here

theatre
festival
2013
august 16, 17, 18
Welcome!
Every day is a celebration of the Arts in this community of writers, actors, poets, painters, dancers,
musicians, sculptors and potters. The arts are important to Gabriola Island’s economic and social fabric,
and the Gabriola Arts Council is committed to creating opportunities for people of all ages and interests to
engage with local art and artists.
The Gabriola Theatre Festival is a key element of the Gabriola Arts Council’s annual program. From
the successful first Festival in 2009, it’s been apparent that Gabriola loves performing arts. We continue
to respond to feedback from audiences, volunteers and performers, and each year there have been
improvements. This year—the exciting Fifth Annual Gabriola Theatre Festival—will be the best yet.
May I take this opportunity to thank the organizing committee and the dedicated team of volunteers
for your invaluable contributions. Thanks also to performers and their supporters who work so hard to
keep us engaged and entertained. Thanks especially to you, the committed audience members, for your
enthusiastic support. I look forward to seeing you throughout the Festival weekend.
Jim Wilson-Storey, Festival Coordinator
Getting to Gabriola Island
Gabriola Island is a 20-minute ferry ride from Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island—see the BC Ferries
website and the back of this brochure for details. You can also get here via float plane—check Harbour
Air or Tofino Air for details. A transit bus will be operating between the ferry terminal and the Festival
Hub throughout the weekend. Details will be posted on the GAC site as soon as they’re available.
Parking
Please avoid parking in areas designated for local business patrons. Parking is available in the Gabriola
Elementary School lot, in the overflow area at The Commons, and on Lockinvar Lane between the South
Road intersection and the rear entrance to Folklife Village.
Tickets!
Theatre shows ticket prices
Adult tickets | $20 ($10 for children’s show)
Under 16 years | $10 for all shows
Theatre Pass Prices
Any 3 shows | $50
Any 5 shows | $75
Tickets and passes are available online at www.artsgabriola.ca after June 1,
and from Artworks and at the Festival Kiosk in the Village after July 1.
A membership in the
Gabriola Arts Council
is the most creative
investment you’ll make
this year!
Working for the Arts! At the Gabriola Arts Council, we value and encourage
community engagement, while fostering connections and collaboration between and
within community groups. We host three annual events—Isle of the Arts Festival,
Gabriola Theatre Festival, and Thanksgiving Tour and Festival—while
managing our year-round Healing Power of Arts program.
Become a member today. A mere $10 will get you a bi-monthly newsletter jampacked with information about local art news and notices of cultural events, plus calls
for artists and competitions, updates from the GAC Board of Directors, grant deadlines,
links to other community and arts organizations, and the good feeling that comes
from knowing you’re supporting the arts and artists on Gabriola Island.
All of that for only $10!
Sign up online or download a membership form at:
www.artsgabriola.ca
Gabriola Arts Council |PO Box 387 | Gabriola Island, BC | V0R 1X3 | 250-247-7409 | info@artsgabriola.ca
Brochure Design: Nina Turczyn, paprikadesign.ca
Street Art
Saturday | 9:30am to 5pm | Lockinvar Lane
See it! Love it! Buy it! Take it home!
Gabriola artists and artisans will delight your senses, tickle your fancies, and soothe your soul with their
creations at the premier summer art and craft event on Gabriola Island. More than 50 local artists will be
on hand at this lively Street Art Market, featuring an amazing, eclectic selection of quality art and crafts,
and one-of-a-kind treasures. Choose from delicate pottery, vibrant jewellery, stunning paintings, sculpture,
hand-crafted wooden furniture, photography, glass works and more.
Take time between shows, or take the whole day with friends. You’re sure to find something for everyone!
You never know what you might see roving around!
Street Fair
Sunday | 10am to 6pm | Lockinvar Lane
Join the fun at Gabriola Theatre Festival’s first Street Fair. Dancing in the streets! Plus art, antiques, clothes,
colourful baubles and curios! ALSO: food, crafts, performers and a Poet’s Corner. Buy, sell or barter! Play
games, learn a craft, tell a story! Come, have fun and stay awhile. Street Fair!—a treasure trove of gifts,
ideas, and as much fun as you’ll ever have on the street. Bring your dancing shoes!
The Shamanigans
Friday & Saturday | 8:15pm to 9:30pm
Sunday | 7pm to 7:30pm, 9:30pm to 10pm
Where? Everywhere!
