The Bard on the Beach 2024 summer season at Sen̓áḵw/Vanier Park will include Hamlet and Twelfth Night on the BMO Mainstage, as well as The Comedy of Errors and Measure for Measure on the Howard Family Stage.
Bard on the Beach – Image Supplied
Bard on the Beach Summer 2024
From June 13 to September 20, 2024
Ticket prices for all regular play performances start at $30 CAD and are available now.
Twelfth Night: Director Diana Donnelly celebrates a topsy-turvy carnival world packed with romance and laughs, adventure, and self-discovery, set to original music by beloved Vancouver singer-songwriter Veda Hille.
Hamlet: Adapted and directed by Stephen Drover, who invites us to consider the blurry lines around loyalty, self, and all the things that are in heaven and earth.
The Howard Family Stage will host two productions from July 2 to September 21, 2024:
The Comedy of Errors: Directed and adapted by Rebecca Northan, this playtakes its laughs seriously—deadly seriously. Wear your best bedsheet as a toga to this hilarious slapstick saga of mistaken identity and marital strife.
Measure for Measure: Jivesh Parasram’s footloose adaptation is set in a contemporary Vienna where the party never stops—until now. Shakespeare’s tale of coercion and hypocrisy reaches absurdist new heights as premarital… dancing is outlawed.
Special Events
Bard Fireworks Nights: Enjoy a performance of Twelfth Night or The Comedy of Errors followed by a dessert buffet, and guaranteed, spectacular views of the Celebration of Light. Fireworks evenings are July 20, 24 & 27. New this year: Bring your own picnic supper, preorder from Bard (for an extra charge), or snack the night away.
Wine Wednesdays before one of three performances throughout the season. June 26, July 10 & August 14
Family Days: Encouraging a new generation of young theatre patrons to discover Shakespeare and the Sen̓áḵw/Vanier Park festival experience. Special pricing and kids’ activities are in effect for these matinees July 14 & August 18.
Bard Pride Day: Includes early site access for special activities to celebrate Pride with the Bard Family on August 4.
Relaxed Performance: Twelfth Night. June 30 at 2:00pm. This performance is also “Pay What You Will”.
Bard Explored: A talk with Simon Fraser University’s Paul Budra on June 29, July 6, August 10 & August 17.
Talkback Tuesdays: In July and August where performers will take part in free post-show discussions.
Every performance, audiences are invited to In A Nutshell, free pre-show talks providing short, informal introductions to the plays’ stories and characters.
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and the Vancouver Art Gallery present a collaborative, immersive themed afternoon tea Into The Forest With Emily Carr inspired by the iconic Canadian Artist Emily Carr.
Into The Forest With Emily Carr Afternoon Tea
Date: May 30 to September 8, 2024
Seating available Thursdays through Sundays at 11:00am, 1:00pm, and 3:00pm
Location: Notch8 (Fairmont Hotel Vancouver 900 W Georgia St, Vancouver)
Tickets: Reserve your spot online. Tickets are $74 per person and $40 for children 12 and under.
The afternoon tea is available throughout the summer, where guests can savour delectable treats and artistic creations in Notch8’s tea salon, transformed into an immersive experience with Carr’s artwork and forest-themed decor.
Each menu item is carefully crafted to reflect Carr’s vibrant spirit through a culinary journey of British Columbia, from BC Forest Mushroom short crust tart to Huckleberry Cheesecake, Smoked Sockeye Salmon, to a Blueberry Gallette with Pistachio Moss.
An inspired cocktail menu highlights some of Carr’s signature works through a collection of libations that draw from inspiration of her artistic style and visual composition, available during tea service and at Notch8 bar.
Emily Carr is one of Canada’s best-known artists. Her life and work reflect a profound commitment to the land and peoples she knew and loved. Her sensitive evocations reveal an artist grappling with the spiritual questions that the Canadian landscape and culture inspired in her.
The Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibition, Emily Carr: A Room Of Her Own, offers a glimpse into Carr’s world, showcasing her artworks and the spaces where she lived and created.
From June 1 to September 30, 2024, adults over the age of 19 will be able to bring and consume alcohol at select beaches in Vancouver between specific hours.
This year’s program builds on findings from last year’s pilot. Among the positive feedback, some challenges arose concerning disorderly behaviour at English Bay, and increased levels of garbage at beach sites including Kitsilano Beach.
To address these concerns, City Council approved the allocation of additional resources and funding towards this summer’s pilot. This year’s program will see funding for more VPD members and Park Rangers on beaches, including English Bay, and an expanded communications campaign focusing on responsible behaviour when drinking at the beach.
Beaches Where Alcohol Will Be Permitted
Between 11:00am and 9:00pm
Jericho Beach
Spanish Banks
Locarno Beach
Second Beach (Stanley Park)
Kitsilano Beach
John Hendry / Trout Lake Beach
New Brighton Beach
Beaches Where Alcohol Will Not Be Permitted
English Bay Beach
Sunset Beach Park
Third Beach (Stanley Park)
CRAB Park Beach
Beaches along the Fraser River
When consuming beverages in parks and beaches (alcoholic or not), do not bring any glass bottles or containers, and instead bring cans, reusable and/or plastic or paper-based containers.
Following this summer’s pilot relaunch, staff will review data and feedback to determine if legal alcohol consumption on Vancouver’s beaches can be rolled out in the future on a permanent basis, or if further analysis is needed.
Following an 18-month closure for cutting-edge seismic upgrades to its Great Hall, the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC will be reopening in June.
The museum has also undergone a revitalization and reinterpretation of displays of Northwest Coast Indigenous carvings, poles, weavings and other works from the past and present.
