Performing Arts

Sharing parts of their lives

Iris Bahr opens the Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition on March 19 with Stories from the Brink: My Festive Near-Death Adventures. (photo from Chutzpah! Festival)

The Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition kicks off with comedy, though the laughs will mix with thoughtful moments of reflection on life, family, being Jewish, and more. Live, all the way from New York, Iris Bahr will perform at the Rothstein Theatre on March 19, and Talia Reese will be on stage there March 20.

Bahr is coming to Chutzpah! with her show Stories from the Brink: My Festive Near-Death Adventures.

“I don’t want to give anything away,” Bahr told the Independent. “Let’s just say I talk about my childhood in the Bronx, where I had to lead a double life. My bacon-eating parents sent me to an Orthodox yeshivah, which, as you can imagine, was extremely stressful. I was also stung by an entire beehive. But there’s a lot more. Just come and see. I really look forward to sharing the story and coming back to the theatre. I’ve missed it. Vancouver’s one of my favourite places to perform.”

Bahr explained why she has ventured into the non-fiction realm with her performance work.

“Some very significant events happened in my life, like my mom’s stroke, which was the basis of my previous show See You Tomorrow, that I performed in Vancouver a few years ago,” she said. “I felt a need to not only share the story because it was a very dramatic story, but, even more so, as I was in the depths of caregiving for my mom [in Israel], first with a stroke and then with dementia, I realized how isolating it was, especially with a loved one with dementia. And I realized how important it was, as an artist, to create a new piece about it, because so many people undergo similar caregiving trials and tribulations. I’ve been doing that show for over three years, and the amount of people that come up to me after, thanking me and hugging me and telling me they found comfort and were also entertained and were able to find the humour thanks to the show, is truly the reason I keep doing it.

“With my current show, Stories from the Brink, I had been exploring this theme of near-death experiences for awhile, first on a podcast that I created and then near-death-themed stand-up shows, with guests sharing their own stories,” continued Bahr. “But, after Oct. 7 and my experience in Israel on that morning, which was obviously terrifying and gut-wrenching, and the rise in antisemitism and extreme anti-Israel sentiment, it was very important for me to create a show that was framed by that experience that I knew would reach people from all persuasions and attitudes. But that is only one small piece of the mosaic of the show which is also filled with a lot of other life shmutz and a lot of humour.”

For Bahr, humour is one of the ways in which she handles challenges.

“Any coping mechanism that can find light amongst the darkness is a highly effective one,” she said. “And, as someone who has always reveled in the world of humour and made it a living, it seems like an obvious go-to when dealing with dark times. It’s not even a conscious decision, it just exists as a muscle, an internal reflex.”

While See You Tomorrow was written as a long-form story, Stories from the Brink comprises vignettes. Bahr explained that See You Tomorrow “takes everyone on a ride and hyper focuses on one aspect of a story. There are some tangents there, but it really is this one event that has a clear beginning, middle and end in a finite time.”

She took a different approach with Stories from the Brink because, she said, “I have a larger theme that I’m trying to explore from many different facets. The vignettes kind of tackle that theme from different angles and ways. And, it’s also a very colourful way to put a show together. It’s like a mosaic and there’s something beautiful about a mosaic, as well. Mixes it up a bit, especially for those audience members that have short attention spans.”

But audiences don’t have to be concerned about remaining focused on Bahr, who is an accomplished storyteller. Being an engaging performer, she said, “comes from physicality to voice to emotional presence and being authentic, being in the moment. Especially with storytelling, you have to have that combination of performance and authenticity and live in the present as you are recounting these stories. Otherwise, you’re just kind of giving a clinical recap, as I tell my students. You also have to really paint a picture and create a world and you have to depict the characters, including yourself, in a very full manner.”

Reese, who went from being a comedian to being lawyer and back to being a comedian, agrees about the importance of being a good storyteller. It has served her well both as a lawyer and as a stand-up comedian.

“So, this is random, but I’m a really good summarizer,” she said. “At the law firms, my thing was summarizing case law for memoranda and stating the facts of a case succinctly but informatively in a pleading,” she explained. “I think I took that skill to joke writing. Word cutting is so important, saying just enough to get to your punchline then move on to the next.

“I also really enjoy telling stories, which is helpful in law and in comedy. I can tell a good story, ya know? That’s why I have a low tolerance for stories that dwell on unnecessary details. I zone out fast, which is why I think I was so tough on teachers. But I’m all about entertainment value. Entertain me or go away.”

photo - Comedian Talia Reese takes to the Rothstein Stage on March 20 — Comedian Talia Reese takes to the Rothstein Stage on March 20. *(photo by Limor Garfinkle)*

Reese shared that she was the “class clown” growing up, which meant she was “thrown out of class a lot.”

“It really depended on the teacher though,” she said. “I was just so bored in middle school and most of high school and the teachers were such characters. Getting to act in plays was a saving grace for me. I enjoyed doing Neil Simon comedies so much. I wish I was still doing that.”

In high school, Reese said, “I was all about acting in comedies and then, in college, I was the director of a comedy troupe where I wrote all the sketches and played many wacky characters. Coming out of U of Penn, I felt tremendous pressure to choose a more traditional career path, so I did the law thing. Law school was an amazing education but the all-encompassing practice was not the life I would have ever envisioned for myself, so I took a stand-up class on a lark and wound up sticking with that.”

Coming from an acting and then sketch comedy background, Reese wasn’t sure she’d be good at stand-up. “But,” she said, “it was the only way to do comedy on my own schedule, after putting the kids to bed. I’d go to open mics and talk about my life, try out jokes, build setups around lines that I thought were funny. One by one my stories would pop, or a joke would come to life, and it was the most exciting thing since college, when I wrote those sketches. I think I found my voice, and am still finding it, when I started to talk more about my actual life, telling specific stories. And it always amazes me when something so random that struck a chord in me will get an audience going too. It validates that I’m not crazy. Or that I am, but everyone else is too.”

Reese, who describes herself as Modern Orthodox, grew up in a Reform environment, “but we always had a traditional Friday night Shabbat dinner at my savta and sabbah’s house,” she said. “I think, given that my father is Israeli and of Sephardic descent, having Shabbat with my grandparents and cousins every week gave me a strong sense of Jewish identity. Also, my grandparents on my mother’s side survived the Holocaust and I have childhood memories of being in the room when they played cards with their friends, most of whom were Polish and some had numbers on their arms.

“My ‘Jewishness’ played such a strong role in forming my personal identity that it wasn’t a stretch to become more religious for me, or for my parents and siblings, who consider themselves baal teshuva as well.”

