Tag: Arts Club Theatre Company

entertainment

Big Stuff – Arts Club Theatre Company

When Clutter Becomes a Keepsake

Last night, I attended the opening of Big Stuff, a refreshingly different kind of live theatre from seasoned performers Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus, veterans of Second City and comedy clubs worldwide.

Photo courtesy of The Arts Club Theatre

Part improvisation, part audience participation, the show invites us to think about all the stuff we keep – and, more importantly, why we keep it.

Baram and Snieckus, a real-life husband-and-wife team, appear as themselves, surrounded by a collection of clutter they’re trying to make sense of. What stays? What goes? And really, how many people need more than one toaster – especially if they’re not eating bread?

But Big Stuff is about more than decluttering. It asks us to consider the sentimental value we attach to the things we own, both big and small, and why letting go can be so difficult.

Audience members are invited to write down an item – or several – from home that reminds them of someone dear they’ve lost. Baram and Snieckus then draw the cards, ask who wrote each one, and invite them to share a little of the story behind it. I loved how naturally these exchanges unfolded. Some of the items prompted particularly poignant responses, adding a moving layer of humanity to the laughter.

After all, the things we hold on to aren’t always useful, beautiful or even particularly practical. Sometimes, they’re precious because of the people and memories they represent. What one person might see as clutter, another might see as an irreplaceable connection to someone they’ve loved and lost.

Perhaps that’s the bigger question at the heart of Big Stuff: when we hold on to things, are we really holding on to the objects themselves, or to the memories they carry? Maybe the challenge isn’t simply deciding what to keep and what to throw away, but understanding what we’re really holding on to.

Fresh off a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it received the International Fringe Encore Series Edinburgh Prize, Big Stuff arrives at the Arts Club Theatre Company with international acclaim. Following its Vancouver run, the show heads to New York City’s SoHo Playhouse.

Written and created by: Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus
Directed and co-created by: Kat Sandler

When: October 14–November 1, 2026
Where: Olympic Village Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre

The BMO theatre centre is nice inside. You can get drinks and snacks.

Tickets: https://artsclub.com/shows/2026-2027/big-stuff

 

 

Art & Culture

Come From Away – the Musical

Newfoundlanders are a little different from the rest of us Canadians – in the best possible way.

They even speak their own poetic version of English.  “Stay where you’re to ‘til I comes where you’re at.” (Translation: Wait right there until I get there.) So if you “come from away,” you might only understand half of what they say…but their actions speak louder than words.

I just went to opening night of the Arts Club Theatre Company’s extraordinary musical Come From Away – now extended for three more weeks at the Stanley in Vancouver. This Tony‑nominated show tells the true story of 7,000 stranded passengers (mostly American and a handful from around the world) diverted to Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11, and the people who welcomed them by opening their hearts and their homes.

Cast of “Come From Away” – taken from website.

Gander, Newfoundland (aka The Rock): “You are here at the start of a moment, on the edge of the world, where the river meets the sea.” It was not what anyone expected. In many ways, it exceeded every expectation of how powerful kindness and community can be.

This musical is now at the top of my list. The cast is exceptional, the story is real and heartfelt, and the music is pure joy. There was even a live orchestra.

One detail that really stayed with me: the animals stranded in the cargo holds – two rare bonobos (similar to chimps), nine cats, and eight dogs, all cared for by local SPCA volunteer Bonnie Harris throughout the five‑day ordeal. The female bonobo even gave birth while in Gander, though the baby did not survive (possibly because of the stress). The audience was later relieved to learn that the female bonobo had a second baby that survived when it was re routed to the Columbus Zoo. Harris’s compassion left such a mark that the Columbus Zoo named the  baby bonobo “Gander” in honour of the town. A beautiful reminder of humanity at its best. 

Vancouver, go see this.

Come From Away is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). In Partnership with The Citadel Theatre, Edmonton

Book, Music, and Lyrics by
Irene Sankoff & David Hein

The extended run is until August 16 at the Stanley BFL CANADA Stage, 2750 Granville Street, Vancouver. Tickets for the added dates go on sale June 8. Tickets are available from $39 through the Box Office Call Centre at 604.687.1644 or at ArtsClub.com.