginal Australian, Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Indonesian, and South African women who perform it. More than anything, it’s a chance to get loud and proud and dance in your seats—basically, a big party thrown around a huge hive of coloured lights.

Multiple Organism

March 19 to 30 at the Culture Lab

“Even die-hard fans of Mind of a Snail, whose work is usually family-friendly, are in for a surprise—and a treat”: that was the way our review started when we covered the 2017 Vancouver Fringe Festival, naming the multimedia play a standout that year. Not surprisingly, the wildly inventive show and its deliciously dirty projections, body-positive nudity, and adults-only puppets went on to win a spot on the Pick of the Fringe lineup, critics’-choice prizes from both the Fringe and the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, and a Cultchivating the Fringe award from the Cultch. That last one means that Mind of a Snail can now restage the work at the Culture Lab. Don’t miss it this time; you’ve never seen anything like it.

Music Sea to Sea: The Farewell Tour

March 15 at Shaughnessy Heights United Church

In an epic Canadian goodbye tour for long-time conductor Jon Washburn, the Vancouver Chamber Choir is pulling out its all-time top-10 List. Among the faves: Claude Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, R. Murray Schafer’s A Garden of Bells, and Washburn’s own rousing Rise! Shine! Four Spirituals. The concert has journeyed everywhere from Regina to St. John’s and Antigonish, and it’s finally coming home.

Shamrocks and Shenanigans

March 17 at the Improv Centre

Vancouver TheatreSports League serves up laughs with your green beer on St. Patrick’s Day, promising improvised skits that celebrate and send up everything Irish—think favourite Emerald Isle expressions and roving Lucky Charm leprechauns. Heads up that the venue’s Neil Macrae Bar and Lounge has not only shamrock-hued draft on tap, but specials on Guinness, shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey, and more. Not that you have to drink to have a good craic...