Talking in the Rain

“When speaking becomes noise and ignorance becomes silence, we’re left with this disconnection, without a sense of community. Community happens when we feel heard and willingly listen. So, who do you listen to? Who do you silence? Can you listen even when it’s uncomfortable?” - Johnny D. Trinh is an artist focusing on autho-ethnographic performance and spoken word as a primary method in community-...

Cheyenne Rouleau is a playwright, actor and creator from Burnaby, BC. In this episode we talk about her newest work Sunrise Betties, a fictional play inspired by when drug-fuelled gang wars controlled East Vancouver and corruption ran rampant in the local police force. We talk about her experience working with consultants for this play, her writing process, writing for a smart audience, misogyny i...

Montréal based Seán Dagher is a musician who will be leading La Nef (Montréal) and Chor Leoni (Vancouver) during The Return Voyage , a show all about sea shanties, performing February 16th and 17th in Vancouver. In this episode we talk about working for the Assassin's Creed soundtrack, singing with La Nef and Skye Consort & Emma Björling, Seán's "Shanty of the Week" series on youtube, performi...

Carly Pokoradi is a Vancouver based artist and creator. We talked about her start in the performing world, the experiences she's gotten from Studio 58, her project Recontextiled, how she's a certified ASL interpreter, Juliet: A Revenge Comedy, the comedy duo she's part of; The Dangerous Janes, skills that are special to her and more! Catch Carly take more than 10 roles in Carousel Theatre's Snow W...

Cameron Wilson is a violinist and composer, his work "A Midnight Clear" will make its world premiere with Chor Leoni in Vancouver. In this episode we talk about how Cameron started playing the violin, his musical inspirations, how he stays creative and the mentally taxing art of composing. We learn about his music taste, his composing process and the differences in creating orchestral versus chora...

Allyson McHardy is a Toronto based singer/opera artist. We talked about performing in different countries, growing up singing, teaching singing, Handel's Messiah and why Handel is Allyson's guy. (Hint: it has to do with her being an alto/mezzo-soprano.) We talked about a bunch more so listen to find out! Catch Allyson perform in Handel's Messiah on December 8th, presented by Early Music Vancouver...

Violet Patrich (Ultraviolet Oddities) is a Vancouver based artist creating art by upcycling baby dolls, from baby head planters to eyeball bolos which have been described as both cute and creepy. In this episode we get into her artistic practice; how it began and how it has evolved over time, art as a conversation starter, Eastside Culture Crawl, upcoming projects, Weirdos Market, collaborations,...

Autonomous Apes is a rock band born from a loving relationship between Russian Eternal Depression and 90s Grunge Music. The band that began in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2020 is currently based out of Vancouver, BC and the immigrant trio is made up of Egor Kopshar on guitar and vocals, Justin Wu on bass and Rishabh Gulati on drums. In this episode the four of us get into how Autonomous Apes formed...

Slightest Clue is a Vancouver based post punk/garage rock/dark pop band and I am joined by all four members, Malcolm, Hannah, Sean and Nick. Listen to hear how the band formed, what their creative process is like, if they are lyrics listeners or not, pre and post show rituals, playing in Toronto, what song is forever etched into their brains as well as what they are listening to right now. Check o...

This episode's guest Miwa Matreyek is an artist who creates an emotional, dreamlike mediation on climate catastrophe an the anthropocene. She uses animation, collage and her own shadow body which culminates in a performance that is emotionally impactful. Miwa is performing two of her pieces "Infinitely Yours" and "The World Made Itself" as part of The Ironworks Series, new to VIFF. You can catch h...

Victoria based Sonja Ahlers and I talk about Classification Crisis, a survey exhibition showcasing her 30 years of work in the art world. Catch it at the Richmond Art Gallery until November 5th! We talked about vulnerability in art, getting into new mediums, mail art, zines, collage art, social media and Sonja's creation process. Enjoy! Intro Music: Hazy by Oddfish

Happy 10 episodes! Today's guest is interdisciplinary artist and art educator Amberlie Perkin. She will be leading a clay workshop on July 22nd with the Create Arts Festival. We talked a little about the festival, her workshops, being an art teacher in the public school system, her signature style as an artist and how she found it and some more! Content warning: Mentions of death of family and pet...

Yes, gay as in enjoyable and gay as in LGTBQ because The Prom is both! Cadence and I talked about TUTS' The Prom in which they are performing until August 25th. We delved into their experience with TUTS as their first actor who uses a wheelchair, character prep and building a backstory, their experience with Realwheels Theatre Acting Academy, getting back into theatre, slam poetry (you can watch C...

First time with two guests! In this exciting episode I was joined with actors Jyla Robinson and Thomas Schultes who are in Theatre Under The Stars' Matilda: The Musical. Some of the things we delved into include their characters, preparing for a show that has a couple different versions accessible to them, character research, working with children, doing accents, tech week, dancing and how our fea...

My guest today is Jessica Heafey who you can catch as Jo in Unexpecting until the 21st of May. We talked about preparing for a role which hasn't existed on stage before, researching for a role, acting in French vs English, working in and directing voiceover, We also delved into advocating for safe and inclusive working spaces both in and outside of performing arts. Intro music: Hazy by Oddfish

Rob is one of the two longest standing members of Chor Leoni and he and I talked about his involvement with the choir for 31 years, how the choir and music has helped him on his mental health journey following him being rejected by the church after coming out as gay. This episode has mentions of religious trauma, suicidal ideations and homophobia. You are more than welcomed to come back next episo...

I had the pleasure of talking with dancer and choreographer Vanessa Goodman. We started off talking about Graveyards and Gardens which Vanessa described as a “blurred transition of traditional Performance and installation performance.” You can catch it April 12th to 15th at 7:30pm at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts - presented by Music on Main a...

Today my guest is choreographer Joshua Beamish. We talk about his latest work, MOVETHECOMPANY's "Source Amnesia", we get into different challenges he faces when it comes to personal vs. commercial pieces, choreographing work for the stage vs. the screen, founding his company MOVETHECOMPANY and some more. Also thank you to Joshua for coining the term "clarifichanges" which I will now be using all t...

Today my guest is actor, singer and dancer Steffanie Davis. She is currently playing Mamma Pig in Carousel Theatre's production of Stiles & Drewe's The Three Little Pigs. We talk about her role as Mamma Pig and the production, her experience as Killer Queen in We Will Rock you, acting for children vs. adults, auditions and getting rejected, fat representation in theatre and film and some more.

Today my guest is Winona Myles, a multi-disciplinary artist from the Secwépemc Nation. She grew up performing in both community and professional productions throughout the Lower Mainland. She has also worked as a solo artist, teaches and coaches young singers and actors. She is also playing Girl Angel in Pulitzer winning opera, Angel’s Bone which you can watch at the Annex Theatre as part of Indie...

Today I have with me, Claire Love Wilson who is a theatre-maker, actor, playwright, musician, and singer-songwriter. Claire and I started talking about the current production they're in, The Café which you can catch until October 22nd at Kafka's Café. We then went into self-producing work, wearing different hats in productions, being an "emotional athlete" and Claire's experimental musical "Morag,...