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Cultural Olympiad in Whistler

Death on the playbill for Celebration 2010, as part of the 2008 Cultural Olympiad
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Well-Aged Show Old Trout Puppet Workshop presents Famous Puppet Death Scenes as part of Celebration 2010 and 2008 Cultural Olympiad celebrations.

A puppet, a balding forty-something man in rumbled suit and tie stands on a stage. A Spanish guitar strums tranquilly in the background. The audience is silent. From nowhere a giant arm with clenched fist stretches out above the man, unbeknownst to him. The music crescendos. Hovering no longer, the fist smashes down, flattening the puppet’s head. Laughter erupts from the crowd.

Death is funny. Just one of the many sentiments the Old Trout Puppet Workshop explores in their celebration of dark comedy and death in Famous Puppet Death Scenes, showing Thursday, Jan. 31 to Saturday, Feb. 2 at MY Millennium Place as part of Celebration 2010 and the Cultural Olympiad.

“This must have been totally devastating to watch,” says another puppet grey haired and bony with age after watching the fist “reaper.”

“That tiny, fragile, delicate soul confronted by vast and brutal circumstances. It renders us helpless and hopeful in the same moment — or do we not see glimmering in him that self same luminescence that powers our own hearts. These are not mere blocks of wood that suffer before you. They are your companions.”

The taboo of death is explored in what critiques have called one of the most original theatre going experiences anywhere.

“One of the wildest, wackiest, most inventive ?puppet shows you're ever likely to see,” wrote The Toronto Star, giving the show four out of four stars.

The Globe and Mail also gave the troupe four out of four.

“Indelible visuals... weird and wonderful...?by turns comic, macabre, and sublimely surreal.”?

The Old Trout Puppet Workshop will deconstruct the audience’s traumatized psyche so that death is no longer a tearful, black-suit-and-shoes-wearing tragedy, but just another part of life’s cycle. They offer a cure for a fear of death through the staging of famous death scenes culled from the most famous death scenes in puppet shows, such as Edward’s last meal from The Ballad of Edward Grue, Dung Beetle’s lament from Flap Flap Flap by Lizzie Fook, and Bipsy’s mistake from Bipsy and Mumu Go to the Zoo, to name just a few.

Famous Puppet Death Scenes is only one of more than a dozen events taking place during Celebration 2010, which is an official participant of the Vancouver 2008 Cultural Olympiad.

For the next two years, cultural events will be showcased in B.C. and hopefully extended to the rest of Canada, building and celebrating Canada’s arts, culture and heritage communities. The Cultural Olympiad will then become the Olympic Arts Festival in 2010, showcasing cultural events before, during and after the Games.

In addition to theatre, Whistler will celebrate the 2008 Cultural Olympiad with film, photography, outdoor concerts, readings, parades and snow.

Live outdoor concerts will be staged at 2008 Celebrate Live in Whistler, Feb. 12-17 from 3 to 6 p.m. in Whistler Village. The upbeat outdoor showcase features Canada’s diverse cultures with artists such as Swarm, Wil Mimnaugh, Bombolesse, Hey Ocean!, Freeflow, You Say Party! We Say Die!, Paramedic, Cadence Weapon, Redeye Empire, Maestro Fresh Wes and Bitterly Divine. Admission is free.

The outdoors continue to be celebrated with The Great Whistler Parade on Feb. 17 where professional artists and community members will parade music, lanterns and costumes from the Marketplace to Skier’s Plaza. To volunteer, call Christian at 604-902-2704.

The Only Animal theatre company also gets outside, building Canada’s first theatre of snow and ice on Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. at Lost Lake Park. The multi-disciplinary work called Nix includes theatre artists, glass blowers, composers and designers. The troupe will share the tale of five survivors building a new world out of the emptiness of an ice age. Admission is free to rehearsals from Feb. 21-22. Bring your snowshoes.

Snow continues to be the star of the celebration at the 2008 Snow Sculpting on Whistler Mountain showcase, Feb. 27-29. The Canadian National Snow Sculpture Team, with special guests from Team Alberta, will work outside Roundhouse to create spectacular snow sculptures. Free viewing with a lift ticket.

The outdoors moves indoors with the 2008 Out of Bounds: Tales from the Backcountry competition and exhibit during the month of February at MY Millennium Place. The launch party kicks it off on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 9:30 p.m. with music from DJ Mr. Fister. Photographers competing in the photo showdown include Alex Wigley, Andrew Bradley, Andy Anissimoff, Angela Percival, Anne Price, Bradley Slack, Brian Hockenstein, Dano Pendygrasse, Dave Smith, Duncan MacKenzie, Eric Berger, Greg Griffith, Joern Rohde, John Irvine, Jordan Manley, Matt Watkins, Nicolas Teichrob and Rich Glass. Best in Show will win a trip with Coast Range Heliskiing. The public can also win a trip by voting for the Best in Show. Admission is free.

Artists also strut their stuff with Made in Whistler every weekend in February at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Artisans such as Linda Davies, Lulu Fiedler, Tess Klein, Borgi Rayen and Ruth Stewart will display their handcrafted works of jewelry, textile art and pottery every weekend. Free viewing.

The Vicious Circle gets words off paper and onto the stage at the sixth annual Literary Leanings storytelling event on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. at the Path Gallery. More outrageous than Jerry Springer, six writers get naked on stage with their pared-down prose. It’s group therapy. Pull up an easy chair and join storytellers Oni the Haitian Sensation, Ivan E Coyote and Metis-Jewish poet Gregory Scofield, as well as local tattlers Stephen Vogler, Raj, Lisa Richardson and Rebecca Wood Barrett as they pass the talking stick. Tickets $10.

Whistler kids step into the spotlight with the 30-minute documentary Community Now: Made in Whistler, screening Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at MY Millennium Place. The Whistler Museum production follows mountain bike star Alex Pro into the Air Dome, tickles the ivories with EMI recording artist Ali Milner, paints with Tazara Lopes and tears up the mountain with First Nation Snowboard Team members Logan and Tamara Bikadi. Join the community to learn about how kids think skiing was invented and what excuses parents use to get out of work on a 20-centimetre powder day. The free event includes a reception of live entertainment and a student art exhibition.

Other Celebration 2010 events to look forward to include Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre Tours every Tuesday and Thursday at noon and 1 p.m. at the corner of Lorimer Road and Blackcomb Way; a Pacific West Coast Symphony concert on Feb. 10 at MY Place; The Glass Menagerie on Feb. 11 at MY Place and Whistler Stories outdoor film screenings from Feb. 12-16 in Village Square.

For more information on Celebration 2010, visit www.whistlerartscouncil.com or drop by MY Millennium Place located across from the Brewhouse.