Summer plans

Posted on May 14, 2013 by john threlfall

It’s summer, which means the majority of our Fine Arts faculty have broken free of the classroom and are now engaging on their own creative research or practice. As always, here’s a quick roundup of what various faculty members are getting up to this summer.

Lewis Hammond & Monteverdi

Come August, new School of Music director Susan Lewis Hammond will be researching Claudio Monteverdi and music of the baroque period at the University of Toronto. Her travel is funded by a SSHRC Insight Grant and the results will appear in two forthcoming books from Routledge Press: Claudio Monteverdi: A Research and Information Guide and Music of the Baroque: History, Culture, Performance.

Over in History in Art, the husband-and-wife research team of Marcus Milwright and Eva Baboula will be tackling the last phase of their SSHRC-funded fieldwork in Greece, continuing their search for Ottoman-period buildings and hydraulic engineering in the Peloponnese. Milwright also plans to spend some time in the Linden Museum in Stuttgart working on the Egyptian puppets in their collection. However, his main task for the summer—and forthcoming study leave—will be to complete a book on the seventh-century mosaic inscriptions in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Busy digital media technician and filmmaker Dan Hogg is heading off to the Cannes Film Festival in May with his new short film Floodplain—and you can watch the trailer here. Created in association with equally busy filmmaker, Writing grad and returning Cannes guest Jeremy Lutter (whose Joanna Makes A Friend was at Cannes last year) and based on a story by Writing grad and current Can-lit star D.W. Wilson, Floodplain has been invited by Telefilm Canada as part of their annual Not Short on Talent short film program. Check out this short interview with Hogg, written by fellow Writing grad Will Johnson on his dandy Literary Goon blog. Floodplain stars Victoria-based actor Cameron Bright (Twilight, X-Men 3) and Sarah Desjardins. But as if that’s not enough, Hogg is also currently writing Rip My Heart Out, a tongue-in-cheek creature feature for Movie Central.

Writing professor David Leach will be working “with six or so students” to produce issue #2 of their well-received Concrete Garden urban agriculture magazine—which will also feature a bigger print run—and will shortly be launching the Campus Confidential anthology. And, muse willing, he’ll be finishing up his second book, which currently has three working titles: Look Back to Galilee, The Shouting Fence, or Who Killed the Kibbutz? On the international front, Leach will also be giving a paper and workshop on sustainable suburban design at the International Communal Studies Association conference being held at the spectacular Findhorn Ecovillage in northern Scotland. (Keep a sharp eye open for the fairies!)

The always busy performer and head of Voice for the School of Music, Benjamin Butterfield, has a full lineup of international activities this summer, including performing at the Aldeburgh Connection as part of Toronto’s Britten Festival, singing with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem at the Bach Festival in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, participating at the local Friends of Mengo Hospital Africa Benefit in May, and appearing with the American Classical Orchestra at New York City’s Lincoln Center for a concert of Mozart and Rossini Arias/ Duets. Butterfield will also be part of the Summer Vocal Programs faculty at the Opera on the Avalon in Newfoundland, Opera Nuova in Edmonton, the Vancouver International Song Institute and the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy.

Music instructor Anita Bonkowski will be on tour performing in Western Europe throughout June, before she returns in July to teach her summer film music course Let’s Go To the Movies. She’ll also be performing at both Butchart Gardens (July 13 and August 7) and Filberg Festival in Comox (August long weekend). All this in addition to her regular weekly gigs and more summer performances with various groups and ensembles.

History in Art professor Erin Campbell is also currently on study leave, finishing up her book on “Old Women and Art in the Early Modern Italian Domestic Interior.” (There is absolutely no truth to the rumour we just started that Meryl Streep will be starring in the book’s film adaptation.) She’ll also be heading to Bologna, Italy, for a few weeks in June to do some research and reconnect with the art. Send us a postcard!

Theatre instructor Leslie Bland is finishing the editing of his all-female comedy series She Kills Me for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and is in the process of putting together the financing for his feature-length documentary Gone South: How Canada Invented Hollywood, created in association with writer Ian Ferguson. Also on Bland’s summer to-do list is attending the Banff World Media Festival, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and working a number of writing projects.

Busy new Writing professor Kevin Kerr is heading into a new production with his always groundbreaking Vancouver-based theatre company, Electric Company. The new piece is called You Are Very Star and it’s being staged at Vancouver’s HR MacMillan Space Centre & Planetarium. “We’re billing it as a transmedia event that plays with the boundaries of where theatre begins,” explains Kerr, who conceived the project and is co-writing it. “Participants start their journey with the piece prior to performance in an online encounter. The play then continues through public and private exchanges with the audience through social media, and in performance the two-act structure takes the audience on a bit of time travel—back to 1968 and ahead to 2048—and in the middle invites them on a narrative scavenger hunt inside the space centre building.” If you’re in Vancouver, You Are Very Star June 12 – 29. Also stay tuned for a production of Kerr’s Governor-General’s Award-winning play Unity (1918) at Phoenix Theatre next season, which he will be directing himself.