Museum of Anthropology – Great Hall Reconstruction – Feb 2023. Photo by Michael Elkan
Museum of Anthropology Reopening
On the evening of June 13, 2024, starting at 5:00pm, visitors will be welcomed to a revitalized museum with updated interpretations and new displays, including an 8.7-metre canoe, carved by Stz’uminus artist Qap’u’luq—John Marston.
Friday, June 14th coincides with the 100th anniversary of architect Arthur Erickson’s birth, and MOA is celebrating with half-priced admission and special programming to mark the occasion. On Saturday, June 15th and Sunday, June 16th, visitors will enjoy half-priced admission, as well as dance and musical performances, hands-on workshops, staff tours and family-friendly activities.
About the upgrades
Recognized as the first museum in Canada retrofitted with base isolation technology, MOA’s seismic upgrades are designed to protect the collections in the event of a major earthquake. Twenty-five base isolators have been installed under each of the Great Hall’s concrete columns to absorb the impact of seismic activity, separating the Great Hall from the ground and from the adjoining museum structure. Additionally, upgrades to the lighting, skylights, roofing, window coverings, carpeting and fire protection will further protect the collection.
MOA’s Great Hall was first identified by UBC as a high priority for seismic upgrades in 2017, as part of the university’s ongoing seismic planning. It was determined that a complete rebuild was the best approach to upgrading the resiliency of the space without compromising its architectural heritage. Budgeted at $40 million, the project was funded by the provincial government, Canadian Heritage and UBC. Construction began in 2021, and in January 2023, the Museum was temporarily closed to accelerate the completion of the project.
Nick Milkovich Architects Inc. was selected as the architectural firm for the Great Hall’s renewal. As principal architect, Milkovich offered the project unique experience, having made the Museum’s original building models as an apprentice to Arthur Erickson in the 1970s. Milkovich’s intimate knowledge of the design ensured the iconic structure was rebuilt in Erickson’s original vision.
The Museum will also reopen with two exhibitions, both showcasing Indigenous perspectives of historical periods, too often told and represented through a colonial lens. In the Audain Gallery, MOA presents To Be Seen, To Be Heard: First Nations in Public Spaces, 1900–1965, co-curated by Karen Duffek, MOA Curator, Contemporary Visual Arts + Pacific Northwest, and Dr. Marcia Crosby (Ts’mysen/Haida), art historian and scholar. An immersive, multimedia exhibition, To Be Seen, to be heard explores how, during the period of potlatch prohibition and other forms of erasure in Canada, First Nations people in British Columbia represented themselves as Indigenous in urban public spaces. Looking back through rich archival material reveals the diverse ways that First Nations worked to be seen and heard striving to have their rights recognized—rights to their lands, their laws and their future.
Video still from in Pursuit of Venus [infected] by Lisa Reihana. Courtesy of the artist and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki // 1921 Museum & Archives of North Vancouver [4834] Squamish Reserve Indian Band, 1921. Photographer unrecorded. Photo courtesy of MONOVA: Museum & Archives of North Vancouver.
In the O’Brian Gallery, MOA presents Māori artist Lisa Reihana’s inPursuit of Venus [infected], a 32-minute-long, panoramic video projection designed to create an immersive cinematic experience. A digitally animated interpretation of the French Neoclassical scenic wallpaper Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique—which portrays harmonious encounters between Europeans and Polynesians amidst a Tahitian landscape—in Pursuit of Venus [infected] depicts a decidedly darker narrative to expose the oppressive and often violent exchanges absent from the utopian colonial portrayal, challenging historical and contemporary stereotypes. This work seeks to disrupt notions of beauty, authenticity, history and myth.
The reopening weekend’s activities will kick off a year of special programming to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Museum to the public in the UBC Main Library, under the direction of Harry and Audrey Hawthorn in 1949.
Carousel Theatre for Young People (CTYP) presents the premiere of Vancouver playwright Dave Deveau’s The Papa Penguin Play May 15 to June 2, 2024 at Granville Island’s Waterfront Theatre – and you can enter to win tickets!
Carousel Theatre for Young People Presents The Papa Penguin Play
Inspired by the true story of two male penguins who were gifted an egg at New York’s Central Park Zoo – as well as Deveau’s own parenting experience – the playful and imaginative work follows a pair of penguin fathers and their zoo keeper friend as they navigate the delightful chaos of throwing a first birthday party.
Presented by CTYP, Vancouver International Children’s Festival, and Zee Zee Theatre, the visually-spectacular show pulls out all the stops to celebrate with puppetry, drag performances, and music for a joyful hour of theatre for young audiences.
In The Papa Penguin Play, penguins Peaches and Izzy are the Zoo’s main attraction: two male penguins who put on daily shows to visitors’ delight. Their dream to have a family of their own comes true, thanks to help from their friendly Zoo Keeper, when they are gifted an egg, which through their diligent care yields their baby chick, Hedgie. The play welcomes children ages 3-8 and their families to put on their party hats and step inside the colourful and family-affirming celebration that is Hedgie’s first birthday.
Directed by Deveau’s husband, co-parent, and Artistic and Executive Director of Zee Zee Theatre, Cameron Mackenzie, the play stars Jeffrey Follis, Kosta Lemermeyer, Rae Takei, and Katie Voravong. The creative team also includes: Set Designer Kimira Reddy;Sound Designer MJ Coomber; Lighting Designer Victoria Bell; Props Designer Monica Emme; Puppet Designer & Director Stephanie Elgersma;and Movement Coach Nicole Rose Bond.
The Papa Penguin Play will feature special events throughout its run including a mandatory masked performance on May 18 and a VocalEye described performance on May 25.
