The highly regarded Chutzpah! Festival: The Lisa Nemetz Festival of International Jewish Performing Arts begins today and runs until November 10. It encompasses a wide range of art forms. According to the website, they’re all presented through a “Jewish lens of experiences, stories, and values” while making space for collaboration with non-Jewish artists.
Tonight, it kicks off with Juno-award winning Vancouver comedian Jacob Samuel. He will headline a comedy lineup that includes Sophia Johnson and Myles Anderson, with Kyle Berger serving as the host.
The following evening on November 2, it will be a night of klezmer music with the Ukrainian band Kommuna Lux. The band and its charismatic lead singer, Bagrat Tsurkan, will bring their “Odesa Urban Folk” to the Pearl (881 Granville Street) at an event with dance leader Hadas Klinger.
One of the more intriguing shows at this year’s Chutzpah! Festival will be the Canadian premiere of playwright Jeremy Goldstein’s Truth to Power Café. On November 3, it will offer community participants from Vancouver an opportunity to say whatever they like to anyone who has power over them.
“Personal, professional, political – speaking truth to power is a non-violent means of conflict resolution, the origins of which lie in the anti-war movement,” the Chutzpah! Festival states on its website. “Is it to your parents, a sibling, politician, landlord, neighbour, banker, boss, or simply your best friend? It’s time to tell them the truth before it’s too late.”
Goldstein was inspired by the Hackney Gang, which was a group of friends that included the playwright Harold Pinter and Goldstein’s father. There will be a digital stream available from the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre.
Chutzpah presents dance double bill
The Chutzpah! Festival has a tradition of presenting topnotch dance productions and this year is no exception. There will be a dance double bill at the Scotiabank Dance Centre on November 8 and 9 in honour of Lisa Nemetz, a Vancouver lover of arts and culture who died in 1997.
In Fortress, Rebecca Margolick and Livona Ellis draw inspiration from the matriarchs in their lives as they explore their “ever-evolving relationship to femininity, and the balance between their strength and vulnerability”. Margolick previously performed with Sidra Bell Dance NY and Andrea Peña & Artists; Ellis has worked with Kidd Pivot and Ballet BC.
Here’s a fun fact: Margolick’s mother is former professional dancer Mary-Louise Albert, former long-time artistic managing director of the Chutzpah! Festival. Albert is currently artistic and executive director and producer of the BC Movement Arts Society.
Fortress will be followed by Ne. Sans Opera & Dance’s About Time, with pianist Leslie Dala performing Philip Glass’s solo piano etudes. Choreographer Idan Cohen integrates Dala’s piano playing into this production, which is anchored by dancers Will Jessup and Benjamin DeFaria.
Music, film, and a Michael Wex show
Another festival highlight will be The Last Night at the Cabaret Yitesh (di letste nakht baym yitesh), which will be at the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre on November 9 and 10. It’s written by the brilliant Michael Wex (Born to Kvetch), one of North America’s foremost advocates of Yiddish language and culture.
Wex set the show in the spring of 1938 in Warsaw. Performers in the Yiddish-language Cabaret Yitesh have just learned that they are about to perform their final show. So, they decide to deliver something completely uncensored. The cast features Shane Baker, Daniel Kahn, Regina Hopfgartner, Patrick Farrell, and Sasha Lurje In this Yiddish production with English supertitles.
The festival will present two other music-filled shows. In the first, the Itamar Erez Trio will be at the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre on November 5. The trio will be joined by three guest artists: Los Angeles-based multi-wind instrumentalist Yonnie Dror, Toronto jazz vocalist Kayla Ramu, and Vancouver-based Indian classical and jazz singer Shruti Ramani.
On November 6 at the same location, the festival will feature Mark Rubin: Jew of Oklahoma. In this show, Rubin will perform songs and share stories about his collaborations with a long list of U.S. musicians.
There will also be a film screening of Gimpel the Fool Returns to Poland at the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre on November 4. Adapted from Isaac Bashevis Singer’s famous short story, it follows Nepesh Theatre’s production through towns in Poland.
For tickets and information about Chutzpah! Festival shows, visit the website. Follow Pancouver on Twitter @PancouverMedia and on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
