New play by Writing student explores trans joy & resilience

by | Jul 16, 2025 | Alumni, Theatre, Undergraduate, Writing

It’s always exciting to see student work spring off the campus and into the community. Local playwright and fresh Writing alum Jasper Mallette — who just graduated in June 2025 — is now debuting Expiry Date, a brand new piece of transgender theatre, which runs at downtown’s Intrepid Theatre Club from July 25-26 (7:30pm Fri-Sat plus a 2pm Sat matinee).

This 90-minute, one-act play focuses on two trans-masculine people living in an apocalypse, debating on whether or not hormones are essential to their survival. And if they are, what happens when they run out and/or expire?

“Expiry Date explores themes of trans resilience and how trans people manage to survive even in the most unlikely circumstances,” says Jasper. “It poses questions like, would hormones still be essential to survival if there was no society to enforce gender roles, and in what ways do trans experiences exist beyond the gender binary?”

Set in an alternate 2020s, Expiry Date considers what if something like Covid had essentially killed off (or zombified) the majority of the population? The play is set in the rural BC town of Enderby, Beneath, around and throughout it all, the play considers what community and companionship truly means.

In addition to writing it, Expiry Date is also produced by Jasper’s own Pithy Productions (which won the “Outstanding Production” award at this year’s Victoria One-Act Play Festival for their production Joany), and features a majority trans and UVic alumni team, including Theatre students Nichelle Friesen (set & props) and Margi Stoner (stage manager), Theatre/Writing alumni J Johnson (dramaturg) and Mo Hatch (director).

Listen to a Phoenix Fire podcast interview with Jasper Mallette and J Johnson.

A staged reading of Expiry Date

Showtimes 7:30pm Fri-Sat July 25-26 + 2pm July 26 matinee at the Intrepid Theatre Club, 1609 Blanshard, Tickets are $20-$40 sliding scale.

Content notes: Scenes depicting injection of hormones, discussions of gender identity, sudden loud noises, minor physical altercations. Trigger warnings: discussions of dysphoria, death, pandemics, and borderline suicidal ideation.

From left: Jasper Mallette, M0 Hatch, J Johnson, Margi Stoner & Nichelle Friesen  

Climate professor receives $2.5 million grant to document stories globally

by | Jul 14, 2025 | Award, climate, donor, Faculty, indigenous, Theatre, Visual Arts, Writing

Fires rage, floods devastate, storms surge: every day we hear about the impacts of climate change, with ever-increasing casualty counts and infrastructure damage tipping into the billions. But all too often, climate politics and media reporting favour the voices of experts over victims, resulting in a lost opportunity to act on the first-person experiences of climate-change survivors.  

Now, a new initiative led by the University of Victoria will close that critical gap in narrative and knowledge, thanks to a six-year, $2.5-million Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant announced last week. 

From Catastrophe to Community: A People’s History of Climate Change will train 500 post-secondary students and professional journalists to document the experience of 1,000 survivors around the world and share their wisdom. 

“Climate change isn’t a threat tomorrow. It’s a trauma today,” says UVic Department of Writing professor Sean Holman, who is director of From Catastrophe to Community. “And when someone lives through that kind of trauma, they need a different climate story where they feel seen in their experiences and know the harm caused to them will be repaired — both now and in the future.”

Listen to this interview with Sean Holman on CBC Radio’s All Points West about his new $2.5 million grant. and how the power of storytelling can help and heal communities. 

Supporting community recovery

The project will result in the creation of documentaries with APTN Investigates, news features, an anthology and a travelling museum exhibition that will launch at Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Museum of Vancouver. In the process, the From Catastrophe to Community team will develop new trauma-informed, human-rights-based storytelling practices to support the recovery of communities impacted by climate change and other humanitarian crises.  

“This partnership grant is an example of the UVic’s broad leadership in climate action,” says Alexandra D’Arcy, UVic associate vice-president of research. “Across campus, our researchers are working to tackle the global problem of climate change, which is also a profoundly local problem, as extreme weather events impact our loved ones and our ecosystems.”     

