"Another thought-provoking piece of theatre from Ghost River, which does more, theatrically-speaking, with less money than any theatre group since Guy Laliberte and those Cirque [du Soleil] guys were busking on the streets of Old Montreal."

-Stephen Hunt, Calgary Herald (Everything Is Terribly Nice Here)

by David van Belle and Eric Rose

Inspired by the true story of test pilot Joseph Kittinger and historic 100,000 ft. jump from a weather ballon, Ghost River Theatre co-Artistic Directors Eric Rose and David van Belle explore the lives of several characters grappling with the nature of risk and the leap of faith that we all make in our lives. An epic story that celebrates the ingenuity of our minds and the resilience of our hearts!

ONE

conceived and written by Jason Carnew

directed by Eric Rose

An innovative, highly theatrical free-association on the Orpheus myth, created by Jason Carnew and directed by Ghost River Co-Artistic Director Eric Rose. ONE follows Philistine, a bibliophile librarian, as she journeys through the underworld in search of her lover George, a budding astronomer who dreams of one day joining the constellations.

As Philistine journeys further and further away from her life, the world as she knew it distills into a series of images and visual experiences, taking her beyond the living world and into the strange and all-consuming world of the dead. A ballet of design, movement and performance, ONE is visually and acoustically stunning in both its conception and delivery.

REVERIE

directed by Eric Rose

scripted by David van Belle

Side A: Reverie. Side B: Revolution. What would it take for you to make the flip?

For a young woman day-dreaming her way through a safe and monotonous urban existence, the question doesn't even seem relevant. By day she stocks the blasé aisles of the homogenous grocery store that employs her. By night she seeks out a spark of excitement—though, nothing too challenging, nothing too changing. A house-party in the suburbs. But when outside forces shatter her content day-to-day bubble, she can no longer drown the voices of dissent with a filter of mediated culture streaming through her iPod. It's time to take the earbuds out.

SOMETHING TO DO WITH DEATH

created by the Invisible Elephant Ensemble

“Visually stunning... a feast for the senses.” - Louis B. Hobson, Calgary Sun

“Boldly imaginative... brilliantly conceived and directed.” – Bob Clark, Calgary Herald

Flush with dreams of starting life anew, Claudia has just arrived at a dusty farm on the outlay of a frontier town to find her new husband and family murdered. Alone and very much out of her element, she hurries to leave, before an unexpected discovery stays her departure. But Claudia soon finds that others have designs on her unexpected inheritance, and will stop at nothing to remove her from her property.

Set against the backdrop of an encroaching railway, of great forces vying to shape the contours of this new land, and a slain hero resurrected by ancient gods to avenge a tragic past, Something to do With Death is a modern-day fable that exemplifies the best of Sergio Leone’s renowned “spaghetti western” mythology. So, put on your cowboy hat, and join the groundbreaking Invisible Elephant Performance Ensemble for a gun-slinging, pulse-pounding tale of vengeance, renewal, and rugged perseverance.

Duster jackets and spurs welcome.

EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLY NICE HERE

written by David van Belle, directed by Eric Rose

produced in association with Vancouver's Rumble.

Free speech.  Fundamentalism.  Is that all we’ve got to choose from?

Theo wakes up terrified in a room without doors. There’s a five page manifesto pinned to him by a knife impaled in his chest.  His attacker, Haitham, prays on the other side of the room.  And then there’s a clock on the wall counting off a thousand years.

What happens next?  And who’s that third presence in the room, the figure they can only see out of the corners of their eyes?

A play for our times, inspired by the 2004 murder of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh by Mohammed Bouyeri. Five years in the making, Everything is Terribly Nice Here is viscerally intelligent theatre that challenges and unsettles assumptions about free speech, fundamentalism and the limits of tolerance. An audacious and highly theatrical investigation of multiculturalism, artistic freedom and the politics of all kinds of religious conviction.