In addition to helping her Writing 420 filmmaking class crowdsource the funds they need to complete their current project, ‘Til Death—directed by Connor Gaston—Writing professor and busy filmmaker Maureen Bradley will be making her own feature film. Bradley was recently announced as one of four winning teams for the National Screen Institute’s Features First initiative, and her project will be going in front of the camera this summer. Stay tuned for details!

Kirk McNally (centre) with his group The Krells (photo: Darren Stone, Times Colonist)

School of Music audio specialist and recording engineer Kirk McNally will be recording a CD project with adjunct faculty member Colin Tilney on harpsichord this summer. “This will be the fourth project that Colin and myself have collaborated on,” says McNally, who has previously recorded Preludes and Dances for a French Harpsichord, Fugue: Bach and his Forerunners, J.S. Bach: The French Suites and Froberger 1649. “I’m also working with Dave Broome and a student from the joint major program in music and computer science to realize an online ‘library’ of the school’s concert recordings—similar to the DIDO slide library. It will be a secure, streamable presence for the School’s recordings on the webpage.” (This project is a follow-up to the Fall 2012 class Special Studies: Project in Digital Media Storage & Dissemination.)

Finally, Department of Writing instructor Vivian Smith has just returned from Ontario’s Western University, where she gave MA students in journalism a presentation on her PhD dissertation. Completed at UVic, the Interdisciplinary Studies dissertation is called All the Resistance That’s Fit To Print: Canadian Women Print Journalists Narrate Their Careers. Smith interviewed more than 25 women journalists in newspapers across the country to explore their reasons for loving—and very often leaving—their newsroom positions. Smith will be part of a panel on gender studies at Congress 2013 in early June here at UVic, and officially graduates June 13. She’ll spend the summer working on a manuscript for a scholarly book on her dissertation, as well as writing and editing for a new Victoria-based consulting company, Santé Communications Group. A few weeks of cruising around the local waters in the “Ruthie B” might produce a few travel articles, or at least reduce the pile of books waiting to be read!

Curtain rises on new Theatre exchange

Posted on April 29, 2013 by john threlfall

Bangkok and Victoria may not seem to have a lot in common, but they’re both about to start sharing a spotlight thanks to a new exchange agreement between the theatre departments at UVic and Bangkok University.

Allan Stichbury with Dr. Mathana Santiwat, President of Bangkok University

“There’s actually a lot of synchronicity between us,” says UVic Theatre professor Allan Stichbury. “Both departments are similar in size and have similar goals and objectives, balancing a sophisticated academic program alongside a very active production program—and both departments have very active Applied Theatre programs. The three prongs we have are the same as what they’ve got, which is actually remarkably rare.”

Initiated by former UVic Department of Theatre graduate student and current Bangkok U faculty member Paphavee (Poe) Linkul, the exchange is intended to be a step towards internationalizing their university. “This is the first actual exchange agreement with their Theatre department,” explains Stichbury. “They’re right at the beginning of a whole new curriculum.”

The spectacular Bangkok University

Stichbury formalized the agreement while attending the World Symposium on Global Encounters in Southeast Asian Performing Arts in February, co-hosted by UVic and Bangkok U. “I first went to Thailand as an Orion visitor about seven years ago, and have continued to grow a relationship with the people over there since,” he says. “I spent a good three weeks in Thailand on two separate trips to make sure this has legs. It’s not a one-sided effort; both universities see the benefit of this.”

Silke Klenk, director of UVic’s Office of International Affairs, agrees. “The nice thing about exchange agreements is that they’re a two-way partnership,” she says. “From a student perspective, it enhances their degree, exposes them to a different language, and makes them much more independent. It opens the world to them.”

Paphavee (Poe) Linkul, former UVic student and Bangkok University professor, with Allan Stichbury

But it also benefits the institutions involved, says Klenk. “Because exchange students are typically only with us for one term, they want to make the most of that opportunity; they tend to be very active on campus and get involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. They also become ambassadors for us—for UVic, for Victoria, for BC and for Canada. You build up these networks along the way and often form friendships for life.”

While this is the only active exchange agreement with the Department of Theatre at the moment, Stichbury sees great potential in it. “This is not intended to remain simply an agreement between our Theatre department and their Performing Arts department; it’s intended to grow into a real relationship with Bangkok University.”

The exchange is set to begin in September 2013 and, while it will eventually encompass faculty and graduate students, Stichbury says the initial plan is to focus on undergrads. “We want to start this right, working from the bottom up, not the top down,” he says. “Going to another country, studying with people from another culture is a life-changing experience. It will open our students up to something new, take them out of their comfortable box.”

Anne Heinl now officially excellent

Posted on April 23, 2013 by john threlfall

With her ready smile, sympathetic ear and vast storehouse of campus knowledge, Anne Heinl may be the most important person a Fine Arts student ever meets. Now, the veteran undergraduate advising officer has been honoured with the Award for Excellence in Service, presented by UVic president David Turpin at 2013’s Distinguished Service Awards.