She adapts her comedy routine to the situation, she said. “I try to be respectful of religious institutions that hire me to do a night of clean comedy. I know where that line is and I’ll go right up to it and then walk it back. I like to play with an audience’s expectations. Like I talk about my two failed marriages. Then mention that I’m still in one of them. As far as getting to know my audience, at a live show, I’ll usually do some crowd work to see what I’m working with, or throw questions out up top.”

As for how she works, she said, “If I make myself laugh with a thought, I write it down. If I make my friends laugh with a story, I write it down. Then comes the development. Will this be good for the stage? Are there enough moments in the build-up that keep it funny? Like, I was thinking about how my daughter’s name is too long for how much I have to yell at her. Isabella, too many syllables, it’s exhausting. So, just abbreviate. Isabreakfast! Isabedtime! Who knows, maybe that will make it into the act!”

* * *

Spring Chutzpah! Plus

The Jewish Independent interviewed Jessica Gutteridge, artistic managing director of the Chutzpah! Festival and the Rothstein Theatre, in advance of the March 19-23 Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition.

JI: Why has Chutzpah! decided to do a spring edition?

JG: Chutzpah! has for many years presented special programming outside of the main festival through our Chutzpah! Plus program. It has been a goal of the festival to expand this programming in order to deepen our engagement with audiences and to take advantage of artists’ touring schedules that bring them to the area throughout the year. In late winter 2024, we were delighted to offer a Winter Weekend of programming. Now, with a shorter fall festival, we are able to shift some of our programming into the spring, offering opportunities throughout the arts season for audiences to enjoy what the festival has to offer.

JI: Last fall, there was concern about the future of Chutzpah! How is it looking now?

JG: We were gratified to see the community come together to support Chutzpah! at a time of crisis, contributing generously and expressing a shared commitment to Jewish arts and culture. Adjusting our festival schedule to a shorter fall flagship festival plus our spring edition has also aided our sustainability. Important capacity-building support has come from philanthropic organizations like the Diamond Foundation and the Azrieli Foundation.

But significant challenges remain. The grant-funding landscape has not improved appreciably and, with more organizations competing for less funding, costs rising and the general economy precarious, it’s critical that we keep the momentum going. Not only is it important that the community continue to sustain us as donors and sponsors, we need audiences to “vote with their feet” and come out to festival shows and events – and bring friends. Showing support and getting to enjoy fantastic artists – it’s a win-win!

The Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition runs March 19-23. Universus, a dance double-bill by Belle Spirale Dance Projects and Fernando Hernando Magadan is at Vancouver Playhouse March 21-22, 8 p.m.; Yamma Ensemble is at Rothstein Theatre March 21, 10 a.m., and March 22, 7 p.m. (for more about Yamma, see jewishindependent.ca/unique-in-style-rich-in-culture); and City Birds, a new project in the tradition of Americana by Tamar Eisenman and Sagit Shir, will perform music for families March 23, 11 a.m., at Rothstein Theatre. For tickets, visit chutzpahfestival.com or call 604-257-5145.

Light as a metaphor for life

Itai Erdal, with his mom, Mery Erdal, z”l, on screen, in How to Disappear Completely, which opens at the Historic Theatre in Vancouver March 15. (photo from The Chop Theatre)

Itai Erdal’s award-winning How to Disappear Completely, which has toured the globe, will be at the Historic Theatre in Vancouver March 15-22.

Created by Erdal, with James Long, Anita Rochon and Emelia Symington Fedy, How to Disappear Completely premiered at the 2011 Chutzpah! Festival. The one-man show then toured internationally, being performed in more than two dozen cities around the world before COVID hit. The March run marks its first remount since the pandemic.

“It’s been a dream come true,” said Erdal about traveling with the production. “Performing this show is the closest thing I have to hanging out with my mom, so being able to introduce my mom to so many people around the world has been wonderful. I also got to do it in Hebrew – I performed the show in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and many of the people in the audience knew my mom so that was really special.”

Erdal immigrated to Canada from Israel in 1999. The following year, he found out his mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer and only had months to live. He returned to Israel to be with her as much as possible and, during that time, encouraged by his mother to do so, he shot hours of film and took hundreds of photos.

“We laughed a lot, and you can see it in the show,” Erdal told the Independent in 2012, when How to Disappear Completely had its first remount. “It’s a tragedy turned to joyful memories,” he said about the piece, which also focuses on his approach to theatrical lighting. Erdal is a multiple-award-winning expert in lighting design.

“This was the first show I wrote and the first time I performed, so we had to come up with a theatrical device to explain why a lighting designer is standing on stage and telling this story,” Erdal told the Independent in an email interview earlier this month. “So, the premise was that this was a lecture about lighting design, and I ran all the lights from the stage. The connection between my mother’s story and lighting design wasn’t obvious at first, but when we started doing workshops, the audience loved all the lighting stuff and responded very strongly to it. I wanted to show how a PAR [parabolic aluminized reflector] can get warmer as it dims, so I took it down one percent at a time, and people got emotional because they thought about the life leaving my mom’s body. The show is full of these accidental metaphors, and the lighting became the emotional heartbeat of the show.”

Over the 14 years since he first wrote and performed How to Disappear Completely, Erdal – who founded the Elbow Theatre – has co-written and performed several other works: Soldiers of Tomorrow, Hyperlink, This is Not a Conversation and A Very Narrow Bridge. So, while How to Disappear Completely hasn’t changed much since it was written, Erdal said, “I am much more relaxed as a performer, so the show got better.”

He added, “The main thing that’s changed in the past 14 years is that I have become a father and I understand better why my mother said it was so important to be a parent. I often think about what a great grandmother my mom would’ve been and I wonder how she would’ve handled some tough parenting moments.”

Erdal doesn’t tire of performing How to Disappear Completely, and he sees how affected audiences continue to be.

“Creating this show has been the most exciting and rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “You would think that reliving the hardest moment of your life on stage every night would be a daunting task, but it’s a joyful experience. My mother was smart and funny and her personality really shines through. Every time I perform the show, there is a lineup of people waiting to talk to me after, wanting to tell me their stories about finding love and about losing their parents, and I love connecting with them and feeling that my show might help them a bit with their grief.”

And that’s what makes this very personal show widely popular.

“Unfortunately, almost everyone in the world knows someone who died from cancer, and the grief of losing a parent is something almost everyone can relate to, so the show has many universal themes,” said Erdal. “It also deals with loneliness and the search for love, which are also very relatable themes.”

For tickets to How to Disappear Completely, visit thecultch.com/event/how-to-disappear-completely or call 604-251-1363.

