"Early Bird Sale is Closed"
SOLD OUT!
Individual Tickets are selling fast!
(show list below)
MAINSTAGE SHOWS
(5Pm & 7PM)
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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.
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
"Early Bird Sale is Closed"
SOLD OUT!
Individual Tickets are selling fast!
(show list below)
MATINEE SHOWS
(sept 1-5 @ 2pm)
Two Elders,
One Stage
by Snuneymuxw Elders C'tasi:a Geraldine Manson and Dave Bodaly
(Storytelling)
"Two Elders, One Stage brings together Snuneymuxw Elders C'tasi:a Geraldine Manson and Dave Bodaly for an evening of storytelling, reflection, and shared wisdom. Through lived experience and cultural teachings, these respected knowledge keepers invite audiences to listen, connect, and experience the power of stories passed from one generation to the next."
Run time: 60 minutes
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
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
SHOWTIMES
BUY TICKETS:
FREE - All Ages
Drumming & Singing Snuneymuxw
Songs Workshop
with Jen Wyse
BRING YOUR DRUMS AND RATTLES! Join us for a meaningful gathering centered on sharing ancestral songs, dance, and traditional protocols. Guided by Coast Salish teachings, this session invites attendees to experience Coast Salish culture and share in the ‘uy shqwaluwun. The group will perform: A snuneymuxw paddle song, created by snuneymuxw ancestors. This song was created when a chief's daughter married into a different tribe. When the daughter would come back to visit, they would sing this paddle song to show they were coming in peace. In the old days there would be war if entering another tribe's territory without permission. A snuneymuxw prayer song, also created by snuneymuxw ancestors. A celebration song, created by Darren Good (snuneymuxw). An indigenous version of "You are My Sunshine" from the ahousaht area After performance: Jennifer will share snawaylth & Drum Protocols: A grounded teaching session covering the sacred nature of the drum and traditional protocols. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own drums and rattles. A few extra drums will also be available for borrowing. Hay ce:p q'a
REGISTER BELOW
FREE - All Ages
Community Dance Workshop
with Calder White
REGISTER BELOW
Class will start slowly, warming up our bodies by building awareness internally, to our environment, and to the people we're dancing with. We will use improvisational tasks and games to feel swing, suspension and release, support from our surroundings, and inspiration from each other. Participants will work as individuals and in groups to move expansively and articulately, leading with sensation, momentum, and intention.
FREE - All Ages
Sing Along: 60's-70's
with Mark Fenster
REGISTER BELOW
Join us for a singalong of some of the best of the 60’s and 70’s - the finest decades in music so far (ask anyone!) We’ll sing songs by The Beatles, John Denver, James Taylor, Bread, Simon & Garfunkel, Loggins & Messina, The Carpenters, Jim Croce, Barry Manilow, to name a few…. Look out for the prompts to send me your requests so we can try to add them for us all to sing along! Knowing the awesome vocals on this treasure of an Island, this is going to be EPIC!
FREE - All Ages
Coast Salish Weaving with Wool & Cedar
with Violet Elliott
REGISTER BELOW
Violet has been weaving for twenty-five years. She has taught hat-weaving and purse-weaving workshops, and visits schools to introduce children and youth to the values of cedar-bark gathering. She also enjoys gathering other natural weaving materials and being in the outdoors. Violet has primarily worked in the counselling/facilitating field, teaching history and the impacts of colonization and Indian Residential Schools.
Opening & Closing Ceremonies!
Join us for
with the...
We are Qwam Qwum Stuwixwulh, a proud and joyful dance group made up of children from our local community school. We started out performing right at school—excited to share our dance in front of our classmates and other classes—and from that wonderful beginning, we kept growing. With hard work, teamwork, and lots of heart, we’ve been invited to perform at local community events, sharing our talents and our spirit up and down Vancouver Island. We’re a young group of dancers aged 7 to 12, and every practice and performance fills us with confidence, happiness, and pride as we celebrate our community through movement. We’re truly glad to be who we are, and we can’t wait to share our dance with you! 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.
Opening:
Closing:
Food Trucks
At the Festival Sept 1st - 5th
Live Music Schedule
September 1st: Rockson Road
4pm - 5pm & 6pm - 7pm
September 2nd: Dave Teichroeb & Road Poets
4pm - 5pm & 6pm - 7pm
September 3rd: Church St Band
(Country, Bluegrass & Gospel)
4pm - 5pm & 6pm - 7pm
September 4th: Josh Neufeld
4pm - 5pm & 6pm - 7pm
Artisan Market
Sept 1st - 5th @ 3pm - 7pm
Featured artists, growers, and makers on Gabriola!
(Artist List coming soon)
.png)
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
OUR SPONSORS
