2025 Theatre + Dance + Performance
Halloween Festival Kick Off, with BODY PROOF
Friday October 31, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Free
Kick up your heels and get ready for a spooky time at the DTES Halloween Festival Kick Off! Wear your best costume, walk the red carpet, enter the costume contest to win awesome prizes, and gear up for disco-ball dancing with DJ Maxi and crew spinning tunes.
With a special appearance — here comes BODY PROOF! Five Vancouver choreographers in residence at MascallDance join the fun at the Heart of the City Festival Kick Off. Dance with Marisa Gold, Ysadora Dias, Tobias Macfarlane, Nick Miami Benz and Mario Matias, who will throw their mix of favourite dance moves and fragments of their ancestries onto the dance floor.
It’s a Halloween night of masquerade magic, dance and community fun for friends and families alike — a party to remember! Refreshments provided, everyone welcome! Hosted by the one and only DJ Maxi, aka Lance Lim of the Pigeon Den Art Collective.
Famous Last Words
Friday, October 31, 7pm – 9pm
SFU Djavad Mowafaghian World Arts Centre
149 W. Hastings Free
Tickets FamousLastWordsHeartofthecity.eventbrite.ca
In Famous Last Words, poets participate in a faux competition where they ‘battle’ in a series of rounds, ‘judged’ by Uni the Unicorn, the host, and the audience. A spoken word comedy show with a puppet poetry round, a unicorn interpretive dance, and much more. Come in costume, let’s have fun! Free chocolate! Featuring Grace Kwan, Marlo Browne, RC Weslowski, Sean McGarragle, SJ Valiquette, Spillious the Ridiculous One, and Uni the Unicorn. Presented by Death Rides a Unicorn with SFU and the Heart of the City Festival.
Theatre in the Raw: A night of unusual, awakening one-acts
Saturday November 1, 7pm – 9pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Free
Theatre in the Raw presents staged readings of two award-winning plays from their 12th and 13th Biennial One-Act Playwriting Contests.
Wednesday’s Children by Ron Davies, with Angie Nolan and Cecilia Splendiferous, directed by Teresa Vandertuin. In this well-crafted and powerful play two sisters meet for the first time in twenty years; despite one sister’s hopes to reconcile, will her sister’s painful memories of childhood sexual abuse keep them apart?
An Evening with Oscar and Noël by Thomas Mason and Craig Mason, with Allan Morgan and Mackenzie Gray, directed by Jacques Lalonde. What would happen if two of the greatest, most influential and hilarious playwrights met in the afterlife? Come to the reading and you’ll find out!
The Carnegie Dance Troupe & Karen Jamieson Dance
Sunday November 2, 3pm – 4pm
SFU Djavad Mowafaghian World Arts Centre
149 W. Hastings By donation
In a work-in-progress performance, the dancers demonstrate the power of collective artmaking that is always grounded in community. Since 2006, the principle supporting the Carnegie Dance Troupe is absolute inclusivity. Performances are created through processes of collaboration, seeking to connect us to our body, to our breath, to the energy of the earth, to each other and to our diverse communities. The Carnegie Dance Troupe is part of Karen Jamieson Dance, with support from Carnegie Community Centre and Simon Fraser University. www.kjdance.ca
Epigone – a work in progress by Electric Company Theatre
Sunday November 2, 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Left of Main, 2nd floor, 211 Keefer
Free. Tickets epigone.eventbrite.ca
Join Electric Company artists for a staged reading of excerpts from Epigone, a new play exploring a family’s navigation of grief and loss, complicated by the stigmas surrounding mental health, addiction and isolation. Come take a peek inside the Electric Company laboratory and witness the early stages of a new play’s development. This event is held on the second floor, accessed by a flight of approximately 20 stairs.
A Day of the Dead Celebration / Una Celebración del Día de los Muertos el Domingo
Start the day with a mask-making workshop, join the community procession to visit local ofrendas, peruse the art market for unique finds, and enjoy the evening at Spirit Encounters.
Catrina & Catrin Mask Workshop
Sunday November 2, 11:30am – 1pm
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell
Free. Limited capacity
Register: mask-workshop.eventbrite.ca
Join artist extraordinaire Gerardo Avila and make a Catrin or a Catrina mask for the Day of the Dead Celebration (Día de los Muertos). Learn the tradition and history of the Catrinas/Catrinos with a warm invitation to join a community procession to visit different altars (ofrendas) in the Downtown Eastside following the workshop. All materials provided.
