Theatre lovers, you don't need to worry about leaving town to enjoy yourselves this season.
The Vagabond Players have announced their 2014/15 lineup, and it definitely offers something for all tastes.
The season opens Oct. 2 with Murder By The Book, running until Oct. 25.
It continues with Jesse Jones' Southern comedy Christmas Belles, running Dec. 3 to 20.
The new year sees the team take on Agatha Christie's Go Back for Murder, running Jan. 29 to Feb. 21, with Katie Forgette's family drama The O'Conner Girls taking to the stage April 2 to 18.
The season concludes with Ken Ludwig's popular comedy Lend Me a Tenor, running June 4 to 27.
All Vagabond Players productions take place at the Bernie Legge Theatre in Queen's Park.
Tickets are $15 regular, $13 seniors and youth, and FlexPasses are available to see five productions for $60.
For all the details, check out www.vagabondplayers.ca.
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Fans of the written word can find plenty of local connections at the upcoming Word Vancouver festival.
The longtime festival got its start in 1995 as Word on the Street, and it's remained an annual celebration of all things literary - with workshops, discussions, readings, kids' activities and entertainment happening at seven locations over five days.
New Westminster poets Ariadne Sawyer, Renée Sarojini Saklikar and Catherine Owen are all featured in the Poetry On The Bus sessions happening on the main festival day - Sunday, Sept. 28 at the main branch of Vancouver Public Library. The bus will be parked on Homer Street.
Ariadne Sawyer is part of a World Poetry reading at 11 a.m., while Catherine Owen reads from Designated Mourner at 12:45 p.m. and Saklikar reads from Children of Air India: un/authorized exhibits and interjections at 3:45 p.m.
Check out www.wordvancouver.ca for all the details.
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A New West director is at the helm of the Arts Club Theatre Company's upcoming Arts Club on Tour production.
Peter Jorgensen is directing Avenue Q - the definitely-not-for-kids puppet musical that was a smash hit for the Arts Club last year and captured the 2013 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for outstanding musical.
Described as "irreverently witty and outright uproarious," Avenue Q is the musical story of Princeton (Jeremy Crittenden), a bright-eyed college graduate who arrives in New York City looking for love, a job and a purpose in life. The only neighbourhood he can afford is the multicultural Avenue Q, where Sesame Street-esque puppets rub shoulders with humans.
"The music is playful, the lyrics are outrageous, the script is hilarious, and the characters are delightful," Jorgensen said in a press release. "Underneath its colourful fur, a big, boisterous heart beats. Avenue Q is the perfect musical comedy ... unless you are under 14 years of age."
Local audiences can catch the show onstage at Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts from Tuesday to Thursday, Oct. 7 to 9.
Along with its Burnaby dates, the production is also travelling to North Vancouver, Chilliwack, Mission, Surrey, Coquitlam, Kelowna, Vernon, Maple Ridge, Duncan, Nanaimo and Courtenay, before taking up residence at the Arts Club's Granville Island Stage from Nov. 20 to Jan. 3.
"I'm thrilled to be taking our hit production on tour to entertain even more audiences," Jorgensen said.
Check out www.artsclub.com for more details.
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Are you in search of a creativity kick-start? The Royal City Literary Arts Society is holding its next WordPlay session on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in the backroom at the Heritage Grill.
WordPlay is a free monthly poetry-generating drop-in series, with word prompts and a chance to "free your poetic heart," as a press release says.
It's not a writing critique group, and participants should bring their own writing tools and paper.
Check www.rclas.com to confirm the details.
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Do you have an item for Lively City? Send arts and entertainment ideas to Julie, [email protected], or find her on Twitter, @juliemaclellan.