The complexities of humanity

Mitch and Murray Productions’ presentation of Heroes of the Fourth Turning co-stars, left to right, Jennifer Clement, David Kaye, Elizabeth Barrett, Aaron Craven and Nyiri Karakas. (Shimon Photo)

This is a story about the interesting and intersecting balance of faith, peace, politics, sex, sexuality, deceit, forgiveness and mysticism with the modern world. How do we grapple with the changing self, while clasping hands with those we no longer align with, but feel we must commune?” said Mitch and Murray Productions’ Kate Craven about Will Arbery’s play Heroes of the Fourth Turning, which has its Western Canadian premiere Jan. 31-Feb.9 at Studio 16.

“It’s about letting go of preconceived notions,” she said. “It’s about being wrong, even when convinced otherwise. It’s complex and startling and astonishing and I truly think it is one of the great plays of this generation.”

Heroes of the Fourth Turning has won multiple awards and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. In it, reads the synopsis, “four young conservatives have gathered to toast the newly inducted president of their tiny Catholic college – one week after the Charlottesville riots in 2017. Their reunion spirals into spiritual chaos and clashing generational politics, becoming less a celebration than a vicious fight to be understood.”

“The play’s title is a take on the book The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe, which hypothesizes the cycles of history and attempts to teach us how to live through these cycles via examples from past generations,” explained Craven, who is the theatre company’s board chair and operations manager. “They base their hypothesis on the past 500 years of American history and uncover what they deem as a distinct pattern: that modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting about the length of a long human life and each composed of four times 20-year eras, aka ‘turnings’ that comprise history’s seasonal rhythm of growth – maturation, entropy and rebirth. Otherwise broken down as the High, a period of confident expansion, followed by the Awakening, a time of spiritual exploration and rebellion. Then, the Unraveling, in which individualism triumphs over crumbling institutions. Finally, the Crisis (the Fourth Turning), when society passes through a great and perilous gate in history, a specific time that requires a generation of heroes to rise up, resolve crisis and reset imbalances created in prior turnings.

“The Fourth Turning was written in 1997, at the tipping point between Gen X and the Millennial generation,” said Craven. “It references the Fourth Turning being in line with the coming of age of Millennials, a generation which three of the play’s characters fit into.”

One of those characters is played by Jewish community member David Kaye.

“I play a Catholic man in his late 20s named Kevin who is currently experiencing tremendous crises of identity and faith while struggling with alcohol abuse,” Kaye told the Independent. “A graduate of the Transfiguration College of Wyoming, Kevin received wilderness training, learned to scale mountains, ride horses, build igloos, memorize poetry and speak conversational Latin. Initially believing that he was being groomed to become ‘a leader of the world,’ Kevin has realized that he was woefully underprepared to actually live in the real world.”

While the character is drunk for most of the show, he is the only one asking questions, said Kaye. “He is often the butt of the joke but, ultimately, I think Kevin is the wise fool. Kevin wants so badly to connect with other people, regardless of their political leanings or religious affiliations. He wants to have hard conversations and expand his mind and is open to new ideas; unfortunately, he is not the greatest conversationalist.”

The role has certainly expanded Kaye’s mind. Having attended Vancouver Talmud Torah and King David High School growing up, the actor said “all of the knowledge of Catholicism I have is from pop culture, so building my character’s world has involved quite a lot of reading in theology and philosophy that I was completely unfamiliar with. As far as being a Jewish actor in the context of this play, I think that Kevin is actually the easiest character for me to identify with because he is constantly questioning things, and that was a core part of my Jewish education and exploration.”

Craven, who is also Jewish, “had the unique experience of growing up in a bi-faith family, one half Jewish, the other Pentecostal Christian.”

“It’s a difficult thing to belong to a family unit which falls on both sides of the faith divide and subsequently (often) political divide,” she said. “Perhaps this prepared me for a play like Heroes of the Fourth Turning. I find myself reaching for empathy for these often confused, sometimes wildly misguided characters and that makes this play very uncomplicated and uniquely human.”

She added that it feels like Arbery, the playwright, “is managing a perilous dance between faith, violence, truth and real-world events as his characters evolve and devolve in front of us. It feels much less about faith, religion and belief than it does about the crisis of being human. That’s relatable no matter who you are or which people you belong to.”

“This show can be viewed through many different lenses and each one will have a different takeaway,” said Kaye. The play will “ruffle some feathers,” he said. “But, if you are open to it, this is a show that will provoke thought, challenge perceptions, and might make you question the world around you.”

For Kaye, that is one of the main things he has learned from the character he is portraying – “that it is OK to question everything you have ever known to be true. It may be ugly and uncomfortable, but challenging your beliefs can lead to more authentic connections and a more fulfilling life.”

Craven said Mitch and Murray Productions’ goal has always been to present “bold, smart pieces that require the audience to be willing participants in the discourse and discussion. Our hope is that our productions showcase what it is to be a complex, imperfect human, as opposed to being a human who fits into a specific political, religious or cultural box, the aftermath of which potentially opens us up to empathy and understanding instead of division and despair.”

Set in rural Wyoming, Heroes of the Fourth Turning references hunting, there is a prop rifle on stage and gunshots are heard throughout the play. Other warnings include the use of coarse language and “heavy political debates which cover a range of difficult topics,” said Craven. “With this in mind,” she encourages people to come to the play with “a spirit of open-mindedness and an attitude of willingness – to see, hear and learn. All of which hearkens back to what I mentioned earlier about the plays Mitch and Murray attempts to produce – stories about a conflicted and imperfect humanity. We may not be able to see ourselves uniquely and specifically reflected in these characters, but there is certainly a reflection of humanity that is profound and deeply moving.”

Stories, she said, have “the capacity, when told well, to move and shape our molecules in a unique way. If we can be even a small part of creating compassionate debate, then we’re doing our job.”

For tickets ($15-$37) to Heroes of the Fourth Turning, visit mitchandmurrayproductions.com.

A Dickens of a musical

Anthony Santiago, at front, plays Fagin in Gateway Theatre’s production of Oliver!, which runs until Jan. 4. (photo by David Cooper)

Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist in 1837. His eponymous main character, an 11-year-old orphan, has the audacity to ask for more when the workhouse daily gruel is handed out, leading to a series of events that change his life forever. And local audiences will be asking for more, more, more of Gateway Theatre’s offering of Oliver!, the musical “freely adapted” from Dickens’ novel by Lionel Bart, which plays until Jan. 4.

A beloved classic, the 1968 screen adaptation of Oliver! won the Academy Award for best picture of the year. A revival of Bart’s work is currently playing in London’s West End to widespread acclaim. I predict the same for this production.

The story revolves around Oliver’s journey through the gritty underworld streets of Victorian London, from being an impoverished orphan sold to apprentice a cruel undertaker, to his secondment to a gang of street urchins under the tutelage of Fagin “the Jew” and, finally, a reunion with his well-to-do family.