The Shamanigans are an artistic tribe of heart-opening and continually evolving artists,
musicians and magical merry-makers! Through music, artistic expression and play, The
Shamanigans bring forth joy, bliss, laughter and transformation, offering glimpses into
new artistic dreams with a brief flutter of the butterflys’ wings. Watch for them throughout
the Festival weekend. The Shamanigans will be sharing Love Bombs, Circus Sideshows and
Surprises Galore!
On Saturday evening, at 8:15pm in the Festival Hub, join The Shamanigans for an Adult-only
Circus Sideshow Trashion Event! Watch for Penguin Boy, the Two-Faced Man and the Bearded
Lady. See Magicians with their Lovely Assistants! And more!
Lions Pancake Breakfast
Saturday & Sunday | 9am to 11am
Start your Festival day with a delicious Pancake Breakfast
served by the Gabriola Lions Club, and enjoyed with friends
and neighbours. Pancakes! Eggs! Sausages! Orange Juice
and Coffee! All for only $5.00!
All proceeds support worthy programs on Gabriola.
Gabriola Lions Club presents
the 17th Annual:
Concert-on-the-Green
Canada’s #1 Event Band
The Ten Souljers
Gabriola Golf Club | Tickets $15
Thursday August 8 | 5pm | kids 12 & under free
Neighbours Helping Neighbours
www.phcgabriola.org
Kids Corner
Saturday | 10am to 2:30pm
Sunday | 9:30am to 1pm
Outdoor Stage
Early till late throughout Festival weekend. Whenever there isn’t a show in the festival
tent, you’ll find all the action on the Outdoor Stage. As evening approaches, watch out!
The temperature rises! Don’t miss the frolicking fun, great music and hilarity with:
Festival fun for the little ones!
THE SHAMANIGANS
Face Painting!
DOGHOUSE BLUES
You provide the face—we provide the paint and the painter!
Dog House Blues Revue, a five-piece,
high-energy rockin’ blues band
Clowning!
MaSAMBA
The clowns are coming! With all their tomfoolery, juggling and lots of fun!
Storytelling!
Master storyteller Susan Yates will delight children of all ages with some
extraordinary stories.
Crazy fun, music and laughter
MISS MARA’S DANCERS
Back again with a new piece entitled Carnival
ANNA LYMAN--JAZZELELE
The sunny voice of the ukulele and Latin/Jazz/World music!
Gaia Gypsies
Gabriola’s own afro-cuban jazz fusion
Gabriola’s own Belly Dancers
shimmy-shimmy-shake-shake!
TAMMY BLAZER & DAVID BOTTEN
THE IAN PERRY BAND
If you aren’t dancing, laughing
or singing, you must be asleep
PENNY SIDOR
Playing classic and contemporary rock and blues
JAKE WEST
Sock Puppets
Tall tales, jokes, personal stories and
banter combined within a musical journey
Intensely physical clowning and juggling.
A dynamic presence to the stage
G.R.O.W.L.S’ Puppet Shows
CLEVER TREVER
CHRIS RONALD
Gabriola’s own juggling King! A puppet show with your favourite creatures.
THE VESTA CIRCUS GROUP
A folksinger combining guitar
with melody and meaningful lyrics
Mexican God’s Eyes
Circus, magic, dance, theatre
and wow! those costumes!
SHED
BIT O’ THE GREEN
THE SUNSHINE CLOWN SOCIETY
Western Canada’s premier Clown troupe-Circus,
magic, dance, theatre and wow! those costumes!
Make each one unique and individual.
Have fun making art with yarn and sticks to decorate your home.
Tile Decorating
Kids will paint and take home their very own ceramic tile.
Upbeat fiddlin’ soulful Celtic
rhymes and songs about whiskey
A mix of hillpunk, beachbilly and folktronica
Plus The One And Only! MC Lisa Webster-Gibson!
discovergabriola.com
shakespeare & love
call mr robeson
Friday 16 August| 3:00 pm | 1 Act | 65 minutes
Written by William Shakespeare & others | Performed by Garry Davey (Gabriola Island)
Cast Members: 1 | Rated: Family
An irreverent, adoring look at love-laced scenes from some of Shakespeare’s best-known plays including
Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet and others, as well as selections of poetry by
Browning, Auden, et al—naturally dealing with the theme of Love in its many guises!
The Performer: Garry Davey has been an actor, teacher and director for over 25 years and has
appeared on stages across the country and in many of the popular TV shows of the 1980s and ‘90s such
as Macgyver, The X Files, Cold Squad and Da Vinci’s Inquest. Theatre credits include Amadeus & The Miracle
Worker for Chemainus Theatre, Night Of Shooting Stars for Western Edge, Twelfth Night for Rocky Mountain
Shakespeare and All’s Well That Ends Well for Shakespeare Plus. Garry has worked with some of the world’s
finest teachers including at the Stratford Festival and The Original Shakespeare Company in London.
