Joyce Kline is an inter-disciplinary artist, faculty member at the Victoria College of Art, bonne vivante, and arts patron. For several days next week (March 27th - ends March 31st) she will install (with the help of her students) Seachange at the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria Gallery, at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre. UPDATE: I went to see Seachange Thursday night and spent an enchanting hour scrutinizing this … [Read more...]
Fish Eyes by Anita Majumdar – Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival
March 23, 2012 By 5 Comments
I sit transfixed as Meena’s (Anita Majumdar) fast and furious footwork punctuates and underscores the dialogue of a phone call between her dance teacher Kalyani Aunty & India, in Majumdar’s coming-of-age- tale-with-a-difference Fish Eyes (currently part of the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival). Image provided Multi-layered and witty, it addresses teen-age angst with a unique cross-cultural perspective, examining parental and familial … [Read more...]
Shane Koyczan – When I Was A Kid – Belfry SPARK Festival
March 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Stuffies litter the stage at the Belfry Theatre, scattered among musical instruments – a bass, cello, keyboard and guitar – belonging to The Short Story Long, back up band for celebrated wordsmith Shane Koyczan. We’re here at one of five sold-out shows during SPARK Festival, waiting in great anticipation for “the man” himself to appear. image provided by Belfry Theatre I was first introduced to Shane’s spoken word masterpiece “We Are More” … [Read more...]
Kitt and Jane – a review – SPARK Festival at the Belfry Theatre
March 16, 2012 By 4 Comments
Kitt and Jane host an interactive survival guide to the post-apocalyptic future. Ingrid Hansen and Rod Peter Jr are prolific Victoria-based performers and creation artists who defy categorization. At any given moment they may be writing a play, performing in a cabaret, designing costumes, composing a song, making shadow puppets or choreographing dance. In late 2010 Hansen’s company SNAFU Dance Theatre was selected for a Belfry Theatre … [Read more...]
Goodness – a review – SPARK Festival at the Belfry Theatre
March 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Goodness, written by Michael Redhill, and performed by Volcano Theatre, currently at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival, stands as the singular most important piece of theatre I’ve seen to date. Although now an avid theatre-goer, in my 30s and 40s my moral certitude, and belief system, led me to filter the arts through a black and white lens. I judged much to be “unwatchable” or “inappropriate”, searching instead for the “wholesome”; plays … [Read more...]
Rabbit Hole, Langham Court Theatre – a review
March 14, 2012 By 3 Comments
Langham Court Theatre sets the bar very high with their current production, Rabbit Hole, the Pulitzer-prize drama by David Lindsay-Abaire. From the moment I entered the theatre, to the moment I left, I was drawn into a world few of us would intentionally inhabit, even if many of us, unfortunately, do. Long before film, there was theatre. Long before reality TV, there was theatre. Long before the Belfry Theatre, Theatre Inconnu, Intrepid … [Read more...]
Congratulations on Your Move Cabin 12!
March 13, 2012 By 6 Comments
Congratulations to the team at Cabin 12 Restaurant on a successful move from the downtown core to a new location at 3111 Cedar Hill Rd (home to the former La Collina, Fresh Bistro/Bakery, and Sliders). The history of Cabin 12 @Cabin12Victoria and the morning Victoriatweetup and social media "scene" in Victoria are closely inter-twined. Corey Judd started his popular downtown Victoria eatery in early 2009, leveraging Facebook for venture … [Read more...]
Atomic Vaudeville and CCPA present “Digital Sunshine”
March 10, 2012 By 1 Comment
There's a special place in my heart for both the Canadian College of Performing Arts (CCPA) and Atomic Vaudeville (AV). My son , Elliott Loran, graduated from the former, and performed with the latter (mostly recently in the hit musical Ride the Cyclone). Now, Victoria theatre audiences will have a chance to see both CCPA and AV perform together, for the very first time, in AV's Spring Cabaret - Digital Sunshine. … [Read more...]
SPARK Festival 2012 at the Belfry Theatre
March 10, 2012 By 1 Comment
We are so fortunate in Victoria BC to have a plethora of arts events and festivals during the year, including the spring SPARK Festival at the Belfry Theatre. Since 2009 SPARK has grown to two concentrated weeks of theatrical goodness in March (12th – 25th) with five components: big shows, miniplays, new play readings, professional development workshops and one big party right in the middle. There are a total of over 70 shows and events (many … [Read more...]
The Crackwalker at Theatre Inconnu – a review
March 10, 2012 By 4 Comments
Recently I met Monica Prendergast, professor of theatre at UVic, actor, director, reviewer and blogger. Our conversation was wide-ranging. At one point, she recommended a book "The Necessity of Theatre: The Art of Watching and Being Watched" by Paul Woodruff. From the book description: A good audience is emotionally engaged as spectators; their engagement takes a form of empathy that can lead to a special kind of human wisdom. … [Read more...]