Award for Excellence in Service winner Anne Heinl (UVic Photo Services)

“I’m very honoured that I received this award,” says Heinl. “I’d like to thank the people who put my name forward and wrote the reference letters: the Dean’s Office, especially Samantha Knudson and Lynne Van Luven, the faculty and staff who wrote letters of support—they did a lot of work and that’s the only reason my application was looked at and approved.”

“But it’s not just me—there’s also all the people I work with,” she continues. “I’m doing a good job because I have a great team: Maureen and Beth in Records, the people in Admissions, Norm Thom, each of the Fine Arts department secretaries . . . I kind of feel embarrassed about the award being just for me. Everybody works hard; I don’t see myself as special.”

Heinl, who has worked at UVic for 22 years, had been in Earth and Ocean Sciences for two years when she was hired as secretary to then-Dean of Fine Arts Tony Welch. “Advising students just started as a side thing off my desk back then,” she recalls, noting that each department had their own undergrad advisor. It was a later Dean, Giles Hogya, who created her position.

Heinl started out working with 750 students; she now deals with about 1,500 and sees everyone “at least once . . . but some I see every month. It’s important for students to know that they can come and talk to me anytime; the door is always open for what they want to do, what they want to change.” And given her role, it seems inevitable that she would form lasting connections. “I have a whole batch of letters and cards from parents and students,” she chuckles. “Because you’re not just helping them with their academic life, you’re also helping them find what they need on campus: counseling, a letter for a job . . . I’m even starting to see the kids of parents who were students. A mother just emailed me the other day saying that her son is coming to UVic—and I was her advisor!”

Sometimes Anne takes the idea of serving students literally!

In addition to her advising duties, Heinl also works with policy and curriculum committees, recruiters, transfer credits, appeals and the Senate Committee on Re-registration and Transfer—all of which is what makes her so valuable, says Acting Dean Lynne Van Luven. “She is truly a repository of knowledge about process, history and especially curriculum. One is never afraid to ask her a question—nor to seek her advice in a complicated matter involving student grades or academic concessions. Her support is immediate and unstinting.”

Heinl’s biggest reward? Helping out with the robing ceremony for graduating students each year. “It gives me great pride to see that—they’ve done it, they’ve accomplished it, they’re off to bigger and better things,” she says. “I love having them leave satisfied, with smiles, feeling they can conquer anything. Or having students come back and say ‘You really helped me through my degree, I couldn’t have done it without you’—which they could have, of course, but it’s great to feel you’ve made a difference in someone’s path.”

Heinl says she learned this commitment to students from her days working with Tony Welch and the late Jean Shannon. “Tony was the one who expected the Dean’s secretary to be compassionate and be there for students, to advocate for students. Tony was really in tune with student needs, and knew that’s why we’re here. And Jean’s influence was where that attitude really started for me—that told me why we were here, why we’re doing it. She was the one who really encouraged me. Without them, there is no university.”

Heinl still sees this “students first” mandate as being the key to the overall university experience. “We should all be open and receptive and helpful,” she says. “As soon as a student comes in with a problem, we have to stick with it until it’s solved; it’s really important to not say, ‘Sorry, that’s not my job’ or ‘I’m busy’. We should be here for the students all the time. We need to make sure they have a good experience and their education is what they expect, and what they should have.”

All of which explains why she feels more like a team captain than the star quarterback. “It’s never just one person who makes things so good,” Heinl insists.

But it can be one person who makes all the difference in a student’s life.

Happiness is . . . a good production of Charlie Brown!

Posted on March 19, 2013 by john threlfall

If you’ve got kids or grandchildren and are looking for a fun show, don’t miss Phoenix Theatre’s current production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

The Phoenix cast of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (photo: David Lowes)

Based on Charles M. Schulz’s popular Peanuts comic strip, this high-energy, fast-paced musical follows the strip’s format of presenting humorous snippets and funny scenes rather than offering a more formal plot. And while this 46-year-old musical has an enduring charm that will appeal to any musical fan—the show has had recent revivals on both Broadway and at Ontario’s famed Stratford Festival—it really works best for families with kids aged six to 12.

In his review for CBC Radio’s On The Island, critic David Lennam says, “This version at the university is really good, particularly in that way that long after you’ve left the theatre you’re thinking about it again . . . . When you slip it on, it feels like a favourite sweater, that pure nostalgia that you’re bathed in. And it has something to say to today’s audiences because deft social commentary is what made Schulz’s comic strips so endearing.”

Noting the production is rich in sentimentality and familiarity, with vibrant choreography by busy local veteran Jacques Lemay, Lennam says “the acting and art direction are where it really succeeds: everything pops with colour . . . like a Roger Rabbit universe. The ensemble cast play well off each other.”

Snoopy (Kevin Eade) sings to the moon (photo: David Lowes)

Under the headline “Phoenix Theatre’s Charlie Brown Sure to Please Fans,” the local Times Colonist says, “the University of Victoria’s theatre department has done a superior job with this 1967 musical.” True, reviewer Adrian Chamberlain admits he’s not a fan of musical creator Clark Gesner’s material, but he praises this production nonetheless: “The cartoon-ish set and costumes are great. Jacques Lemay’s choreography is just dandy—the dance is simple, yet sufficiently complex to engage and entertain. Fran Gebhard’s sure-handed direction is bold and brisk.”