Friday 16 August | 7:00 pm | 1 Act | 80 minutes
Written and performed by Tayo Aluko (Liverpool, UK)
Cast Members: 2 | Rated: PG (Adult themes)
Paul Robeson is a great and famous actor, singer and civil rights campaigner. When he gets too outspoken
for the establishment’s liking, he is branded a traitor to his country, is harassed, and denied opportunities to
perform or travel. This rollercoaster journey through Robeson’s remarkable life highlights how his activism
caused him to be disowned and disremembered, even by leaders and descendants of the civil rights
movement. It features songs (including a dramatic rendition of “Ol’ Man River”), speeches, and a spectacularly
defiant testimony to the Senate House Un-American Activities Committee. One of the 20th century’s most
impressive but overlooked figures is revived in this powerful, compelling tour-de-force performance. The Performer: Born in Nigeria and now resident in the UK, Tayo Aluko studied and practiced
architecture for several years. He eventually turned to the theatre, and is now a full-time performer
and self-producer of this play which he performs around the UK, the US and elsewhere.
In loving memory of Jacob Chaos
- actor, playwright, teacher, friend
I will not worry
I will not be angry
I will do good work
I will respect everybody
I will be thankful for all my blessings
syphilis: a love story
world in a flapp
Friday 16 August | 9:30pm | 1 Act | 70 minutes
Saturday 17 August| 10:30 am | 1 Act | 55 minutes
This madcap comedy tells the story of Vaughn, a struggling writer hired to pen a health pamphlet on
syphilis. Against the advice of his best friend, Vaughn becomes obsessed with turning the pamphlet into
a true work of art. As his sanity begins to wane, an old flame returns to his life and attempts to rekindle
a romance. Vaughn must balance his artistic ambitions against his last, best chance for true love.
“[Syphilis is] a rom-com full of substance and bursting with levity. With references to Van Gogh, Immanuel
Kant and Christopher Columbus, the play is witty and well-acted.” —VUE Weekly (Edmonton)
“...evokes Neil Simon at his best, but with the intelligence quotient ratcheted up a notch.” —What’s Up Yukon
Who is Major Flapps? He is a dashing, leather-helmeted, grinning “Airman Extraordinaire”— the world’s
only human airplane! Flapps’ only problem seems to be getting airborne, and that’s where the outrageous
fun begins. Blending acrobatic comedy, zany wit and musical parody, Flapps flies his audiences around the
world while enlisting young audience members as his flight crew. Warning: Extreme Silliness!
“It’s easy to see why Stuart Nemtin is one of Canada’s most popular clowns!” —Calgary Sun
“… splendid family entertainment.” —CBC
The Company: Words Solution Theatre Company, including George Maratos, Justine Davidson,
schools programme, and has been introducing Major Flapps to delighted audiences around the world since
his first appearance at the 1978 Vancouver Children’s Festival. Stuart has performed on film, television and
with theatre companies across Canada, including Green Thumb, Kaleidoscope, Carousel, Belfry and Neptune.
Written by Peter Jickling | Performed by Words Solutions Theatre Company (Whitehorse, Yukon)
Cast Members: 4 | Rated: Adult (Adult themes and strong language)
Philip Nugent and Mary Sloan, is a vibrant, experienced and highly talented performance group from
the Yukon.
Written and performed by Stuart Nemtin (Victoria, BC)
Cast Members: 1 | Rated: Family
The Performer: Stuart Nemtin was the first clown in BC to be funded through their artist-in-the-
cromoli brothers!
the amazing impermeable
underneath the lintel
Saturday 17 August| 2:30 pm | 2 Acts | 85 minutes, one intermission
Saturday 17 August| 7:00 pm | 1 Act | 75 minutes
This must-see one-man vaudeville show features the acclaimed duo of St. John and Hasbro Cromoli. With
15 vignettes including The Rich, Dear Mary, I’m in a Gang Now, Pilot Talk, Cover Song, Nude Beach—the show
ranges from the poignant to the political to the absurd, and features original music performed on ukulele,
glockenspiel and melodica. Mild but hilarious audience participation.Winner of Best Comedy Award at the
New Zealand International Theatre Festival.
