Winners and Losers at Intrepid Theatre April 11/12 2014. Interview with co-creator Marcus Youssef. When the Globe and Mail theatre critic, Kelly Nestruck, names a show among his year’s top ten, and describes it as “jaw-dropping”, I pay attention. Fellow Globe arts writer Paula Citron calls it a “tour-de-force” and references a “sucker punch”. Thanks to Intrepid Theatre’s new Deep End Presentation Series, Victoria audiences have the … [Read more...]
Winners and Losers at Intrepid Theatre April 11/12. Interview with co-creator Marcus Youssef.
April 3, 2014 By Leave a Comment
When It Rains at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2014. A review.
March 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
When It Rains by 2b Theatre Company at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival, March 25-29, 2014. A review. Halifax’s 2b Theatre Company is definitely on a roll. Currently they are touring When it Rains (now playing in Victoria BC at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival, March 25-29,2014) and have just received nods for The God That Comes (featuring Hawksley Workman and seen locally at Intrepid Theatre’s UNO Fest 2012) at Nova Scotia’s Merritt … [Read more...]
Little Iliad at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival March 25-30, 2014. A review.
March 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Little Iliad at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival March 25-30, 2014. A review. Little Iliad by Evan Webber & Frank Cox-O’Connell (EW&FCO, Toronto) currently at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival March 25-30, 2014 is an exquisite miniature that re-affirms the impact of story-telling. Since man developed language, we have been gathered together to relate our experiences, aided by shamans, wise men and women, and poets. From the … [Read more...]
The Flick by Itsazoo Productions at Blue Bridge’s Roxy Theatre March 18-30, 2014. A review.
March 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The Flick by Itsazoo Productions at Blue Bridge's Roxy Theatre March 18-30, 2014. A review. The Flick by Vancouver’s Itsazoo Productions—currently at Blue Bridge’s Roxy Theatre until March 30, 2014—is a powerful illustration of a generation stuck between adolescence and adulthood. Sam (Chris Cochrane), Avery (Jesse Reid) and Rose (Kate Richard) work at a single screen movie house that is on the skids. Their lives are filled with the tedium … [Read more...]
The Derwin Blanshard Show, Season 2 Episode 7, March 23, 2014
March 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The Derwin Blanshard Show, Season 2 Episode 7, March 23, 2014. Wes Borg, perpetual funny-man and one of Victoria's most well-rounded and hardest working performers, stars as his alter-ego Derwin Blanshard. Now in its second season, the Derwin Blanshard Show aka Derwin Blanshard's Extremely Classy Sunday Evening Programme, is a post-modern take on the variety show—a meta-theatrical tour-de-force with an audience playing itself on a "live" TV … [Read more...]
IMPROV: A Science Fiction Thriller. April 9-12, 2014. A preview.
March 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
IMPROV: A Science Fiction Thriller. Presented by Paper Street Theatre in Victoria BC, April 9-12, 2014. A preview. I've been a fan of Paper Street Theatre Co. since the founding of the company in 2011. Originally dedicated to improvising based on the style of well-known playwrights like Tennessee Williams and Samuel Beckett, the company branched out to genres in 2012 with An Improvised Film Noir, hit their stride with A Carol for Christmas in … [Read more...]
Firewall by Target Theatre at Belfry Festival SPARK Festival 2014. A review.
March 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Firewall by Target Theatre at Belfry Festival SPARK Festival 2014. A review. My father, who would have been 93 this year, had an email address before I did. I was on Twitter before either of my two sons (in their twenties) and I’ll be 60 this year. My point, and more importantly, the point of Target Theatre’s Firewall, currently at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival (until March 23rd)—technology knows no age-barrier. People’s desire to … [Read more...]
Victoria Arts Adventures April 2014
March 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Victoria Arts Adventures April 2014 Here's a round-up of some of the arts events in April, as of March 20th. April is National Poetry Month in Canada—take some time to connect with the multitude of poetry events in Victoria this April, including Victorious Voices the 5th annual Victoria High School slam poetry championships, and LitARTCity, a fundraiser with Victoria's poet laureate Janet Rogers, to benefit the READ Society. On the … [Read more...]
Victorious Voices 5th annual High School Slam Poetry Championships. April 7-9th 2014.
March 19, 2014 By 1 Comment
Victorious Voices Celebrates 5 Years of Youth Speaking Their Truth I don't get out to as much poetry (slam, spoken word, readings) as I would like, but I always make time and space in my calendar for Victorious Voices. Director Jeremy Loveday has impressed me with his passion for mentoring since the first time I met him in early 2011. April marks the 16th annual National Poetry Month in Canada; I can't think of a better way to celebrate poetry … [Read more...]
Joan by Theatre SKAM. April 17-20, 2014. A preview.
March 19, 2014 By 1 Comment
Joan by Theatre SKAM. April 17-20, 2014. A preview. Theatre SKAM’s Joan brings the memory of local arts maven Joan Mans to the Metro Studio Theatre stage I remember the first time I met Joan Mans--it was in Market Square for Jazz Fest. She stopped as I was seated on a bench and regaled me with stories of dancing and walking home from Swan's at closing time (in the wee hours of the morning-alone-at 80). Then, I would run into her with … [Read more...]
