A man in a bunny suit. Puppets in a to-scale model of Auschwitz. Eating a slice of pizza as a dance theme. Edgar Allan Poe. Must be  the three-week theatre marathon that is the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival!

Founded by Norman Armour and Katrina Dunn in 2003, the annual festival has hosted some of the most confounding, unrelatable and provocative performances from around the world. Last year’s memorable shows included a comedian who handed out “cum cloths,” and hovering helium balloons which reflected lights onto a projector while the dramaturg spoke about her childhood in tones similar to Bobba Fett. Hey, there’s something for everyone!

All jokes aside, what is PuSh really about? What made Armour and Dunn say, ‘What Vancouver really needs is some freaky shit’? In an interview from New York, where he was making a last-minute pit stop before Wednesday’s opening night, Armour explained that, “At the root of live performance, for me, is the notion of witness. The idea of being in a room, something is happening, and you’re watching it happen…By what lens do you watch something? Do you watch the world around you?”

The festival has evolved, and gained enough respect in the performing arts community that Armour is now one of the voices leading the charge against BC arts funding cuts, and is considered by many to be a powerful spokesperson who can connect with local audiences. Armour spoke to that, saying, “There are things in the festival this year that really speak about values. What do you believe in? What are you willing to fight for?”

This year, far more than in years past, PuSh has to make a stand. The actors, stage managers, costume designers, producers, directors,  and audience all have the same thing at stake: the continued existence of a thriving, sustainable arts community in Vancouver.

The Cultural Olympiad is taking off some of the burn for the present year by funding hundreds of individual shows, but when the Games leave, what will be left? Armour hopes that young artists don’t flee to Toronto in the next few years with the potential arts cuts looming on the horizon.

“It’s a small irony, but not an insignificant one that great work is often created out of adverse conditions.” Thanks, Norman, I’ll remember that.