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of weather-related disasters, such as the 2021 Lytton Creek fire that destroyed 90 percent of the buildings in Lytton, Canada. (Photo: Phil McLachlan)

 

 

From Catastrophe to Community was awarded to Holman and a team of researchers, curators, journalists and artists, including co-directors at the Museum of Vancouver, Simon Fraser University, Trent University, the University of Denver Colorado, the University of Stirling, the Université du Québec à Montréal, and York University. On-campus partners include Fine Arts professors David Leach (Writing); Joel Ong, Kelly Richardson and Paul Walde (Visual Arts); Patrick DuWors (Theatre); plus Sarah Marie Wiebe (UVic Public Administration).

“Each part of our society needs to work together to confront the traumatic impacts of our warming world,” says Holman. “And that’s exactly what From Catastrophe to Community is doing: bringing museums, news outlets, theatre companies, post-secondary institutions, research agencies and survivors together to help us to realize a more just and equitable future that honours the human dignity of disaster communities.”

From Catastrophe to Community will document the experiences of climate disaster survivors such as retiree Sônia Ferreira, whose home in Atafona, Brazil, is slowly being destroyed by coastal erosion. (Photo: Aeson Baldevia)

$4 million in partner contributions

Organizations from Brazil, Malawi, Africa, the UK, the US and other countries to be selected by project partners at Covering Climate Now and Journalists for Human Rights are part of From Catastrophe to Community. Collectively, these 27 partners have committed more than $4 million in matching contributions to the project. From Catastrophe to Community builds on the success of the award-winning Climate Disaster Project — a teaching newsroom founded at UVic by Holman in 2021 in their role as the Wayne Crookes Professor of Environmental and Climate Journalism, funded by visionary Vancouver business leader, humanitarian, and philanthropist Wayne Crookes.  

To date, the Climate Disaster Project has trained more than 250 students in trauma-informed journalism techniques and — with the assistance of post-secondary partners in Canada and around the world —  co-created more than 320 verbatim narrative packages of climate survivors worldwide.

Highlights in the past year alone include a series of survivor narratives published in The Guardian during 2024’s COP29 UN Climate Change Summit, the creation of the award-winning verbatim play Eyes of the Beast: Climate Disaster Survivor Stories with Neworld Theatre (which ran inVictoria and Vancouver), and the presentation of survivor narratives at cultural institutions including UCLA’s Sci Art Gallery, the Royal BC Museum and the Kamloops Art Gallery.  

Here’s a full list of partners in From Catastrophe to Community:

  • Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
  • Alberta Council for Environmental Education
  • Art and Global Health Africa
  • British Columbia Centre for Disease Control
  • Canadian Museum for Human Rights
  • climateXchange
  • Covering Climate Now
  • Humber Polytechnic
  • Journalists for Human Rights
  • Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  • MacEwan University
  • Methodist University of São Paulo
  • Mount Royal University
  • Museum of Vancouver
  • Room Up Front
  • Royal BC Museum
  • Simon Fraser University
  • Thompson Rivers University
  • Trent University
  • The Reach Gallery Museum
  • University of British Columbia Press
  • University of Denver Colorado
  • University of Northern British Columbia
  • L’Université du Québec à Montréal
  • University of Stirling
  • University of the Fraser Valley
  • York University

UVic theatre grad headed to London for MFA

by | Jun 12, 2025 | Alumni, Award, Theatre, Undergraduate

El Newell receives the Spirit of the Phoenix Award from professor Peter McGuire (photo: Sadie Kupery)

With over 200 students graduating from Fine Arts on June 12, we’re not able to profile everyone but Theatre student El Newell is an outstanding representative of her grad year. A  self-directed theatre major originally from Ottawa, Ontario, El’s studies focused on playwriting, design and directing, along with American Sign Language (ASL). After four years, El will be graduating with both a Bachelor of Fine Arts as well as an ASL certificate. El also received the annual Spirit of the Phoenix Award this year, recognizing both her outstanding  involvement in the Theatre department and academic excellence.

Here, El shares a few of her student memories.

A scene from El’s play Horse Girl, produced by timetheft theatre at the SKAM Satellite studio in August 2023 

What is your favourite memory from your time at UVic?

