THEATRE PREVIEW

FEBRUARY 2026 | Volume 260

 

Warrior Festival returns to The Cultch for the second year of joyful resistance

The Cultch announces the second annual Warrior Festival, taking place on all three Cultch stages from February 11 – March 29, 2026.

The Warrior Festival celebrates the strength of artists who are reclaiming space, rewriting narratives, and advocating for justice. It invites you to be part of something bigger than entertainment. This year, six fierce and funny shows—from companies local, national, and international—take centre stage to spotlight acts of defiance with radical joy. Envision a liberated future with these trailblazing theatre artists!

First up is Batshit, a deeply intimate reckoning with the myths and misconceptions of female madness. Created and performed by Matilda Award-winner Leah Shelton and directed by Olivier Award-winning Ursula Martinez, this one-woman show draws on personal stories, in-depth research and pop culture to unpack how psychiatry has been shaped by gender bias.

UPU, opening February 17, further dives into immersive storytelling through spoken word. Curator Grace Iwashita-Taylor, a celebrated New Zealand poet, brings the Pacific Ocean and its people together using the upu (meaning ‘words’). Enhanced by evocative lights, projections, and a multi-layered soundscape, the show bridges stories across decades and cultures, all connected by water.

Joining the Warrior Festival for limited runs are Red Like Fruit and Tomboy (Chłopczyca). The former, by Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch, brings her signature sharp wit and emotional depth to a gripping account of life “post-#MeToo.” Meanwhile, Tomboy, by local creative Anais Mateusz West, redefines masculinity in a new dance-theatre piece inspired by the upiory (vampires of Slavic folklore).

The Search Party returns to The Cultch with their staging of People, Places & Things, a critically-acclaimed play about an emerging actress’ struggles with substance use and time spent in rehab. This presentation marks the Vancouver premiere of People, Places & Things.

Wrapping up Warrior Festival 2026 is The Horse of Jenin, running March 25–29. Constructed from fragments of Palestinian actor and comedian Alaa Shehada’s own memories, The Horse of Jenin examines a sculpture of the same name and its symbolic meaning. Shehada’s performance is an ode to the power of imagination and the resilience it brings.

Come be a part of Warrior Festival at The Cultch, where joy is resistance and every artist is a warrior!

“The success of the inaugural 2025 Warrior Festival reaffirmed what we’ve always known at The Cultch—that when artists take the stage to tell brave stories, they transform it. The overwhelming response we got from audiences was that it was some of the most meaningful live performance they had experienced.

This year, we’re thrilled to build on that momentum with six new shows—each one powerful, urgent, and unapologetically bold. These artists are pushing boundaries, telling necessary stories, and continuing to challenge the world around us with radical creativity. We can’t wait to welcome you back to Warrior Festival!” —Heather Redfern (Cultch Executive Director) and Nicole McLuckie (Cultch Associate Executive Director)

Full details can be found on the festival webpage: https://thecultch.com/warrior-festival-2026/

TICKETS: SEE MORE, SAVE MORE
Save 20% when you buy tickets to more than one show!*
*This discount is automatically applied when you add more than one show in the Warrior Festival to your cart. Valid for Sections A+, A, B and General seats.

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WARRIOR FESTIVAL LINE-UP

Batshit | CANADIAN PREMIERE
Leah Shelton & Quiet RIOT (Australia)
FEB 11–15, 2026, HISTORIC THEATRE

A daring, poignant, and darkly comic one-woman tour-de-force that rips the lid off the myths of female madness. Batshit is a requiem for Leah’s grandmother Gwen, who was incarcerated for seeking independence in 1960s Australia.

UPU | CANADIAN PREMIERE
Upu Collective (Aotearoa/New Zealand)
FEB 17–21, 2026, YORK THEATRE

This dynamic and electrifying theatre experience brings the ocean’s voices to life. Highlighting works from 23 poets, including young activists, Poet Laureates and literary prize winners, UPU masterfully creates a snapshot of experiences as broad and deep as the Pacific Ocean.

“It swept the audience up in wave after wave after wave of passion, emotion, [and] storytelling” —Ilona Hanne, The New Zealand Herald

Red Like Fruit
2b theatre company (Halifax)
FEB 18–22, 2026, HISTORIC THEATRE

Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Hannah Moscovitch crafts a provocative work about power, memory, and complicity in the post-#MeToo era. Red Like Fruit follows journalist Lauren as she revisits events from her past. Doubting her recollections, she turns to Luke and asks him to narrate her life. But as he tells her story, an eerie question looms: why did she ask him in the first place?

“What minimalist theatre should be…stark and simple, jam-packed with big questions about gender, power, and truth” —Misha Bakshi, Intermission Magazine

Tomboy (Chlopczyca) WORLD PREMIERE
the frank theatre company (Vancouver)
MAR 04–08, 2026, VANCITY CULTURE LAB

Queer vampires and Slavic folklore converge in Tomboy (Chłopczyca). A non-binary historian looks back on the attack of their childhood best friend, but with each recollection the sequence of events becomes more ambiguous, the choreography of memory more complex. This kinetic dance-theatre performance, written by Jessie Award-nominated playwright Anais Mateusz West, redefines eroticism and masculinity with a dark, supernatural twist.

People, Places & Things
The Search Party (Vancouver)
MAR 10–22, 2026, HISTORIC THEATRE

Struggling actress Emma was having the time of her life. Now she’s in rehab. Her first step is to admit that she has a problem. But when intoxication feels like the only way to survive the modern world, how can she ever sober up?

★★★★★ “Blisteringly funny, brilliantly physical and achingly human” —Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

The Horse of Jenin CANADIAN PREMIERE
Troupe Courage (Amsterdam)
MAR 25–29, 2026, HISTORIC THEATRE

Built from the debris of a major invasion, the Horse of Jenin sculpture became a constant presence in Alaa Shehada’s life growing up in Occupied Palestine. Then, on OCT 29, 2023, an Israeli bulldozer entered the city, ripping the sculpture from its place—and from its people.

Now, Alaa is left wondering…what happened to the horse? Combining storytelling, mask and stand-up comedy, The Horse of Jenin explores the everyday life of a boy who, like every child in the world, just wants to play and have fun.

“With humor and heart, The Horse of Jenin reminds us that even amidst the rubble of loss, the human spirit has the capacity to rebuild, resist, and reimagine a brighter future” —Stephi Wild, Broadway World

 

ABOUT THE CULTCH: Since 1973, The Cultch (formally the Vancouver East Cultural Centre) has been one of Vancouver’s most diverse and innovative arts and cultural hubs. The organisation operates three theatrical venues, a gallery, various ancillary spaces in the heart of East Vancouver, as well as digital programming through The Cultch Online that reaches international audiences. The Cultch offers dynamic contemporary programming in theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts, bringing world-class cultural presentations to thousands of citizens each year through its own programming and through providing rental opportunities for community users. Our purpose is to provide a venue for performance that serves a diverse and engaged public and provides space for artistic experimentation and development, building an audience for local companies and presenting cutting-edge national and international work.

 

 

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