A street fair to remember

The ship that wouldn’t sink is coming to Montreal as part of Just For Laughs’ street festival-sans Leo, though.
German troupe Titanick Theatre brings the Titanic disaster out of the comfort of a plush cinema and onto the street in a “grand odyssey of apocalyptic proportion,” recreating that famous night of 1912, complete with some 30, 000 gushing litres of water and a whole lot of pyro effects. Sit back and take in the sinking of a luxury liner with “a banquet on the upper deck, a fire in the machine-room, drunken staff and pleasure-seeking passengers,” all with the help of some complex German engineering, of course.

Catch Titanic, Friday, July 12, or Sunday and Monday, July14–15, 10 p.m., outside the Habitations Jeanne-Mance (corner of Ontario and Hôtel-de-ville). In addition to Titanick Theatre, some 73 other troupes from around the world will be on hand in the Quartier Latin, performing a whopping 1,775 shows in total over the course of the fest. Info on all this craziness is available at www.hahaha.com or 790-HAHA. :
-Matthew Woodley

Doll debauch

Who says dolls should be solely relegated to the younger set? The ingenues and artistes starring in the Puppet Project’s new “urban puppet musical,” The Memory Tree, are marionettes approaching grownup proportions. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the lack of animate actors equals a fundamentally fluffy premise-this figurine-filled play tackles such gritty issues as “cultural amnesia, death, repression and disempowerment.”

Supplying the audience with a healthy dose of social satire, The Memory Tree also features X-rated occurrences like puppet sex and a topless puppet… obviously not for the innocent nor the weak-at-heart. Catch this mélange of lasciviousness and socially relevant motifs before it takes off to unleash its puppet players and live soundtrack of “dirty beats and pretty strings” across North America. At Studio 303 (372 Ste-Catherine W.) on Friday, July 12, at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 13, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. : -Claire Philipson

Craft work

Calling folks of all ages and interests to spend an idyllic afternoon lolling and learning in the sunshine, Santropol Roulant is holding its first ever One Voice, Many Generations Art Festival. The Meals-on-Wheels crew are giving a slew of workshops including lantern- and kite-making, book-making and graffiti on Saturday, July 13, from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. in Jeanne-Mance Park (corner of Duluth and Esplanade). The festival is preceded by a week of workshops at Santropol Roulant (4050 St-Urbain) and a night of dancing at Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent) with DJ Felkai, DJ Opositive and Ark of Infinity on Friday, July 12, 9:30 p.m. :
-Claire Philipson

Luge vs.
surf
On Monday, the Grimy Windows Variety Showcase exploits the advent of video projection technology at Hurley’s (courtesy of the recent World Cup frenzy). They’re presenting A Luge Son, the latest opus from Kidnapper Films, directed by Darren Curtis and Bobby Shore. Starring two Grimy Windows comedy regulars, Derick Lengwenus and Mike Paterson, the film delves into the dysfunctional dynamic between a retired Olympic luge champion and his would-be surfer son. “[The filmmakers] really manage to tell a good story that’s on the one hand very funny and on the other, kind of emotional,” says Paterson.

The showcase also features the first public screening of one of Mark Paterson’s own Super-8 films from his CÉGEP-era film class. “I’ve got these Super-8 movies sitting in my closet with titles like Hot Poker Red, and The Three Shadows and the Orgasm God,” Paterson explains, “but the actors are friends who all now have jobs and families, so I’m not allowed to show those.” Instead, he’s screening Try Not to Die, Skater, Try Not to Die, a gripping four-minute skateboarding stunt film starring his brother Mike.

The live show features writer Alison Newall reading “Heart Like a Drum.” Her stories are influenced by the magic realist tradition of Latin American authors like Luisa Valenzuela. Also featured: a reading by writer/actor Martin Kevan, live comedy by Lengwenus and Mike Paterson, and music by Mark Berube. At Hurley’s Irish Pub (1225 Crescent) on the second floor, July 15, 8 p.m., free! :
-Vincent Tinguely

Is it Art?
Classes for the masses: Since 1912, when its founder began using the then avant-garde techniques of direct-mail advertising to sell social dance classes, the Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Schools have managed to keep up with the times. The school was the first to broadcast live radio music for dancing in the ’20s, a part of the package on the finest steamships of the ’30s, all over the Latin craze of the ’50s and TV screens of the ’60s. And they’re still at it today, offering free classes of all types of dance at their Side Walk Sale, July 13–14,
11 a.m.–5 p.m., (1625 Ste-Catherine). :

Artistat: Number of acrobats, entertainers and clowns who will defy gravity and so on at the Cirque EOS, running July 17–Aug. 4 at the Old Port: 18 :

ArtsHole
Get outsider: Now showing at the Musée du Château Dufresne (2929 Jeanne-d’Arc) is Chasse-croissé: Art populaire et art indiscipliné, a show of “undisciplined,” or outsider art set up by the Société des arts indisciplinés. It runs through Oct. 13.

In memoriam: Late Quebec artist Yves Gaucher is paid tribute to in a new group show at Concordia’s Leonard & Bina Art Gallery (1400 de Maisonneuve W.) In addition to Gaucher’s works, the show features pieces by Jana Sterbak, Betty Goodwin, Marc Séguin and others. It runs July 16–Aug. 3.

Larger than life: The Liane and Danny Taran Gallery (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine) is the place to be to check out painter David Elliot’s huge creations in his new show Instant Karma. It runs through Sept. 1. :