Here are 5 must-see plays opening in Vancouver in September

From Come From Away to the Vancouver Fringe Festival, here are 5 must-see plays being staged around Vancouver in September

Published Aug 31, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Addison Garner as Beverley Bass in Come From Away. Photo by Matthew Murphy

September is to theatre as October is to hockey: Our teams are undefeated and we can dream of a championship season. Everything is possible until the pucks drop and the curtains rise.

Though theatres rarely use curtains any more, the variety of this September’s openings gives us a frisson of anticipation. As well, Bard on the Beach’s must-see shows — Hamlet and Twelfth Night — continue until mid-month.

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We’ll highlight the Arts Club’s season-opener, the Broadway musical Jersey Boys, in our upcoming Fall Arts Preview.

Vancouver Fringe Festival

When: To Sept. 15
Where: Various Granville Island venues
Tickets & Info: $15/show at vancouverfringe.com

A few months ago, it seemed as though the Fringe might not be around to celebrate its 40th anniversary. But enough funding came through to allow a 70-show festival this year. The typical Fringe show is a small-scale comedy with one or two performers. Three shows contain the perennially popular “naked” in their titles. Best title: A Woman’s Guide to Peeing Outside. Runners-up: Bitches with Baggage and Smut Slam. All proceeds go to the performers.

The company of Chickens. Photo by Christoper King

Chickens

When: Sept. 6-29
Where: Jericho Arts Centre, 1675 Discovery St.
Tickets & Info: $15-$35 at unitedplayers.com

Along with the Fringe Festival, United Players is always first to open the fall season. This year’s opener, Chickens, is a musical by ever-delightful local playwright Lucia Frangione. In 1980s Alberta, while Pal and Liza struggle to keep the family farm afloat, their roosters and hens have issues of their own in the barnyard. Music by Royal Sproule and a two-person band. Direction and musical direction by Christopher King.

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The touring cast of Come From Away. Photo by Matthew Murphy

Come from Away

When: Sept. 10-15
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St.
Tickets & Info: From $77 at vancouver.broadway.com

Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s show about the airline passengers grounded in Gander, NL, on 9/11, and the locals who received them, is easily the best, most successful musical ever to come out of Canada. At 90 minutes without intermission, it has no orchestra, a minimal set, and hardly any dancing. Yet it’s absolutely brilliant: Powerful, tuneful and very funny. On tour from Broadway Across Canada.

The company of Middletown. Photo by Matt Reznek

Middletown

When: Sept. 18-Oct. 6
Where: Pacific Theatre, 1440 W12th Ave.
Tickets & Info: From $25 at pacifictheatre.org

A few years ago, I reviewed playwright Will Eno’s Wakey, Wakey. My title: “In the Midst of Death, There Is Life.” Eno’s stream-of-consciousness existentialism is unique in the American theatre. In Middletown, he riffs on Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, as 13 occupants of a small community brood over life and death, happiness and misery, often in the same sentence. Provocative, funny, and highly recommended. Produced by Sticks and Stones Theatre.

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As You Like It or The Land Acknowledgment is written and performed by Cliff Cardinal. Photo by Dahlia Katz

As You Like It or The Land Acknowledgment

When: Sept. 25-29
Where: York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr.
Tickets & Info: From $29 at thecultch.com

The Cultch opens its season with this Governor General’s Award-winner from Toronto’s Crow’s Theatre, which played here at the 2022 PuSh Festival. Written and performed by Cliff Cardinal, the show has little to do with Shakespeare’s comedy but much to do with the land acknowledgments that preface our theatrical performances and many other civic events in Canada. The Cultch describes it as “devastating yet laugh-out-loud.” Free to Indigenous patrons.

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