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Description

Prepare to step into a world where reality bends, and the unseen becomes tangible. Through breathtaking illusions and cinematic storytelling, world-renowned illusionist, mentalist, and performance artist Scott Silven invites you into The Lost Things—a boundary-pushing theatrical experience that invites you to explore the power in getting lost.

From the moment you enter the theatre lobby, The Lost Things begins. The past lingers, memories shift, and unseen connections stir the senses in unexpected ways, pulling you deeper into its unfolding mystery.

Be among the first to experience this intimate preview, a rare chance to witness the evolution of The Lost Things before its grand world premiere at the iconic Sydney Opera House in June 2025.

Boy standing facing the woods
Page Summary
Scottish illusionist Scott Silven crafts a boundary-pushing theatrical experience where magic and memory reveal what was never truly lost.
Exhibition
No
Free
No
Donation
Off
Banff Centre Artist/Practicum/Staff Only
Off
Licensed
Off
Age Restrictions
Recommended for Ages 12 +
Event Tags
Performance Date
Date
Audience View Micro Site URL
https://tickets.banffcentre.ca/Online/mapSelect.asp?BOset::WSmap::seatmap::performance_ids=8211FE1D-60D2-4945-B3BC-6284629701B0
Expandable Content

Scott Silven

Scott Silven is a modern-day marvel like no other. As an acclaimed illusionist, mentalist, and performance artist, Silven pushes the boundaries of his craft by creating stylish, smart, and uniquely immersive performances on both stage and screen that mesmerize audiences across the globe. Hailed by Vogue as a ‘world-renowned mentalist’, the Scottish born artist has been described as ‘a marvel’ (The New York Times), ‘truly astonishing’ (The Daily Beast), ‘mesmerizing’ (Town and Country), ‘unforgettable’ (Entertainment Weekly), and someone who ‘wows everyone’ (The New Yorker) by crafting some ‘of the most awing and effective theatre productions on offer’ (Forbes) through ‘elegance, sheer mind power, and profound philosophical insight’. (Manhattan Digest). 

Following 6 major sell-out runs in New York at The McKittrick Hotel, and an extensive tour on the international stage, including engagements with leading arts organizations such as Melbourne International Arts Festival, Sydney Festival, Stanford Live, Auckland Arts Festival, Luminato Festival, Seattle Theater Group, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Sydney Opera House, Silven made his premiere at the Brighton Festival and Edinburgh International Festival in summer 2024.

Description

Prepare to step into a world where reality bends, and the unseen becomes tangible. Through breathtaking illusions and cinematic storytelling, world-renowned illusionist, mentalist, and performance artist Scott Silven invites you into The Lost Things—a boundary-pushing theatrical experience that invites you to explore the power in getting lost.

From the moment you enter the theatre lobby, The Lost Things begins. The past lingers, memories shift, and unseen connections stir the senses in unexpected ways, pulling you deeper into its unfolding mystery.

Be among the first to experience this intimate preview, a rare chance to witness the evolution of The Lost Things before its grand world premiere at the iconic Sydney Opera House in June 2025.

Boy standing facing the woods
Page Summary
Scottish illusionist Scott Silven crafts a boundary-pushing theatrical experience where magic and memory reveal what was never truly lost.
Exhibition
No
Free
No
Donation
Off
Banff Centre Artist/Practicum/Staff Only
Off
Licensed
Off
Age Restrictions
Recommended for Ages 12 +
Event Tags
Performance Date
Date
Audience View Micro Site URL
https://tickets.banffcentre.ca/Online/mapSelect.asp?BOset::WSmap::seatmap::performance_ids=1D800D6D-8428-462C-971A-D6F1528A18BF
Expandable Content

Scott Silven

Scott Silven is a modern-day marvel like no other. As an acclaimed illusionist, mentalist, and performance artist, Silven pushes the boundaries of his craft by creating stylish, smart, and uniquely immersive performances on both stage and screen that mesmerize audiences across the globe. Hailed by Vogue as a ‘world-renowned mentalist’, the Scottish born artist has been described as ‘a marvel’ (The New York Times), ‘truly astonishing’ (The Daily Beast), ‘mesmerizing’ (Town and Country), ‘unforgettable’ (Entertainment Weekly), and someone who ‘wows everyone’ (The New Yorker) by crafting some ‘of the most awing and effective theatre productions on offer’ (Forbes) through ‘elegance, sheer mind power, and profound philosophical insight’. (Manhattan Digest). 

Following 6 major sell-out runs in New York at The McKittrick Hotel, and an extensive tour on the international stage, including engagements with leading arts organizations such as Melbourne International Arts Festival, Sydney Festival, Stanford Live, Auckland Arts Festival, Luminato Festival, Seattle Theater Group, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Sydney Opera House, Silven made his premiere at the Brighton Festival and Edinburgh International Festival in summer 2024.