He also points out that the “well-rehearsed student cast did well overall. And Adrian Bronson, accompanying on grand piano, was excellent.” As for favourites, Chamberlain says, “Tea Siskin, playing Lucy, emerges as the show’s standout. Her performance was theatrical without being over the top; she somehow manages to create a strong, warm character who’s simultaneously irritating and endearing.”

The Peanuts gang with Charlie Brown (Kale Penny) (photo: David Lowes)

Reviewing for CVV Magazine, Anna Kemp describes the production as “all good, no grief” and “fun right from the rousing opening number.” Noting her five-year-old son “loved it, and it was just the right length for him,” Kemp says “the performance by UVic’s Phoenix Theatre makes it easy to see why the show has enjoyed such popularity over the years.”

Kemp also enjoyed the cast overall. “Tea Siskin (Lucy) and Christie Stewart (Sally) really steal the show, both with powerful voices and strong dramatic presences,” she writes. “Kale Penny as Charlie is well-cast as the kind-hearted, somewhat gormless guy who never quite gets things right. Better still, all the actors seem to be enjoying themselves on stage, which really infuses the performance with a sense of joyfulness.”

She also credited director and Department of Theatre professor Fran Gebhard for putting together “a great creative team”—including pianist Adrian Bronson, percussionist Katelyn Clark, choreographer Jacques Lemay, musical director Jim Hill and the design team of professor Allan Stichbury (set) plus Simon Farrow (lights), Allyson Leet and Shayna Ward (costumes), noting “the cast really look like the comic strip characters, right down to their amazing stiff wigs and rolled-down socks.”

Director Fran Gebhard also spoke to the Victoria News in this interview, noting that “Charlie Brown has already stood the test of time. He doesn’t need to be changed to be relevant. Everything these kids go through—depression, anxiety, existentialism, bullying—still plague us today, and the Peanuts gang do a beautiful job of exploring how to overcome these problems on their own.” Gebhard was also interviewed in the March issue of Island Parent magazine, which is currently available around the city.

You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown runs to March 23 at UVic’s Phoenix Theatre. Click here for tickets and showtime information.

Alumni names in the news

Posted on March 18, 2013 by john threlfall

There’s been a flurry of Fine Arts alum popping up in the media of late. Here’s a quick roundup.

Who will win in the Gaston versus Thanh showdown?

It’s Gaston versus Thanh! Who will win?

Writing grad Yasuko Thanh has been named as finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize in the BC Book Prizes for her debut collection —and she’s up against none other than Department of Writing chair Bill Gaston. Thanh has been tapped for her debut collection of stories, Floating Like The Dead, while Gaston is named for his latest novel, The World. Also on the shortlist for the BC Book Prize’s Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize is Writing alum and former Writing instructor Patricia Young for Night-Eater, her 11th book of poetry.

Thanh also continues to make news thanks to the revealing news about her appearance in the 2014 PEN nude author’s calendar. The latest coverage appeared in the Times Colonist, hooked to her participation in The Malahat Review‘s upcoming WordsThaw event on March 23.

Jessica Kluthe (photo: Edmonton Journal)

Three other Writing alumni in the news: grad-turned-Writing professor Joan MacLeod‘s new play The Valley was just announced in the Globe and Mail as being part of the lineup for Tarragon Theatre’s new 2013-14 season. CBC CanadaWrites Short Story Prize shortlister Eliza Robertson now has a Q&A up about the story that landed her a spot in the popular CBC writing contest; this is her third time entering, and first time as a finalist—fingers crossed for the whole “third time lucky” thing! And Jessica Kluthe continues to attract attention with her first book, Rosina, the Midwife—check out this Edmonton Journal article.

Nathan Medd

Over in Theatre, busy Phoenix alum Nathan Medd was just announced as the new Managing Director of the National Arts Centre’s English Theatre in Ottawa—a real feather in anyone’s cap. “I feel extremely honoured to be taking on this role with the National Arts Centre—the Team Canada of the performing arts!,” he says.

The move sees Medd leaves his position as managing producer of the nationally recognized Electric Company Theatre in Vancouver—whose artistic director and founding member is none other than new Department of Writing prof Kevin Kerr. Among Medd’s other achievements (theatre program coordinator with the BC Arts Council, the Canada Council’s Theatre Assessment Committee, Vancouver’s arts assessment juries, etc.) are stints with both the Belfry Theatre and Intrepid Theatre, where he helped establish downtown Victoria’s immensely popular Metro Studio.

Will Jasleen Powar make it to MuchMusic?

In other Phoenix news, current Theatre student Jasleen Powar has made it to the top 40 in MuchMusic’s VJ Search competition. (Phoenix alumna Melanie Karin had also been on the longlist, but got knocked out.) Will Powar make it to the top 20? Vote for her here and help her make the cut!

