It’s time for some of the freshest and strongest young voices to represent as Victorious Voices comes to the Victoria Event Centre April 15th and 17th. If you think that poetry is only for the printed page, these young poets will show you the power of the spoken word. Victorious Voices is the Victoria-based high school slam poetry competition, which has grown to such an extent that it is now staged in the community. "When I was a teenager, I … [Read more...]
Victorious Voices 2013, 4th annual Secondary School Slam Poetry Championship
April 4, 2013 By 2 Comments
Will Millar’s “Ireland” at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel
March 29, 2013 By 2 Comments
From the moment we arrived, to leaving, our experience at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel for Will Millar’s Ireland: Where the Song & Dance Began in the David Foster Foundation Theatre was like being wrapped in a long hug from a dear friend. At street level the new Oak Bay Beach Hotel is grand, even imposing, but inside, a warm sense of hospitality and hominess permeates. Impressions are built on the small details – free parking, easy access to … [Read more...]
Theatrical Double Bill – The Lesson, and Essay.
March 26, 2013 By 2 Comments
“A Theatrical Double Bill” (Ionesco’s The Lesson and Essay by Hannah Moscovitch) marks the first, in what Victoria audiences can only hope will be further, collaboration between Eric Grace (Dandelion Theatre) and Julian Cervello (Scrumpy Theatre). The partners are actors familiar for their roles with the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Inconnu, and the Victoria Fringe Festival. When Grace decided to mount The Lesson, he was … [Read more...]
Little One, Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2013
March 21, 2013 By 2 Comments
They’re the neighbours next door and they have terrible, dark and disturbing secrets to hide and to share in Hannah Moscovitch’s psychological thriller, Little One, (currently at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival). With a creep factor tuned to high, and disorienting sound and visual effects to keep the audience off-kilter, Little One is as far from comfortable as I am willing to accept. Michelle Monteith in Little One. Photo: Natasha … [Read more...]
One, Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2013
March 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Words fail to do justice to the artistry and precision, the beauty in motion that is Ghost River Theatre’s production of One, currently at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival. Writ large with an immense physicality that stretches to every corner of the Belfry stage; painting an enormous artistic vision with sound, light and bodies, this atmospheric tale encompasses the beginning of the world, and the awakening of love; soars to the heavens, … [Read more...]
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown at UVic’s Phoenix Theatre – a review
March 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Jewel tones pop and cartoon characters come to life in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown at the University of Victoria Phoenix Theatre (March 14-23rd). Full of high energy from the opening number to the close, this show has heart and cross-generational appeal. Audiences will easily recognize episodes from the comic strip Peanuts: Charlie Brown longing to meet the little red-headed girl, the kite-eating tree, Snoopy as a World War I fighting … [Read more...]
A Brimful of Asha – Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2013
March 14, 2013 By 1 Comment
It’s a different experience, being welcomed onstage to meet performers Asha and Ravi Jain, the mother and son team behind A Brimful of Asha (currently at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival). The audience is treated to samosas (very tasty) and invited to take a seat. We’re now members of an extended family, here to help solve a dispute, or, at the very least, hear about it. East/West, old world/new world/, parent/child, young/old – at some … [Read more...]
A Place to Listen 6 – March 20th, 2013
March 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I've had the great pleasure of attending several of Daniel Brandes' A Place to Listen concerts. It's time well spent, focusing on sound and silence, in the intimate venue of James Bay United. Time seems to evaporate, and I leave with a lasting impression of calm. If you too are willing to "stay awhile" I would recommend experiencing this concert series. For its 6th program, A Place to Listen presents the world premiere of other echoes inhabit … [Read more...]
Oh My Irma – Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2013
March 13, 2013 By 1 Comment
From the opening freeze-frames, Oh My Irma (Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival) captures our attention, and invites us to become complicit witnesses in this crazy, quirky, dark and disturbed adventure that is the life of Mission Bird (Haley McGee). It’s a bit of a shock after the rather soothing tones of faintly Hawaiian slack guitar in the intro. Haley McGee. Photo: Jesse Griffiths Mission Bird, in the best tradition of plucky, courageous … [Read more...]
The 39 Steps at Langham Court Theatre – a review
March 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
If you’re a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and physical comedy, then the fast-paced, witty and irreverent retelling of The 39 Steps, currently at Langham Court Theatre (until March 23rd) is sure to appeal. Written in 2005 by Patrick Barlow as an adaptation of Hitchcock’s classic thriller (itself adapted from the 1910 novel by John Buchan) it is a veritable tour-de-force for the small group of four actors who play over 100 roles between them. Only … [Read more...]
