Full details of Magnetic North’s programming were announced at a special Launch on Wednesday, March 26, at 11am at the Revue Stage on Vancouver’s Granville Island. With special performances from the student production of Townsville and a reading by Kevin Loring from his new play Where the Blood Mixes. Vice-Chair, Ian Forsyth was our gracious MC for the event with Managing Director Ann Connors Brophy and Artistic Director Ken Cameron speaking alongside Touring Liaison Naomi Campbell, Artistic Producer Kris Nelson, and guest Nancy Webster, President of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.

This year’s exciting line up of performances includes:

blood.claat , written by d'bi.young.anitafrika and directed by Weyni Mengesha, fuses theatre and dub poetry in this one ‘womban’ story of blood. Mudgu comes of age, struggles with her first menstruation, chafes against her grandmother, endures her overly-religious aunt, nurtures a crush on her strutting neighbour and morphs into Yemoja, an African goddess who creates the world with her blood. Produced by Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille, the show won two Dora Awards, the National Post Solo Phenomena of the Year Award, and the RBC Emerging Artists Award.  blood.claat plays June 4-9 at the Firehall Arts Centre.

From Crow’s Theatre and Mammalian Diving Reflex in Toronto comes [boxhead], written by Darren O’Donnell and directed by Chris Abraham. A young geneticist wakes up to discover a box secured to his head; he finds all thoughts come from God, all his words come from the devil and his desire for love is a habit acquired from the movies. Sound familiar? [boxhead] is an existential, symbolist romp from the creator of Diplomatic Immunities and Haircuts by Children. It runs June 4-8 at the Waterfront Theatre.

Eleven theatre companies create 11 unique, intimate performances for adventurous audiences. It’s HIVE2, created by some of Canada’s coolest companies. Performed at repeated intervals over the course of the evening, the audience’s experience is entirely self-directed, and there’s always a lounge and central party space to buzz the night away. The original 2006 HIVE sold-out quickly—this time there will be more room and more performances. Boca del Lupo, Electric Company, Felix Culpa, Leaky Heaven Circus, neworldtheatre, The Only Animal, Radix, Rumble Productions, Theatre Replacement, Theatre Conspiracy (Vancouver) and Theatre SKAM (Victoria) are this year’s HIVE, performing June 5-14 (dark June 9) at a top secret location.

Loft, by Montreal’s The 7 Fingers, is a multi-media contemporary circus. Imagination exposes the secret desires, dreams, impulses and follies of seven roommates. Soaring, somersaulting, contorting, balancing, catapulting – there are no boundaries. In this ordinary setting the extraordinary never fails to surprise. Montreal’s Le Devoir says “Run to see this show, new and refreshing, you won’t regret it!” Loft runs from June 6-8 at the Arts Club Granville Island Stage.

Join Andy Jones, one of Newfoundland’s (and Canada’s) funniest guys, and spend An Evening with Uncle Val. Uncle Val, a hilariously indignant 70-year old retired fisherman, has been displaced from his outport home. The year is 1987, and Uncle Val is now trapped in the ‘big city’ of St. John’s. Homesick, Val struggles to figure out what life has left to offer him. Is there anything of use for a senior citizen in the suburbs to do? Will his grandchildren survive an afternoon of his babysitting? Find out June 5-8 at North Vancouver’s Presentation House Theatre.

Set on an iceberg somewhere in our collective memories, April 14, 1912 weaves together three viewpoints of one of the greatest tragedies in the 20th century: the sinking of the Titanic. Directed and conceived by Allyson McMackon and produced by Theatre Rusticle (Toronto), the production combines eye-witness textual accounts and an inimitable physical style in which two crewmembers and the ship herself collide once again to tell their tales. April 14, 1912 explores history as poetic memory: expressionistic, physically aggressive and emotionally resonant. It runs June 9-13 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre.

From Volcano (The Four Horsemen) in Toronto comes Goodness, winner of the Carol Tambor/Best of Edinburgh Award and a Scotsman Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Althea has survived genocide in an unnamed country. Now she is a prison guard entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the mass murderer who devastated her people. Every day she is forced to answer a terrible question: can a murderer suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease be held accountable for his actions? If the courts cannot act... can she? Booker-prize nominated novelist and Playwright Michael Redhill appears as a character in his own play, battles with his lead character in an ethical dilemma for our times June 10-14 at Performance Works.

The Playhouse Theatre Company & The Savage Society (Vancouver) combine forces to present the premiere of First Nations playwright Kevin Loring’s Where the Blood Mixes. Christine returns to the reserve of her Nlakapmux (Interior Salsih) people 20 years after she was taken from her father by social services. Her father Floyd was born into a grinding poverty that saw him lose first his wife, then his daughter and finally himself to the bottle. Now that his daughter is ready to return home, Floyd has no courage left to face what he has done to his life. This west coast saga runs June 11-14 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.

Whitehorse’s Sour Brides Theatre asks, “What happens when tragedy shatters your happy marriage? Do you withdraw into the bottle? Into the television? Into endless support groups?” So Many Doors by Celia McBride marks the debut of Northern theatre at Magnetic North. In the Far North, grief divides four people and isolates them more effectively than geography ever could. This moving and thoughtful piece plays June 11-14 at the Waterfront Theatre.

Set in a surreal “anywheresville,” bursting at the seams with peculiar residents, Townsville is a glimpse into a city at a time of crisis—an albino elephant falls ill, a renegade romance is sparked and talent is the answer to any question. A fusion of Studio 58 students and Vancouver’s The Chop, this student created/self-directed, intensely visual, interactive and highly kinetic piece showcases an exciting group of emerging Vancouver artists June 9-12 at Studio 16, La maison de la francophonie de Vancouver.

Accommodations

Magnetic North is pleased to offer discounts at several hotels in Vancouver.  Please book early as Early Bird price deadlines are fast approaching. Some hotels are sold out of their regular rooms but still have rooms on hold for Magnetic North Theatre Festival - so be sure to specify.

Click here for accommodation deals.