Also on the television beat, Phoenix grads Peter Carlone (half of the sketch comedy team Peter ‘n Chris) and Mack Gordon have applied to be on the first-ever Canadian edition of The Amazing Race—you can watch their hilarious audition video here. The cross-Canada version of the race-around-the-world reality show will air later this year on CTV. And Phoenix grad and Theatre SKAM co-founder Amiel Gladstone is back in Victoria directing Pacific Opera Victoria’s upcoming production of Tosca.

Amy Wood

Staying in the media spotlight, recent School of Music alum Amy Wood made it through the first three rounds of voting in CBC’s Searchlight competition for the Best New Canadian Artist, earning a spot in the top five for the Victoria region before getting bumped. While at UVic, Amy studied voice with Music prof Benjamin Butterfield, but started playing and singing at the piano at a very young age. She now describes songwriting as an “obsession,” saying, “I can’t not write and lately it hurts not to sing for others.”

Wood is currently planning the release of an EP as well as a full-length album and is in the midst of covering song requests on her YouTube-based Sunday “Request Booth”. (Interesting side-note: Wood’s Searchlight submission was actually recorded in the UVic studios and mixed by one of School of Music Audio Specialist/Recording Engineer Kirk McNally‘s student recording techs.)

Finally, three Visual Arts alumni—Stephanie Aitken, Katie Lyle and Shelley Penfold—are featured in Drama of Perception, the latest exhibit at Deluge Contemporary. Aitken currently teaches at Langara College and Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Penfold lives and paints in Vancouver, and Lyle received a fair bit of attention last year when she was named the honourable mention winner in the 14th Annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition for her oil painting, “White Night.” She earned a cheque for $15,000 and her painting was added to RBC’s 4,000-piece corporate art collection.

Drama of Perception is also curated by Visual Arts prof Sandra Meigs, and runs to April 13 at 636 Yates.

Phoenix helps light the SPARK

Posted on March 7, 2013 by john threlfall

The Belfry Theatre’s annual SPARK Festival is back and, not surprisingly, some Phoenix Theatre staff, students and alumni are involved.

Jan Wood

First up on March 11 is Department of Theatre prof Jan Wood, who will be presenting a staged reading of her new work Sacrifices. Here’s the official description of Sacrifices: “Each person makes allowances and negotiates compromises in order to exist…but at what cost? Sacrifices examines the choices that an ordinary woman makes to balance career, family and self-fulfillment. In revealing her story, Medina exposes the tiny sacrifices that have led her to commit her ultimate sacrifice, an act universally condemned and abhorred. Part myth, part mystery, Sacrifices tells of a struggle for personal fulfillment in a world where a thin veneer can separate sanity and madness.”

Sacrifices will be read by Wood and noted director and playwright James Fagan Tait (The Life Inside) at 7pm Monday, March 11 at the Belfry—for free!

Wood also recently appeared in the Belfry’s December 2012 production of A Christmas Carol alongside husband Brian LInds—who is doing a miniplay installation at SPARK called Story With Sound: A Lucid Moment. And their daughter, Shayna Linds, is appearing in Belfry 101 Live at SPARK. Talk about a family affair!

Taddei, Ogden & Macaulay (photo: Peter Pokorny)

Meanwhile, current Phoenix students Kathryn Taddei, Monica Ogden and Charlotte Macaulay—all past Belfry 101 students—are collaborating on a new miniplay for the Belfry Leadership Training Program called Kid Psychic. All the miniplays this year are inspired by the senses, so Kid Psychic looks to the sixth sense and opens the door to another world.

Michelle Monteith

Phoenix alumni are also on deck this year, with Michelle Monteith appearing in Little One by acclaimed playwright Hannah Moskovitch (whose The Russian Play was a hit at SPARK 2010). Little One is described as “a stylish little lullaby-nightmare” and is a welcome return for Monteith, who previously wowed us with Revisited, which she co-created with 2B Theatre. Monteith is interviewed in this Times Colonist SPARK preview.

Jennifer Lines

Also appearing at SPARK this year are Theatre SKAM’s Matthew Payne (in Zopyra Theatre’s When Time Was Young), and busy Phoenix grad Jennifer Lines, who will be reading the new play by Carmine Aguirre, The Trial of Tina Modotti. The Jessie Richardson Award-winning Lines, who last appeared locally in The Real Thing at the Belfry, is a frequent face at the likes of Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach and Arts Club Theatre. Aguirre, a graduate of Vancouver’s Studio 58 who won the 2012 Canada Reads for her book Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter, also wrote Blue Box, which was an audience favourite at 2012′s Uno Fest.

Carmen Aguirre

The Trial of Tina Modotti is a one-woman show exploring the life of the famed 1920s photographer and activist. Born in Italy in 1896 to an impoverished working class family, she moved to San Francisco in her teens, and then later lived in Mexico, Germany, the former Soviet Union, and Spain, where she ran a hospital for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. Renowned and remembered for her photography as much as for her activism, she died in 1942 of a heart attack in Mexico City. Aguirre’s play examines themes around art as a tool for change, the personal and artistic cost of absolute commitment to a political cause, and ultimately asks the question: what is the purpose of art in the face of human suffering?

