Coming Up At The Cultch For April & May:
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They're back and they're much worse off than you.
An Interview with the Creators & Performers of Ali & Ali 7,
Marcus Youssef & Camyar Chai
Q. Ali and Ali 7: Hey Brother, Can You Spare Some Hope and Change? is a follow-up to Ali and Ali and the aXes of Evil. Can you tell me about the characters and original story?
Marcus Youssef (MY): The characters were two Arab/Persian stereotypes Cam and I played improv games with in our early 20s, touring BC with Green Thumb. In the wake of 9/11 the CBC asked if we wanted to create something in response for the radio. At the time the only image of Arab/Muslims available you saw anywhere was either terrorist or victim of US racial profiling / paranoia. Those are, for me, equally uninteresting (and deeply interrelated) possibilities. So I suggested we use the Alis - because they're not real; because they say the wrong thing; because they are about the West's image of the Middle East, not the Middle East itself.
Camyar Chai (CC): One of my first experiences on stage was performing in the musical
Oklahoma! in high school in North Vancouver. After a hot audition, I dreamt all weekend of being cast as 'Curly.' Why not? I was cute and had curly hair. I was shocked when my name appeared in front of the character, 'Ali Hakim.' It was then, at seventeen, when I first realized that my fellow Canadians didn't see me as a blond and blue eyed Oklahoman, but rather, a creepy Persian peddler who enjoys de-flowering virginal white women. To my surprise, it was the best part in the play and I've rarely had bigger laughs. The idea behind our play's Ali Hakim is to take the negative stereotypes of the character from Oklahoma! and appropriate them for our own gains, without losing the clown and the cultural tropes but adding dignity and complexity.
Q. Did you plan to write a follow-up to The aXes of Evil?
MY: There was no plan at all, until Guillermo and I were in Toronto watching a hearing in federal court against security certificate detainee Mahmoud Jaballah. It was crazy. The most extraordinary thing to watch testimony in which the prosecution is not obligated to talk about its evidence, and instead relies entirely on hearsay and inference, while casting aspersions at a guy who's been held in solitary confinement for almost a decade WITH NO CHARGES. In CANADA! Halfway through the first day of testimony and I said to Guillermo, this process is so absurd the only way I can imagine tackling it is with a characters for whom absurdity is central, as an aesthetic and as a critical tactic.
CC: The first one wouldn't go away. Then suddenly the Obama phenomenon happened. We had a theme in the first play: 'same but different.' At that time we were referring to the fact that, if you look at their actions it's hard to see much difference between Bush and Bin Laden (amongst other similar examples). Now, the theme still applies, only the comparison is between Bush and Obama as well. Everyone said everything has changed. Has it really? Another interest I had was the response to the first show in Seattle. I had to sit out because of an appendectomy and I gleefully watched Guillermo [Verdecchia, director] play my part. There was an edge to the satire, a level of self-consciousness and complicity, in the American audience that didn't always happen with Canadian audiences. I think the subject of the Canadian Security Detainees gives us that edge.
Q. If this is a sequel, why is it numbered "7"?
MY: They [Ali Ababwa and Ali Hakim] thought that calling it "7" made it sound more successful. Maybe it'll excuse it if it's bad. Nobody expected Rocky 6 to be any good. Or Saw 12.
CC: It was Marcus' dumb idea. Or Guillermo's? Anyway, they both think it's funny so I humour them.
Ali & Ali 7 is on at The Cultch from Apr 14-24 @ 8pm. Matinees: Apr 17 & 24 @ 2pm. No performance Apr 18 & 19. For tickets, order online at http://tickets.thecultch.com/ or call the Box Office at 604-251-1363. Can't afford regular priced tickets? The Cultch is offering 2-for-1 tickets for the following performances: April 15, 20 & 21 and a Pay-What-You-Can performance on April 13th!
Sponsorship Profile: Russell Beer
Russell Brewing has generously sponsored The Cultch's presentation ofAli & Ali 7: Hey Brother, Can you Spare Some Hope & Change? Here are a few things to know about Russell Brewing:
- They are a proud supporter of many community fundraisers, sports teams and live theatre productions.
- They are committed to brewing real beer (100% natural). No shortcuts. No preservatives. No pasteurization.
- They are Canadian through and though. Finest Canadian grain. Pure Canadian water.
