MAINSTAGE SHOWS
(included in Festival Pass)
Playlists
by Ivan Coyote
Do you still remember every word of every song that ever changed your life? Ivan Coyote has crafted a playlist of stories that sing to us about how they managed to discover a coded but very possible queer future hidden in the music coming out of the AM radio in the kitchen, lurking in their parent’s record collection, and leaking out of the lyrics in their elementary school musical. Combining Coyote’s equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking stories with long-time collaborator Clyde Petersen’s animations, Playlist will have you hitting rewind on your own list of songs that helped shape you.
Run time: 75 minutes
Content Warnings: Language. Mature themes
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Only Child
by Calder White
How far will we go to avoid being alone? A solo that's at times a duet and occasionally a trio, only child places courtship, reproduction, and romance on a pedestal and under a microscope. fantasy becomes reality in a series of vignettes that draw from queer intimacy and kink practices, conjuring the simultaneous danger and care that exists in these marginal spaces.
Run time: 45 minutes
Content Warnings: Mature themes
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Sister Sophia Kicks the Habit
by Lisa Randall
Sister Sophia is about an aging nun in crisis. The show gives voice to her questioning, her losses and her deep curiosity about not only her faith, but her life. Through her humorous and insightful musings with g(G)od, in her own restless night of the soul, Sister Sophia emerges with a new outlook on life, embracing the “divine wisdom of the Holy She”.
Run time: 60 minutes
Content Warnings: Mature Themes
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Private Parts: The Secrets we Keep
by Joanna Rannelli
★★★★½ - Winnipeg Free Press
“Must-see… powerfully moving” – Orlando Weekly
Some secrets shape our lives in ways we never imagined... Private Parts: The Secrets We Keep is a multi-award-winning, touching and thought-provoking show that takes audiences on a powerful journey of love, loss and hope. Will Joanna find a path to forgiveness for herself and those she loves? Can she stop history from repeating itself? With raw honesty, vulnerability and humour, Joanna invites audiences to reflect on their own untold stories. We all have secrets. Every one of us. Some are bigger than others. Secret… You don't want to miss this unforgettable show from a 12x award-winning writer and performer.
Run time: 75 minutes
Content Warnings : 14+ Mature themes, sexual assault content, death, adult language.
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Stand-Up Comedy Variety Show
by Shirley Whalen & Guests
Shirley’s comedy is sharp, confessional, and just self-deprecating enough to make you worry about her. A semi-finalist in SiriusXM’s Top Comic competition, she’s performed at Just for Laughs and CBC’s Winnipeg Comedy Festival. After taking a break to have a baby and open a vintage store, she’s more sleep-deprived than ever with new material about newfound MILFhood, failed romance and unmedicated survival.
Content Warnings: Language, Mature themes
Run time: 60 minutes
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MATINEE SHOWS
(included in Festival Pass)
Here Lies a Kind Woman
by Louise Gallagher
(Staged Reading)
Across three moments — a eulogy, a therapist’s chair, and her late mother’s kitchen — Ellie DuBois pieces together the woman she never fully knew. Rose was kind, devout, and impossible: a beauty raised in colonial India, a mother whose love came through prayers and food but never words. In this luminous one-woman play, Ellie moves through grief, buried anger, and unexpected grace toward a truth she can finally speak aloud. Funny, aching, and quietly redemptive, Here Lies a Kind Woman asks whether we can ever truly know the people who made us.
Run time: 45 minutes
Content Warnings: Language. Mature themes
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by Frank Moher
An Afternoon of Antony
(Tribute Event)
Come celebrate Antony Holland, the legendary BC actor and fondly remembered Gabriolan, in this hour of reminiscence and lively viewing. Also featuring special on-screen appearances by Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn and Brad Pitt! Antony may no longer be with us, but he lives on in his film and TV roles, and documentaries about his theatre work, as curated by his long-time friend and colleague Frank Moher. Scones with clotted cream and jam will be served too, just as Antony once did at the Gabriola Theatre Centre. It all adds up to a scrumptious afternoon!
Run time: 60 minutes
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PTS Tea
by Aimee Chalifoux
(New Works Play)
PTS Tea is an Indigenous dark comedy that blends humour and heartbreak around one family kitchen table. Through tea, laughter, spirits, and difficult truths, a grandmother navigates grief, addiction, child welfare, and intergenerational trauma while discovering that healing often begins with simply showing up for one another. Inspired by true events, PTS Tea is a powerful story of resilience, love, and hope.
Run time: 60 minutes
Content Warning: Mature Themes
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For Those at the Back-Microrants for Microaggresions
by Lisa Webster
(Storytelling)
Whaddya get a Mohawk woman for her 60th birthday? A stage and a Mic! Turning 60 isn't about slowing down. It's about speaking up. After six decades of navigating racism, awkward questions, well-intentioned blunders, and the relentless drip of microaggressions, she's decided to celebrate by telling the stories herself. Come celebrate a milestone birthday where the gifts are truth, resilience, and laughter. You may be uncomfortable. You will almost certainly laugh. And you might leave seeing the world a little differently.
Run time: 60 minutes
Content Warnings: balloons; swearing; and sensitve topics related to racism
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FREE - All Ages
Drumming Workshop
with Jen Wyse
START TIME
September 1st @ 3pm - 4pm
FREE - All Ages
Dance Workshop
with Calder White
START TIME
September 2nd @ 3pm - 4pm
FREE - All Ages
Music Jam-Sing Along
with Mark Fenster
START TIME
September 3rd @ 3pm - 4pm
FREE - All Ages
Weaving Workshop
with Violet Elliott
START TIME
September 4th @ 3pm - 4:30
+
September 5th @ 3pm - 4:30
The Gabriola Theatre Centre has a program that provides FREE tickets to people who would usually miss out on our entertaining, educational, and wonderful events.
4 tickets for each show are reserved for people who can't afford to purchase one at the regular price. Please fill out the form below and we will assign tickets at a first come, first serve basis - no questions asked.
Accessible Ticket Program
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