Community member Josh Epstein ably directs his 24-person cast, a superb mix of professional and amateur actors (including 11 children), as they enthusiastically sing, dance and cavort their way across Ryan Cormack’s handsome set.

On the dark side of the original story is Dickens’ portrayal of Fagin as a venal, sinister, petty criminal who runs a den of adolescent thieves, teaching them to pick the pockets of London’s elite. Dickens refers to Fagin as a Jew more than 250 times, mostly in a negative way. He defended his choice by stating that he was just reflecting the reality of the time – that London underworld criminals were almost invariably Jewish. Some say he based the character on Ikey Solomon, a notorious Jewish fence. Over the years, consistently called out by Jewish community members for antisemitism, Dickens eventually apologized and edited out the negative references. Bart, who is Jewish, downplayed any stereotypes of Fagin in his rewrite.

In Gateway’s production, you would not even know that Fagin, played by Anthony Santiago, is Jewish, although, in his one solo, “Reviewing the Situation,” the klezmer-inspired clarinet accompaniment hints at a connection. Even as Fagin salivates over his cache of jewels, overall, he comes across as a lovable rogue, not the sleaze Dickens originally described. On opening night, I asked Epstein about this characterization. “I did not want to make a Jewish caricature of him,” said Epstein. “I wanted the show to be something entertaining and deep without that aspect.”

While this is truly an ensemble production, a number of actors stand out. Many of the veterans take on multiple roles, gliding effortlessly from one to the other.

Miranda MacDougall, who can really belt out a song, does double duty as Nancy, one of Fagin’s accomplices, a kind-hearted strumpet, and Mrs. Sowerberry, the undertaker’s wife. She also carries off a pretty good Cockney accent.

Tanner Zerr plays Nancy’s churlish beau Bill Sykes, whose cruelty leads to murder and his ultimate demise. One wonders what Nancy sees in this violent partner and why she stays with him. The answer comes in her poignant rendition of “As Long As He Needs Me,” which brought tears to my eyes. Zerr also doubles as Mr. Sowerberry in a very funny funeral scene and chorus line dance, including a spry corpse – Kate Malcic.

Santiago is simply fantastic as Fagin. Lucas Gregory as the Artful Dodger, the leader of Fagin’s gang, has a very physical role, as he slides down poles and climbs up and down ladders. I hope he can make it through the three-week run without an injury.

Then, of course, there is Rickie Wang as Oliver. Wang gives a sublime performance and showed his singing talent with “Where is Love?”

More minor characters, Victor Hunter, as Mr. Bumble, the beadle, and Cecilly Day, as Widow Corney, delight in a raunchy two-hander that had the audience in stitches. Daniel Curalli plays Mr. Brownlow, who turns out to be Oliver’s uncle, with the appropriate gravitas, and Suani Rincon does a nice job as Bet,

Nancy’s friend. All the gang kids, from the tallest to the smallest, are great and perform with gusto.

A musical of this scope is nothing without the behind-the-scenes work of the creative team. In this production, they really deliver.

Cormack’s industrial two-storey wrought-iron set constantly revolves, morphing from a workhouse to Fagin’s hideout to a posh London salon to London Bridge. Frenetic activity accompanies each revolution with various cast members running to and fro.

Lighting designer Sophie Tang’s rich colours infuse the various sets, providing the mood for each scene.

The costumes of Donnie Tejani authentically reflect the Victorian era – the rustling petticoats of the ladies, the tattered frocks and knickers of the children’s gang, Fagin’s patchwork overcoat, and fancy waistcoats and trousers for the gentlemen.

Against the backdrop of all of these designs, choreographer Nicol Spinola gets her young charges hoofing away to musical director Sean Bayntun’s impressive six-piece orchestra. With iconic songs like “Food, Glorious Food,” “Consider Yourself One of the Family” and “Oom Pa Pa,” what’s not to like?

My only complaint is that the hidden orchestra often overpowers the actors (although they are all wearing microphones) so that many of the lyrics are lost. Hopefully, over the course of the run, this will be corrected.

In program notes Epstein remarks: “Directing Oliver! has been an incredible opportunity to reimagine a story that has resonated for generations. While it’s a tale of resilience and hope, it also confronts the harsh realities of poverty, abandonment, and the search for belonging. For this production, we’ve worked to see the story through Oliver’s eyes, capturing the vivid and fantastical way children remember moments.

“This isn’t a softened version of Oliver!, it’s raw, unflinching, and a true dark fairy tale. It’s a story about finding light in the darkest places and holding onto hope when it feels out of reach.”

I highly recommend this delightful musical, suitable for ages 10 and up. Tickets can be purchased at [email protected] or by calling 604-270-1812. Special performances include VocalEye audio description for guests with visual impairments (Dec. 28) and a relaxed performance (Dec. 21).

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Touring with Cirque’s ECHO

Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO, at Concord Pacific Place until Jan. 5, is just beautiful. (photo by Jean-François Savaria)

Beautiful. Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO, at Concord Pacific Place until Jan. 5, is just beautiful – the costumes, the movements, the music, the projected images. As with most Cirque productions, there is a minimal storyline. This one follows heroine Future and her dog Ewai as they try to restore balance to the world, between humans, animals and the environment. It is an optimistic, fantastical show, an uplifting break from a reality that sometimes seems hopeless.

photo - "Double Trouble," Cirque du Soleil's ECHO — “Double Trouble,” Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO. *(photo by Jean-François Savaria)*

The performance the audience sees under the Big Top is, of course, as much the result of many behind-the-scenes and front-of-house workers as it is the performers’ hours of practise and great skill. Every Cirque show is a highly orchestrated experience, international in scope. According to its website, since Cirque du Soleil’s creation in 1984, “more than 400 million people have been inspired on six continents and 86 countries. The Canadian company now employs more than 4,000 employees, including 1,200 artists from more than 80 different nationalities.”

One of those employees is Jewish community member Sarah Sananes, who was born in Florida but grew up in Montreal. She and her siblings attended Hebrew Foundation School for elementary.

“We learned to read, write and speak Hebrew, attended synagogue every Friday morning at Congregation Beth Tikvah, and learned both French and English at the same time,” Sananes told the Independent. “I was young, but I remember loving everything I did and learned during my time there, especially getting to eat TCBY [kosher yogurt].

“To this day, my father still uses the menorah I made, which consists of bolts to hold the Hanukkah candles. We celebrated Shabbat every Friday and attended synagogue for the High Holidays. It truly is a beautiful religion to celebrate. As I grew up, I still celebrate the High Holidays and attend Shabbat dinners whenever I can. I continue to educate myself on my religion even as I get older and don’t always have the chance to celebrate like I used to when we were younger.”

