Next season, the Cultch will kick off its 2019-20 roundup with a new multidisciplinary festival co-curated by Corey Payette and executive director Heather Redfern.

The Raven Transforming Cabaret Festival happens from October 2 to 12, and will span dance, music, comedy, burlesque, and theatre, and include Indigenous, local, and international work.

“Raven Transforming Cabaret Festival will be a gathering for so many artists to share their daring and powerful works with audiences and inspire landmark conversation for years to come," Payette, the creator of the acclaimed residential-school musical Children of God, said in the announcement statement today.

Two major dance productions also hit the Historic Theatre: Montreal’s’ Tentacle Tribe, with its hip-hop-driven Ghost; and Dancers of Damelahamid with the new, multimedia Mînowin.

The programming for next season also features the return of some popular names. Tetsuro Shigematsu (Empire of the Son) has written Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre's new Kuroko; puppetry virtuoso Ronnie Burkett brings his new Forget Me Not here (a work that apparently includes 100 audience members and 100 puppets, all staged at a "secret location"); Vancouver innovators Neworld Theatre will present The Boy in the Moon; and Theatre Replacement will present MINE, a Minecraft-inspired collaboration between Maiko Yamamoto and her 11-year-old son. Another highlight will be Jonathon Young and Amy Rutherford starring in Hannah Moscovitch’s Infinity (by Volcano Theatre).

In addition, with Zee Zee Theatre, next spring the Cultch will bring in Australia's Briefs, a show from the producers of hit Hot Brown Honey that features an all-male circus-burlesque-drag cabaret.

And the East Van Panto has been revealed: it will centre around Pinocchio for its seventh year, with Marcus Youssef and Stephen Drover, writer and director of last year’s acclaimed East Van Panto: The Wizard of Oz, on board again, and Pippa Mackie starring as the title puppet-human. That combines around Christmas with Zee Zee Theatre's new holiday show for adults, Holiday at the Elbow Room Café, a new musical tribute to the infamous Davie Street cafe. It features songs from Dave Deveau and Anton Lipovetsky, creators of the hit Elbow Room Cafe: The Musical.

The female-centric Femme Series returns in January 2020, and includes the New Zealand "circus party" The WonderWombs.

The list of shows is below. Subscriptions for the 2019/20 season are on sale now, with single tickets going on sale July 15. See tickets.thecultch.com.

Take d Milk, Nah?
Pandemic Theatre (Toronto) / Rumble Theatre

Presented with Diwali in BC, in association with Neworld Theatre

October 16 to 26 at the Vancity Culture Lab

Kuroko

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre

Nov 6 to 17 at the Historic Theatre

Mînowin

Dancers of Damelahamid

Nov 20 to 24 at the Historic Theatre                                                                                                    

East Van Panto: Pinocchio                                                                                                          
Theatre Replacement
November 20, 2019 to January 5, 2020 at the York Theatre

Holiday at the Elbow Room Café
Zee Zee Theatre  
Dec 10 to 29, 2019 at the Historic Theatre

Infinity

Volcano Theatre (Toronto)

Jan 7 to 19, 2020 at the Historic Theatre

The WonderWombs

The Dust Palace (New Zealand)

January 14 to 19, 2020 at the York Theatre as part of the Femme Series

Unikkaaqtuat
The 7 Fingers (Montréal) / Artcirq (Igloolik) / Taqqut Productions (Iqaluit)

Presented with DanceHouse

January 22 to 25, 2020 at the Vancouver Playhouse

O’wet
Quelemia Sparrow / Savage Society (Vancouver)

Presented with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
January 23 to February 1, 2020 at the Historic Theatre, as part of the Femme Series

KISMET, things have changed

The Chop Theatre

Presented with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

February 4 to 8, 2020 at the Historic Theatre, as part of the Femme Series

Forget Me Not

Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes (Toronto)

February 4 to March 1, 2020 at a secret location

Ghost
Tentacle Tribe (Montréal)
Presented with New Works

February 12 to 15, 2020 at the Historic Theatre

BIG Sister

Rapid Pitch Productions

February 19 to 29, 2020 at the Vancity Culture Lab

MINE

Theatre Replacement

March 18 to 22, 2020 at the Historic Theatre

The Boy in the Moon

Neworld Theatre

March 31 to April 11, 2020 at the Historic Theatre

Briefs

Briefs Factory (Australia)  

Presented with Zee Zee Theatre

April 14 to May 3, 2020 at the York Theatre