How thirsty do we have to get before we will fight for our water? Some of Vancouver's finest artists are immersing in Headlines Theatre's 20th Anniversary Mainstage Production. THIR$TY is conceived and directed by David Diamond, Headlines Theatre Artistic Director, and Kathryn Ricketts, MainDance Artistic Director and Co-Director of Plan B.

THIR$TY is a dance/theatre spectacle that incorporates a fifty foot pool of water as its setting. THIR$TY engages a very heated and timely topic, the privatization of water, and is opening on the United Nations' World Water Day. On that same day in downtown Vancouver, UNESCO will be hosting an international conference on water.

Two sexually frustrated salmon trying to reach home; a Canadian whose identity resides in a lake; a sprawling corporate head who likes to dance; a thirsty Bolivian fighting for democracy. These are a few of the characters in this rich dance/theatre spectacle. THIR$TY weaves narratives from Canada, Bolivia, and the natural world, embracing dry humour and rich emotions as it engages a very heated and timely topic: privatization of water.

Read all about THIR$TY's cast and crew made up of some of the finest in Vancouver's professional theatre community.

Following every performance, Act II (the "counteract,") will feature guest speakers who are experts on various water issues. The counteract will invite audience discussion and focus on solutions and community action.

This production sits at the centre of a multi-faceted project which runs parallel to the three-week theatre run. A series of public workshops, film and community arts events all take place at the Roundhouse. Audiences are encouraged to arrive early in order to view Free Flow, a major visual arts exhibition in the adjoining Exhibition Hall. Free Flow is curated by Elizabeth Kidd, Roundhouse Arts Programmer, and features artwork from one hundred Vancouverites working with artists-in-residence Haruko Okano, Caffyn Kelley, and Karen Stanley.