Hard-hitting comedy meets searing social commentary on race, gender, and oppression in the Rolling World Premiere of Redbone Coonhound, from October 6 to 30 at the Arts Club Theatre Company’s Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre.
When Mike (Jesse Lipscombe) and Marissa (Emma Slipp)—an interracial couple living in Vancouver’s West End—meet a dog with an unfortunate breed name, it unleashes a cascading debate between them and with their friends about race and their relationships.
Using popular culture as touchstones, Redbone Coonhound navigates topics of oppression through a series of fever dreams satirizing modern perspectives on race, privilege, gender and power in a visceral, tactile and theatrical manner.
Redbone Coonhound was originally adapted into an audio play for the 2021–2022 Listen to This series. This season’s production is the Arts Club’s first Rolling World Premiere, in partnership with Tarragon Theatre (Toronto) and Imago Theatre (Montreal).
According to Playwright/Director Omari Newton, “I’m thrilled to share this piece, a labour of love, life, and strife, co-written with my wife, Amy Lee Lavoie, and co-directed with my dear friend and collaborator Ashlie Corcoran. The play explores issues of race, gender, and class in ways that are equal parts humorous and merciless. It is my belief that in these increasingly absurd times, humour is a much-needed catalyst for empathy.”
Arts Club’s Artistic Director and Redbone Coonhound co-director Ashlie Corcoran adds, “When I originally sat down with both Amy Lee and Omari to hear about Redbone Coonhound, I was blown away by their commitment to the ideas behind this work—ideas that show up in the content of the piece as much as they show up in the form. This kind of theatre—where a play’s form does as much dramaturgical work as its content—is my favourite kind of art!”
Redbone Coonhound
Dates: October 6 to 30, 2022
Venue: Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre, 162 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver
Tickets: From $25; reserve online
