Neanderthals Laying the Grunt-work By Julia Siedlanowska something above Hollywood’s personality acting; something more organic than the overdone tricks of Michael Cera and Jonah Hill. But ITSAZOO’s hybridized attempt at absurdism in “Chairs: A Parable” for the Neanderthal Arts Festival proves otherwise. Perhaps the choice to make the characters sort of shallow and sarcastic was done as an attempt to make this style of theatre relevant for today’s youth. Playwright Sebastien Archibald (UVIC graduate and co-artistic director of ITSAZOO, doubling as an actor in Chairs) described the play as “Waiting for Godot, by way of Judd Apatow, served up for the sardonic hipster generation.” Ah, yes. Now it all makes sense. To me it came off as imitation. The text just narrowly avoids realism, but absurdism? I didn’t see anything all too absurd in what I perceived as simply a dumbed down version of the history of capitalism. The story was entirely predictable: three men on a barren wasteland, one of the men decides to change things up in their drab lifestyle of sitting and staring into the vast plain of nothingness, and builds a chair. The chair leads him to power over the less fortunate groundlings who helped him build the chair (but will never sit in it, as the first would rather die than get off). One decides to use the only remaining tree in their habitat to build his own chair (smaller than the first), the third is left with nothing. Thus, the characters transform from equals into a hierarchy. In the last scene, the labourer plants a seed (a gift from the higher rank) to grow a tree so that one day he may have the lumber for his own chair. This conjures up images of mortgages never paid off, dream houses never built. The play [- always thought of theatre as serves it’s point, (without much dazzle and innovation) - it conveys the problem, without offering a solution (probably because there is none). I would have liked to have seen more advantageous use of lighting and set. It was minimalist, but without the sexiness of some modern staging. With the flash animation it looked minimalist-cheap (unlike the festival advertising, which looked hip and promising.) The success of the artistic vision or lack of ingenuity interests me less than the festival itself, and the simple fact that someone out there is.creating original theatre pieces targeted toward youth. And that it’s avant-garde! I believe that the avant-garde theatre of the early 1920’s was the last great and definable innovation in theatre to date. So why not pick up where we left off? The Neanderthal Arts Festival works to showcase new and experimental art, with a focus on Canadian works. Chairs, with its “absurdist” style, and Hollywood sitcom acting got me thinking about theatre and its dramatic conventions. It made me excited to see what else is in store. What is on the cusp of this wishy- washy era in theatre? I would love to have seen “My Pregnant Brother,” a collaboration between writer-performer Johanna Nutter and director-dramaturg Jeremy Taylor. The show won best play at the 2009 Montreal Fringe and was later awarded the 2010 Montreal English Critics Circle Award for Best Text. I always watch and review theatre with the expectation and hope of a mind blowing, confounding and uplifting artistic experience. I will continue to hope for.the soul filling theatrical genius that comes along every once in a while. The Neanderthal Arts Festival (and ITSAZOO productions) look promising, and I hope to attend next year. Freshman conference seizes city by the culture First year event looks to celebrate everything local Head of the Herd By Jacey Gibb ancouver is great in the way \ / that it’s difficult to go a single block in this city without witnessing evidence of some sort of creative expression. Criticize all you want Negative Nancys, but the culture scene here is still light-years ahead of several other metropolises across Canada. However, platforms don’t always exist for those creative culture juices to flow and that’s where the 2011 Urban Culture Conference comes in. The latest foot soldier in the war against Vancouver’s unofficial title of a ‘No Fun City’, the UCC is interested in celebrating everything and anything local, ranging from fresh brews to even fresher beats. The eight-months-in-the- works brainchild will be comprised of two major attractions: the beer gardens and performance stage, which are taking over the Plaza of Nations, and the countless vendors participating in the conference, which will populate the parking lot nearby. When browsing the line up for the musical acts slated to appear throughout the weekend, you may not be as comfortably familiar with it as you would like to be, and that’s kind of the point. It’s difficult to showcase all of the great musical talents based right here in Vancouver and the UCC is hoping to shed some light on a few hidden local gems. One of the acts that have already received a solid boost in exposure is Head of the Herd, a local band that you’ll no doubt be hearing more about in the coming months. Proof that the organizers are trying their darnedest to accommodate as many different musical taste buds as possible, each night of the weekend is dedicated to a separate genre: Saturday night belongs to the rock crowd while Sunday night is where you’ll find the more dancey techno tunes. I'll admit that at first I was sceptical at the thought of not knowing any of the bands playing, but I’ve since grown to trust the organizers’ idea, much like a child trusts the Candy Gods when purchasing a mystery bag from 7-11. Additionally, there are two seminars being held each day with various guest speakers. One of them will be centred on primarily music while the second is all about technology, with key focuses going towards blogging and other forms of social media. Each seminar will feature a panel full of key players in the featured field and attendees will get the opportunity to ask questions in person or even send them in via Twitter to be featured on the. giant television screen on-hand. As if the idea of the conference wasn’t already giving you the warm fuzzies, the event prides itself in being one that gives back to the community, teaming up with the Vancouver-based organization “Let’s F*** Cancer’ to donate ten percent of the revenue to the most effective way of beating cancer: early detection. If all of that still hasn’t managed to get your culture motor roaring, head on over to the event’s website at www. urbancultureconference.com/tickets/ and enter the promotion code ‘dougculture’. You’ll get twenty percent taken off the ticket price, which means that much more money for delicious Granville Island lagers!