Sarah Sananes is a guest experience supervisor with Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO, which is in Vancouver until Jan. 5. (photo from Cirque du Soleil)

Sananes entered the workforce right out of high school.

“I was always more of an active kid than a quiet one who liked to sit in class. This led me straight into the hospitality industry, where I quickly fell in love with the fast pace,” she said. “I worked hard to climb the ladder into assistant manager roles, which led me to managerial positions. I take great pride in my work ethic and leadership skills, even to this day. This is one of the main things that led me to Cirque, and has kept me here. Whether you are presented with a happy guest or an angry guest, the outcome can always be positive, depending on the way you see and handle the situation. One of my favourite quotes is: ‘We can’t control the winds, but we can adjust the sails.’”

Sananes is now a guest experience supervisor with ECHO.

“I first began my journey with Cirque du Soleil in the summer of 2022. I was hired when I started working as the on-site manager on another show, named KOOZA, with the local staffing agency. Once the summer ended, I returned to my job as an entrepreneur,” said Sananes, who owns an employment agency.

“The following summer, I heard Cirque du Soleil was launching a brand new show and, sure enough, I returned once again to manage the local staff. As the Montreal run neared its end, the guest experience position on ECHO became available and, after my interview, I was asked to join the team!”

Sananes had so loved working on KOOZA that, she said, “When ECHO came out, I knew, if it was anything like KOOZA, I would love what I did, everywhere I did it.”

As to what her job entails, it’s a lot.

“The guest experience team is the team that manages everything that has to do with guests in the front of house. Our team is made up of nine supervisors across six departments, which are box office, concierge, merchandise, food and beverage, VIP, and usher,” she explained. “We also have an inventory supervisor and then myself. Each supervisor manages their respective department every day, whereas my role is more like the chameleon of supervisors. Each day, I morph into a different role. Within my time here, I have learned the ins and outs of every single department, being able to cover or assist any of my co-workers whenever and wherever needed.

“Another part of my role is being the direct link between our partnerships and our visibility departments at Cirque du Soleil’s international headquarters located in Montreal and the tour,” said Sananes. “I make sure all our signage and branding are properly managed and set up. This includes physical signs and all digital assets. Lastly, due to my previous experience as an on-site manager, now being on the other side, I work closely with the local staffing agency and their on-site team to ensure they are able to deliver what we need to successfully operate our show call operations, day in and day out. Some markets are tougher than others when hiring and managing local staff, but it wouldn’t be fun and rewarding if it was always easy!”

Sananes has worked in many markets since ECHO launched in Montreal in April 2023. She has been with the show since the beginning, traveling with it from Montreal to Washington, DC, Atlanta, Ga., and Miami, Fla., before returning to Canada, with performances in Toronto and in Gatineau, Que., among other places.

photo - "Human Cradle," Cirque du Soleil's ECHO — “Human Cradle,” Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO. *(photo by Jean-François Savaria)*

“After five different cities, we landed here in beautiful British Columbia’s Vancouver,” said Sananes. “My plan is to remain on tour and continue to travel with the show for the foreseeable future. I’ve already got my cowboy boots ready for Houston, so I don’t plan to go anywhere just yet! One of the beautiful perks about being on tour is being able to travel to all these places I’ve never been before, some of which I probably wouldn’t have gotten to see at all.”

When asked if there was anything else she’d like to tell JI readers, Sananes expressed gratitude for her parents.

“My father was born in Jerusalem and my mother was born in Canada. They have both taught me very valuable lessons in life, from when I was little until this very day, and, I pray, for all the days to come,” she said. “Because of my mother, I am tough, courageous and kind. Because of my father, I am resilient, fearless and wise. To my mother and my father, thank you for teaching me the importance of being independent, while still being able to spread love to all those around me.”

For tickets to ECHO, visit cirquedusoleil.com.

PuSh Festival turns 20

Clayton Lee explores his childhood obsession with Jewish professional wrestler Bill Goldberg in his The Goldberg Variations, which is at Waterfront Theatre Jan. 30 (photo by Kenneth Koo)

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival runs Jan. 23-Feb. 9. This year’s run marks the festival’s 20th year.

PuSh 2025 features more than 25 presentations, including 20 original performance-based productions; five animated parties and cabaret-style events; two film events; and two artist residencies, one of which will culminate in an open studio showing by international guest artists. In addition to a strong Canadian presence, with 13 presentations, the PuSh Festival includes works by artists of Belgium, South Korea, Brazil, United Kingdom, Uruguay, France, Denmark, Italy, Taiwan, the United States, Sweden and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Among the many presentations this year are at least two with a Jewish angle.

On Jan. 30, 9 pm., at Waterfront Theatre, The Goldberg Variations by Clayton Lee (Canada/United Kingdom) will have its Western Canadian premiere, with a talkback following the show.

Through an unapologetic investigation of desire, power dynamics and identity, Lee explores his childhood obsession with Jewish professional wrestler Bill Goldberg and the impact it has had on his sexual and romantic history. The perplexing crossroads between dominance, submission, heartbreak and vulnerability are laid bare in this candid and unconventional performance where fantasies are both indulged and deconstructed.

Rebecca Margolick is part of Dances for a Small Stage, Feb. 4 and 5, which showcases 10 experimental, short dance pieces by femme and non-binary artists from different generations and dance practices. (photo from PuSh)

On Feb. 4 and 5, 6:30 p.m., at Please Beverage Co., Jewish community member Rebecca Margolick is part of Dances for a Small Stage. Presented by PuSh Festival and Small Stage, the event showcases 10 experimental, short dance pieces by femme and non-binary artists from different generations and dance practices. The other artists participating are Claudia Moore, Cori Caulfield, Jessica Dawn Keeling, Nasiv Kaur Sall, AJ Simmons, Nicole Rose Bond, Burgundy, Ray Young, Adreane Leclerc and Bettina Szabo. There is a post-show talkback Feb. 5.

Other highlights for the 2025 PuSh include BOGOTÁ (Jan. 31 and Feb. 1) by Montreal’s Andrea Peña & Artists, which constructs a brutalist landscape from choreography inspired by Colombia’s political and spiritual heritage, and Dimanche (Feb. 6-8) by Belgium’s Focus and Chaliwaté companies, which paints a sharp yet tender portrait of humanity caught off guard by devastating natural disasters.

PuSh 2025’s animated parties and cabaret-style events include Van Vogue Jam’s Dune Wars Kiki Ball (Feb. 2), opening and closing parties with surprise performances, and the return of the frank theatre’s QT Cabaret at Club PuSh (Jan. 29).

