ITSAZOO Invites Audiences into East Van’s Gritty 1970’s Gang Era with Immersive, Subversive World Premiere of– Sunrise Betties –February 21 – March 10, 2024
Vancouver, BC — ITSAZOO presents a hard-hitting world premiere inspired by dark and long forgotten East Vancouver history with Sunrise Betties, taking place February 21 – March 10, 2024 in the basement of The Russian Hall (600 Campbell Street).
ITSAZOO Playwright-in-Residence Cheyenne Rouleau draws on the city’s sordid past to weave a fictional tale of an all-female gang operating at the height of Vancouver’s street gang crisis in 1972. Directed by local luminary Jamie King, the work promises to transport audiences 50 years back in time to a once notorious low-income, blue-collar East Vancouver neighbourhood where gangs clash for control of the drug trade, police openly practice corruption, and danger lurks in every alley.
“Sunrise Betties offers a glimpse into the origins of the economic disparity and opioid crisis that are synonymous with our “World Class City,” says Sebastien Archibald, ITSAZOO’s Co-Artistic Producer who also plays the role of a corrupt VPD Officer. “In a city notorious for erasing its history, our goal is to highlight it. With this shocking, violent, and funny work, we go back to a pre-internet, pre-Expo ‘86, pre-gentrification East Vancouver period. We hold a mirror up to Vancouver and say ‘this is your history; this is how it used to be; this is how we got here.’”
Set in 1972, the story follows the fictional Betties, a fiercely loyal, all-female street gang, run by a powerful matriarch, who operate a small-time drug trafficking operation. When the gang inadvertently starts a turf war with a prominent mobster, a corrupt Vancouver Police officer mysteriously shows up offering to-good-to-be-true promises. This challenges the gang’s loyalty, revealing their tight-knit “family” may have a rat amongst them.
This show contains Graphic Violence and Course Language. Not suitable for people under the age of 16. Tickets and information at itsazoo.org.
Ticket prices:$30 Regular
$20 Previews/Discounted Performance: Visit itsazoo.org for details
About ITSAZOO Productions (itsazoo.org)
ITSAZOO Productions creates dynamic theatre events for daring audiences – whether it’s a fly-on-the-wall immersive experience, or a participatory, site specific event. The company formed in 2004 and is operated today by Co-Artistic Producers: Sebastien Archibald and Paige Louter
