Tonight we saw communities from all over the City of Vancouver come together to bring us a show of tears, cheers, and all around smiles.

From little children with their teddy bears and PSPs to Great grandparents with their stories of WW2. It was a tale of statistics that brought everyone together and held the audience spellbound as each person moved through the spotlight in response to real life questions. There were questions about politics (very few), food, where they lived, their relationships, and perhaps the most memorable moment when one man stood alone when the crowd was asked if they recycled.

It was amazing to see how statistics showed the many ways that people interacted and how when seeing something about someone they had never known, those people were accepting, forgiving, and many times comforting.

Viewers will remember how many people stood in the middle when asked if anyone had been abused and how many people had been abusive. I will confess that there were tears in my eyes at that moment.

For those watching, there was a giant round screen behind it all providing an overhead view of people moving side to side as the questions were asked. I think everyone will remember when the spotlight went out and all they could see on the screen were little flickers of light from small LED lights held in each persons hand when they answered a question. The actors were fresh in their approach and funny when asked uncomfortable questions.

The best part was that it was only a rehearsal, the best is yet to come!

Below is 60%    David Wong

Below is 73%    Terry Hunter

Below is 93%    Stephen Lytton

From PuSh Festival Website:

A Statistical Chain Reaction

One by one, 100 people enter the stage. These are not trained actors. These are everyday Vancouverites. The demographics of a city brought to life, with the stories and individuals that make up Vancouver 125 years after its official beginning. As questions are posed, the participants sort themselves according to opinions and political leanings, where they’re from, how they spend their time, car they drive, bus they take, peanut butter preference and so on. A living, breathing portrait of Vancouver emerges.

Each person represents 1% of the roughly 646,385 people residing in Vancouver. Casting starts with a single person. This first person has 24 hours to recruit the next person, who must then find the next, and so on. In just over three months, the full 100 are linked. Participants are chosen according to specific search criteria—gender, age, marital status, ethnicity, and neighbourhood in which they live—attempting to reflect the demographics of the last census.

100% Vancouver is based on an ongoing project of Berlin’s Rimini Protokoll, which has included 100% Berlin and 100% Vienna. With work like the interactive Best Before (2010 PuSh Festival), the company’s signature style draws on the perspectives of “experts in daily life” to create contemporary works where everyday people are the theatre’s real protagonists.

Below is April Smith of AHA MEDIA, Irwin Oostindie of W2 and Stephen Lytton, Actor in 100% Vancouver chatting after the Dress Rehearsal

See more exciting events at PuSh Festival

Matinee Jan 22, 4pm
A Vancity Community Conversation, Jan 22 at 1pm
Running Time 75m
Tickets
Advance $42 /$38 /$36; at door $44 /$40 /$38
ticketstonight.ca

604.684.2787 Additional service charges apply to phone orders
Fully eligible for PuSh Pass access with a $10 surcharge, payable to the PuSh Festival Box Office.

Vancity Members with proof of current membership are eligible for a $6.50 discount at the door only, subject to availability.

Visit our website for more info http://pushfestival.ca/shows/100-vancouver/