The best thing about seasonal life is it makes you conscious of endings and beginnings, and there’s nothing like the thought “there’s only 2 weeks left” to revive a sagging momentum.
The worst thing about seasonal life is that sometimes the endings are just a long drawn-out anti-climatic whimper. The 10 day TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival works some audacious magic to ensure the end of winter happens with a bang… but 10 days of non-stop partying, skiing/riding, late nights and cultural overdoses can leave one mewling for mercy like a lost kitten.
The last hurrah for the Fest, strangely enough, is its most high-brow moment… though there’s nothing snooty about the Chairlift Revue. After all, chairlifts are the great equalisers. Billionaires join ripping 4 year olds join big-hearted bums… for 20 minutes of bonding. That’s the premise GD Maxwell has exploited with his theatre project – galvanising a host of local scribblers to put pen to paper and whip up an airy scene or two.
Sunday’s show was a full house – launching the Chairlift Review into the realm occupied by other cultural juggernauts, the Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown and the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown, both of which sold out 2 weeks in advance.
Congrats to Max, Heather Paul and her players, and those writers who embraced their inner puppet-master and discovered the joys of watching their words come to life in other people’s hands.