Rounding out the lineup will be two film events: a free marathon screening featuring Brazilian actress Renata Carvalho, the artist behind PuSh’s Transpofagic Manifesto (Feb. 9), and a Born in Flames (Lizzie Borden) film screening (Feb. 6).

The festival’s Industry Series for arts leaders (producers, presenters, curators, directors, and more) returns for 2025, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 2. PuSh, in partnership with Playwrights Theatre Centre and Festival TransAmériques, will also offer free artistic consultations for local artists with invited national and international dramaturgs.

Ticket prices for most PuSh shows range from $15 to $39. Visit pushfestival.ca or call the PuSh Festival info line at 604-449-6000.

– Courtesy PuSh Festival

Join Pacific Theatre in Shire

Peter Carlone, left, and Tim Carlson in Pacific Theatre’s production of The Hobbit (photo by Chelsey Stuyt)

Need a break from reality? On now at Pacific Theatre is The Hobbit, based on JRR Tolkien’s book, with all its adventure, wizardry, fantastical creatures, and more. The tale is brought to life by two actors “and a dragon’s hoard of theatre magic.”

A world premiere, Pacific Theatre’s The Hobbit was adapted by Kim Selody, with additional dialogue by Tim Carlson and Peter Carlone, the two actors who play multiple characters in the production. The Jewish Independent spoke with stage manager Julia Lank before the show opened on Nov. 15.

“We’re less than a week into rehearsal and already our performers, Tim and Peter, have made me tear up laughing with their creative solutions,” said Lank when asked what her most fun problem-solving moment had been so far. “Telling a story designed for dozens of characters with just two actors poses obvious challenges, and the entire team – including our designers – have jumped in with both feet,” she said. “The room is incredibly playful (this morning we were testing out rolling beer can ‘barrels’ down the aisles of the theatre) and our director, Laura [McLean] is also keeping the magic and wonder of Middle Earth at the forefront. The show is going to be full of surprises, and it feels great to be a part of creating something new together.”

Julia Lank, stage manager of The Hobbit. (photo from Pacific Theatre)

Lank is a self-taught stage manager, though she does have a degree in film production and worked as a first assistant director for several years, which, she said, is the film world’s equivalent of a stage manager.

“Stage management is one of those niche jobs that won’t be on a high school career counselor’s radar, but it’s perfect for me – a mix of technical theatre magic, caretaking, and lots of spreadsheets,” she said. “If you’re interested in how the theatrical sausage gets made and you’re unflappable, stage management might be for you.”

Lank’s recent credits include other Pacific Theatre (PT) productions (Gramma and The Cake), as well as Tuck Everlasting (Arts Umbrella), On Behalf (Fringe), L’Elisir d’Amore (Burnaby Lyric Opera), Jasper in Deadland (Awkward Stage) and City of Angels (the PIT Collective), among others.

“I worked as PT’s marketing assistant and later marketing director from 2017 to 2023,” she said. “I left last June to pursue stage management full-time, but I consider Pacific a theatre home and love the work and people there dearly. I’m also a self-taught marketer, but it’s easy to advocate for an artistic space when you genuinely believe in the work they’re doing. Many of my favourite theatre experiences, both behind the scenes and as an audience member, have been at PT.”

How she prepares for a new project differs, but, in general, she said, “I like to familiarize myself with the script and score well before a show begins so I can anticipate areas that may need extra support or take more time to come together. The director will be doing this work, too, and you want to be in the best possible position to help them execute their vision. And you definitely don’t want to be in a position where you didn’t realize there was going to be a live goat onstage until the first read.”

A good follow-up question would have been whether Lank was referring to The Hobbit when talking about an acting goat, but the JI missed that opportunity. Instead, we asked about how The Hobbit fits into Pacific Theatre’s aspiration “to delight, provoke and stimulate dialogue by producing theatre that rigorously explores the spiritual aspects of human existence.”

“Tolkien was famously opposed to religious allegorical readings of his work, but the Pacific Theatre community has a fondness for his work that stems from his personal religious background,” explained Lank. “Regardless, if you’re a person of faith or not, I think the values of compassion, the rejection of greed and needless violence in favour of communal care and quiet contentment and imagination in this interpretation of the story make Hobbit a perfect PT show.”

As for Lank, she was raised in the local Jewish community and attends Or Shalom.

“Judaism honours my curiosity and taught me that questioning a system can only improve it,” she said. “My Jewish identity calls me to care for the vulnerable, stand up for communities whose voices have been suppressed, and honour the natural world. It’s very important to me.”

Turning back to less serious matters, Lank said of The Hobbit: “It’s going to be a marvelous, silly, scary adventure – you’ll be very welcome to join us in the Shire.”

The Hobbit runs to Dec. 21 at Pacific Theatre. Performance times are Wednesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; and Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. For tickets, which start at $20, visit pacifictheatre.org or call 604-731-5518.

Learning from her ancestors

Tasha Faye Evans shares a work in progress at Dance in Vancouver. (photo courtesy Scotiabank Dance Centre)

“With everything I do, I always ask myself, what is the medicine of this work? How is this dance, this play, this project, contributing to the greater health and well-being of my community? Who is this character speaking for? Who am I dedicating this work to? Then, when it comes time to perform,” said Tasha Faye Evans, “I am rarely nervous, because it’s not about me and my skills, its more about the work I am doing and who I am doing it for.”

Evans was speaking to the Independent in advance of Dance in Vancouver, which runs Nov. 20-24 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. The dance and theatre artist, who has Coast Salish, Welsh and European-Jewish grandparents, is presenting t’emək’ʷqən-seed, a work in progress, in a free-to-attend double bill with Starr Muranko/Raven Spirit Dance on Nov. 22, 2 p.m. A moderated conversation with the artists will follow the performances.

“There is not a word in Coast Salish culture for art,” writes Evans on her website. “Our art is functional. Our dances, prayers. Our songs, blessings. I am an artist because I love fiercely and creating work is my way of having hope, preserving the sacred and imagining a better future for all our relations.”

“My own body of work has always been because I am not a blockader, I don’t write the letters to the people in charge, I am weary of shaking my fist in the air,” she told the Independent. “My dance, theatre and community work are my way of addressing a helplessness I feel in the face of the misused powers in the world. My community work is mostly about redress and recalibrating values to align with the original caregivers of these Coast Salish lands and waters. We all share in a sacred responsibility to ensure a future of health and well-being for all our relations, and my work is in service of this sacred responsibility.”

