Revolving around the story of Emma—an irreverent, witty, and deeply complicated struggling actress—the play follows her journey from casual substance use, to abuse, to rehab, and back again in a manner only live theatre could. The meticulous use of space, sound, and set design propels the story across different timelines and geographies, embodying the very experience of addiction and recovery without sacrificing the personal narrative at the heart of the production. It’s a dizzying, courageous, and fascinating show, and one that subverts typical strictures of narrative satisfaction in favour of a more realistic and challenging conclusion for the heroine.

But this is the exact type of story that Parfitt and her production company, The Search Party, excel at telling. Parfitt has quickly established a reputation as one of Vancouver’s most prolific artistic directors, frequently staging plays that upend theatrical conventions, privilege taboo perspectives, and linger with their audiences long after the curtain falls. As a formally trained drama practitioner and seasoned director with a resume including some of the most impressively staged productions to hit the city (Fairview and The Sound Inside, to name a few), Parfitt is at the peak of her creative power with the ambition necessary to stage a piece as sweeping as People, Places, and Things.

“The compression of time and space in this piece lends itself superbly to theatre’s modalities,” says Parfitt, when asked how this production stands out in her already impressive oeuvre. “I wanted to stage something where people come away with compassion for themselves, other people, and the experience of addiction in a form that doesn’t feel dishonest or sugar-coated,” she continues, elucidating why this play has remained in the back of her mind ever since she first encountered it years ago. As someone who lost a childhood best friend to addiction, staging this piece has a personal resonance for Parfitt as well: “[People, Places, and Things] feels very relevant to me, and to this city,” she says; “it builds an interesting bridge between addiction and the side effects of addiction in a way that allows compassion to flourish.”

Parfitt recounts how the show takes the audience on a difficult and unconventional journey (it specifically tells a woman’s journey, a perspective often underrepresented in conversations surrounding addiction), but due to the nature of theatre as a creative medium, it’s one that doesn’t feel isolating or traumatizing. “We don’t come together enough as a public anymore, and live theatre gives us a common experience,” she says, exceedingly praising The Cultch for platforming more unconventional performance art and staging a festival as brave and integrity-driven as The Warrior Fest. By fostering a space where difficult, innovative, but nonetheless necessary stories can be shared, digested, and dissected, The Cultch has gained an international reputation as a bold, inclusive, and exceptionally thoughtful venue for the most audacious writers, directors, performers, and theatregoers to come together. “They really understand what it is to build community,” says Parfitt, and People, Places, and Things is ultimately a story asking its audience “what it takes to build community,” what exactly community even means,  and “what are the things that make a life meaningful, at all.”

If you’re interested in a show privileging audience experience over passive consumption, compassion over despondency, and honesty over superficiality, People, Places, and Things will be playing from March 10 to 22 at The Cultch’s Historic Theatre. Part of the ongoing Warrior Festival, which brings six bold, inventive, and joyful performance art pieces to the shores of Vancouver now until March 29. | TICKETS & INFO