The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Phoenix Theatre takes huge two-person risk and pulls it offOpening night at the Phoenix Theatre was flooded with dapper-looking, well-mannered couples, eagerly awaiting the theatre’s adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The famous tale is an imaginative one about four siblings who discover a magical world, called Narnia, inside a wardrobe. The land of Narnia is under evil reign […] Continue Reading |
Monster truck of operas Das Rheingold hits townRichard Wagner’s 1869 opera Das Rheingold, an epic in the same vein as The Lord of the Rings, is a story of spurned lovers, stolen power, giants, gods, magic, and murder. Drawing on Norse legends of Odin (Wotan) and the gods, it tells the tale of Alberich, a dwarf who steals the Rhinemaidens’ gold to […] Continue Reading |
New York ska group The Slackers bring the skank back to townAfter first hitting the stage in Victoria back in 1998, New York ska band The Slackers formed a bond with the Victoria Ska Society and have been performing in our city as frequently as possible ever since. Saxophonist David Hillyard has nothing but praise for Mile Zero. “Victoria’s got quite a great scene. People are […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Dan MacCormack provides a symphony of rural CanadaDan MacCormack Symphony of Ghosts (independent) 4/5 Halifax-based singer-songwriter Dan MacCormack’s debut solo album is based on Canadian writer David Adam Richards’ novels. The use of many instruments and choirs gives this disc a refreshing edge. MacCormack emits a deep connection to Richards’ novels and translates their ideas from text to song. The first song, […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: The Glorious Sons provide some glorious rockThe Glorious Sons The Union (Blackbox Recordings) 3.5/5 The Glorious Sons hold true to their name on their second album, The Union. These Kingston, ON boys know how to rock and get listeners’ hips moving. I can imagine this band playing at a music festival; if they sound as good live as they do on […] Continue Reading |
Antimatter Film Festival explores the experimental, againFor a smaller city, Victoria is lucky to play host to a surprisingly large number of art festivals. Out of all of them, Antimatter Film Festival just might be the most diverse. The festival’s two founders, Todd Eacrett and Deborah de Boer, were involved with what is now known as the Victoria Film Festival when […] Continue Reading |
Local author Sandra Steiner recovers with new trilogyAuthor Sandra Steiner is looking to answer some difficult questions about loss, grief, and recovery with her writing. An Albertan transplant, Steiner has lived in Victoria for four years and has just finished two novels in her Spring Island trilogy. “I’ve always wanted to write a book; it’s been on my mind since I was […] Continue Reading |
Sawa exhibit at Victoria gallery makes video art approachableWalking into the Hiraki Sawa exhibit Under the Box, Beyond the Bounds, currently on at the Greater Victoria Art Gallery, is like walking into a familiar place you’ve never been to before. Throughout the exhibit, video screens and projectors, from the size of a wallet to the size of a wall, display images and landscapes, […] Continue Reading |
Pride and Prejudice at Langham Court Theatre wins with its levityJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice brings to the table nearly 200 years of baggage and tradition, not the least of which were my feelings after reading this novel as an 18-year-old English Lit student deep into Asimov and Heinlein. I was not a fan; “scorn” is not too strong a word. I’ve grown (I’d like […] Continue Reading |
The Garden continue to confound and confuseCalifornia-based twin brothers Fletcher and Wyatt Shears have impressed and confused the music world in equal amounts since they began their band The Garden in 2011. The Garden are anything but a normal punk band, and they definitely have their own style, rocking an overtly feminine wardrobe and blasting songs just over a minute long […] Continue Reading |