Words on the street

Posted on March 6, 2013 by john threlfall

Three notable literary efforts of note coming up in the next week, courtesy of some of our mighty fine Fine Arts writers, plus one snazzy event near the end of the month.

• First up is The Valley, the latest play by Department of Writing professor and Siminovitch Prize-winning playwright Joan MacLeod. Previously known as What To Expect, MacLeod’s latest play kicks off the 27th annual Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays at Alberta Theatre Projects. The Valley is a fictional story about a troubled teenager who has a confrontation with a police officer on the SkyTrain in Vancouver, which reverberates throughout the community, sweeping both families up into a storm of emotion, opinion and conflict.

The idea for The Valley came from the case of Robert Dziekanski, who died after being hit by RCMP with a Taser at Vancouver Airport in 2007. “One of Joan’s great specialties is responding to something in the headlines”, says Vicki Stroich, interim artistic director for Alberta Theatre Projects. (CBC Calgary chose it as one of their top three picks of the week here—the part about MacLeod begins around 2:32.) As humane, thought-provoking and relevant as her other plays like Another Home Invasion and The Shape of A Girl, MacLeod continues to earn the Toronto Star‘s description of her as “one of the most important playwrights working in Canada today.”

The Valley runs March 6 – April 7 at Calgary’s Alberta Theatre Projects. Alas, there is no local date as of this posting.

Jan Wood

• Next up on March 11 is a new play reading by Department of Theatre prof Jan Wood, who will be presenting a staged reading of her new work Sacrifices as part of the Belfry’s SPARK Festival. Here’s the official description of Sacrifices: “Each person makes allowances and negotiates compromises in order to exist…but at what cost? Sacrifices examines the choices that an ordinary woman makes to balance career, family and self-fulfillment. In revealing her story, Medina exposes the tiny sacrifices that have led her to commit her ultimate sacrifice, an act universally condemned and abhorred. Part myth, part mystery, Sacrifices tells of a struggle for personal fulfillment in a world where a thin veneer can separate sanity and madness.”

Sacrifices will be read by Wood and noted director and playwright James Fagan Tait (The Life Inside) at 7pm Monday, March 11 at the Belfry—for free!

Jessica Kluthe

• After that comes a UVic double-bill on March 12, with Lorna Crozier and Department of Writing alum Jessica Kluthe will be discussing the importance of place in stories as part of the popular reading series At The Mic. Crozier will likely be reading from her latest, The Book of Marvels, but Kluthe is launching her first book, Rosina the Midwife. Described as a “lyrical memoir,” Kluthe is writing about her great-great-grandmother Rosina, a Calabrian midwife who was the only member of the Russo family to remain in Italy while her kin left in search of work. Between 1870 and 1970, twenty-six million Italians left their homeland; many of them never returned.

Kluthe’s writing has appeared in The Malahat Review, among other magazines, her 2012 essay “Scattered” won the Other Voices creative non-fiction contest, and she is currently working on a novel. She teaches advanced business writing at Grant MacEwan and is on the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension. Also on the bill for the evening is award-winning author and mystery writer George Szanto.

At The Mike runs 7pm Tuesday, March 12, at Chronicles of Crime, 1048 Fort Street.

• The Department of Writing is also well-represented at the upcoming all-day Malahat Review event WordsThaw 2013. Their first annual spring symposium, WordsThaw features three daytime panels and a literary reading in the evening. Panels include “Zoom In, Zoom Out: Focus on Fiction” moderated by Amy Reiswig with Writing instructor John Gould and busy alum Yasuko Thanh, plus Daniel Griffin; “A Sustainable Feast: The New Food Writing” moderated by Don Genova, with Rhona McAdam and Kimberley Veness; and “In our Names: Writers on Poverty,” with panelists including retired Writing prof Patrick Lane, current instructor and 2012 City of Victoria Book Prize winner Madeline Sonik, plus Sylvia Olsen.

The evening reading, “Words on Ice,” features the Malahat Review‘s UVic 50th Anniversary Prize winners Pamela Porter, Laura Kraemer, and Katherin Edwards, as well as Writing chair Bill Gaston, soon-to-retire professor Lorna Crozier, new(ish) professor Lee Henderson, plus local writers Marilyn Bowering and C. P. Boyko.

Earlybird rates for a full pass includes all panels and literary reading are $30/$40 (until March 13) and can be purchased from their website. All full passes include a one-year subscription to The Malahat Review or an extension of your current subscription.

WordsThaw runs 10am-10pm Saturday, March 23, in room A240 of UVic’s Human and Social Development building.

Fine Arts at IdeaFest

Posted on February 25, 2013 by john threlfall

IdeaFest is coming up soon at UVic and Fine Arts is all over the programming this year!

With more than 50 ideas worth exploring, UVic’s second annual IdeaFest looks pretty exciting. Running March 4-15 in every corner of campus, this free festival connects you to experts working on the kind of ideas that really can change everything—whether you’re a rocket scientist, artist, gamer, zombie fan or something else entirely.