- Russell Brewing Company is one of the fastest growing breweries British Columbia. Situated in Surrey, British Columbia, our brewery operates six days a week and is home to over 40 employees and a small dog named Gypsy.
In celebration of this amazing
partnership we've decided to pass on some of our celebratory spirit to
you. For the rest of our season,
Russell's draft beer is on sale for $3.50 a pint! Can you say
bottoms up?
The Tooth Fairy: A preposterous fable for unusual children
Around the world, children's teeth fall out. They tuck them expectantly under their pillows and go to sleep. And in the dream-haunted night, a creeping creature from another world makes an exchange filled with dread significance: innocence traded for grubby lucre. And Mum and Dad grin in the morning, as if something deeply strange had not occurred in the gloaming dark.
It is time for the truth to be told. Witness the tale of Abigail, the Girl With Perfect Teeth. Cheer her crusade to save the world from the Tooth Fairy, and thereby preserve for eternity the innocent happiness of childhood. No more shall our golden days be bought from us!
The Tooth Fairy treads the strange and beautiful line between adult and child: an odyssey from innocence to experience, a children's book adapted for adults, an avant-garde puppet show adapted for children.
The Tooth Fairy is a fantastical leap into those dark and troubling waters, our childhoods - what we have lost, what we have gained, and, most disturbing of all, what the Tooth Fairy does with all those teeth.
The Old Trouts do not shirk from extravaganza in this Cultch presentation running April 27th until May 1st. The Tooth Fairy is an unprecedented colossus of the puppet stage. Monsters! Cosmic curses! Seabattles! Foggy nights haunted by lurking defilers! The epic saga of every soul's horrifying leap into adulthood enacted with puppets of edifying ridiculosity!
"One of the best, most surreal works of imagination I've seen in ages."
- See Magazine, Edmonton
Don't miss this opportunity to see The Tooth Fairy at The Cultch from Apr 27- May 1 at 7PM. Matinee: May 1 at 2pm. For tickets, order
online at http://tickets.thecultch.com
or call the Box Office at 604-251-1363.
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Celebrating the Sprouts and the Arts with a fundraiser for The Cultch
On Thursday, April 8 at 6 p.m., Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks will host their Fourth
Annual Sprouts cookbook awards,with proceeds from the evening going to The Cultch. Honouring Tender Volume 1 by Nigel Slater (Judges' choice) and The Tastes of Sonora Resort by Matthew Stowe (People's choice), this evening of elegance and hors d'oeuvres prepared by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala will also see the presentation of the much coveted silver Sprouts award by local artist Robert Chaplin. Since April is Poetry Month, guests will also be entertained with recitations of poetry by local actress, director and teacher, Joy Coghill, including Lorna Crozier's The Sex Lives of Vegetables. All proceeds from this evening's event will be donated to The Cultch.
Tickets to this festive fundraiser are $75 and selling quickly. Don't miss this unique opportunity to support the arts and to celebrate the best in culinary writing. To purchase tickets call 604-688-6755.
The Cultch's Summer Youth Performing Arts Intensive:
Now accepting applications! A one-of-a-kind summer camp experience for high-school aged youth, August 16th - 27th
Vancouver has a rich and diverse independent performing-arts community known internationally for its innovation. This is your opportunity to work with leading members of that community and learn exactly what it takes to bring a new production to a professional stage. Participants will form performance groups that will work in collaboration with our faculty of expert mentors to create an original multi-disciplinary work. Along the way the young artists will be given unprecedented access to professionals in the industry to which they aspire. The program ends on August 27th with the world-premiere of the student's work in The Cultch's beautiful, state-of-the-art Historic Theatre.
Expect to learn!
Expect to laugh!
Expect to be challenged!
It will be the most exciting and inspiring two weeks of your summer, guaranteed.
Continue reading "Introducing The Cultch's Inaugural Summer Youth Performing Arts Intensive"
 FACEBOOK TIP: Sign up as a fan of The Cultch on Facebook and become eligible for our exclusive Facebook ticket giveaways and last minute deals!
The Most Important Part of our Season is You
When you make a donation to The Cultch, you directly impact our ability
to keep ticket prices low, and enable us to continue to bring
unforgettable performances by local, national and international artists
and companies to East Vancouver. Considering that only 40% of our
budget is covered by ticket sales, rentals and concessions, your
support makes an extraordinary difference.
Becoming a supporter of The Cultch is easy.
Just click here.
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