PuSh Play

PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Wet Mess about TESTO , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 7 and 8 at Performance Works. Show Notes Gabrielle and Wet Mess discuss:  The origins of TESTO, particularly in what it meant to take hormones like testosterone Drag as a tool to discover oneself onstage Drag as a devising tool to generate choreography, narrative, etc. The h...

PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Mother Bee Gvasalia, Savannah Sutherland, Ihomehe ("Legs"), and Menace Gvasalia about  The Motha' Kiki Ball , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 7 at the Birdhouse. Show Notes Gabrielle and her guests discuss:  How did Blackout Collective begin and what was that specific moment that compelled it? The significance and meaning of bal...

PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Vanessa Goodman about WAIL , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 26 and 27 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. Show Notes Gabrielle and Vanessa discuss:  Vanessa's current work and process on tour across the continent with BLOT The original impulses and images that inspired WAIL How the complexity becoming a parent today requires one to...

PuSh's Artistic Director, Gabrielle Martin, speaks with Rainbow Chan about Rainbow Chan Live at the Dream Factory , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 4 at 7:30pm at the Chinese Canadian Museum. Show Notes Gabrielle and Rainbow discuss:  The unique collaboration and context of Rainbow Chan Live at the Dream Factory The influence of Cantonese pop on Rainbow's work Voice as both instrumen...

Am Johal, Executive Artistic Director of the Indian Summer Festival , guest hosts this episode! He chats with Rakesh Sukesh about Invisibles , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 26 at the Vancity Culture Lab (the Cultch). Show Notes Am and Rakesh discuss:  The trajectory and transitions of Rakesh's artistic and professional life Rakesh's Bollywood background How Rakesh dealt with his ear...

PuSh Artistic Director Gabrielle Martin chats with Luanda Casella & Pablo Casella about Trouble Score , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 7 at the Vancouver Playhouse. Show Notes Gabrielle, Luanda and Pablo discuss:  Discussion of Indigenous peoples and their struggles in North and South America Returning to the storytelling concert form, and how the project began The importance of exp...

Guest host Chipo Chipaziwa chats with Cherish Menzo about JEZEBEL , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 22 and 23 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver, BC. Show Notes Chipo and Cherish discuss:  How Jezebel was developed Representation and presentation of black women in western culture, including tendencies of visual hypersexualization Use of various elements to highlight juxtaposi...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Cecilia Kuska about her work as a producer as well as Wayqeycuna , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival and co-presented by Latincouver: February 6 and 7 at the Roundhouse in Vancouver, BC. Show Notes Gabrielle and Cecilia discuss:  The work of Tiziano Cruz and how Cecilia's understanding has been shaped by his process and artistry How performance can be political withou...

Gabrielle Martin chats with James Gnam and Natalie LeFebvre Gnam of Plastic Orchid Factory about Catching Up to the Future of Our Past , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 30 and 31 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver, BC. Show Notes Gabrielle and Renae discuss:  The ways in which interdisciplinary fluidity shapes choreography How trust and dialogue forms the core of collaboratio...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Renae Shadler about SKIN , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: February 4-6 at the Annex in Vancouver, BC. Show Notes Gabrielle and Renae discuss:  How did this project first begin? What did you discover about your own assumptions and movement in this process? How did the presence of caregiving and support structures change your thinking and development of the show? Ho...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Bilal Alkhatib about Khalil Khalil , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival: January 23-25 at the Nest in Vancouver, BC. Show Notes Gabrielle and Bilal discuss:  How did you translate the story into movement and performance? How did the project start, as your first theatre project coming from film? What kind of conversations or tensions shaped the balance between personal...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Justine A. Chambers about The Brutal Joy , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle and Justine discuss:  How did you develop this work? What is the significance of and approach to the presentation of the black body? How is this work an anticolonial imagining? What kinds of knowing and being become possible through the act of dance? What is bodily sover...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Tyson Houseman about askîwan ᐊᐢᑮᐊᐧᐣ , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle and Tyson discuss:  Where does askîwan sit in your recent work? How does bringing in live image-making evolve your experimentation with form? What made you start working in film after studying theatre and visual arts? What was the initial concept of askîwan? How have you tran...

