SCA | Quick News | January 12, 2026
Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
Originally devised as a capstone project for CA 451 and CA 452, taught by the SCA's Ryan Tacata, and premiered in the Live Acts Festival in 2024, Through the Wormhole Theatre Co.'s Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? features SCA alumni Zoë Braithwaite, Lachlan Harris-Fiesel, Katie Gherasim, Lauren Han, TJ Tan, Aisha Wewala, Ruby Maher, Jae Gonzales, and Rosemary Morrison, plus photography and videography by SCA alumnus Clementine Lesley, and sound design by SCA Music & Sound student Liam Murley. Running January 29 – 31, 2026, at What Lab (#202 – 1814 Pandora St, Vancouver), tickets for Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? are available HERE.
The Peak on Be True to Your School
Read a thoughtful article by Ashima Shukla in SFU's The Peak on our recent SCA alumni fundraising auction, Be True to Your School, with all proceeds going towards upcoming student-centred programming at the SCA's Audain Gallery. This point by Shukla stood out as particularly key:
I see this exhibition as both a warning and an invitation, a reminder of what is at stake, and what we stand to lose if we fail to imagine more sustainable futures for cultural education.
Read the whole thing HERE.
Truax joins the Order (with Nardwuar)
Congratulations to Barry Truax, Professor Emeritus in SFU's School of Communication (with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from SFU, which technically means us!), who was appointed to the Order of Canada at the end of December 2025. Truax joins Raffi and Nardwuar the Human Serviette, and many others.
PuSh's six world premieres
As Stir Vancouver tells us, there are six world premieres being presented as part of the 2026 edition of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, including WAIL by SCA alumnus Vanessa Goodman / Action at a Distance (with SCA alumni Anya Saugstad, Shion Skye Carter, and Marisa Gold as Artistic Performers, and SCA alumni Fay Nass as Dramaturge and Jack Chipman as Technical Director), Plastic Orchid Factory’s Catching Up to the Future of Our Past (which also has SCA alumnus Jack Chipman working several behind-the-scenes jobs), and Remember that time we met in the future? by Montreal’s Lara Kramer, which is in the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre here at the School for the Contemporary Arts (149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver), co-presented with Matriarchs Uprising. Other SCA representation in PuSh includes The Brutal Joy by the SCA's Justine A. Chambers (with sound by the SCA's Mauricio Pauly and lighting by James Proudfoot), and 2021 by Cole Lewis, SCA alumnus Patrick Blenkarn, and Sam Ferguson, and with the SCA's Wladimiro A. Woyno Rodriguez behind-the-scenes. Check out the full PuSh lineup HERE. Also, listen to Chambers talk about the Brutal Joy on the PuSh Play podcast HERE.
PuSh presents: Luanda Casell
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is presenting a free talk by writer, performing artist, and theatre director Luanda Casell on February 5, 2026, from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM, in the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre here at the School for the Contemporary Arts (149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver), presented with Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre. RSVP HERE.
The past tense is always longer – reviewed
Read Isha Musampa's review for C Magazine of the exhibition The past tense is always longer, curated by Anaïs Castro, which included work by SCA alumnus Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill. Read it HERE.
Chimerik 似不像 talks interplay_2026
Read Stir on Chimerik 似不像's (with SCA alumni Caroline and Sammy Chien-MacCaull as Co-Artistic Directors) participation in interplay_2026, which ran online from January 8 – 11, 2026, presented in partnership with New Works XR. Read it HERE. Also, Caroline Chien-MacCaull spoke with The Source. Read it HERE.
Santi on the list
The editors of Vancouver Magazine included SCA alumnus Santi Henderson's Love and Country County Fair in their list of the best arts and culture events of 2025. Read it HERE.
SCA (behind the scenes) at the Warrior Festival
Anais Mateusz West's Tomboy (Chłopczyca), with SCA alumni Alexandra Caprara (Lighting Designer), Jaewoo Kang (Costume & Scenic Designer), Jamie Sweeney (Technical Director), Brianna Bernard (Assistant Stage Manager), and Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg (Voice Coach), and SCA PhD student Sasha J. Langford (Additional Sound Design) behind-the-scenes, and The Search Party's People, Places & Things, with SCA alumni Sophie Tang (Lighting Designer) and Jessica Han (Technical Director) behind-the-scenes, are part of the Warrior Festival, which runs February 11 – March 29, 2026, at The Cultch's ork Theatre, Historic Theatre, and Vancity Culture Lab. See the whole schedule HERE.
Capture's 2026 Selected Exhibitions Program
The Capture Photography Festival just announced their 2026 Selected Exhibitions Program, and it includes SCA alumnus Rashi Sethi's Between Stillness and Motion, running March 27 – April 10 at the James Black Gallery (144 E. 6th Ave., Vancouver) and the group exhibition Experiments in Photography: Image and Object, running at the CityScape Community ArtSpace (335 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver), which includes SCA alumni Phoebe Bei, Lucien Durey, and Stephanie Gagne. See all of the exhibitions HERE.
Vickers in The Chromophiliacs
SCA alumnus Charlene Vickers is part of the exhibition The Chromophiliacs, running January 24 – April 4, 2026, at the Richmond Art Gallery (7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond). More HERE.
Listenings – in print!
Listenings, the publication produced in support of the exhibition series Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, curated by Candice Hopkins and Dylan Robinson (SCA alumnus and a Professor in UBC's School of Music), is available now, published by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, ICI, and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery with Information Office. More HERE.
