God’s Lake by Castlereigh Theatre Project January 4-6 2018. A preview.

God's Lake by Castlereigh Theatre Project January 4-6 2018. A preview. Anyone who follows my writing knows how difficult it is for me to select a list of top shows in the year.  It’s the same thing for work that I am looking forward to in 2018. However, I am making an exception for God’s Lake, produced by Castlereigh Theatre Project and appearing at the Metro Studio Theatre January 4-6 2018.  Due to its very nature—documentary theatre—and … [Read more...]

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by The Canadian College of Performing Arts. Interview with Barbara Poggemiller.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by The Canadian College of Performing Arts. Interview with Barbara Poggemiller. Director Barbara Poggemiller is no stranger to Victoria audiences—with directing credits that include, among others, The Winter’s Tale and As You Like It for the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival and The Odyssey and The Penelopiad for the Canadian College of Performing Arts.  She teaches acting currently at the college. In … [Read more...]

A Christmas Carol at the Belfry Theatre November 28-December 17, 2017. A review.

A Christmas Carol at the Belfry Theatre November 28-December 17, 2017. A review. When Michael Shamata arrived as the Belfry Theatre Artistic Director in 2007, he wanted to bring a treasured theatrical tradition to Victoria—his adapted production of A Christmas Carol, first produced at Theatre New Brunswick in 1990, and then at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto since 2001. The original Belfry production was in 2012, followed by an encore … [Read more...]

Whiskey, Fugue & Requiem at Theatre Inconnu. A review.

Whiskey, Fugue & Requiem at Theatre Inconnu. A review. Theatre Inconnu, keeping audiences on their toes since 1987—for over thirty years, presenting work that challenges—consistently, whether by content or form. A theatre that does not pander, preferring to engage and confront theatre goers with ideas and genres often outside the theatrical mainstream, and in so doing, offering patrons the opportunity to grow in their appreciation of an … [Read more...]

The Cornwalls’ All-Inclusive Cancun Christmas at the Chemainus Theatre Festival. A review.

The Cornwalls’ All-Inclusive Cancun Christmas at the Chemainus Theatre Festival. A review. Everyone has their favourite family story of Christmas disaster and dysfunction—it’s what makes movies like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story perennial favourites during the holiday season. The Cornwalls (introduced to Chemainus audiences in The Cornwalls’ Countryside Christmas in 2011) embark on an epic misadventure that … [Read more...]

Anne of Green Gables by the Victoria Operatic Society November 24-December 3 2017. A review.

Anne of Green Gables by the Victoria Operatic Society November 24-December 3 2017. A review. When modern life and the busy period leading up to the holiday season threaten to overwhelm, what comfort there is to be found in the quintessential and iconic Canadian tale—Anne of Green Gables.  This spunky orphan girl with fiery red hair has captured people’s attention since the book (written in the 1880s by Lucy Maud Montgomery) was published in … [Read more...]

Les Belles Soeurs at Langham Court Theatre November 15-December 2 2017. A review.

Les Belles Soeurs at Langham Court Theatre November 15-December 2 2017. A review. Take a trip back in time to La Belle Province with Les Belles Soeurs (currently at Langham Court Theatre November 15-December 2, 2017). It’s hard to imagine the circumstances seen from our modern (especially Western Canadian) and socially relativistic time, but to put events into context, when Les Belles Soeurs was written in 1965, abortion and the pill were … [Read more...]

The Madwoman of Chaillot at UVic Phoenix. Nov 9-25 2017. A review.

The Madwoman of Chaillot at UVic Phoenix. Nov 9-25 2017. A review. The latest University of Victoria Phoenix Theatre production--Giraudoux’s The Madwoman of Chaillot November 9-25, 2017--is grandiose--huge in scale and extremely physical, playing on the edges with hints of the absurd, and yet, the dialogue sends shivers down the spine with its prescience and modernity. Giraudoux wrote the play during the Nazi occupation of France and did … [Read more...]

This is GOOD: A new initiative for Victoria’s creative workers

This is GOOD: A new initiative for Victoria’s creative workers Media Release Picture a private coffee shop with a big rustic table and a warm-industrial feel, tucked away down a tree-lined courtyard on the edge of the Chinatown District and you start to get a sense of what it feels like to attend an event at GOOD. Offering workshops, intensives, classes, retreats, co-working sessions, and one-on-one creative consults alongside community … [Read more...]

Blue Bridge presents War of the Worlds October 30/31 2017. A preview.

Blue Bridge presents War of the Worlds October 30/31 2017. A preview. At a time when “old media”—television, radio and print—is engaged in what some deem a to-the-death struggle with “new media”, Orson Welles’ adaptation of HG Wells’ classic science fiction tale War of the Worlds could not be more relevant, according to Brian Richmond, artistic director of Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre.  The company is staging War of the Worlds on Hallowe’en … [Read more...]