New and emerging research will be brought to life in panels, workshops, exhibits, lectures, performances, film screenings and tours. Ideas up for discussion run the gamut of political upheaval, creativity, heart health, Canada’s north, urban planning, big data, #IdleNoMore and whether or not English should emerge as a global language—just to name a handful.

Take a few minutes to browse through the full program on the IdeaFest 2013 website— the hardest part will be deciding which idea to start with!

Here’s a quick breakdown of what Fine Arts has on tap:

• Enacting the Artist / Researcher / Educator: Six UVic applied theatre graduate students engaged in a theatre-based PhD research project will discuss utilizing playbuilding as qualitative research, as well as a variety of theatre conventions as a way to generate, interpret and (re)present data. The result is a devised play about enacting the artist/researcher/educator with a post-show dialogue. 2-4pm Monday, March 4, in room 109 of the Fine Arts building.

• Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards: Celebrate some of the outstanding research produced by the 2012 Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards scholars at this day-long presentation of their work. Here’s a list of who’s representing Fine Arts, but you can read abstracts of their research here: Sara Fruchtman, Alexandra Macdonald and Christine Oldridge (History in Art), Stewart Gibbs, Sarah Johnson and Jennifer Taylor (Theatre), Bronwyn McMillin and Willie Seo (Visual Arts), Claire Garneau and Liz Snell (Writing). The JCURA runs 11am-3pm Wednesday, March 6, in the SUB’s Cinecenta, Upper Lounge and Michele Pujol room.

• Mini Film Fest: Join some of the Department of Writing’s emerging filmmakers for a screening and discussion of several recent, award-winning student films—including the Leo Award-winning web series Freshman’s Wharf, and Connor Gaston’s recent TIFF and VFF-screened short, Bardo Light. 7:30 pm Thursday, March 7, in room 162 of the Visual Arts building.

• Sonic Lab: Join UVic’s contemporary music ensemble as they present two compositions that explore the sound itself as musical material. Imagine a brick wall with a human figure painted on it, which can be taken apart & rebuilt as a fence or a house—meaning the parts of painted body would show up in an unexpected context. The same happens here, where usual & unusual sounds will be taken apart and put together in a new context. 8pm Friday, March 8, in the Phillip T Young Recital Hall.

• “Have you ever had an idea?” Get in on this interactive, community-involving project aimed at enabling ideas to be more accessible and more attainable. Participants become part of Victoria’s biggest idea—a giant run-on sentence created by texting, calling or e-mailing in their ideas. It all culiminates in an installation with video & audio components of real-time projection, discussions, idea-counseling, etc. 7-10pm Friday, March 8, in room A111 of the Visual Arts building.

• “Games Without Frontiers: The Social Power of Video Games”: Join professors, grad students, undergraduates, high-school students, local game designers and curious citizens of Victoria at this mini-conference to explore, discuss and marvel at the power of video-game technology to bring people together and improve the world. Faculty and students will give demonstrations and offer a Q&A about the innovative use of “gamification” techniques in their research, including games that help to improve the lives of children with autism, teach about First Nations treaties, combat obesity and explore the ocean floor, among others.

Don’t miss the Minecraft documentary

Other events will include demonstrations of new games by students and local designers, a “journalism game jam” to apply game tools to improve public-service reporting, various competitions and panels of local experts to debate the power, the pitfalls and the future of game design. The UVic student music ensemble Flipside will also be performing a selection of video game soundtracks (1:30-3pm), and Cinecenta will be hosting a screening of the documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, a look behind the scenes of the popular online game, with an Orion-sponsored talk and Q&A with the Portland-based filmmakers from 2 Player Productions to follow—that’s at 7:15 pm Friday, March 8, at Cinecenta. Games without Frontiers runs 11:30am-6pm Saturday, March 9, in the David Strong building.

• “Is There Still Potential for Human Creativity?” A good question, and one which promises a lively back and forth at this Fine Arts discussion panel featuring Jennifer Stillwell (Visual Arts), George Tzanetakis (Computer Science-Music), Lee Henderson (Writing), Victoria Wyatt (History in Art), Jonathan Goldman (Music). Moderated by the Times Colonist‘s Dave Obee. 7:30pm Monday, March 11, in B150 of the Bob Wright Centre.

• Fine Arts PechaKucha: Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled.

• Intergenerational Theatre for Development in India: After being displaced by the 2006 tsunami, a new community in India is using Applied Theatre to reconnect its citizens. The creation of an intergenerational theatre company to perform the stories of seniors and rural youth of the Tamilnadu community has the potential to create lines of dialogue across generations by positively highlighting the life experiences of residents of Tamaraikulam Elders’ Village and students of the Isha Vidhya Matriculation School. Theatre PhD student Matthew Gusul recently visited India and will tell the story of this developing project. 4:45pm Thursday, March 14, in the Phoenix Theatre’s McIntyre Studio.

Reasons to see Pretty

Posted on February 19, 2013 by john threlfall

The reviews are in for Phoenix Theatre‘s latest production, the Tony Award-nominated black comedy Reasons to Be Pretty, and the local critics are holding their thumbs way up for this one.

