The 13th annual Flag Stop Theatre and Arts Festival promises to offer more of the quality programming Whistlerites know and love.
Two new plays will premiere on the Alta Lake stage: "Aye Aye A.I." written by Point Artist-Run Centre (PARC) artistic director Stephen Vogler, and Alan Forsythe's latest brainchild "Crypto Caper." Various bands will be rocking and rolling to liven up the summer as well: like Introduce Wolves, Balkan Shmalkan, Pointed Sticks and the Spiritual Warriors.
Onetime Pique features editor Brandon Barrett returns to help provide the stand-up comedy element alongside Sarah Carson Ford, and Cecilia O'Day will preview her new Vancouver Fringe Festival monologue.
"Flag Stop has a little bit of everything," says Barrett, who has been involved in 12 editions of the festival. "You've got comedy, you've got live music, you've got sweaty dancing in an old heritage cabin at all hours of the night … lakeside campfires, sing-alongs, and all the things that make Whistler in summertime so great."
'A good mix'
The centrepiece of any Flag Stop Festival is often live drama, and this year is no exception.
Artificial intelligence (A.I.) looms over the creative world like a cloud, with public opinion divided regarding its probable effects on the industry. While some are optimistic about its utility as a time-saving tool, others are worried about how it might take opportunities and livelihoods away from human beings. Vogler pondered the idea for a number of months before turning it into a play.
"A.I. is in the news, one way or another, almost every day right now," he notes. "I wanted to explore how a theatre collective might try to create a play using it. There's a play within a play that is made by the characters with the help of A.I.
"I had a lot of fun and was actually using ChatGPT to write certain passages that were admittedly terrible at times … and then leveraging that aspect in a humorous way to comment on [the potential future of A.I.]."
Kathy Daniels will helm "Aye Aye A.I." in tandem with her fellow Squamolian, Carla Fuhre. Both are accomplished directors with Between Shifts Theatre and have played a key role in adapting Vogler's nuanced, layered narrative. The PARC's head man finds it fascinating to watch them work, developing on-stage blocking and the actors' emotions.
Meanwhile, Angie Nolan is set to direct "Crypto Caper": a whimsical tale of two ladies who own a struggling countryside inn. As pressure mounts, they are visited by a shady couple who end up dragging them into a messy situation involving cryptocurrency theft.
This production brings in some talent from outside the Sea to Sky, with Nolan and her cast all residing in Vancouver or Gibsons, B.C.
"I've had the pleasure of creating Alan's work on stage before, so I know that he has a certain rhythm. His characters are always quite quirky, interesting and outside the box," says Nolan. "We have amazing actors this year, so I'm really excited."
An ideal fit, then, for the PARC's floating stage: a venue that compels cast members to get out of their own heads. Sometimes they deal with wind gusts, sometimes a dash of rain, and always the possibility of losing spatial awareness and falling into the lake. In Nolan's opinion, acting on water is beautiful and visceral, and it's one of many things that distinguish Flag Stop on the annual arts calendar.
"It's such a unique and rare experience for audiences too," she adds. "We had some [first-time visitors] last year and they said: 'I'm coming back every year.' It's a really special little festival."
'True Whistler spirit'
Flag Stop remains, first and foremost, a community-driven endeavour.
Athleticism and adventure may form the foundation upon which Sea to Sky towns are built, but the region's heart beats in step with its diverse and eclectic creative talents. Performing arts in Whistler can be said to have their own flavour: a love of silly, escapist humour and entertainment mixed with a capacity to get serious when the occasion calls for poignance.
Barrett once tried to cater to what he felt was the local audience's tastes: namely an emphasis on explicit humour related to drugs and sexuality. That isn't his style, though, and over time he realized that Whistlerites want their artists to be genuine—not pander for the sake of pandering.
They also want to give their artists a chance.
"Flag Stop offers a pretty accessible way for people to try out theatre if they've never done it before," says Barrett. "I've seen young actors flourish doing their first play. I've seen people in their 50s and 60s who have never [acted] before. The festival's crowds are really special. They want to laugh, they want you to succeed as a performer, and they're very generous with their support and applause.
"For me, Flag Stop is the closest event to capturing that true Whistler spirit. Even though it's grown over the years, it's still very DIY, very grassroots, very focused on what makes Whistler laugh and cry. It's just a beautiful event that I'm amazed more people don't know about."
More information is available at thepointartists.com/flag-stop-festival-2023-1.