Evans’s choreography has been presented by various companies and she has participated in performances and festivals around the world. She has many projects on the go, in dance and more broadly. One initiative is In the Presence of Ancestors, an exhibition of five Coast Salish House posts being carved and raised in Port Moody along its Shoreline Trail. She was recognized for the

exhibit with a 2023 Edge Prize, which is given to leaders, or “Edgewalkers,” in the Salmon Nation, described on the prize’s website as “a bioregion defined by the historic range of wild Pacific salmon, from the Salinas River in California, north to the Yukon River in Alaska.”

seed was inspired by a sculpture created by Coast Salish artist James Harry.

“The sculpture was part of KWÍKWI – The Seventh, an exhibit James Harry and his partner Lauren Brevner dedicated to their daughter, the seventh generation born in James’s family since colonization,” said Evans. “seed draws upon what master carver Xwalacktun [James Harry] refers to as the Ancestor’s Eye or the Salish Eye, and the fundamental shapes and teachings of Coast Salish art and design, the sphere, crescent and trigon. The Salish Eye can be found carved into the oldest Coast Salish tools and, for that matter, I refer to these shapes as sxwōxwiyám, part of our original stories, written into the land and shared generation to generation, teaching us how to be human.”

Having collaborated with master carvers for more than a decade now, Evans said her “choreography experiments with how Coast Salish art and design can be expressed in movement, gesture and architecture of the space. I am developing a methodology that is based in the shapes and cultural teachings of the Ancestor’s Eye, the sphere, trigon, crescents, and the space in between. I am passionate about showcasing Coast Salish art form and culture and I am driven to share sxwōxwiyám and invoke a sacred responsibility in my audiences for all our relations.”

photo - Tasha Faye Evans — Tasha Faye Evans (photo by Yasuhiro Okada)

What people will see at Dance in Vancouver is “the tap root of t’emək’ʷqən-seed,” said Evans, “the first part of the work to grow, unfolding itself first towards the earth. I’ll be sharing that vulnerable moment of the creative process where the story is newly manifesting, taking root in the body and just beginning to grow.”

seed was commissioned by Odd Meridian Arts, whose artistic director is Ziyian Kwan. While in residence there, Evans created another work, Song.

“My connection with Odd Meridian Arts began decades ago when I was a shaved-head theatre kid and Ziyian was one of those dancers I’d see on posters and just stare at in awe,” shared Evans. “She’s always represented ambition for me and what a successful career as an artist looks like. (I don’t think I’ve told her this.) Ziyian has always been one of those artists whom I could only aspire to be.”

It was during COVID that Evans said she “got over” herself and responded to a message Kwan had posted on Facebook.

“Song was also a seed,” said Evans. “It was a section of a larger piece I am still creating called Cedar Woman. It was a landing piece in my creative process, when I was exploring how to re-member myself to a legacy of Coast Salish women. I follow the song I hear calling me in my heart. The dance is a journey through the song, all the way back in time to my first grandmother, singing the song as prayer for her grandchildren during the great flood. I don’t dance Song the same in Cedar Woman any longer, but the core of Song, is finding itself in seed.”

For Evans, being part of such diverse ancestry, holding space for her Coast Salish, Welsh and Jewish heritage, is challenging.

“For much of my adult life, it has been learning how to sit in the circle within my Indigenous community,” she said.

“I didn’t grow up in Jewish culture more than our comfort foods like chicken soup, matzah, and lox and cream cheese. We did not practise being Jewish and I learned very little about this part of me other than the trauma we all carry. For years, I wore a Star of David, mostly because it was a gift from my Nana. Sometimes, I feel my Jewish great-grandmother Faye nudging me disgruntledly until I mention her name, too, when I introduce myself. I’m not sure how to hold being Jewish in this body while living here in these Coast Salish lands and waters.

“There is a piece I’d like to create for my GG Faye, actually. I have a long mink coat that reminds me of one of the photos I have of her, taken just before World War II. I know she’d really appreciate that and I welcome the parts of me I would discover dancing for her.”

Her Welsh heritage has also been less explored, but, said Evans, “I have always longed to go to Wales. To dance on those lands and waters and listen to the language calls me for sure.

“While it’s these Coast Salish lands and stories that dance in me the loudest, I do honour that I am the dream of all my ancestors.”

Dance in Vancouver also features a work by Action at a Distance/Vanessa Goodman on Nov. 23 and DIV Unstructured on Nov. 24 includes Idan Cohen/Ne.Sans Opera & Dance. For more information and tickets, visit thedancecentre.ca.

A Shylock written for Rubinek

Saul Rubinek in Mark Leiren-Young’s Playing Shylock, which is playing in Toronto. Leiren-Young wrote the work with Rubinek in mind. (photo by Dahlia Katz)

Victoria playwright Mark Leiren-Young spent October in Toronto, where his Playing Shylock is appearing at Berkeley Street Theatre through Nov. 24. The one-man show, which stars Saul Rubinek, is based on the Jewish character in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

“I’ve been attending rehearsals, run-throughs and previews as a playwright,” Leiren-Young told the Independent from Toronto before the play’s world premiere. “That means I’m around to work on the script with the actor and director. Since it’s a new script, that means I’m adjusting it to reflect ideas that come up in rehearsals, working with the costumes, the designs and the space. Really, anything that needs doing to get the script as tight and right for the actor and the production as it can be – making sure ideas are clear, jokes land and that Saul is having as much fun as possible.”

photo - Mark Leiren-Young — Mark Leiren-Young (photo by Jeffrey Bosdet)

Leiren-Young’s play Shylock first appeared on stage at Bard on the Beach in 1996. Playing Shylock, he said, is an all-new play with the same core premise: a production of The Merchant of Venice has been canceled in mid-run due to a controversy over the production.

“This is a bespoke piece that started during the COVID lockdown and I built it around Saul’s life experiences after studying his voice, his personal history, his greatest roles, his mannerisms,” Leiren-Young said. “This was written to sound like Saul and feel like Saul and not like a character or story created by me.”

In fact, when actor John Huston, who starred in multiple productions of Shylock, touring five provinces, asked Leiren-Young what was recognizable from that first play, the playwright responded, “The lines that Shakespeare wrote.”

“Beyond keeping some of Shylock’s best lines from Merchant of Venice, this is an all-new play because we’re in an all-new world,” said Leiren-Young. “And it’s a new world in so many ways. Think about how controversies played out before social media. Think about how the issues in theatre and society have changed, and the issues the Jewish community is facing.”

According to Leiren-Young, the original draft of Playing Shylock was completed a couple of years ago. Yet, he tries to update his plays to reflect current circumstances.

“This script always included a cancelation letter inspired by an actual cancelation announcement,” said Leiren-Young. “The original draft for Playing Shylock was inspired by a letter announcing the cancelation of a screening of the controversial opera The Death of Klinghoffer about a decade ago.”