Reese Nielsen and Robin Gadsby pull out the stops in Reasons to Be Pretty (photo: David Lowes)

“UVic’s theatre department has done a terrific job with this black comedy, which boasts an unusually strong student cast and crisp, stylish direction from Christine Willes,” raves Adrian Chamberlain in his Times Colonist review. “Reasons to Be Pretty is bound to be one of the season’s highlights.”

Meanwhile, in her CVV Magazine review, critic Erin Anderson describes Pretty as “a strong show—the best I’ve seen from Phoenix yet—and a thought-provoking, empowering one at that.” She felt that “all of the elements of theatre come together exceptionally well in this production, so much so that it’s a shame it has such a short run.”

Busy local arts blogger Janis LaCouvee calls it a “naturalistic, sprawling juggernaut of a tale” in her review, describing it as a “slice-of-life for the 21^st century that speaks to the heart of many young people today, and confronts us all with our own attitudes.” And Kelly J. Clark of The Marble online theatre blog says Reasons to Be Pretty features “a talented cast and crew, who elevate it to a production of merit.”

Alberta Holden and Alex Frankson (Photo: David Lowes)

Praising the performances (“All the actors are strong—all obviously have careers ahead of them if they so choose”), the TC’s Chamberlain puts the spotlight on student actor Reese Neilsen as Steph, calling her “a standout” who captures a “complex, contradictory character with great heart and verve.”

CVV’s Anderson also highlighted the cast, noting Neilsen “gives an affecting, sharp performance as Steph, balancing intense emotion with intelligent convictions” and felt Alberta Holden did “great work in her monologue on the unnerving, alienating nature of beauty and brings a light playfulness to the role even when [her character] Carly is on the warpath.” She also noted how director Willes delivers “an honest and lifelike portrayal of average people who manage to capture something very profound.”

The Marble‘s Clark noted the show is “graced with a talented cast”, and credits director Willes “who coaxes wonderful performances from her cast and her fantastic crew” and creates an overall “slick production.”

All the reviewers highlighted the design work as well, created by Breanna Wise (set), Halley Fulford (costumes), Erin Osborne & Michael Whitfield (lighting) and Hayley McCurdy (sound).

Director Christine Willes with CVV’s Leanne Allen

Interest was also high in advance of the show’s opening, with local online arts mag CVV Magazine doing this video interview with Reasons to Be Pretty director Willes. The Times Colonist also spoke with Willes in this preview article, noting she had previously worked as an actor with Pretty playwright Neil LaBute when he was filming the horror film The Wicker Man in Vancouver a few years back. Willes is also interviewed on this U in the Ring radio interview from CFUV; the interview starts about halfway through the podcast.

Reasons to Be Pretty runs 8pm nightly through to February 23, with a 2pm matinee on Saturday, February 23. Showtimes and ticket prices can be found here.

Talent on screen at VFF

Posted on January 31, 2013 by john threlfall

When the 19th annual Victoria Film Festival hits local movie screens between February 1st and 10th, Fine Arts students will once again have their work seen alongside more than 150 tantalizing Canadian and international films.

Connor Gaston’s Bardo Light

Primary among them is Department of Writing graduate student Connor Gaston, who made local news late last year when his short film Bardo Light was accepted into the Toronto International Film Festival and another of his shorts, Stuck, screened at the Whistler Film Festival. (TIFF programmer Magali Simard described Bardo Light as “a modern-day chiller that merges Mary Shelley with the Tibetan Book of the Dead, [this] is a bold and unique experience.”)

Victoria audiences will now have the opportunity to see Bardo Light—which stars Department of Theatre grad Shaan Rahman and features a cameo by Writing chair Bill Gaston—as part of the “Little Horrors” shorts program at 9:30pm Saturday, February 9, at the Vic Theatre.

Emily Piggford in Frost

You can also see Department of Theatre grad Emily Piggford as part of that same “Little Horrors” night when she takes the lead in the short film Frost, created by Pacific and Asian Studies alumni Jeremy Ball. Frost has been described as “stunning” and “epic,” thanks to its barren, snow-covered landscapes and dystopic sci-fi edge. (Check out this article about Ball by Michael Reid, film writer for the local Times Colonist).

Catch a video interview with Piggford here from when Frost also played at TIFF, or you can read an interview with her here. And proving that not all filmmakers come out of Writing or Theatre, recent UVic biology grad Julia Hostetler has her own short film Quiescence on view as well. Catch it as part of the shorts program “Kids Amok!” at 2pm on Sunday, February 10, also at the Vic.

Maureen Bradley

Also of note is the work done behind the scenes by student jurors Charles Wagner, Caitlen Jessen and Max Johnson, as well as busy local filmmaker and Writing prof Maureen Bradley, who was once again on the VFF programming committee and will be doing a workshop as part of the annual Springboard industry discussion series. She’ll be participating in “The Drama Workshop” session, which runs from 2-3:30pm Saturday, February 2 at the Vic. “I’ll be presenting work and discussing narrative filmmaking for emerging filmmakers,” says Bradley.

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UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts: Thinking with the right side of your brain

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