ArtSmarts Monday Magazine May 2018 Theatre Festivals in Victoria BC (originally appeared in the May 2018 edition of Monday Magazine) Many people are familiar with the Victoria Fringe Festival or Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival, but did you know about Impulse Theatre’s PEEK-FEST or Puente Theatre’s WorldPlay? There are actually twelve theatre festivals yearly in the Capital Region. Catch the last play reading in Puente Theatre’s … [Read more...]
Tenant Haymovitch at Theatre Inconnu. Interview with director Matt McLaren
April 30, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Tenant Haymovitch at Theatre Inconnu. Interview with director MattMcLaren Two years after his directorial début—Bad Jews, also at Theatre Inconnu—Matt McLaren returns with an ambitious project—Tenant Haymovitch, which audiences may remember as a stand-out international offering from the 2012 Victoria Fringe Festival. McLaren, a UVic Phoenix grad and long a stalwart of the Victoria theatre scene where he contributed reviews to The Marble … [Read more...]
Kim’s Convenience at Chemainus Theatre Festival. A review.
April 30, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Kim’s Convenience at Chemainus Theatre Festival. A review. April 24-May 26, 2018. It’s a dream come true for any Fringe performer or playwright—navigating the tricky waters from alternative theatre to mainstage production. And, although it makes a compelling story, the reality of Ins Choi’s seemingly “instant” hit is much more complex. Kim’s Convenience is now a CBC series and has even had a run in New York but in 2011 when Mr Choi staged … [Read more...]
Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. A review.
April 27, 2018 By 1 Comment
Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. A review. Working the Musical may be forty years old this year but it still packs an emotional wallop. Students from the Canadian College of Performing Arts, under the leadership of director and choreographer Matthew Howe, do great tribute to these stories of ordinary working people. Based on the book written in 1972 by ethnographer and oral historian Studs Terkel, of his … [Read more...]
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. A review
April 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. A review Swan Song and Other Farces (currently at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre April 24-May 6, 2018) combines four of Chekhov’s short farces into one continuous and riotous ninety minute frolic to begin the company’s 10th anniversary season. Director Jacob Richmond has an unquestionable grasp of the genre, a talent he has honed for over a decade as the founder and one of the main … [Read more...]
Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Preview.
April 24, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Working the Musical by the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Preview. The Canadian College of Performing Arts (CCPA) sheds the glitz and glamour of their spring performance with the Victoria Symphony to don a different uniform this week. The students – singers, actors and dancers all – will become a tableau of America’s often invisible working classes in the Tony Award-nominated musical WORKING. WORKING paints a vivid portrait of the … [Read more...]
Fear No Opera and Braden Young present Strauss: First and Last
April 24, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Fear No Opera and Braden Young present Strauss: First and Last April 28 2018 in Victoria BC (media release) After the success of Fear No Opera’s first art song concert (An Interior Life: The Complete Songs of Henri DuParc), we combine forces once again with Braden Young to present an evening of works by Richard Strauss. Richard Strauss (1864-1949) composed songs and operas over the better part of an 85-year lifetime. His first known work … [Read more...]
The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl at Langham Court Theatre. A review.
April 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl at Langham Court Theatre. A review. Langham Court Theatre tackles the challenge of Sarah Ruhl’s comedy-fable The Clean House (April 18-May 5, 2018) with intelligent direction, sophisticated staging and design, and spirited acting. Ruhl’s witty deadpan style demands skilled actors with an appreciation of the pause, a talent the ensemble displays in abundance. This absurdist fable also requires a complete … [Read more...]
Salt Baby by Falen Johnson at the Belfry Theatre. A review.
April 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Salt Baby by Falen Johnson at the Belfry Theatre. A review. Girl meets boy, falls in love and lives happily ever after. Not if you’re Salt Baby (Dakota Ray Hebert) the titular character in Falen Johnson’s story of indigenous identity and belonging, Salt Baby (currently at the Belfry Theatre April 17-May 13, 2018); it’s brim-full of questions and the awkward sense of constantly checking one’s assumptions. Salt Baby is brash, bold and … [Read more...]
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. An interview.
April 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Swan Song and Other Farces at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. An interview. Noa Paster may only be seven going on eight, but she’s already an experienced musician and performer who is prepared to hold her own with the talented ensemble of Swan Song and Other Farces, the opening production of Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre’s tenth anniversary season (April 24-May 6, 2018). Director Jacob Richmond (The Caretaker, Animal Crackers, Waiting … [Read more...]