Taller de máscaras de Catrín y Catrina
El 2 de noviembre a las 11:30 am, los invitamos al Russian Hall (600 Campbell Street), a crear una máscara de Catrín o de Catrina para el Día de los Muertos. Después de platicar sobre la tradición de las Catrinas/Catrinos, los invitaremos a participar en la Procesión que visitará varios altares de ofrendas en el centro de Vancouver Eastside. La procesión empezará después del taller. Todos los materiales serán proporcionados.
12 participantes como máximo, se requiere registrar de antemano.
Day of the Dead Community Procession
Sunday November 2, 2pm – 3:30pm
Meet at Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Free
“Day of the dead, a celebration of memory and a ritual that privileges remembrance over oblivion.”
Giant Catrinas will lead a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) community procession beginning at 600 Campbell, stopping along the way to visit the ofrendas in the community, including in the Russian Hall, Listening Post and Carnegie Community Centre. The ofrenda is a Mexican and Latin-American tradition that is intended to welcome the deceased to the altar setting, with photos, food, flowers, drinks and special objects. Photos of your deceased family members are welcome. Let’s celebrate the living by honouring the dead!
Procesión a altares de ofrendas por el Día de los Muertos
El 2 de noviembre a las 2pm, los invitamos a unirse a la Procesión del Día de los Muertos, siguiendo las Catrinas Gigantes, y visitando varios altares de ofrendas en la comunidad de Vancouver Eastside. La Procesión saldrá del primer altar ubicado en el Russian Hall (600 Campbell Avenue), para luego visitar otros altares en el Listening Post y en el Carnegie Community Centre. Los altares están dedicados a familiares y amigos difuntos y adornados con flores, comida, agua, y objetos especiales. Las fotos de sus difuntos son bienvenidas. ¡Celebremos la vida honrando a los muertos!
Spirit Encounters
Sunday November 2, 7pm – 8:30pm
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell
Free. Tickets spirit-encounters.eventbrite.ca
On the Day of the Dead, when the veil between the living and the dead is lifted, join the celebration at Spirit Encounters. Gerardo Avila’s latest theatrical performance celebrates the living by honouring the dead, featuring shadow puppetry, comedy, Flamenco and Mexican dance, and music. Historical personages from Mexican and other cultures will join the festivities. Presented with puppeteers Hazel Bell-Koski and Dana Wilson, storyteller Steven Schwabl, dancers Maria Avila and La Zarmari, and musicians Anna Lumiere, Peter Mole, and Graham Ord.
Encuentro con Espíritus
2 de noviembre, de las 7 pm a las 8:30 pm en el Russian Hall, 600 Campbell
Entrada Gratuita
regístrate en: spirit-encounters.eventbrite.ca
En el Día de los Muertos, cuando el velo entre los vivos y los muertos se levanta, la celebración en Spirit Encounters (7pm), la más reciente presentación teatral de Gerardo Ávila, que incluye teatro de sombras, comedia, flamenco, danza mexicana, y música. Presentado con las marionetistas Hazel Bell-Koski y Dana Wilson, el narrador Steven Schwabl, las bailarinas María Ávila e La Zarmari y los músicos Anna Lumiere, Peter Mole y Graham Ord.
Virago Nation: What Reconciliation Looks Like!
Tuesday November 4, 7:30pm
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell
$0 – $30. Tickets virago-nation.eventbrite.ca
Virago Nation is a collective of Indigenous artists creating performance through burlesque, theatre, song and spoken word as well as workshops, and community networks rematriating Indigenous sexuality. Founded in May 2016, Virago Nation is on a mission to reclaim Indigenous sexuality from the toxic effects of colonization. Through humour, seduction, pop culture and politics they will show that Indigenous women will not be confined to the colonial virgin-whore dichotomy but will design a new dynamic and multi-faceted sexual identity rooted in their own desires. This is our reconciliation.