Gabrielle Martin chats with S.E. Grummett and Sam Kruger about SLUGS , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle S.E. and Sam discuss:  How did this piece start and develop into what it is today? What is your creation process like? How did you incorporate a dramaturg? How did you "make it punk enough"? What was the origin of Creepy Boys? How have your interests, creative approach a...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Hazel Venzon about Everything Has Disappeared , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle and Hazel discuss:  The Lapu Lapu tragedy in Vancouver, April 2025 What is the special impact of Philipinos in the world? How do we cope with tragedy and violence? Can visibilization be a form of celebration? How did values of intercultural exchange shape this work?...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Dr. Reneltta Arluk, Alon Nashman and Rawdna Carita Eira about Kiuryaq , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle, Reneltta, Alon and Rawdna discuss:  What brought you together around the aurora borealis? How did the conversations and collaborations begin? Why should you never whistle at the northern lights? How does technology intertwine with theatre, c...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Lara Kramer about  Remember that time we met in the future? , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle and Lara discuss:  What are the starting seeds and core concepts of this particular work? How does intergenerational knowledge fit into your work? How do you navigate between remembrance and futurity? How are generational connections present in the wor...

Gabrielle Martin chats with SoKo Jena about Kamwe Kamwe ("One by One"), coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle and SoKo discuss:  What does Kamwe Kamwe mean and why is it important to the show? What are the origins of this production? How does the political factor into your work, and how do you navigate the space between the body, voice and spiritual? How do you approach the pol...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Arthur Amard Rémi Fortin about Le Beau Monde , coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle, Arthur and Rémi discuss:  What questions does this show bring into focus for you, and how does that relate to your other projects? What is the importance of memory in Le Beau Monde? Is the interpretation of meaning a theme in your work, or something specific to this...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Alan Lake about his show, Orpheus, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle and Alan discuss:  What drew you to the myth of Orpheus? Why do some old stories continue to return to the present? How are your artistic interests evolving? How does each element develop in conversation with the other? How does your relationship to camera and frame differ from...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Ondřej Hrab, Anastasiia Kosodii and Jana Svobodová about their show, Eight Short Compositions on the Lives of Ukrainians for a Western Audience, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival! Show Notes Gabrielle, Ondřej, Anastasiia and Jana discuss:  What makes your location so important to your work? What drew you to the non-musical form, and how does silence become part of the...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn and Sam Ferguson about their show, 2021, coming up at the 2026 PuSh Festival!  Show Notes Gabrielle, Cole, Patrick and Sam discuss:  How does the form of the game highlight and confront the deep personal stories on which the piece is based? How is the video game form related to the practice of acting? How do the technical aspects, including...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Andréane Leclerc of Nadére arts vivants for the Season 3 Finale of PuSh Play! Throughout the Festival, Andréane will be sharing her practice through a variety of workshops and consultations for students and professionals as part of a PuSh Festival Artist Residency. Show Notes Gabrielle and Andréane discuss:  How do you integrate difficult contortion movements with somat...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Majula Drammeh and Joseph K Kasua. They are presenting a special studio showing and discussion of What is already here? at the 2025 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Check out the show on February 7 at the VIVO Media Arts Centre.  Show Notes Gabrielle, Majulah and Joseph discuss:  For your show, What is Already Here, which stemmed from a 2022 installation, wh...

Gabrielle Martin chats with Clayton Lee, who will be presenting The Goldberg Variations at the 2025 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Check out the show on January 30 at the Waterfront Theatre, supported by CMHC Granville Island.  Show Notes Gabrielle and Clayton discuss:  Why do you only perform the Goldberg Variations once per engagement? What does it mean to identify as a performance...