The letter now, he said, is largely inspired by the decision of the Belfry Theatre in Victoria to cancel its January production of The Runner after protesters demonstrated and vandalized its property because they objected to a play about an Israeli volunteer with the Orthodox group ZAKA.

“Not just because it’s more current, it’s Canadian and more relevant to the times,” he said, “but because that letter appeared to be used as the template for canceling another play at a theatre across the street from the Belfry.”

Rubinek, a distinguished stage veteran, is widely known to film and television audiences. To name but a few of his credits: Wall Street, Barney’s Version, Frasier. This past June, the Globe and Mail placed Rubinek in the 25th spot on its list of the greatest Canadian actors of all time.

“I believe that if the people who made that list see this show, they’ll want to bump up his ranking by a fair bit. Watching Saul deliver Shakespeare’s lines is amazing. Watching Saul deliver my lines is a dream,” Leiren-Young said. “He’s 76 and he’s better on lines than any other actor I have ever worked with.”

Of the play, Rubinek said Leiren-Young “leaps into the historic controversy about the character of Shylock with gleeful relish and biting humour and then has the chutzpah to create a poignant study of why theatre should matter.”

The actor added, “To collaborate with on a new play – and I’ve done a lot of them – Mark is an actor’s dream: tirelessly inventive, generous, creatively stubborn in all the right places and, best of all, funny.”

This weekend, on Nov. 10, 2 p.m., at Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El, Leiren-Young will give a talk about Playing Shylock, his original play Shylock, the character of Shylock, the impact and history of The Merchant of Venice and “anything else the audience that day wants to talk about.”

The author of numerous books, Leiren-Young is the only writer to win the Leacock Medal for Humour (Never Shoot a Stampede Queen) and the Science Writers and Communicators Award for Canada’s best science book (The Killer Whale Who Changed the World).

Leiren-Young’s Sharks Forever is a non-fiction book for middle-school readers and features an introduction by environmental activist Paul Watson. His next book, Octopus Oceans, is being released in early 2025. He is currently working on a new book for young readers focusing on how to protect the oceans and the animals who live there.

To follow Leiren-Young online, visit his website, leiren-young.com, and his Substack page, substack.com/@skaanapod?.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Comedy can unite and heal

Comedian Erik Angel performs his one-man standup show, Speaking Falafel, at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver on Nov. 14. (photo from Erik Angel)

“This year, I discovered even more how comedy is an important tool to bring people together, for release and relief, and I won’t be exaggerating if I say that comedy saved me this year,” Erik Angel told the Independent in an interview in advance of his solo performance Nov. 14, 8 p.m., at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. He’ll also be taking part in a show for students at the University of British Columbia while he’s here.

“This is perhaps the saddest time in my life, with a lot of pain, sorrow and worry, and going on stage night after night and making people laugh, helps me clear my mind and move on,” said Angel of the year since Oct. 7, 2023. “On stage, I deal with my reality today, with antisemitism, but I do it in an entertaining way. They say that comedy is tragedy plus time and I call my performance a humanitarian respite for the soul.”

Angel, who lives in New York, has opened for headliners like Maz Jobrani and Zarna Garg. He’s been part of several comedy festivals and has performed in more than a dozen countries to date. This will be his first time in Vancouver.

Born and raised in Israel, Angel moved to the United States for love, he said, after meeting his bashert at, of all places, the Jewish community centre in Krakow, Poland, in 2015.

“I went to Krakow for a long weekend and all my life changed completely,” he said.

Angel has worked in several creative fields. As a singer-songwriter, he released three albums in Israel. He studied drama and worked as an actor for five years. He did some standup comedy in Hebrew at open mics in Israel almost a decade ago, but said he quickly switched to doing routines in English, even while still in Israel.

“Since summer 2016,” he said, “I’ve been doing comedy in English, almost on a daily basis.”

The show that Angel is bringing to the Vancouver JCC next week is the product of a lot of work.

“Speaking Falafel is an hour of comedy that I worked on for seven long years of comedy spots, day after day, and I am very proud of it. It’s a very funny show about my journey since I went on this long weekend in Krakow and met the love of my life. I share the difficulties of becoming a new immigrant, newly married in my 40s, the differences between Israeli culture and other cultures in the world, how to be now ‘the Jew’ everywhere, to live 24/7 with a second language. I tell stories, I speak with the audience, and I even sing a little bit.”

The Nov. 14 show is a bonus for Vancouverites, as Angel’s main purpose for coming to the city is the UBC show, which is the start of a winter tour for Comedy for Peace.

Angel established Comedy for Peace five years ago.

“I grew up in Israel with two million Muslims. I never met one – not in school, not in my basketball team,” he said. “I started to meet Muslims when I started to travel the world. The meetings were always friendly, and I wanted to do something artistic together. When I moved to New York, I became part of the New York comedy scene. I produced the first show, that was a huge success, and since then we have had shows in more than 50 cities in the US and Canada.

“Comedy for Peace is not a political event,” he stressed. “It’s about different communities who sit together under one roof and have fun. Simple as it sounds, we want to show people how easy it is to collaborate, laugh, learn about each other and discover how much we are more alike than different. Today, we also have a version with Christian comedians that will travel with the West Coast tour. Nov. 9, Comedy for Peace will be part of the New York Comedy Festival for the second time.

“After Oct. 7, a few shows were canceled (and a few not) and very fast we decided that, for us now, it’s more important than ever and this is why we keep going,” added Angel. “There are comedians, mostly Muslim or Christian Arabs, that cut me off and don’t want to be a part of it – it’s painful because I didn’t change – but most of the comedians are still on board. And our goal now is to bring our message everywhere possible, and [I] will never give up and will always believe most of us, the people, just want to live together peacefully.”

Performing alongside Angel at UBC will be Liz Glazer, Gibran Saleem and Paul Schissler.

“From my experience, people that come to support the show support the idea and are not coming to protest or say something against it and I hope it will be the same this time,” said Angel when asked if he was concerned about the protests and vandalism that have taken place at UBC and other universities. “We are a non-political peace show, so it’s crazy for me to think that things will go differently. Until today, the only problem we have had to deal with was people calling/writing or trying to shame online our Muslim/Christian Arab comedians or asking them not to do it anymore. Most of them just want to do it more since then. But still, we have the reality, there are many haters out there and everything can happen. We have a Q&A session at the end and we are open to speaking with reasonable people that will come with an open heart and ask questions they want to speak about or to understand more. This is part of our mission, to be there together on stage.”

To watch some clips of Angel’s performances from around the world, visit his YouTube channel, youtube.com/@erikangelcomedy9702, or his Instagram page, instagram.com/erikangelcomedy/?hl=en. For tickets to Speaking Falafel, go to eventbrite.com.