Fear No Opera presents Don Pasquale, June 15 2013

Fear No Opera presents Don Pasquale Saturday June 15th 2013 at Oak Bay High School. Opera lovers, from aficionados to neophytes, can only cheer the arrival of Fear No Opera to the Victoria BC opera scene.  While the city has long had an enviable reputation as a hot-bed of opera interest (Pacific Opera Victoria has the highest subscriber renewal rate in the country) there is still room for a new company. Fear No Opera’s (FNO) co-founders Amy … [Read more...]

A Place to Listen 8 – June 19, 2013

Summer brings time to slow down, relax and simply be – nights spent round campfires listening to the crackle of wood and flame, afternoons at the beach as waves lap the shore and children giggle in the distance, mornings deep in the woods where birds titter and leaves sigh. Since last fall, composer Daniel Brandes has curated a listening series that hearkens to these times and provides A Place to Listen. “Rather than a concert series, this is … [Read more...]

Ocean Fox by Castlereigh Theatre Project at Sage Theatre’s Ignite Festival June 13-15th 2013

Castlereigh Theatre Project returns to Sage Theatre’s IGNITE! Festival June 13th – 15th with their newest work, the docu-drama Ocean Fox. Last seen at IGNITE! in 2011 with the premiere of  their controversial work Castle in the Sky, the brother-sister playwriting duo of Jude Thaddeus Allen and Francesca Albright have been assiduously pursuing their storytelling vision. Ocean Fox is verbatim theatre, based on hundreds of hours of interviews … [Read more...]

Uncle Vanya by Blue Bridge Theatre, a review

The first impression of Blue Bridge Theatre’s Uncle Vanya  (June 4-16, 2013 at the McPherson Playhouse) is one of elegance. Designer Nathan Brown’s simple, effective and stylized panels hang like draperies in bygone châteaux or large Norman cathedrals.  The décor relies heavily on lighting (Giles Hogya) and sound (John Mills-Cockell) to create the ambience of the piece – there is a certain sense of the elegiac, of portent and fore-shadowing, and … [Read more...]

A Summer of Theatre in Victoria BC 2013.

Summer is off to a bang in local theatre. No sooner did May wind up with Intrepid Theatre’s 16th annual UNO Fest, the inaugural  Little Fernwood UFO (UNO offsite) and the first show in new company Epiphany Productions schedule (Godspell), than summer announces an incredible line-up of regular season offerings and unexpected surprises. Local actors Andrew Bailey (the Adversary), Izad Etamadi (Borderland), Mike Delamont (God is a Scottish Drag … [Read more...]

Epiphany Productions presents Godspell! May 30 – June 2, 2013

Epiphany Productions presents a family-friendly version of the hit 1970s musical Godspell May 30 – June 2, 2013 at St Matthias Church. This brand-new theatre company was created by Noelle Antonsen and Joseph Goble, two young performers in their very early 20s who graduated from Victoria’s Canadian College of Performing Arts third year diploma program in late 2012, with the goal to “celebrate faith through theatre, create jobs for emerging … [Read more...]

Sin City: Live Improvised Serial. Season Three- Bedlam-by-Sea. Season Finale.

It’s time to bid a very sad farewell to the denizens of Bedlam-by-Sea as the third season of Sin City the Live Improvised Serial wraps up tonight (May 28th) at the Victoria Event Centre. Season Three was originally planned to start in the fall of 2012, but busy acting schedules meant the season was advanced to January, for a total of 21 episodes playing to full houses. It’s “FawltyTowers meets Coronation Street, with a dash of Austin Powers, … [Read more...]

Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre presents the Chekhov classic Uncle Vanya June 4 – 16, 2013

Anton Chekhov is one of the great 19th century playwrights – on par with Shaw, Ibsen and Strindberg - yet we seldom have an opportunity to see his plays in Victoria – the last production I can remember being “Three Sisters” adapted by Amiel Gladstone for Theatre SKAM in 2010. It’s no better in Vancouver where Three Sisters is being re-mounted for the first time since 1980. Thankfully, audiences can look forward to Blue Bridge Repertory … [Read more...]

Underbelly – Uno Fest 2013. A review.

Jayson McDonald’s Underbelly, UNO Fest 2013, is a considerable achievement for this perennial Fringe favourite performer who came to the attention of Victoria Fringe audiences with the sleeper hit Giant Invisible Robot in 2007.  In the intervening years his shows Boat Load, Fall Fair and Gunpowder have played to sold out audiences. His ability to craft and portray an entire cast of characters single-handedly is remarkable; the plasticity of … [Read more...]

Broken – UnoFest 2013. A review.

Have you ever misplaced your keys, forgotten the name of someone you’ve just been introduced to and found it difficult to count backwards by sevens from 75?  All signs of cognitive impairment or early stage Alzheimer’s as Brian Fidler gently informs us in Broken, now playing at Uno Fest. Broken celebrates the relationship between 10 year old Will and his grandfather, an accomplished photographer who now lives in the family’s basement. Photo: … [Read more...]