Curatorial Statement: Bill Millerd on A Brimful of Asha
December 17, 2013
PuSh at 10
A celebration is in order for the PuSh Festival, which is celebrating its 10th year of presenting international performing arts companies, as well as work from elsewhere in Canada that we wouldn’t necessarily see on our stages.
The Arts Club has been involved with PuSh for the last six seasons, starting with The Black Rider in 2008 and continuing with Skydive, Nevermore, Floating, Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata, and last season’s Ride the Cyclone from Victoria’s Atomic Vaudeville Company. Each production has been very different from the one preceding it, and, except for Floating (the whimsical piece from Wales), each one was originally produced by a company here in Canada. In the case of A Craigslist Cantata, it premiered with the PuSh Festival right here at the Revue Stage.
Each fall Norman Armour, the Artistic and Executive Director at PuSh, and I start emailing back and forth with ideas for the next season’s Festival. Norman travels a lot, so he always has plenty of shows to pitch to me. I am constantly fascinated by what he suggests. I am more tuned into the local creators, and so will push ideas that could involve some of our creative artists here in BC. So the dialogue continues for a couple of months, until we settle on both the show and the venue in which to present it. When Norman first suggested A Brimful of Asha, I was intrigued by this tale of family, marriage, visits to India, and the imaginative way the story is told by Ravi Jain and his mother. So enjoy this fascinating interchange. I trust the evening will stay with you long after you have departed the theatre—which is what the PuSh Festival is about.
Bill Millerd, Artistic Managing Director
Arts Club Theatre
January 16–February 8
Revue Stage, Arts Club Theatre Company
1601 Johnston Street, Granville Island
7:30PM (Mon–Tue)
8:00PM (Wed–Sat)
2:00PM (Sat)
(No performance Sundays)
(90 min, no intermission)
PuSh Conversations:
Post-Performance Talks: January 28, February 4