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March 13, 2009
The astounding circus
Comedy and magic on tap for one-night show.
ERIC O'DONNELL
Myriam Steinberg wants you to know that the circus is coming to St. Mary's Ukrainian Centre on March 21. And not just any old run-of-the-mill circus. This is Circus Astoundicus, a one-night extravaganza of comedy, thrills and magic.
Steinberg, a petite, brown-haired dynamo, is the artistic director, ticket agent, impresario, publicist, sometime performer, archivist and guiding light of the In the House Festival, an organization that arranges artistic performances of all types once a month in, as its name suggests, people's homes. Circus Astoundicus, a show too ambitious to be confined to one house, is the organization's annual fundraiser. It is a precursor to the annual In the House Festival, a two-day series of shows held the first weekend of June in a number of larger homes in the Vancouver area.
So why stage shows in houses? "It's a very intimate venue," explained Steinberg. "The performers and the audience are on the same level. It works beautifully."
It seems that homeowners agree, even though it means 50 to 100 people coming through their doors. "We have a 90 per cent repeat rate for people who volunteer their houses," said Steinberg. Incidentally, condo owners need not apply to host – "unless you have a really, really large condo," according to Steinberg.
Circus Astoundicus comprises a huge pool of talented local performers. Naomi Steinberg, Myriam's sister and a professional storyteller in her own right, will be the glue that binds the acts, performing as ringmaster. She may even be on stilts – although she hasn't fully committed to that yet. In homage to the performance being held the first day of spring, she has concocted a framework built around the four elements – fire, earth, air and water.
Naomi Steinberg gave a rundown of some of what audiences can expect to see: "A farm and 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey' for earth. A fortune-teller for fire. A spiderweb to represent air and a rocky shoreline with a 'real life' mermaid offering kisses for water. [Plus] lots and lots of cute animals."
Myriam Steinberg added: "There will be clowns, jugglers, acrobats, dancers, a hula hoop artist and puppets." Vitaly Beckman, a celebrated magician, will be there, up to his old tricks no doubt. Kesseke Yeo, an African dancer, will perform a traditional leopard dance, pursuing the cheeky Bonobos, performers who play monkeys that are short on brains and long on fun
After the show, there will be games and dancing driven by a carnival band until midnight. Audience members are encouraged to come in costume. And who knows what other surprises might await?
Born in 2003, In the House Festival is the brainchild of Daniel Mate, a friend of Myriam Steinberg's, who had been charged with the task of coming up with a performance idea and implementing it. He brought her in to assist him and she ended up taking on, in her words, "a mega-role," in its inaugural season. It languished for a year and, then, in 2005, she convinced herself to resurrect the festival. "I remembered the impact and how people responded," she said. "It touched people – performers and venue hosts, as well as the audience, of course." She connected with her neighbors on Grant Street and used her house as a hub.
"Most houses were sold out," she recalled. "We got tons of media. I had many letters from performers and audience members afterwards." The festival was no small undertaking. She remembers recruiting from December onwards for the June weekend, for 14 venues, each hosting at least three acts.
Buoyed by this huge success, the ever-energetic Steinberg (her sister described her as "one of the hardest-working women I know, and I know a lot of hard-working women") decided to expand on the structure of In the House, adding a monthly series of themed performance festivals. The first one was held in August 2005, just two months after the festival. With that, In the House was truly born.
In the House has always been well received, said Steinberg, but it sells out much faster now, as its reputation has blossomed. "The A Cappella show sold out 10 days before its performance," she noted in our discussion. Tickets for Circus Astoundicus have just been released for sale (www.inthehousefestival.com) and she is confident that their annual fundraiser will be a huge success, perhaps even a "killer," as she described the grand finale of the 2006 In the House Festival, when pressed about her favorite show in the group's history. A "killer" it may well be, given Steinberg's drive, ambition and calm confidence.
St. Mary's Ukrainian Centre is located at 3150 Ash St. in Vancouver. The doors to the hall open at 6:30 p.m., with performances running from 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Eric O'Donnell is a retired secondary school teacher. Recently relocated to Vancouver from Toronto, he now focuses his time on photography and writing.
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