Silent-film buffs and those wanting to get their first taste of the pre-talkie experience will be treated to a Buster Keaton double feature at the Shadbolt Centre this upcoming Saturday, April 15.
The two-hour event will feature a screening of two of the legendary comedic actor-director's silent movies, introduced by a local poet and author who are working together on a time-travel romance novel with Buster Keaton in it.
One of the films featured, The Balloonist, is a hundred-year-old short comedy about an amusement park attendant who takes to the skies in a runaway air-balloon. The other comedy, Sherlock Jr., is a 1924 comedy about a movie projectionist and aspiring detective who dreams he's Sherlock Holmes.
The double bill will be accompanied by a live musical score from Roisin Adams, and a talk by poet Onjana Yawnghwe, who, according to her website, recently completed a biography-in-poems about Buster Keaton, and novelist Hazel Jane Plante, who will discuss Keaton and how his films inspired their work. Both authors will read from their works.
As the son of vaudevillians, Keaton learned to get laughs from a young age. Known for his stone-faced deadpan, he was a contemporary of legends like Charlie Chaplin, but is considered to have a uniquely modern appeal.
Music, Words and Buster Keaton
When: Saturday, April 15 at 8 p.m.
Where: Shadbolt Centre for the Arts – Studio Theatre Reserved (6450 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby)
Cost: $35 general. Buy tickets online at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts' website.
