Much (Less) Ado About Nothing by Launch Pad Theatre at Craigdarroch Castle. A review. Launch Pad Theatre has hit upon a winning formula with their abridged and breezy versions of Shakespeare at Craigdarroch Castle--Bard in the Ballroom. Their latest, Much (Less) Ado About Nothing—running Thursday through Saturday until April 8th—is vigorous and cheery, as befits a production that is, in theory, staged by a group of friends, circa 1920 in an … [Read more...]
What a Young Wife Ought to Know at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review.
March 23, 2017 By Leave a Comment
What a Young Wife Ought to Know at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review. Sometimes a play is so powerful, speaks to you across time, place and position so directly that you feel you are in the room with the actors. And, as a critic/reviewer, you wish you had a little more time to grapple with the issues and themes it unfolds, rather than rush to produce the requisite words. Playwright Hannah Moscovitch has a reputation, and the … [Read more...]
Reverberations by Brian Linds at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review.
March 22, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Reverberations by Brian Linds at Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review. Well-respected actor and sound designer Brian Linds has had a “thing” for sound ever since his dad bought a tape recorder when he was 13. In Reverberations, his sound installation/performance piece currently at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017 until March 26th, learn more about Linds’ personal and family history in a series of vignettes, set in various … [Read more...]
Joan by Matthew Payne of Theatre SKAM, SPARK Festival 2017. A review.
March 20, 2017 By 1 Comment
Joan by Matthew Payne of Theatre SKAM, SPARK Festival 2017. A review. Joan by Matthew Payne of Theatre SKAM, at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017 (March 17-26) is a rich and beautiful testimony to a much-loved iconic figure and to a unique friendship. For over 30 years Joan Mans was a fixture, not only in Victoria’s arts scene, but also in the city’s bars and small restaurants—she volunteered at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, the … [Read more...]
This Is Not A Conversation at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review.
March 16, 2017 By Leave a Comment
This Is Not A Conversation at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review. Not a conversation—rather, a theatrical exploration—and, an uncomfortable one, at that. What happens when two people—one an Israeli-Canadian, the other, a Kuwaiti-Lebanese-Canadian whose family is part of the Palestinian diaspora initiated in 1948—begin to explore their mutual heritage, to ask the uncomfortable questions about land, race, ethnicity, religion and … [Read more...]
SPIN by Evalyn Parry at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review.
March 15, 2017 By Leave a Comment
SPIN by Evalyn Parry at the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival 2017. A review. Musical love poem, feminist manifesto and history lesson, all rolled into one, SPIN by Evalyn Parry (Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival March 14-18, 2017) is a life-affirming, joy-filled celebration of the bicycle. SPIN is a polished performance piece—incorporating spoken word, projections and video (design: Beth Kates), songs (as well as an amazing percussion bicycle) and … [Read more...]
The Inspector at the University of Victoria Phoenix Theatre March 9-18, 2017. A review.
March 10, 2017 By Leave a Comment
The Inspector at the University of Victoria Phoenix Theatre March 9-18, 2017. A review. Politics is politics, whether Russia in 1836 or Victoria in 2017, as Professor Linda Hardy’s mordant rewriting of Nikolay Gogol’s play, The Government Inspector (now called The Inspector) proves. Anyone even vaguely connected to current issues will chuckle, and those with more of a bent for community activism are sure to guffaw from beginning to … [Read more...]
Taking Leave at Langham Court Theatre March 3-18, 2017. A review.
March 6, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Taking Leave at Langham Court Theatre March 3-18, 2017. A review. Taking Leave by Nagle Jackson is a contemporary and timely examination of an impending public health crisis, writ small through the life of the family of esteemed Shakespeare scholar Dr Eliot Pryne (Alf Small). At 62 Eliot is seemingly too young to be ravaged by Alzheimer’s—it’s a fact his daughters are having a hard time coming to grips with: Alma (Tammy Johnson) the eldest, is … [Read more...]
Pride and Prejudice at the Chemainus Theatre Festival February 17-March 25, 2017. A review.
March 1, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Pride and Prejudice at the Chemainus Theatre Festival February 17-March 25, 2017. A review. In Janet Munsil’s witty and humourous adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (playing at the Chemainus Theatre Festival until March 25th) it’s easy to see Mrs. Bennett (Amy Lee Newman is splendid in the role, with abundant nervous energy channeled in short sharp bursts) as no more than a flibbertigibbet, an annoying, meddlesome mother, but in … [Read more...]
Taking Off by Deborah Williams at the Belfry Theatre February 21-March 12, 2017. A review.
February 27, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Taking Off by Deborah Williams at the Belfry Theatre February 21-March 12, 2017. A review. Deborah Williams hasn’t lost the touch. If anything, after tapping into the zeitgeist for over 20 years, her comedic talents, already finely honed, reach vertiginous heights with zany, over-the-top reflections in her first solo show Taking Off (at the Belfry Theatre until March 12th). I remember sitting in the audience for the initial Mom’s the Word … [Read more...]
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