A celebrated author from New Westminster will be making literary magic at the Chan Centre at the end of the month.
Steven Galloway is the author of four novels, including The Cellist of Sarajevo and, most recently, The Confabulist. He'll be taking to the stage with master magician David Gifford on Thursday, Feb. 26 as part of the Beyond Words series at the Chan Centre's Telus Studio Theatre.
The popular literary series has a mandate to "ignite conversation" through words and performance. It will do just that in the upcoming outing by pairing readings from The Confabulist - which traces the life and sudden death of turn-of-the-century magician Harry Houdini - with live illusions presented by Gifford.
"It's neither a reading nor a magic show, but a hybrid of the two," said Chan Centre programming manager Wendy Atkinson in a press release. "Our hope is that while the audience observes the maic tricks performed in front of their own eyes that they will delve deeper into some of the themes that gracefully unfold in Steven's book, such as the limitations of memory, reality versus imagination and the scam of spiritualism in the early 20th century."
The Confabulist explores the life, loves and murder of Houdini, with the story of the person who killed him - Martin Strauss. The cast of characters that surrounds them includes the Romanov family, soon to be assassinated, the powerful heads of Scotland Yard and the Spiritualists, who would use whomever they could to establish their religion.
Atkinson noted that the evening will resonate with audience members in a personal way.
"The evening should leave them asking questions such as: Can I trust my memory? What is true and what is make-believe? And how is it that we come to be fooled?" she said.
Galloway and Gifford will be onstage starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the evening are $15, 22 and $27, available through 604-822-2697 or www.chancentre.com.
Check out www.chancentre.com/BeyondWords for more information.