Morelli curates Street Actions
Curated by SCA alumnus Didier Morelli, Street Actions: Women Performing in Montréal and Toronto, 1970-1980 runs from January 16 – June 13, 2026, at OPTICA, un centre d'art contemporain (5445 avenue de Gaspé, espace 106, Montréal). More HERE.
Stories Through Spaces
Matilda Aslizadeh and SCA alumni Aryo Khakpour and Pegah Tabassinejad are on the panel "Stories Through Spaces: On the Intersection of Theatre and Film," moderated by SCA alumnus Ghinwa Yassine, which runs Saturday, January 17, 2026, at 7:00 PM (doors at 6:30 PM), at the VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver), presented as part of the MENA Film Festival. More HERE.
Norillag at Red Gate
SCA alumnus Chaucer Gilson has shared that "True industrial percussionists, Norillag, are playing one final show before taking an indefinite hiatus at REDGATE on January 18th. Tickets at the door ($20), doors at 8pm." More HERE.
RWB's Carmina Burana and T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods
The team at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet reached out with a pair of tickets to giveaway to see their upcoming touring presentation of Carmina Burana and T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods on February 9 & 10, 2026, at 7:30 PM, at The Centre (777 Homer St., Vancouver). The lucky winner was SCA allumni dancer Avery Ebenal! Have fun, Avery! For more information and to buy tickets, visit HERE.
IGNITE! calling!
IGNITE!, the youth-driven, multidisciplinary arts festival, is calling for short one-act play scripts by emerging artists (ages 13-30) to be presented as part of their next festival in May, 2026, at The Cultch in Vancouver. The deadline is January 26, 2026, at 5:00 PM. Apply HERE now!
Friedenberg's Carry the One and presenting Wet Mess
SCA alumnus Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg is presenting Carry the One, produced as her graduating MFA project, on Wednesday, January 28 at 4:30 PM and Friday, January 30 at 6:00 PM, at Progress Lab (1422 William St., Vancouver). Get tickets HERE. Also, Friedenberg and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival are co-presenting Becoming a Mess: A Drag & Devising Workshop with Wet Mess on February 10, 2026, from 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM, in Room 4525 (Anndraya T. Luui Studio | Courtyard Studio) here at the SCA (149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver). Get more info and a link to the registration form HERE.
Xu on the Quantum Fish School and F-O-R-M
Read SCA student Clara Xu in SFU's The Peak on Zoe Todd's Quantum Fish School, which is in The Cabinet exhibition space until January 31, 2026, on the 4th floor of the SCA (149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver), curated by the SCA's Denise Oleksijczuk. Read it HERE. Also, read Xu's review of F-O-R-M 2025 for The Peak HERE.
Durey talks So Many Feelings
Read an interview with SCA alumnus Lucien Durey by Katie Walkley for SFU's The PEAK, discussing Durey's So Many Feelings, which he's performing on January 22, 2026, at 7:00 PM & 8:30 PM, in the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre here at the SCA (149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver), featuring Caroline Ballhorn, Chance Lovett, SCA alumnus Amanda Sum, and Mark Wolf, and presented by the Gibson Art Museum in support of the exhibition Edge Effects. Read it HERE.
A Message From Derek
SCA alumnus Derek Chan is stepping down from his role as Managing Artistic Director of Vancouver Asain Canadian Theatre (vAct) to focus on his health. Read his open letter HERE.
The Burning Seed at the Centre: Exploring Where Theatre Ideas Begin
SCA alumnus Keely O’Brien is hosting the workshop, The Burning Seed at the Centre: Exploring Where Theatre Ideas Begin, on Saturday, January 24, 2026, from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM, at Pivot Theatre (#5 White Pass Train Station, 1109 Front St., Whitehorse). More HERE.
Snack Witch Joni Cheung in Words Matter
SCA alumnus Snack Witch Joni Cheungis part of the exhibition Words Matter at de Montigny Contemporary (Suite 101, 858 Bank St., Ottawa), opening Friday, January 16, 2026. More HERE.
Sound talks
SCA alumnus Michelle Sound is giving an artist talk on January 19, 2026, from 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM, at the University Theatre in UBC Okanagan's Campus Administration Building (1138 Alumni Ave, Kelowna), presented by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. The talk will also be streamed via Zoom. More HERE.
withintensions calling for truth (and sharing nostalgia)
withintensions, the artist-run monthly publication founded by SCA alumni Opal McLean, Francisco Berlanga, and Yihk Qu (Natalie) Chan, is calling for submissions for their next issue on the theme of Truth, with a deadline of January 23, 2026. Find out how to submit HERE. Also, download their last issue on the theme of Nostalgia HERE.
The Natalie Brett Podcast E03
Listen to episode three of the Natalie Brett Podcast, conceived of, and hosted by, SCA alumni Stevan Oostenbrug and Carol Sawyer and SCA Music & Sound student Megan Tran. Listen on Apple, Spotify or HERE.
Beg's Where is Home
SCA alumnus Ayesha Beg's Where is Home is on display along the Arbutus Greenway in Vancouver (near 6th Avenue between Fir St. and Burrard St.), presented as part of Launch Pad, the City of Vancouver's Public Art Program billboard project. More HERE.
Ross in The Ex-Puritan
Read a conversation between Casper Orr and SCA alumnus Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross for The Ex-Puritan. Read it HERE.
B-Side, Track 12: No More Loopholes Act — with Kelsey Gallagher
Listen to Below the Radar B-Sides Track 12: No More Loopholes Act, with Am Johal in conversation with Kelsey Gallagher, Senior Researcher with Project Ploughshares. Listen HERE.