A Vancouver performing arts festival meant to PuSh the envelope

In Mouthpiece, a writer has lost her words after her mother’s death, but must write a eulogy. Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava star.Joel Clifton

January can be a rough time of year for so many reasons (even without a Trump inauguration). In Vancouver, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival injects a bit of light into all the dreariness – with envelope-pushing works, homegrown and from around the world.

Here are five shows that speak to this in some way, promising to incite and provide insight – as well as entertain.

Macbeth

South Africa's Third World Bunfight radically adapts Verdi's opera based on Shakespeare's tale of treachery, political ambitions and blood on hands. Set in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this contemporary Macbeth employs African musical idioms, contemporary costumes and context – mineral mines, machine guns and political corruption. Jan. 16-21, Vancouver Playhouse

Oil Pressure Vibrator

Well, this should be interesting. South Korean performance artist Geumhyung Jeong describes her quest for autoerotic satisfaction, and how her search led her to a large construction machine. Video images help tell the tale along with a live performance; a small excavator is handled by the artist onstage. Dirt will be dug. Jan. 17-19, SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts

By Heart

In this posttruth world, a show about the power of words and memory entices. Tiago Rodrigues, artistic director of Portugal's national theatre company, teaches a poem to 10 audience volunteers. The work was inspired by Rodrigues's grandmother; she asked him to help her memorize a book as she was going blind. She didn't want to forget. Jan. 19-21, Performance Works

Concord Floral

Created by Torontonians Jordan Tannahill, Erin Brubacher and Cara Spooner and cast with a group of Lower Mainland teenagers, this experimental collaboration sees a group of teens seek refuge in an abandoned greenhouse from a plague they have brought upon themselves. Hmmm.

Last fall, The Globe's J. Kelly Nestruck gave the Canadian Stage production four stars. Jan. 25-29, The Roundhouse

Mouthpiece

Earning another four-star review from Nestruck, Mouthpiece is created by Toronto's Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, who play two halves of the same woman. Faced with her mother's death, Cassandra – a writer – has lost her words.

But there's a eulogy to write. Mouthpiece is billed as an exploration of female assertion and submission – an issue that has huge contemporary resonance. Jan. 31-Feb 5, The Cultch