Glenn Berger’s one-man play introduces a logical librarian who has come to believe an ancient mythic
character might be real. He has evidence to prove it including his primary clue, a travel book returned to the
library 123 years overdue. As the overwrought, obsessed librarian struggles to piece together the cosmic
puzzle, the audience is left to decide if he is on the brink of a spiritual epiphany or paranoia.
“Simply brilliant! A tour de force.” —Spider Robinson, Bowen Island Undercurrent
“A curiously funny drama about life’s most curious stuff.” —New York Times
Written and performed by Lucas Myers (Nelson, BC)
Cast Members: 1 |Rated: Family
The Performer: Lucas Myers is artistic director of Pilot.co.Pilot, a theatre company committed
to original work that reflects the audacity of the human spirit. Lucas has been creating theatre since his
graduation from the National Theatre School in 1998. He performed and composed music for many original
plays with Victoria’s Theatre SKAM. In 2001 his interests turned to collaborative creation and he studied with
the SITI Company of New York, returning to BC to apply their techniques with like-minded artists.
Espresso • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner
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Fresh Food to DINE IN or TAKE OUT
Located in the Folklife Village
250.325.2769 www.oldcrowcafe.ca
Written by Glenn Berger | Performed by David Cameron/Kingbaby Productions (Bowen Island, BC)
Cast Members: 1 | Rated: Family
The Performer: David Cameron graduated from Theatre at York University in 1984 and performed in
the inaugural production of The Dream In High Park. He has played major roles in film and TV, and co-founded
Kingbaby Productions with his wife Jackie in 1989. Festival-goers may remember David’s full-length play
The View which played to a packed house at the Gabriola Theatre Festival two years ago.
lesbian etiquette part two
more of the world’s greatest
living oxymoron
stationary:
a recession-era musical
Saturday 17 August | 9:30 pm | 1 Act | 60 minutes
Sunday 18 August | 1:00 pm | 1 Act | 70 minutes
S.M. Norgate, Director of Lesbian Affairs at the renowned Ladies Institute for Endless Rectification, takes
you deep into the shadowy terrain of the modern homosexual woman to reveal what just may be the
greatest social enigma of our time: How is it that when two of the so-called “fairer” sex come together, they
seem to throw the well-mannered baby from the bathwater, and along with it a century of training in fine
breeding? If you, or someone you know, suffers from lesbianism--or worse--celebrates the condition, you
won’t want to miss this show. What do you have to lose except maybe your Lee Valley Tools catalogue and a
few chin hairs?
Under the fluorescent lights of real life, obligations and social niceties loom large, but in the world of
daydreams, all things are possible. Stationary: A Recession-era Musical explores the lives of 8 young people
at a moment when big dreams meet reality checks and the baby boom is just an echo. Saddled
with crippling student debts and a recession-era economy, our young characters try to get by in a “yoga
and sushi-swilling succubus of a city.” They’ve stepped out, bachelor degree in hand, to find not everyone
can be a winner.
The Performer: Sheila Norgate is a visual artist, performer, feminist, author, lesbian, and lover of
and sound to tell stories that matter. Favourite adventures include Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage
Blockhead (2009) and Oh My God (2011 Vancouver Fringe Festival). Their presentation of Anton Lipovetsky’s
FLOP! garnered a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award Nomination for Original Composition. STATIONARY was
presented at Presentation House Theatre in April 2013.
Written and performed by S.M. Norgate (Gabriola Island, BC)
Cast Members: 1 | Rated: Adult (Adult themes)
dogs, not necessarily in that order (especially according to her dog). Her paintings have been exhibited in
galleries throughout North America. Sheila lives on Gabriola where she practices being a feminist with a
sense of humour, and letting herself go.
Come and relax with some
tasty Festival-inspired food and
libations in Robert’s Beer Tent.
Hours 11am to 9pm, Fri Sat & Sun.
Written by Brian Cochrane, Mishelle Cuttler & Christine Quintana | Performed by Delinquent
Theatre Company (Vancouver, BC) | Cast members: 9 | Rated: PG (Strong language)
The Company: Delinquent Theatre unites good theatre and good times, using music, text, light
shylock
candide
Sunday 18 August | 3:30 pm | 1 Act | 75 minutes
Sunday 18 August | 7:30 pm | 2 Acts | 120 minutes, one intermission
A full production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice runs in excess of 2.5 hours with 3 interwoven
stories. Shylock presents the dominant story: the deal between Antonio the businessman and Shylock the
moneylender, and the drama that ensues when a deal is broken.
