Green Party deputy leader Lisa Gunderson on voting in what you believeThe provincial election is just days away, with advance voting well underway. While many people are gearing up to vote for the New Democratic Party (NDP) or the Conservative Party, there are other players to keep in mind. Someone from the Green Party isn’t likely going to land the seat of premier, but Green Party […] Continue Reading |
From Alaska gets lost in translationOn Thursday, September 19, The Belfry Theatre premiered the English language premiere of Quebecois play From Alaska, and the results were mixed. The story is ambitious, following the relationship between a lesbian librarian and a local teenage boy who breaks into her house. Both have just experienced a heartbreaking loss, and as their understanding of […] Continue Reading |
Great Canadian Beer Festival 30 year anniversary a great successBack for its 30th anniversary, the Great Canadian Beer Festival (GCBF), presented by the Victoria Beer Society, hosted an astounding number of breweries and beers, so much so that I actually had to return for a second day just to explore them all. I started off innocently with the Bramble Raspberry Vanilla Wheat Ale (5%) […] Continue Reading |
Victoria Fringe Festival 2024 review: Jewish-ish earnest perspective on religion and identity in need of a rebalanceJewish-ish is a performance piece by Canadian violinist Laura Nerenberg that combines storytelling with violin playing. Nerenberg describes what it’s been like for her living half a century as a secular Jew in Catholic Montreal. The crux of Jewish-ish—part of this year’s Fringe Fest, with one last performance at 7 pm on Saturday, August 31—is […] Continue Reading |
Victoria Fringe Festival 2024 review: Castle of Glass a shining exemplification of raw, independent theatreWhen I first walked into the Metro Studio to see the Fringe production Castle of Glass, I immediately sensed something was different from the status quo. Usually, before theatre shows, the audience is greeted with the eerie silence of an empty stage, or the sounds of pre-recorded music piped in over the speakers. Instead, a […] Continue Reading |
Victoria Fringe Festival 2024 review: Illusionary Magic of Sitruc James wholesome fun by a talented illusionistThe Illusionary Magic of Sitruc James is a fun venture into sleight-of-hand magic, presented by the Victoria Fringe Festival. This light-hearted show boasts a wide variety of tricks: some we’ve probably seen before, others that seem completely inexplicable. Sitruc James, a comedian with a wry wit, has been practicing magic for over 30 years, since […] Continue Reading |
Victoria Fringe Festival 2024 review: Welcome to Croglin dramatic comedy entirely devoid of both drama and comedyWelcome to Croglin is a short play produced by Victoria theatre company Outpost 31 and presented through the Fringe Festival. Written by David Elendune, it tells of a struggling playwright who falls asleep and dreams that the ghost of Katharine Hepburn visits him to “right his wrongs,” according to the production’s description. While I’m not […] Continue Reading |
Third annual Langford Beer Festival successful despite lack of varietyBack for its third year, the 2024 Langford Beer Festival stormed the Starlight Stadium on Saturday, July 13, showcasing over 80 craft brews, including some ciders and meads, from 30 BC breweries. Local beer enthusiasts gathered under the sweltering sun to sample some of the best beers BC has to offer, and, as usual, yours […] Continue Reading |
Channel Surfing in the Sea of Happiness gets launched at long lastLocal writer and former fashion columnist Guy Babineau launched his debut book of short stories on Wednesday, July 3, just in time for Victoria’s pride season. The book, Channel Surfing in the Sea of Happiness, collects material from Babineau’s life as a young gay man, and builds those experiences into a series of fictional vignettes […] Continue Reading |
Present Laughter a delightfully dramatic farcePresent Laughter is a stage play written by Noël Coward in 1939, following the life and antics of actor Garry Essendine and his closest friends and enemies. Produced by the Langham Court Theatre under director Don Keith, the original script is presented completely faithfully, and the strength of the writing is evident in the immense […] Continue Reading |
