For culture lovers in the city, there’s nothing better than dinner followed by a live show at one of Vancouver’s lauded venues—The Cultch’s historic theatre, the Granville Island Revue Stage, and the Annex, to name a few. And you can do it for three weeks straight this month, as that’s when the PuSh Festival takes over the city’s venues, presenting groundbreaking work in the performing arts. Running from January 18 to February 4, this year features 18 performances, from circus to dance to spoken word and beyond.

Check out our top six picks for the festival below.

asses.masses

January 20, January 27, February 3, Waterfront Theatre

A video game designed for live theatre, where unemployed donkeys demand humans surrender their machines to regain their jobs, asses.masses picks apart the ideas of labour, technophobia, and revolution in a post-industrial society. Players—those being members of the audience—lead the donkey herd through a world where asses are valued for their hides, confronting issues of job loss due to automation, the influence of nostalgia, and the role of technology in adaptation.

Sound of the Beast

January 20 to 23, Granville Island Revue Stage

Part concert, part theatre performance, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard delivers storytelling, spoken word, and rap in Sound of the Beast. Hilarity and harsh realities clash as she talks about doughnut cravings, 5am moments, and rap scene friendships with stories of racism, over-policing, and legacies of slavery. Sound of the Beast offers a subversively funny perspective on injustice and the joy found in nurturing love amidst socially constructed dehumanization and systemic challenges.

Pli

February 2 to 4, Vancouver Playhouse

In a collaboration between a circus artist and two visual artists (Les SUBS, made up of Inbal Ben Haim, Domitille Martin, and Alexis Mérat), a conversation takes place over the transformative journey of paper—from a blank page to a crumpled draft. Through circus and sculpture, the suspended body engages with the paper, exploring the vulnerability and strength between flesh and raw material.

LORENZO

January 18 to 20, the Annex

Storytelling at its most raw. Auteur Ben Target regales audiences with a life-affirming story about death, taking them inside his decision to care for his irascible uncle during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through audience engagement and live carpentry, an autobiographical hour unfolds, posing questions about caregiving, how we’re remembered, and the inescapable experience of being flawed.  

The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes

February 1 to 3 (online until the 4), The Cultch’s York Theatre

Australia’s Back to Back Theatre takes a wry look at a dystopian future where AI has taken over from human intelligence. Considering questions of human rights, sexual politics, and the fallibility of machines, The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes promises to be a raw and comedic reflection of AI and how we might use it. 

Returns

Daily until February 3, Scotiabank Dance Centre

In this free show, the public is invited to watch as artist Nellie Gossen disassembles and reassembles retail clothing through dance, labour, and garment fabrication.