Stand Up for Mental Health Comedy Show
Wednesday November 5, 4pm – 5:30pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Free
What’s so funny about mental health? As far as Stand Up for Mental Health is concerned, everything! Join award-winning counselor and stand-up comic David Granirer, with special guest Brenda Prince, along with comedians from Stand Up
for Mental Health, to look at the lighter side of taking meds, seeing counselors, getting diagnosed, and surviving the mental health system. Stand Up for Mental Health teaches stand-up comedy to people with mental illness as a way of building confidence and fighting stigma. The Festival is tickled to welcome Stand Up for Mental Health and Brenda back to the Carnegie stage.
Winter Jasmine — Good Spring
Thursday November 6, 12:30pm – 1pm
Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Free
Since 2020, women at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre have gathered bi-weekly to practice Chinese dance, including fan dancing. Ranging in age from 60 to 87, the group includes retired women from diverse regions of China with backgrounds in traditional, Latin, and modern dance—or simply a love of movement. Participants come from the Strathcona Tai Chi Group, Stephen Wong Lion Group, DEWC Peer Program, and Chinatown Community Policing Centre. Instructor Eva Cho, a lifelong dancer and former Saskatchewan dance teacher, leads the group in routines set to traditional music and Cantopop, celebrating culture, joy, and community.
自2020年以来，唐人街东区妇女中心的女性们每两周聚会一次，练习中国舞，包括扇子舞。她们的年龄从60多岁到87岁不等，包括来自中国不同地区的退休女性，她们有的拥有传统舞、拉丁舞和现代舞的背景，有的只是热爱舞蹈。参与者来自斯特拉斯科纳太极拳团、Stephen Wong狮子团、唐人街社区警务中心（DEWC Peer Program）和唐人街社区警务中心。指导老师Eva是一位终身舞者，曾任萨斯喀彻温省舞蹈老师，她带领团队在传统音乐和粤语流行音乐的伴奏下进行舞蹈表演，以庆祝文化、欢乐和社区。
Mayor of Oz
Friday November 7, 1pm – 2:30pm
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Free
Also Saturday November 8, 1pm
Back by popular demand! Enjoy this hilarious and poignant community-led, grassroots play developed by Carnegie Learning Centre volunteers with support from Capilano University and the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival. Reimagining Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz through the lens of the DTES, Mayor
of Oz explores housing instability, climate collapse, the toxic drug crisis, and gentrification, while celebrating resilience, solidarity, and community strength. This project is presented with support from the Community Arts Council of Vancouver.
Dispatches
Friday November 7, 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Free
Set in 2013, before the official “opiod crisis” began, Dispatches offers a personal window into a young woman’s journey through addiction. Written by Jenny Simpson, a new Vancouver emerging playwright, the play explores the role of the caregiver in the face of a confusing and inadequate system. An unflinching look at the costs of addiction, the gaps in our systems of support, and how resiliency takes shape. Directed by Arthi Chandra, with Kimberly Invik, Ally Rafter, Taea Rattlesnake, Mariska Van Vreumingen, and Nick Wangersky. A panel discussion with Sarah Blyth and Nicole Marcia will follow the reading. On-site mental health support will be available throughout this performance.
Dance Floor Memoirs
Friday November 7, 5pm – 6pm
SFU Djavad Mowafaghian World Arts Centre
149 W. Hastings Free
When a sudden city-wide ban threatens to cancel Truth Creek’s biggest community dance, a group of friends band together to stand up for their right to dance. This isn’t just about a party; it’s a heartfelt exploration of why we move. From childhood robot dances to defiant waltzes, and from the liberating power of individual expression to the profound joy of shared connection, Theatre Terrific’s Dance Floor Memoirs celebrates the universal human need to dance, no matter the circumstance!
Maraschino Tonight with Reveal Yourself
Friday November 7, 8:30pm – 10pm
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell
$0 – $30. Tickets maraschino-tonight.eventbrite.ca
A fabulous evening of entertainment that has it all! In this timeless variety show, host and enigmatic entertainer Cherry Maraschino is accompanied by a ragtag crew of artists, puppets, and nefarious rascals. Part bygone house party, part community theatre, Maraschino Tonight is a playful interrogation of contemporary nostalgia.
Reveal Yourself, a lo-fi freak music duo, uses trashy drum samples, distorted bass loops, and zany guitar hooks to capture audiences with its vocal laments and feminist satire. Reveal Yourself’s avant-pop hijinx offers a compact mirror from which to view this strange, shit-stained world.
