1^st Annual Flag Stop Theatre & Arts Festival hits The Point!

“The Flag Stop Theatre & Arts Festival on Saturday August 11 promises to be an historic event in every sense of the word,” says Stephen Vogler, Artistic Director for The Point Artist-Run Centre in Whistler.

For one thing, it’s all happening down at the heritage Cypress Lodge next to Alta Lake in Whistler. For another, Vogler’s play, Agnes, takes two historic Alta Lake characters, Agnes and Bert Harrop, and throws in two fictional characters from San Francisco on the eve of the 1929 stock market crash.

But that’s only one small part of a full day and evening of festivities that will showcase creative works developed at The Point this summer. The festival will begin at noon like other Saturdays at The Point with live music by Michael Faiella, the Café Book Shop, and the art show on display in the lodge.

One notable difference will be a floating stage facing the lodge. The first to take the stage will be the young participants from this summer’s Expressive Arts workshops. The 7-9 year-olds, who have dubbed themselves Young But True, will perform the songs and theatre works they’ve created over the past five weeks of workshops with their instructor Aude Ray. Their jewelry and other creations will also be on display in the lodge.

The ticketed part of the festival begins at 6 pm with the TRACKS art show reception in the lodge with appetizers and a cash bar. At 7pm the Improv Theatre troupe that emerged out of the summer workshops will perform on the floating stage. This will be followed by the debut performance of Agnes, featuring Lilli Clark (Blank Slate Theatre), Angie Nolan (Short Skirt Theatre), Greigh Laschuk (Blank Slate Theatre, Off Broadway Theatre), and Wayne Escott. Simon Stribling and Josh Roberts of the New Orleans Ale Stars will provide the late 1920s jazz woven into the play.

At 8pm, Aude Ray will perform her one-woman music and dance piece, Suitcase of Dreams, as the lantern boat procession winds its way toward The Point. The festival then moves inside the lodge where Simon Stribling and his hot swing jazz band turns up the heat on the dance floor until closing time at 11pm. Food and refreshments will be available throughout the festival and the event is licensed after 6pm.

“We’re calling it the first annual,” says Vogler boldly, “that makes it an historic event right there!”

Tickets for the 1^st Annual Flag Stop Theatre & Arts Festival are $18 and available at Armchair Books, Saturdays at The Point (5678 Alt Lake Rd.) and on the website www.thepointartists.com

For more information and images, please contact Stephen Vogler at svogler1@gmail.com or by phone 604 698-5482.