Ruby Slippers Theatre Announces 2019/20 Season: Celebrating Unlikely Love, Healing, And Reclamation 

Ruby Slippers Theatre (RST) enters its 31st season with a five day festival of new plays written and directed by diverse female-identifying artists, Advance Theatre: New Works by Diverse Women. RST is also offering the West Coast English-language premiere of From Alaska by Sébastien Harrisson, translated by Leanna Brodie; as well as featuring Wet'suwet'en artist Taninli Wright's Sis Ne' Bi -Yïz: Mother Bear Speaks, based on the playwright's own inspiring story of healing and reclamation, as part of The Cultch's Femme Series.

"We are thrilled to share with our community another radically inclusive and socially potent season of work that empowers the voices of five female identifying playwrights and directors, and offers a significant new voice from Québec in English translation. Our programming this season is focused on healing through unlikely love, and ultimately personal and political empowerment through reclamation. These relevant and resonant works reflect the struggles around us, and inspire us to find meaning through acts of compassion and courage," says Diane Brown, Artistic Director, Ruby Slippers Theatre.

Brown adds that this is a thrilling time of significant growth at RST with renewed energy and clarity of vision: "We say a heartfelt thank you and fond adieu to friend and colleague Meredith Elliott as she continues her journey after seven impressive years of amazing work at RST, and as we welcome four new powerhouse, brilliant women to the RST team!" Incoming this season are Artist in Residence Jessica Hood; Associate Artist and translator Leanna Brodie; Associate Artist and Advance Theatre curator Tai Amy Grauman; and General Manager Grace Chin.

Advance Theatre: New Works by Diverse Women September 9-13, 2019 False Creek Community Centre Gym, 1318 Cartwright Street, Vancouver (Granville Island) Admission by donation

Ruby Slippers Theatre in partnership with the Vancouver Fringe Festival, Playwrights Guild of Canada and Playwrights Theatre Centre presented the fifth annual Advance Theatre: New Works by Diverse Women. Five new plays by female-identifying playwrights received public readings during the second week of the Vancouver Fringe Festival, in an exciting collaboration between some of Vancouver's finest theatre artists. According to a national study, women account for less than a third of artistic directors, working directors, and produced playwrights in professional Canadian theatre. When you factor in other forms of diversity, the numbers plummet further. RST aims to change that.

Curated by RST with priority given to diversity of all kinds, the plays included: ūtszan by Yvonne Wallace, directed by Nyla Carpentier on September 9; Sis Ne' Bi -Yïz: Mother Bear Speaks by Taninli Wright, directed by Julie MacIsaac on September 10; Occupational Hazards by Roneen Marcoux, directed by Tamara McCarthy on September 11; we the same by Sangeeta Wylie, directed by Rachel Ditor on September 12; and Fling by Melody Anderson, directed by Sarah Rodgers on September 13.

1398 Cartwright St., 2nd. Floor, Vancouver, B.C., V6H 3R8, Canada p: 604 764 1817 e: info@rubyslippers.ca w: rubyslippers.ca

From Alaska April 17-25, 2020 (preview April 16) Gateway Theatre, 6500 Gilbert Street, Richmond, BC Tickets through gatewaytheatre.com, 604.270.1812

Ruby Slippers Theatre is excited to announce the English-language West Coast premiere production of From Alaska by Sébastien Harrisson, translated by Leanna Brodie, in association with Gateway Theatre.

A troubled teenager escaping from the world breaks into the house of an elderly woman. Time passes with the unpredictable rhythms of grief as the seemingly mismatched pair share their feelings of love and loss. Moving effortlessly between street-smart humour and lyrical elegance, From Alaska explores the intense connection between young and old; the limits of language; and the ways in which we come to both change and mirror the ones we love.

Directed by Diane Brown. Featuring Nora McClellan and Mason Temple. With set and costume design by Drew Facey, lighting design by John Webber, sound design by Heather Kemski, visual design by Jordan Lloyd Watkins, and stage management by Lois Dawson.

Sis Ne' Bi -Yïz: Mother Bear Speaks January 2020 The Cultch, 1895 Venables Street, Vancouver, BC Tickets through thecultch.com, 604.251.1383

Ruby Slippers Theatre is proud to present Sis Ne' Bi -Yïz: Mother Bear Speaks by Taninli Wright as part of The Cultch's Femme Series highlighting the strength and power of female-identifying voices and experiences.

Inspired by the true story of this Wet'suwet'en artist, who walked 1,600 kilometres across British Columbia to empower First Nations children and other marginalized youth. Sis Ne' Bi -Yïz: Mother Bear Speaks also received a public reading during RST's fifth annual Advance Theatre: New Works by Diverse Women in September 2019, in partnership with the Vancouver Fringe Festival, Playwrights Guild of Canada and Playwrights Theatre Centre.

Directed by Julie MacIsaac. Featuring Taninli Wright.