“Getting my original work produced by UVic’s Student Alternative Theatre Company (SATCo). SATCo chose to produce my play Horse Girl in my first year of university. This was a huge moment for me as an artist, and a stepping stone into producing my plays through timetheft theatre, a theatre company started with my peers for which I am now playwright-in-residence. Through timetheft, I’ve had my work produced independently at SKAMpede and the Victoria Fringe Festival.”

Where did you love to study, hang out, or unwind on campus?

“The design room in the Phoenix Theatre saw more hard work, more laughter and more tears from me than any other spot on campus — it was a room where I did some of my best work, and where I made some of my favourite memories.”

El discussing her 2024 JCURA research project

Was there a course or professor who had an impact on you?

“Dr Alexandra Kovacs is the most impactful teacher I have ever had. Beyond her amazing theatre history classes, Dr. Kovacs supervised my JCURA (“The Well-Made Porn: Dramaturgies of Erotic Webcamming”). She allowed me a space in her master’s-level theatre research and theory classes in my last two years, and supported me through it all. She is an immense source of inspiration for me as a woman in academia and theatre.”

What activity or experience outside the classroom meant the most to you?

“I was the Theatre Course Union (TCU) president for the ’24/’25 school year, as well as serving as the first-year student representative, treasurer and vice-president of the TCU in previous years. Being a part of a student union that works with the theatre department to make our program the best it can be for students, as well as rewarding bursaries, planning events and holding weekly meetings, was a deeply fulfilling experience — year after year.”  

El (right) building a cardboard puppet as a part of UVic’s design cohort at the 2023 Prague Quadrennial 

Is your current path what you envisioned for yourself growing up?

“In September I will be starting my MFA at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England! I’d always expected I would go into theatre, but the breadth of knowledge, experience and confidence that I’ve gained at UVic has been beyond my wildest dreams — and I would have never dreamed I could pursue graduate studies if not for the support given to me by the faculty and my peers at the Phoenix.”

UVic in one word?

“Boundless!”

El directing her play Our Lady, Star of the Sea for the 2024 Victoria Fringe Festival 

Climate Disaster Project play wins award

by | Jun 4, 2025 | Alumni, Award, climate, donor, Faculty, Theatre, Writing

Congratulations go out to the Climate Disaster Project on winning Silver in the “Environmental and Climate Change” category at the Canadian Association of Journalists Awards on June 1 for Eyes of the Beast:Climate Disaster Survivor Stories, a documentary play about the experiences of British Columbians during the extreme fires, heat and flooding of 2021. This co-production with Neworld Theatre marks the first time a play has ever been recognized for reporting excellence at these prestigious annual journalism awards.

The timing is perfect too, as Eyes of the Beast will be remounted June 18-22 at Simon Fraser University’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in downtown Vancouver — but they won the CAJ award for the show’s world premiere at UVic’s own Phoenix Theatre back in September 2024.

“This award comes just as we approach the four-year anniversary of the extreme heat, fires, and floods in Western Canada the play portrays,” says Climate Disater Project founding director Sean Holman, UVic’s Wayne Crookes Professor of Environmental and Climate Journalism.

“It’s also a testament to the 117 people who worked to bring it to the stage, including our partners at Neworld Theatre, our students at the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Mount Royal University, MacEwan University, and First Nations University of Canada, and — most importantly — the survivors who worked with them.”

Eyes of the Beast creative team (@helenecyrfotos)

About the play

Adapted from the award-winning journalism of the Climate Disaster Project — an international newsroom based out of UVic’s Writing department but now with over 35 educational, media and cultural partners worldwide — Eyes of the Beast is a verbatim production pulling from hundreds of testimonies of people across Canada who have lived through climate change together. It was created through the efforts of a number of UVic alumni, including Beast director and Neworld artistic director Chelsea Haberlin plus co-creator Sebastien Archibald.

As with when it debuted at UVic, each performance of the Vancouver run of the play will be followed by a facilitated talkback, featuring a BC or Vancouver political leader, who will engage with the audience and reflect on ways to support impacted communities.

The Vancouver premiere of Eyes of the Beast is co-created by Sebastien Archibald, Gavan Cheema, and Kelsey Kanatan Wavey.

