A musical look at Vancouver's Elbow Room, a searing piece on residential schools, and shows from New Zealand, Belgium, and Italy are a few of the highlights in the Cultch's recently announced 2016-17 roster.

The 20-show lineup, which includes six Canadian premieres and two new dance works, takes place across three venues: the Cultch Historic Theatre, the York Theatre, and the Vancity Culture Lab. Add to that one site-specific show, Le Patin Libre's artful twist on ice-skating, Vertical Influences, at the Brittania Community Centre rink.

Amid the offerings are two new local musicals: Zee Zee Theatre’s Elbow Room: The Musical, about the well-known brunch spot where lighthearted verbal abuse gets served along with great food, and Urban Ink’s Children of God, the story of two Oji-Cree children sent to a residential school in Northern Ontario--the latter moving on to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa after its premiere here in May 2017.

The two dance premiere are am a from Mindy Parfitt and Amber Funk Barton, and How To Be, from Tara Cheyenne Performance. Also on the roster is the return ofMontreal provocateur, dance artist, and musician Frédérick Gravel/Grouped’ArtGravelArtGroup, All Hell Is Breaking Loose, Honey. The troupe's rock 'n' roll Usually Beauty Fails wowed crowds at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in  2014.

 Theatre Replacement’s will also return with its crazily popular East Van Panto in December, with the writing directing team of Mark Chavez and Anita Rochon taking on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood; Veda Hille returns for a fourth year as musical director.

The Canadian premieres include Piya Behrupiya, a Hindi version of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night; Fight Night from Belgium, a wicked take on elections and voting systems; the American Helen & Edgar from the team behind The Moth; family-friendly, circus-driven The Pianist; and romantic thriller The Elephant Wrestler, both from New Zealand; and the La Merda from Italy, Silvia Gallerano's literally naked performance of a stream of consciouness the Guardian called "extraordinary and terrifying".

Big returning names include badass clowns Mump & Smoot, puppetmaster Ronnie Burkett's The Daisy Theatre, and the modern-maternal-minded Motherload.

Below, find the entire lineup. 

Subscriptions for the 16/17 season are on sale now. Single tickets go on sale August 2. Call The Cultch’s Box Office at 604-251-1363 or go online at tickets.thecultch.com.

Helen & Edgar
Edgar Oliver (US)  
Sept 29 - Oct 8, 2016

Motherload
The Motherload Collective (Vancouver)
Oct 4 - 15, 2016

Piya Behrupiya (Twelfth Night)
The Company Theatre (India)
Oct 11 - 22, 2016

Fight Night
Ontroerend Goed (Belgium), Border Project Australia, Richard Jordan (UK)
Oct 18 - 29, 2016

The Pianist: A Concert Catastrophe
Thomas Monckton (New Zealand)/Circo Aereo (Finland)
Oct 25 - Nov 6, 2016

The Elephant Wrestler
Indian Ink Theatre Company (New Zealand)
Nov 1 - 5, 2016

Empire of the Son
Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (Vancouver)
Nov 1 - 13, 2016

All Hell Is Breaking Loose, Honey
Frédérick Gravel/Grouped’ArtGravelArtGroup (Montreal)
Nov 8 - 12, 2016

East Van Panto: Little Red Riding Hood
Theatre Replacement (Vancouver)  
Nov 23 - Dec 31, 2016

The Fighting Season
Bleeding Heart Theatre (Vancouver)  
Jan 10 - 21, 2017

Mouthpiece
Quote UnQuote Collective (Toronto)
 Jan 31 - Feb 5, 2017

NeoIndigenA
Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (Toronto)
 Feb 15 - 19, 2017

am a
Amber Funk Barton and Mindy Parfitt (Vancouver)
Feb 21 - Mar 4, 2017

Elbow Room Café: The Musical
Zee Zee Theatre (Vancouver)
Mar 1 - 12, 2017

The Daisy Theatre
Ronnie Burkett (Toronto)
Mar 21 - Apr 9, 2017

How To Be
Tara Cheyenne Performance (Vancouver)
Apr 12 - 15, 2017

Vertical Influences
Le Patin Libre (Montreal)
Apr 18 - 30, 2017

Mump & Smoot in Anything
Mump & Smoot (Toronto)
Apr 25 - May 6, 2017

La Merda
Frida Kahlo Production (Italy) | Richard Jordan Productions (UK)
May 2 - 13, 2017

Children of God
The Cultch, NAC (Ottawa), Raven Theatre, Urban Ink (Vancouver)
May 16 - June 3, 2017