BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition January 2019

FEMME SERIES
DISMANTLING THE PATRIARCHY, ONE PLAY AT A TIME
LEAH SIEGEL
CITY
I once had an acting instructor who,
whenever he got frustrated with the
work of my male classmates, would
go off on them about the privileges of
their gender.
“Women have to work 10 times
harder while competing for less work,”
DAKH DAUGHTERS
With the Femme Series, The Cultch aims to honour women in the theatre.
he’d say. “In a typical play, there will
probably be two female roles – and
one of them will be a maid.”
Things have been changing, though.
From Daisy Ridley’s Rey in Star Wars
to the all-female crew of Annihilation,
it’s not uncommon to see a female
action star grace the big screen. The
sexual harassment scandals which
rocked cultural institutions from
Hollywood to Broadway over the past
year have further sparked important
conversations on power and gender in
the entertainment industry.
Enter stage left, the Femme Series at
The Cultch: a month dedicated to the
work of female and female-identifying
artists. Executive Director Heather
Redfern launched the series a couple
years back.
“It’s allowed me to be very forthright
about including work that has some
pretty good, hard-hitting feminist
content,” she says. “I want people to
come away feeling more empathetic,
powerful and strong — like they’re
part of something, like they’re not
alone.”
DAKH DAUGHTERS
January 15 to 19
The series starts with a musical group
from Ukraine with international
influences. “They sing in several
different languages, but they’re really
rooted in very traditional Ukrainian
music, as well,” Redfern says. “It’s like
the accordion meets Pussy Riot. It’s
very political.”
POWER BALLAD
January 22 to 26
Later in January comes a cross between
a karaoke session and what Redfern
describes as “basically a feminist rant.”
Don’t let that intimidate you, though.
“I saw Power Ballad in Edinburgh in
the summer of 2017, and at first I
thought, ‘I’m not going to like this,’”
Redfern says. “But by the end I was in
tears; I was singing along. It’s a perfect
example of why the Femme Series is
important, because it’s short, it’s not
really a full-length piece, but my god is
it ever powerful, and strong, and sexy.”
Before attending, study up on your
Blondie, Redfern advises.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
February 5 to 16
The series officially concludes with
a comedy by Shakespeare — with
a twist. Much Ado is pleasant little
romp in the countryside in which most
characters have both the maturity and
the hormone levels of your average
middle schooler. No tragedy à la
Othello or Romeo and Juliet here —
but a classic nonetheless. In a reversal
of what would have been the norm in
Shakespeare’s time, female actors will
be playing all the roles in this take by
Classic Chic (the first local company to
be included in the Femme Series).
OTHER EVENTS
During the span of the series, The
Cultch will host a number of other
related events. Highlights include
feminist karaoke with Julia Croft of
Power Ballad on January 25, and a
performance by Hawaiian singer and
hula dancer Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole
on January 27. Details can be found at
thecultch.com
The Femme Series runs from January 15
to February 16 at the Cultch.
The PuSh International
Performing Arts Festival
is proud to present
a suite of Japanese
experimental musicians.
RARE PERFORMANCE!
MARGINAL
CONSORT
For three hours, four musicians come
together with enough instruments
for an orchestra. The improvise
ambient, heavily manipulated
music, neither fully in harmony nor
fully independent of each other.
FIRST TIME IN CANADA!
CANADIAN PREMIERE
100
KEYBOARDS
ASUNA
Sound artist ASUNA takes
battery-powered, analogue
keyboards and uses them to create
waves of overlapping notes: the
Moiré effect of superimposed
patterns, here used musically.
CANADIAN PREMIERE
RINGO
TETSUYA UMEDA
The wildly inventive Tetsuya Umeda
uses tin cans, dry ice, bowls, hot
plates, and more to create an
experience so beguiling and unique
as to redefine those very objects.
THEATRE
DANCE
MULTIMEDIA
MUSIC
FILM
January 2019 9