THEATRE PREVIEW

APRIL 2025 | Volume 250

 

High fashion. High voltage. High stakes.
The Dust Palace's sexy circus extravaganza comes to the York Theatre!

The Cultch is thrilled to present HAUS OF YOLO from The Dust Palace (New Zealand/Aotearoa). HAUS OF YOLO is the final show in the Cultch's 24/25 Season and plays at The York Theatre, June 5-15, 2025.

Meet Welt Couture, fashion designer of the prestigious—and completely fictional—fashion label HAUS OF YOLO. Watch as Welt Couture, with the help of the "Sexy Meat Puppets," designs their collection live on the spot. Sit front row as chic creations move from sewing machine to circus routine, giving a new name to fast fashion. Will the costumes be completed before the next act goes on? For once, the circus is not the riskiest thing on stage.

Written and directed by Eve Gordon, founder of The Dust Palace, Aotearoa's most daring circus theatre company, HAUS OF YOLO blends high fashion with high-flying acrobatics. Inspired by a joke about their habit of working on costume designs right up until the last minute (Gordon is also The Dust Palace's resident costume designer), HAUS OF YOLO was created to be an anti-cabaret cabaret, utilising the high energy, interactive tropes and rituals of a cabaret but with a detailed narrative throughline and character development.

Since HAUS OF YOLO's premiere in 2021, it has played in many cities and festivals, each time with a slightly new cast taking on the challenge of live costume design. The four cast members for the Vancouver run—Eve Gordon, Luis Meirelles, Jaine Mieka and Lizzie Tollemache—will take turns playing the roles of designer as well as the "Sexy Meat Puppets", each getting a chance to impress the audience with their creations and circus prowess.

"This show is designed to be a relief in an otherwise anxious and uncertain world," says Gordon. "To delight, tickle and amaze audiences. To make a party in a theatre and let that party carry on into the night. Welcome to HAUS of YOLO. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

"The show is flamboyant, evocative, exquisitely breathtaking and quite simply magical."—
The New Zealand Herald

"A playful set of risqué cabaret vignettes fully celebrating the half-naked body in the tiniest leotards I have ever seen."—Theatreview

Eve Gordon—Co-writer, Co-director, Performer
Rachael Dubois—Co-director, Producer
Lizzie Tollemache—Co-writer, Performer
Jaine Mieka—Performer, Rigger
Luis Meirelles—Performer
Sam Mence—Lighting Designer, Technical Director

WHEN: June 5-15, 2025

EVENING PERFORMANCES, 7:30PM:
June 5—Opening
June 6, 7, 10 (Talkback), 11,12, 13, 14

MATINEE PERFORMANCES, 2PM:
June 7, 8 (Talkback), 14, 15

WHERE: York Theatre, 639 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C.

TICKETS: Tickets from $29. Single tickets on sale now through The Cultch's Box Office: 604-251-1363 or thecultch.com/event/haus-of-yolo

ABOUT THE DUST PALACE:

Established by Eve Gordon & Mike Edward in 2009, The Dust Palace is now the leading cirque theatre company in Aotearoa/New Zealand. We exist to elevate contemporary circus culture, and build multi-generational creative capacity in circus, holding the next wave of talent, encouraging better practice and empowering a bold future for the art form. thedustpalace.co.nz

ABOUT THE CULTCH:

Since 1973, The Cultch (formally the Vancouver East Cultural Centre) has been one of Vancouver's most diverse and innovative arts and cultural hubs. The organisation operates three theatrical venues, a gallery, various ancillary spaces in the heart of East Vancouver, as well as digital programming through The Cultch Online that reaches international audiences. The Cultch offers dynamic contemporary programming in theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts, bringing world-class cultural presentations to thousands of citizens each year through its own programming and through providing rental opportunities for community users. Our purpose is to provide a venue for performance that serves a diverse and engaged public and provides space for artistic experimentation and development, building an audience for local companies and presenting cutting-edge national and international work.

 

 

 

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