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Submitted by Nicola Leighfi… on
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With over 30 years in the entertainment industry, Crystal has been blessed to work both across the country and internationally stage managing some wonderful productions. She has had the pleasure of working with Ronnie fo the past 11 years. She has also worked with companies such as Blyth Festival, Kidoons Network, Calgary Stampede, Necessary Angel, Soulpepper Theatre, Canadian Stage, Harold Green Jewish Theatre, just to name a few. Other work experience includes Operations for Field of Dreams and Little League Classic (BaAM Productions), Sales Manager (Westsun), Concert Stage Manager (Marquis Entertainment).

Submitted by Nicola Leighfi… on
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John Alcorn is one of Canada’s premiere jazz vocalists, delivering his distinctive renditions of jazz standards on the most prestigious bandstands and concert stages across Canada. His list of citations and acknowledgements in music and theatre include both Jazz Report (Male Vocalist of the Year) and Dora (Outstanding Music) awards. As composer, lyricist, musical director, arranger and producer, he has collaborated with numerous significant Canadian theatre artists, including Daniel MacIvor, Deanne Taylor, Sky Gilbert, Theresa Tova, and Tomson Highway, and eight collaborations with Theatre of Marionettes.

Submitted by Nicola Leighfi… on
English

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Ronnie Burkett has been captivated by puppetry since the age of seven, when he opened the World Book Encyclopedia to “Puppets”.  He began touring his puppet shows around Alberta at the age of fourteen and has been on the road ever since.

Recognized as one of Canada’s foremost theatre artists, Ronnie Burkett has been credited with creating some of the world’s most elaborate and provocative puppetry. Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes was formed in 1986 and has stimulated an unprecedented adult audience for puppet theatre, continuously playing to great critical and public acclaim on Canada’s major stages, and as a guest company on numerous international tours abroad.

Ronnie has received numerous awards in the Canadian theatre as a playwright, actor and designer for his work with Theatre of Marionettes, including the 2009 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, The Herbert Whittaker Drama Bench Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Theatre, and international recognition including a Village Voice OBIE Award in New York for Off-Broadway Theatre, The GLAAD Award for Outstanding Theater, Broadway/Off-Broadway,  and four Citations of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry from the American Center of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette. In 2019, he was appointed as an Officer of The Order of Canada. In June 2024, Ronnie received the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.  

Ronnie’s highly acclaimed and wildly popular improvised marionette vaudeville cabaret The Daisy Theatre has played a decade of sold-out touring seasons including Los Angeles to New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney and Auckland, and follows the international successes Penny Plain, Billy Twinkle, 10 Days on Earth, Provenance and the “Memory Dress Trilogy” of Tinka’s New Dress, Street of Blood and Happy. Little Dickens (The Daisy Theatre version of A Christmas Carol), premiered in 2017. In June 2019, Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes premiered a new audience-interactive production, Forget Me Not. In 2022, The Loony Bin premiered, Ronnie’s first solo salon hand-puppet show since he was a teenager. In 2023, The Daisy Theatre cast took on Shakespeare in Little Willy for a seven-city tour. In 2024, Wonderful Joe had its world premiere at Theatre Network in Edmonton followed by engagements in California at Stanford University and UCLA. In the 2024-25 season, the production tours to Toronto, Calgary AB, Banff AB, Vancouver BC and to the Lincoln Center in New York City.

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Rosalie Favell 'Facing the Camera'

Rosalie Favell, Candice Hopkins, Banff, Alberta; Nadia Myre, Banff, Alberta; Tania Willard, Banff, Alberta; all 2008, from the series, Facing the Camera, 2008-2018.

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Featuring works primarily selected from Banff Centre’s permanent collection, Facing Photographs will run from February 14 to May 4, 2025. 

BANFF, AB, February 12, 2025 – After months of renovations and public closure, Walter Phillips Gallery at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity reopens with an exhibition presented in partnership with Exposure Photography Festival. Facing Photographs, organized by Jacqueline Bell, Curator of Walter Phillips Gallery at Banff Centre, runs from February 14 to May 4, 2025 with an opening reception on Thursday, February 13 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Central to the works that comprise Facing Photographs is the series Facing the Camera by Rosalie Favell, celebrated Winnipeg-born artist of Métis heritage. The series was initiated by Favell while on residence at Banff Centre in 2008 where, in the company other Indigenous artists, she sought to create a document of this group. Facing the Camera later grew to include over five hundred individual portraits of Indigenous artists and arts workers in Canada, Australia and the United States. Facing Photographs presents 13 works from the series in Banff Centre’s permanent collection, depicting the residency cohort and visiting artists at Banff Centre.

Building upon the ideas present in Favell’s series, Facing Photographs brings together works in photography, video and other media that take up questions of agency in relation to self-representation, or representations of those who share with the artist’s forms of identification or social world. The presented works engage with photography’s entanglement with colonialism, refuse fixed understandings of identity, or reflect modes of self-representation.

