BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition June 2019

06.19YVRAGENDA
This Month in
Theatre:
Zastrozzi:
The Master of
Discipline
The House of Bernarda Alba
June 12 to 16, Firehall Arts
Upon the death of their father, a group of sisters are
forced against their will into eight years of mourning by
their mother. Emily Mann’s translation takes the classic
by Federico Garcia Lorca from 1900s rural Spain to
modern-day Iran. In Farsi with English subtitles.
Indian Summer Festival
The Indian Summer Festival is
returning for an 11-day multidisciplinary
exhibition of cultures and
conversations from South Asia
and around the world. BeatRoute
spoke to Sirish Rao, the festival’s
artistic director, on his vision for
bringing diverse cultures together
and making a better world through
conversation.
“It’s a festival for the curious
mind,” says Rao. “It’s really about
taking a more global approach to
ideas and culture.”
The theme for this year’s festival
is Tricksters, Magicians and Oracles.
Rao curated a group of thinkers
and artists who contemplate the
world’s trajectory in their work.
“We’re all wondering where
things are going,” he says. “We’ll
have musicians, stand-up comedians,
futurists and people talking
about climate change and artificial
intelligence. We’re looking at a
huge variety of subjects.”
Rao highlights two musical exhibitions
at the festival. Conjuring the
Future is an exhibition of Indigenous
music from a wide variety of
cultures, and Strings for Peace is
a collaboration between masters
of guitar and the Indian sarod. Rao
says these events play heavily into
his theme of unification.
“It seems like human beings
aren’t capable of much except creating
a mess,” Rao says. “But when
you get artists like these and you
feel that energy, you’re reminded
of what we can do when we’re at
our best.”
Rao hopes combining aspects of
Indian culture with other worldwide
ideas will allow categories to
evaporate and the art to flow more
naturally. The festival is welcoming
“a whole bunch of people who may
not necessarily be in the same
place otherwise,” and the conversation
and collaboration on stage
will also be what happens in the
audience.
“Everything is an act of storytelling
somehow,” he says. “We’re just
saying to come along for the ride.
It doesn’t matter if it’s traditional
or contemporary, if it’s music or
dance. There’s something interesting
to see.”
July 4 to 14 / Tix: $20-125 /
indiansummerfest.ca
Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline
June 13 to 21, The Cultch
A revenge story à la The Count of Monte Cristo —
except the main guy might be going crazy, the guy he’s
set on killing is a religious artist, and instead of killing
him, Zastrozzi decides to make his target commit suicide.
Nice, lighthearted, swashbuckling fun set in Belle
Époque Europe.
Hello and Goodbye
June 27 to July 6, Studio 1398
In 1960 apartheid South Africa, a pair of siblings from
a poor white family see one another for the first time
in years. Memory, feminism and absurdity converge in
this early work by the country’s prolific playwright Athol
Fugard.
Rock of Ages
June 27 to July 6, Metro Theatre
Brace yourselves for big hair and a lot of leather in this
classic jukebox hard rock musical. Set in 1987 Hollywood,
aspiring rocker/busboy Drew falls in love with
aspiring actress/newly-arrived Sherrie. Aspirations and
conjugal bliss are threatened by misunderstandings, a
shady rock star and judgmental politicians.
By Leah Siegel
FLEMISHEYE.COM
‘THE SAME BUT BY DIFFERENT MEANS’
OUT NOW
“He stitches his micro-songs and abbreviated
epics into a sprawling opus that’s as comforting
as it is uncompromising”
PITCHFORK (8/10)
‘NOVEL’ OUT NOW
“N0V3L’s guitar lines are a wonder to behold.”
NME
“The angular riffage and existential
socioeconomic mires of the self-titled debut EP
is post-punk updated for a modern audience.”
BEATROUTE
50 BEATROUTE JUNE 2019