The Performing Arts Trail series, presented by Trail & District Arts Council, brings you Ridge featuring Brendan McLeod and The Fugitives.

Ridge is a vivid, kinetic, intimate, and personal examination of our connection to the past that passionately argues against the exploitation of young lives. Featuring musical interpretations of WWI soldier songs from their JUNO-nominates album “Trench Songs”, and readings of soldiers letters performed by Brendan McLeod and his band The Fugitives.

“Riveting…The way history was meant to be told.” – Entertainment Vancouver

Often called the “battle that made Canada,” Vimy Ridge resulted in over 10,000 Canadian casualties. Through this visceral work, told through direct storytelling, verbatim theatre, and live music, Brendan McLeod examines misconceptions and varying perspectives around the battle, while drawing parallels to other formative events in our nation’s past. Featuring inventive musical interpretations of WWI soldier songs performed with his band The Fugitives, Ridge probes difficult yet necessary questions about how and why we grieve.

The Fugitives is a folk collective headed by songwriters Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod and joined by banjo player Chris Suen (Viper Central) and violinist Carly Frey (The Coal Porters), that has been nominated for multiple Canadian Folk Music and Western Canadian Music Awards, including Best Songwriter, Best Roots Group, and Best Vocal Group.

Brendan McLeod is a writer, theatre artist, and musician. He is the author of one novel, one poetry collection, and five theatre shows. He was the 2012 Poet of Honor at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the 2015 Poet of Honour at the Victoria Spoken Word Festival.

“Poignant and sobering” – The Globe and Mail (Top 10 Arts Pick, 2020)
“Serves to give the sacrifices of those who served and died a human dimension beyond mythology” – Vancouver Sun

The show is 78 minutes.

6 Show Series Pass: $148 **Don’t miss out on this great offer. Money back guarantee on remaining shows for Performing Arts Trail season pass holders if you don’t like the season after the first two shows. “Try it, you’ll like it!”**

Individual Adult Ticket: $30.00, except Shane Koyczan which is $35.
Plus:
– bargain price of $10 for anyone under 30 years old.
– 2 for 1 for hospital / medical employees for all Performing Arts Trail shows.
– New attendees 2 for 1: Bring someone who hasn’t been to the theatre before and get 2 for 1 for all Performing Arts Trail shows. New patron must not already be in our database and must join our email list.

All tickets are assigned seating.
All tickets available online at thebailey.ca, by phone at 250-368-9669, and in person at the Bailey Box Office at 1501 Cedar Ave., Trail.
Shows in the Performing Arts Trail series include:

Oktopus: Tues Feb 28, 2023 – The Quebec octet Oktopus is devoted to klezmer—the musical heritage of Eastern European Jews. The group’s virtuoso musicians offer original compositions, finely crafted arrangements and improvisation for a high-energy performance, at once melancholic, profound, and humorous.

Ballet Kelowna: taqəš and Other Works – Tues March 7, 2023 – Featuring up to 8 dancers this stunning line-up has John Alleyne’s methodically harmonized Split House Geometric, Guillaume Côté’s riveting Bolero, and Cameron Fraser-Monroe’s powerful and compelling new work taqəš set to songs by Polaris Prize-winning Jeremy Dutcher and following the traditional story “Raven Returns the Water”.

Shane Koyzan: Tues March 28, 2023 – There seems no shortage of adjectives to describe a show by spoken word poet, writer and performer Shane Koyczan. Moving, hilarious, challenging, provocative, or inspirational. Take your pick.

Sansei: The Storyteller and Yamabiko Taiko Drummers (double bill): Tuesday April 18 2023 – Sansei: The Storyteller uses dance, theatre, and humour to tell the story of one of Canada’s darkest decisions and how the rampant racism of past generations affected the Japanese community today. The Yamabiko Taiko drummers will close out the evening with their high energy performance on Japanese Taiko-style drums.

Huu-Bac Quintet: Tuesday May 2, 2023 – Huu Bac Quach and his quintet, based in Montreal, skillfully combine his Vietnamese and Chinese heritages with North-American jazz music. His beautiful compositions feature the dan bau (single chord Vietnamese instrument), the erhu (Chinese fiddle), the quena (Peruvian flute) and the guitar.

The Performing Arts Trail series is sponsored by Teck Trail Operations and Century 21 Kootenay Homes (2018) Ltd. With funding support from the BC Arts Council, the Government of British Columbia, the BC Touring Council and Tourism South Kootenay. This project is funded [in part] by the Government of Canada. / Ce projet est financé [en partie] par le gouvernement du Canada.