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Three women in beehives look at the camera
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Alongside portraits from Favell’s series, Facing the Camera, the exhibition includes works by Lori Blondeau, Cassils, Allyson Clay, Anna Binta Diallo, John Edmonds, Evergon, Logan MacDonald, Nadia Myre, Shelley Niro, Barbara Spohr, and Jin-me Yoon.

Audiences of Facing Photographs may also be interested in an upcoming artist talk with Filipino Canadian photo-based artist Karen Zalamea, winner of the 2025 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography, on Friday, February 28 at 4 p.m. Zalamea will speak to her broader practice and the series Herbarium (after Flora de Filipinas) (2024-ongoing) that she will continue while on residency at Banff Centre.

Facing Photographs
Walter Phillips Gallery at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
107 Tunnel Mtn Drive, Banff
February 14 –May 4, 2025
FREE
Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 13, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

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Facing Photographs is made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Government of Canada and Government of Alberta.

For more information on Banff Centre’s Visual Arts training and development opportunities, visit banffcentre.ca/visual-arts. To find out more about Walter Phillips Gallery exhibitions, please visit banffcentre.ca/walter-phillips-gallery.

Interviews are available with:

  • Jacqueline Bell - Acting Director, Visual Arts and Curator, Walter Phillips Gallery at Banff Centre
  • Josephine Ridge - Executive Director, Arts at Banff Centre

For photos, information or interview requests, please contact:


Carly Maga
Director, Communications
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
tel: +1.403.763.6210
cell: +1.403.431.3423
carly_maga@banffcentre.ca

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About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

Founded in 1933, Banff Centre is a post-secondary institution built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and leadership development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become a global organization leading in arts, culture, and creative decision-making across dozens of disciplines, from the fine arts to Indigenous Wise Practices. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to move everyone who attends our campus - artists, leaders, thinkers, and audiences - to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to build an innovative, inspiring future through education, performances, convenings, and public outreach. banffcentre.ca

 

About Walter Phillips Gallery

Walter Phillips Gallery is exclusively committed to the production, presentation, collection and analysis of contemporary art and curatorial practice. For contemporary artists, particularly those engaged in alternative forms of practice, Walter Phillips Gallery remains an essential and principal site where art is presented to an audience for critical reception. banffcentre.ca/walter-phillips-gallery

Image Credits:

  1. Rosalie Favell, Candice Hopkins, Banff, Alberta; Nadia Myre, Banff, Alberta; Tania Willard, Banff, Alberta; all 2008, from the series, Facing the Camera, 2008-2018.
  2. Shelley Niro, Mohawks in Beehives, 1991. Collection of Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity P96 0073 P
Media Release
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Submitted by Kate King Wale… on
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Quinn Czejkowski (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring movement, costumes, floral design, and tattooing. Based in Brooklyn, they are intensely curious about how we move, dress, treat, adorn, and otherwise ascribe meaning and identity to and from our bodies. Most recently, they were constructing costumes for the new immersive show, Life & Trust. Past and future collaborators include: Helen Simoneau, Adrienne Westwood, Kimberly Bartosik, Jen Rosenblit, among others.

Costume Design
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Image of a marionette of wonderful Joe and his dog
Subtitle
Created and performed by Ronnie Burkett
Page Summary
Ronnie Burkett brings Wonderful Joe to Banff with his signature stunning puppetry, laugh-out-loud humour, and masterful performance.

Submitted by Dolson Rhona on
English

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Anusree is a Governor General’s Award-nominated and four-time Dora Award-winning writer, actor, and director.

For theatre, Anusree’s plays include: Through the Eyes of God, Sisters, Trident Moon, Little Pretty and The Exceptional, Sultans of the Street, Brothel # 9, Roshni, Letters to my Grandma, and Pyaasa. She is the recipient of the K.M. Hunter Award, the RBC Emerging Artist Award, the Carol Bolt Award and the Siminovitch Protégé Prize. She was the 2018 finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women writing for English-speaking theatre). Currently, she is the commissioned playwright at Tarragon Theatre, writing her new play, 147, 8th Street. Anusree is presently developing a feature film inspired by her audio play, Sisters, as well as directing and premiering her short films, The Birthday Party and God’s Plan (winner of Best Performance & Best Editing at WIFF). She is also an adjunct professor of playwriting at the University of Toronto and a professor of creative writing, teaching advanced drama to MFA students, at the University of British Columbia.

Anusree's playwright residencies include: Nightwood Theatre, Young People's Theatre, Factory Theatre, The Blyth Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille, The Canadian Stage Company and Tarragon Theatre. Anusree spent two seasons as an actor at the Stratford Festival of Canada. She holds a B.A. from York University and an M.A. from the University of Toronto, and most of her plays have been published by Playwrights Canada Press. 
 

Dolson Rhona
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