January 13, 14, 15
7:30 pm
TICKETS
$32 / $25 / $20 / $15 (You choose YOUR price!)
Sliding scale ticket prices offer choice, and do not reflect priority or zoned seating. All seats are equal at PHT.
In 2000, award-winning lighting designer, Itai Erdal received a phone call telling him his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and had nine months to live. Erdal promptly travelled to Israel to spend every moment he could with his mother. During that time he shot hours of film and hundreds of pictures, documenting her final days.
In this deeply profound yet surprisingly funny theatre piece, Erdal demonstrates his approach to theatrical lighting while also reflecting on the events that followed his mother asking him to take her life. This piece pairs the power of Erdal’s story with the nuanced potency of stage lighting.
“For years Vancouver theatregoers have sung the praises of local lighting designer Itai Erdal, now it’s time to change our tune and marvel instead at this man’s bravery…”
Peter Birnie, Vancouver Sun
A Chop Theatre Production presented by Elbow Theatre in association with Presentation House Theatre
Written by Itai Erdal with James Long, Anita Rochon & Emelia Symington Fedy
Directed by James Long
Trailer: How to Disappear Completely
“How To Disappear Completely is a heart-breaking, heart-warming sharing of one man’s efforts to understand, to live a life well lived and to do the right thing. An elegant reminder that even the subtlest light can dispel the darkness and fashion a life affirming and memorable experience.”
examiner.com
Director: James Long
Cast: Itai Erdal
Lighting Design: Itai Erdal
Sound Design: Emilia Symington Fedy
Original Composition: Andrea Young
Projection Design: Jamie Nesbitt
Dramaturge: Anita Rochon[/cq_vc_tab_item][cq_vc_tab_item tabtitle=”Dates, Times & Tickets”]Thurs Jan 13, 2022 – 7:30pm
Fri Jan 14, 2022 – 7:30pm
Sat Jan 15, 2022 – 7:30pm
[/cq_vc_tab_item][cq_vc_tab_item tabtitle=”Reviews”]
“It may sound like a grim, three-hankie experience, but along with the tears (and they do come, eventually), there is humour, and life. Emotional manipulation and melodrama are mercifully absent. What could have been a dark show is driven in fact by light. The professional insights of Erdal, who at times operates the lighting from the stage, are used to great effect to illuminate his story, becoming a metaphor for his experiences and for life’s big questions. He uses the medium he knows so intimately to transcend the private, and present theatre with universal resonance.” – Marsha Lederman, Globe and Mail
“The show’s pacing is impeccable. Erdal balances humor, beauty, and tragedy with the expertise of a tightrope walker. And some of the questions it touches on, such as death with dignity, are poignantly universal while also being courageously personal. But ultimately, How to Disappear Completely is a profound letter of love to a mother, both wise and humorous, who we all come to cherish—and mourn—by the end. If you see one show this weekend, make this it. And bring your mother.” – Aaron Scott, Portland Monthly Mag
“How To Disappear Completely is a heart-breaking, heart-warming sharing of one man’s efforts to understand, to live a life well lived and to do the right thing. An elegant reminder that even the subtlest light can dispel the darkness and fashion a life affirming and memorable experience.” – examiner.com
“How To Disappear Completely redefines what an actor is and what theatre is… ” – Beat Rice, The Charlebois Post
“For years Vancouver theatregoers have sung the praises of local lighting designer Itai Erdal, now it’s time to change our tune and marvel instead at this man’s bravery…” – Peter Birnie, Vancouver Sun[/cq_vc_tab_item][cq_vc_tab_item tabtitle=”About . . .”]About the Elbow Theatre:
The Elbow Theatre was founded in 2012 by Itai Erdal to create and present thought-provoking shows about social and political subject matters. The Elbow productions include: A Very Narrow Bridge (directed by Maiko Yamamoto and Anita Rochon), Chutzpa Festival, Vancouver; This is not A Conversation (directed by Ker Wells), North American Culture Lab, NY / Spark Festival, Belfry Theatre, Victoria / Impact Festival, MT Space, Kitchener; Hyperlink (directed by Rachel Peake), Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver
About The Chop:
Since 2006, Vancouver-based The Chop, known for its sophisticated experimentation with authenticity in live theatre, has created and toured original award-winning productions internationally. Their shows include KISMET things have changed,Through the Gaze of a Navel, and How to Disappear Completely.
The Chop’s shows have toured to Toronto (Factory Theatre & Crow’s Theatre), Portland (TBA Festival), Seattle (On the Boards), Victoria (Uno Festival), Burnaby (Shadbolt Centre for the Arts), Whitehorse (Pivot Festival), Halifax (2b Theatre), Stratford (Stratford Festival), Edinburgh (Edinburgh Fringe), Dublin (Dublin Fringe), London (Battersea Arts Centre), Bristol (MayFest), and Montreal (Segal Centre & Usine C).[/cq_vc_tab_item][/cq_vc_tabs]
IMPORTANT ADVISORY: Audiences are advised that Presentation House Theatre respects and follows all Public Health Orders regarding masks, vaccines, capacity, and physical distancing.