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2019: SIPS 'N SCRIPTS - City Stage New West at the Anvil Centre


SIPS 'n SCRIPTS HOLIDAY EDITION: 
DECEMBER 19,  2019, 7 - 9 pm at the ANVIL CENTRE
Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Our free, audience-inclusive, family-friendly, and joyfully interactive reading of the classic Christmas ghost story--lead by veteran actor-musician Dave Clothier as “Scrooge”--was a hit in 2018 and returned again in 2019, with violinist Cindy Kao joining Clothier as featured artists. Audience members read supporting roles, threw 'snowballs', joined the Christmas sing-along, donned Dickensian costume pieces--or just sat back and enjoyed the fun!  "Smoking Bishop", a warmly spiced wine loved by Dickens, was the featured 'sip', with free cocoa and goodies for kids. 

 Right: Dave Clothier returns as "Scrooge".


Left to right: Violinist/performer Cindy Kao plays a jig for volunteer audience members as "Mrs. and Mr. Fezziwig"(center), with Howard Dai, Callyn Dorval. 






2019: CENSORED! FORBIDDEN CLASSICS OF THE WICKED STAGE Audiences loved this sold-out series that looked at 3 banned classics spanning 2300 years of history, all addressing still-controversial themes of women's sexual and financial agency. 

MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION, by George Bernard Shaw, was performed October 11, 2019, at the Anvil Centre. Directed by Marisa Emma Smith, this reading reunited most of Alley Theatre 's stellar 2014 cast: Linda Quibell* (Mrs. Warren), Melissa Oei*, Tom Pickett*, Eric Keenleyside*, and Daniel Arnold*, with Patrick Sabongui.* *Participation of Artists arranged by permission of Canadian Actors' Equity Association under the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).
A daughter, learning that her estranged, wealthy mother funded her privileged education through prostitution, is thrown into crisis. Banned for 33 years, Shaw's sharp-witted indictment of capitalist Victorian society's moral hypocrisy remains remarkably fresh. More than a Shavian Mama, Mia! 
Most of the original cast of Alley Theatre's 2014 Mrs. Warren's Profession returned for Sips 'n Scripts this October. Left to right: Daniel Arnold, Melissa Oei, Tom Pickett, Linda Quibell, Eric Keenleyside, Rick Tae. 

SHAMELESS, SHARP, & SHOCKING! Literary genius George Bernard Shaw (actor Simon Webb, below, left) defended his censored play MRS. WARREN's PROFESSION in his own words, adapted by Renee Bucciarelli (below, centre, appearing as Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Shaw's colleague/muse) at the Anvil Centre's Culture Forward New West celebration, Sept. 28, 2019, here with Board Director Kris Kuruneri (below right).

 "Mrs. Warren's Poll": Of the audience polled, 3 times as many women as men considered both Mrs. Warren and her daughter, Vivie, to be heroines of the play, versus one character over the other; no one believed, as Shaw's critics had, that the playwright advocated prostitution; and men and women differed distinctly as to whether they "liked" the plays' ending (women: yes, men: no). Interesting!

Mae West's SEX, performed June 14, 2019 at the Anvil Centre, featured Nicola Whitney-Griffiths as "Margy Lamont", the role Mae West wrote for herself. An unapologetic conflagration of lust and wit, SEX was a smash hit on Broadway, but landed West in jail for obscenity and corruption. West's legendary, controversial career went on to push boundaries of feminism, race, and gender. An ad for the 1927 show warned, "If you cannot stand excitement, see your doctor before visiting Mae West." Featured sip: the Mae West Martini. 
Below: Dave Clothier, Melanie Germain, Donny Lucas, Jeff Cooper, Nicola Whitney-Griffiths, Michael McIntyre, Howard Dai, Kris Kuruneri, Callyn Dorval, and Zach Wolfman.
       
Our comfy Sips 'n Scripts 'living room' setting at the Anvil Centre


Actors Simon Webb, Morgan Montgomery, Howard Dai, Viktor Barkar, Michael McIntyre, Marc Anthony Williams lead the Greek men's chorus of audience members in LYSISTRATA, actor Jolene Bernardino far right.
Bailey Soleil Creed
Aristophanes' LYSISTRATA  was performed April 26, 2019 at the Anvil Centre.  Lysistrata was too hot for the Greeks in 411 B.C.! In this script, Greek and Spartan women join forces to drive their warring men wild by enacting a universal sex strike to end the war. Banned in America until the 1930's, it inspired a world-wide anti-war protest in 2003, and, more recently, Spike Lee's film CHI-RAQ. This free event featured multi-talented actor Bailey Soleil Creed as "Lysistrata", along with some of Creed's original spoken-word poetry. Also with actors listed above, plus Nancy Ebert, Jenna Sokalski, Nicola Whitney-Griffiths, Hilary Hin-Leung. The featured "sip" was Ouzo, a Greek liqueur.

 The Censored! Forbidden Classics  reading series was made possible by a generous grant from the City of New Westminster and support from the Anvil Centre.