A combination of Leonard Bernstein’s twentieth-century musical genius and Voltaire’s eighteenth-century
wit, Candide is a comic fantasy based on Voltaire’s novel of the same name. Believing he lives in “The Best
of All Possible Worlds,” our naïve hero struggles to preserve his optimism as he sails, flies and walks through
war, earthquake, shipwreck, prison, prostitution, and more. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime journey with a jampacked itinerary.
Written by William Shakespeare
Performed by Antony Holland, Gabriola Players (Gabriola Island) and ITSAZOO (Vancouver)
Cast Members: 9 | Rated: PG (Adult themes)
Antony Holland: Antony has been performing professionally for over 70 years and has appeared in
many Shakespearean productions, most frequently in The Merchant of Venice. His introduction to the play
was at age 12 in an all-boys school where he was given the role of Portia, much to his disgust.
The Companies: Festival goers will be familiar with the talents of ITSAZOO. In 2010, they teamed
up with Antony to present Sharing Shakespeare at The Jericho Arts Center. He was so impressed with their
work he asked them to reunite for this festival presentation. Gabriola Players is a company of theatrically
minded Gabriolans offering workshops and performances throughout each year.
Written by Voltaire and Leonard Bernstein
Performed by DragonDiva Operatic Theatre (North Vancouver, BC)
Cast Members: 9 | Rated: PG (Adult themes)
The Company: DragonDiva Operatic Theatre creates wonderfully high-calibre opera that is
accessible to both opera lovers and future enthusiasts. The company fosters a creative environment where
artists are encouraged to learn from each other by engaging a blend of community members, students
and professionals.
Carol Martin
Gabriola will surprise you!
Come for a visit; Stay a lifetime!
250-247-9333
1-866-528-9333
Congratulations to the
Gabriola Arts Council,
artists, musicians, and performers.
Gabriola is “The Isle of the Arts”!
Festival Schedule
Friday
Sunday
1.45pm
Festival Opening!Festival Hub
2.00pmMasambaOutdoor Stage
3.00pmShakespeare & Love (Theatre) Festival Tent
4.05pmBuskersOutdoor Stage
5.00pmThe Sunshine Clown SocietyOutdoor Stage
6.00pmBit o’ the Green
Outdoor Stage
7.00pmCall Mr Robeson (Theatre)Festival Tent
8.15pmThe ShamanigansFestival Hub
9.30pmSyphilis: A Love Story (Theatre)Festival Tent
9.30pmCurtain Call ClubArtworks
9.00am
9.30am
9.30am
10.00am
12.00pm
1.00pm
2.10pm 2.30pm
3.30pm
5.30pm
6.00pm
7.00pm
7.30pm
9.30pm
Time
EventLocation
Saturday
TimeEventLocation
9.00am
9.30am
9.30am
10.00am 10.00am
10.10am
10.30am
11.30am
12.30pm
1.30pm
2.30am
3.45pm
4.45pm
6.00pm
7.00pm
8.15pm
9.30pm
9.30pm Lions Pancake Breakfast
Festival Hub
Street Art Lockinvar Lane
Miss Mara’s Dancers CarnivalOutdoor Stage
Clever Trever
Outdoor Stage
Kids Corner
Festival Hub
Gaia Gypsies Outdoor Stage
World in a Flapp (Theatre)Festival Tent
Vesta Circus Group
Outdoor Stage
Ian Perry BandOutdoor Stage
Anna Lyman— JazzeleleOutdoor Stage
The Amazing Cromoli Brothers (Theatre)
Festival Tent
Tammy Blazer & David BottenOutdoor Stage
BuskersFestival Hub
Doghouse Blues Revue BandOutdoor Stage
Underneath The Lintel (Theatre)Festival Tent
The ShamanigansFestival Hub
Lesbian Etiquette Part 2 (Theatre)
Festival Tent
Curtain Call ClubArtworks
Time EventLocation
Lions Pancake BreakfastFestival Hub
Kids CornerFestival Hub
BuskersFestival Hub
Street FairLockinvar Lane
Chris RonaldOutdoor Stage
Stationary (Theatre)Festival Tent
BuskersFestival Hub
Penny SidorOutdoor Stage
Shylock (Theatre)Festival Tent
BuskersFestival Hub
SHEDOutdoor Stage
The ShamanigansFestival Hub
Candide (Theatre)Festival Tent
The ShamanigansFestival Hub
We acknowledge the financial assistance
of the Province of British Columbia.
Thank you to Folklife Village for their continued
support of the Gabriola Arts Council and our programs.