PuSh Festival presents Palace Grand
By ZoeQ on January 27, 2008 - 2:54pm
Palace Grand is a unique solo show which takes place in a theatre within the theatre: a miniature vaudeville stage which floats in space, inhabited by a single oppressed actor. An utterly physical evocation of an ill-fated expedition and a reliquary of sublimely beautiful and iconic artifacts from a mythic northern terrain, the play investigates a uniquely human condition: cacoethes scribendi—the incurable passion for writing. A sort of Yukon Heart of Darkness, Palace Grand cuts deep into the northernmost reaches of Canada on the trail of two men: Walker, a writer who disappears into the wilderness and The Tracker, a bounty hunter hired to find him. Together the two represent separate halves of a single narrative. What remains of this narrative is brought to life by a third man, The Operator of a remote transmitting station whose presence has little to do with their story, but without whom it would be lost.
Caught somewhere between Beckett and Chaplin and taking the mythic Klondike gold rush as its setting, this delirious snowbound fantasy reminds us of our frightening ever present quest for self. The play won three Jessie Awards for Performance, Set Design and Lighting in 2004. This PuSh-commissioned presentation reimagines the critically acclaimed original production.
Led by Kim Collier, Kevin Kerr, David Hudgins and Jonathon Young, Electric Company Theatre has been a leading artistic force in Vancouver since 1996. The company has toured to theatres across Canada including the National Arts Centre (Brilliant! 2006) and performed in Scotland and the United States. In 2005 Electric Company completed its first feature film, The Score, which has screened at festivals in Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and Tokyo, Japan. Recent productions include: Studies in Motion (PuSh 2006), At Home with Dick and Jane (HIVE 06) and The One that Got Away (Vancouver/Ottawa). The company is currently working on a new play commissioned by the Arts Club.
For full event line-up: www.pushfestival.ca
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