Serpant Kills
We began the 1996/97 season with a production of Blake Brooker and Jim Milans' Serpent Kills a unique Canadian dance/drama. In the spring of that season Ruby Slippers presented the Canadian premiere of a unique play development process created by Joint Stock, one of Britains leading political theatre companies of the 1970's and 80's.
Photo Credit: Serpent Kills, Marcus Youssef and Mary Mancini
Photo by Katrina Dunn
Patagonia
Patagonia, by Karim Alrawi, was marked by its starkly original theatricality unrelenting political nature. Composer Andreas Kahre was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for his stunning original sound score.
Photo Credit: Patagonia, Carmen Aguirre
Photo by Deborah Dunn
Brecht in the Park
The biannual Brecht In The Park event plays the role of both a neighbourhood happening and a city-wide cultural event. Started in 1994 with Public Dreams, we first co-produced Courage In The Park, an outdoor epic staging of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. The production met with such enthusiasm that we then co-produced The Threepenny Opera in 1995.
Threepenny Opera
Threepenny included over thirty-five performers and jazz ensemble Talking Pictures, and was nominated for four Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards and won for Outstanding Significant Achievement in Audience Development and Community Outreach. Both productions toured several Vancouver parks, presented FREE to the public and were highly praised for their artistic integrity and community-based philosophy.
Acts of Passion
Our other ongoing series is Acts Of Passion, an annual reading series of Quebecois plays produced with Pink Ink Theatre and Theatre La Seizieme. Also initiated in 1994, Acts Of Passion has exposed Vancouver audiences to some of Quebecs' most exciting theatre work, with special guest artists being flown out for workshops and lectures during the week-long event. Some of these leading Canadian artists include playwrights Normand Chaurette and Abla Faroud, translator Shelley Tepperman, French Canadian theatre expert and teacher Paul LeFebvre and internationally acclaimed writer/performer Pol Pelletier. Acts Of Passion not only offers Vancouver audiences the opportunity to experience Quebecs unique theatrical voice, it also affords those artists the opportunity to share and disseminate their work to fresh ears and minds This creates interest and dialogue, thus providing a link between the two cultures.