James and Jamesy bring holiday laughs back to town

After over 10 years of performing together, Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles are returning to Victoria with their annual touring Christmas pantomime O Christmas Tea: A British Comedy. Acting under the stage names James and Jamesy, the duo has performed five different plays (Malkin plays James; Knowles plays Jamesy); Christmas, however, is a particularly special […]

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Bear Grease touching, funny, inspiring

Imagine for a moment that in 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, settlers left well enough alone and went back to their home. This vision is exactly the time-travelling portal you are invited to journey into with Bear Grease, an Indigenous re-telling of the 1978 musical classic Grease. Created for the Edmonton Fringe by […]

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Frankenstein at Craigdarroch Castle flat, underwhelming

Actor Jason Stevens recently performed a one-man production of Frankenstein at the historic Craigdarroch Castle. Mary Shelley’s masterpiece should work perfectly as an October show in a spooky old castle, but the final product was underwhelming. The castle was a particularly alluring aspect of the whole concept, so I was disappointed when we arrived at […]

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Camosun College Student Society election results in

The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) held its fall student elections from Monday, October 23 to Wednesday, October 25. A total of 784 students voted in the elections, which were held online. 468 voted on day one, 87 on day two, and 229 on day three. Himanshi (no last name given) was voted in as […]

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Virago Nation decolonizes Indigenous sexuality with burlesque performance

Eight-piece BIPOC burlesque collective Virago Nation performed in the UVic Farquhar Auditorium on Saturday, October 21, and the entire show was an act of decolonization. The collective is all about decolonizing Indigenous—especially femme—sexuality. What they do is art, sex work, and good medicine all working harmoniously together. Settlers who sought to eradicate Indigenous ways of […]

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SETYA double bill offers healing for Indigenous peoples through cultural storytelling

I attended the Thursday, October 12 performance of the SETYA (Staging Equality Theatre for Young Audiences) double bill at University of Victoria’s Phoenix Theatre, and it was truly a meaningful experience. And not just for me: the show got a standing ovation in the almost-full theatre. The night featured The Woman Who Outshone the Sun […]

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William Head on Stage returns, continues to tear down stereotypes

William Head Theatre Society was created in 1981 by a group of incarcerated men taking a theatre course within the William Head Institution. These men decided to create a company, which at the time was called WHAT (William Head Amateur Theatre) to produce plays to show to the public. Later, the company was renamed to […]

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Anarchist Bookfair respectful, inspiring success

Anarchist bookfairs are a great representation of the real spirit of anarchism: mutual aid with great expression of individuality—not just “anarchy” or “chaos” as it is often mistaken to be. The Victoria Anarchist Bookfair took place at the Fernwood Community Centre on Saturday, September 23 and Sunday, September 24. There were also additional concerts—a punk […]

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Apollo E Dafne a splendiferous orchestral performance of Greek tragedy

This past weekend, patrons of classical and operatic music gathered beneath the majestic gothic spires of Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral to witness George Frideric Handel’s Apollo E Dafne, presented by Early Music Vancouver (EMV) and featuring the Pacific Baroque Orchestra directed by Alexander Weimann. The music tells the story of Apollo, a Greek god whose […]

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Great Canadian Beer Festival scores home run for craft beer

Back for its 29th year, the Great Canadian Beer Festival returned this past weekend to showcase dozens of beers from nearly 60 Canadian breweries, and the verdant field of Royal Athletic Park was buzzing with buzzed beer enthusiasts ready to witness another home run for artisan craft beer. Mountainview Brewing Co. presented The Dark Side […]

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