EDITOR BEN BULMER THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2018 4 Famous shooter comes to Langara Award-winning author and photographer will talk about the planet’s most valuable resource: water By BILL EVERITT ward-winning Canadian photog- Ppevres Edward Burtynsky is com- ing to Langara on Oct. 8 to talk about water, the world’s most valuable resource and the name of his newest book. He also has a film called Water- mark in the Vancouver International Film Festival. Burtynsky is a TED-prize winner and in 2006 was inducted into the office of the Order of Canada. TED, which stands for technology, entertainment and design, is a non-profit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Humans are de- pendent on water. Without water, life on earth could not exist. Burtynsky at- tempts to draw at- tention to our rela- EDWARD tionship with this BURT YNSKY crucial resource in Filmaker and his latest book and author is latest book an film. Watermark is a celebration of wa- ter and how it shapes our lives, but it also laments the damage we do to it when we manage it. Burtynsky was not available to talk to The Voice, but in an interview with CBC Radio, he said, “My main concern is that, when we redirect water, there’s always a winner that gets that water, and a loser, the people or fish or ani- mals downstream. There’s always that consequence with water. “T don’t think we fully comprehend how much we are affecting the world when we change it.” Burtynsky will be at Langara dis- cussing both his book and the film in room A130 from 6 to 8 p.m. The film Watermark will be featured in the Vancouver International Film Festival on Oct. 10. Tickets are still available for this show, which will be screened at the Centre for Performing Arts. (7 Ar ‘iS Tammy English photo Dominic Duchesne (Oberon) and Lili Beaudoin (Puck) perform in Studio 58’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A Midsummer Night's Dream: vampire-filled extravaganza Scott Bellis’s adaptation takes Shakespeare to Transylvania By TAMMY ENGLISH hances are you read this one in high school. Even if you didn’t, you probably know the gist. It’s the one with woodland nymphs, a play-within-a-play, and a manipula- tive sprite named Puck who messes with the romantic lives of humans at the bidding of Oberon, the fairy king. Or maybe for you, it’s “the one with the donkey.” In this adaptation, director Scott Bel- lis sets the play in Romania, traditional home of Dracula. The fairies are vam- pires, Oberon is king of the undead, and the rustics are a traveling Roma community. With white-on-white costumes and blood-drained complexions, the vam- pire fairies are effectively creepy, to say nothing of their staging and move- ment. The cast is almost uniformly strong. Lili Beaudoin’s physicality as Puck is perfect. Lauren Jackson, as Hermia, speaks the text as naturally as though she may order breakfast in iambic pen- tameter. Maxamillian Wallace, as Quince, the long-suffering leader of his troupe, makes a hilarious straight man to Bottom, a needy show-off who in Erik Gow’s hands becomes an endear- ing charmer. A director’s note in the program warns, “Purists take note: I have adapt- ed some scenes for our darker purpos- es.” The bulk of the adaptation works well with some exceptions. The zom- bies (you knew there had to be) are su- perfluous, serving only to move set pieces and to be pummeled — however crowd-pleasingly so — in a scene of ticked-off girl power. And the darker tone of the middle acts, set in a wood- land beset with the undead and vam- piric spirits, makes the finale - a truly delightful laugh-riot of intentionally bad acting — a bit jarring. But unless you’re a purist, and a hard-core one at that, you’ll have fun. A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays at Langara until Oct. 20. Studio 58 1 A Midsummer Night's Dream runs from Sept. 26 - Oct. 20 Check out cheap Tuesday where all tickets are $12.75 Studio 58's next performance is 4Play starting Nov. 13 *-, A Gavin Fisher photo Deshka Peneff signs a copy of her novel Monkey Tales wien By GAVIN FISHER thor. his classmates. 58 graduate Deshka Peneff from pursuing an acting career, but 42 rejections of her manuscript didn’t stop her from becoming a published au- S*: fright may have kept Studio This 44-year-old event planner and mother of two is the author of Monkey Tales, a tween novel about a geeky 13-year-old who invents a pet monkey in an attempt to become popular with Peneff, who graduated from Studio 58 in 1992, realized she’d “rather be be- hind the scenes than in front” after starring in a number of TV spots, in- cluding The Outer Limits. Having always been in the closet about being a writer, it was only after some friends read Monkey Tales and encouraged her that she decided to try to publish it. it directly. After 42 rejections she discovered iUniverse — a self-publishing company. The editors at iUniverse saw merit in her book and guided her through the process of editing, publishing, and marketing herself. “They really helped and supported me,” said Peneff. “Mind you everything that I do from the printing of the books and so on all comes out of my pocket.” When Peneff saw that she was only making $1.07 per book, she decided to become her own distributor. She now makes anywhere between $4.50 a book sold at a bookstore to $12.95 if she sells said. > Langara grad publishes tween novel Mother of two takes do-it-yourself philosophy to getting her work into book stores “It also really makes you want to move the books and be selling,” Peneff “They’re taking up my spare bed- room.” Peneff said her self-publishing expe- rience might differ from that of other budding writers. Perhaps, she joked, the editors at iUniverse were just in a good mood the day they read her man- uscript. awesome.” stores. “T was at the right place at the right time and the right person read it. I don’t know, it was sunny, they had a good bowel movement that day, who knows? However it happened, it was Monkey Tales, published in March this year, is available at selected book