Performance Details

Eyes of the Beast runs 90 minutes (including intermission and facilitated talkback) at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre. General admission $10. Performances run 7:30pm June 18-21, plus 2pm matinees on June 21-22.

Neworld managing director Alen Dominguez (right) with artistic director Chelsea Haberlin (left) plus CDP managing editor & Writing alum Aldyn Chwelos + Sean Holman (Kimberly Ho)

Instructor & Lehan Lecturer wins $25K award

by | May 9, 2025 | Award, donor, Theatre

Congratulations go out to Theatre instructor and 2025 Lehan Family Activism & the Arts Lecturer d’bi.young anitafrika, who has been awarded a $25,000 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize.

An internationally acclaimed Black-queer-feminist non-binary dub poet, playwright-performer, dramaturge-director and scholar-activist, d’bi’s visionary contributions to theatre, education and leadership have made space for rigorous decolonial practice. You can watch their 2025 Lehan Lecture here.

With over 25 years of trailblazing artistry in plays, albums, books and leadership — their intersectional Anitafrika Method, rooted in Black feminist thought, has revolutionized arts-based practices nationally and internationally — d’bi also recently received a $242,500 Canada Council grant to establish a digital theatre archive, collaborating with Black Womxn Circle and UVic Libraries: KULA. While completing their PhD in London (UK), they have been leading training programs at Toronto’s Soulpepper and Obsidian theatres and here at UVic.

Selected from a field of 15 finalists, d’bi is one of five Metcalf winners: each receives $25,000 and chooses a protégé to receive a separate $10,000 prize: d’bi’s protégé is Sashoya Simpson, a Jamaican-Canadian writer, theatre practitioner and the associate artistic director of Watah Theatre and the Black Theatre School.

The Metcalf Prizes celebrate Ontario’s leading creators in the performing arts and is one of the largest unrestricted prizes for artists in Ontario, celebrating mid-career and early-career artists across multiple disciplines.

New Phoenix season announced

by | Apr 14, 2025 | Events, Graduate, Theatre, Undergraduate

While the 2024/25 academic season is coming to a close, it’s the ideal time to pick up a subscription to the 2025/26 mainstage season at UVic’s Phoenix Theatre. This year, we saw a remarkable season highlighted by productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Killing Game and Twelfth Night, plus bonus shows like Eyes of the Beast and im:print 2024 — let’s see what’s coming up next year!

The season kicks off with The Salty Scent of Home (October 9-18). Directed and created by Theatre chair Yasmine Kandil, this powerful and celebratory theatre performance brings to life the stories of six newcomer immigrants and refugees, capturing their journeys as they navigate the challenges and embrace the rewards of immigration and settlement.

Interwoven with these personal stories are poignant and lyrical poems inspired by the migratory patterns of birds — symbolizing freedom, resilience and tenacity. This production is a moving tribute to the strength found in community and the universal desire to find a place to call home.*

Following that is the American classic Our Town (November 6-22). Led by guest director Soheil Parsa, this timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning classic by Thornton Wilder still captures the beauty and fragility of everyday life. Set in the small town of Grover’s Corners, the play follows the lives of its residents — ordinary people experiencing love, loss and the passage of time. Guided by the omniscient Stage Manager, audiences witness the joys and sorrows of the Gibbs and Webb families as they navigate childhood, marriage and mortality.

Despite being first performed in 1938, Our Town remains a poignant, heartwarming and deeply moving exploration of human awareness and the often-overlooked beauty of everyday moments.

 

Spring 2026 sees the staging of Sami Ibrahim’s A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain (February 12-21), directed by MFA candidate Sophia Treanor. In a land where myth and reality intertwine, we follow Elif, a young immigrant whose days are spent shearing sheep—each tuft of wool rising into the sky, forming clouds that bring rain to a distant, wealthy city. But when she becomes a mother, her priorities become clear.

Determined to secure citizenship for her child, she travels to the capital, only to encounter an unforgiving bureaucracy and an immigration system designed to keep her out. A hauntingly beautiful fable of perseverance and sacrifice.

Finally, the season rounds out with Rick Waines’ In My Day * (March 12-21), as directed by former Belfry Theatre artistic director Roy Surette. This  powerful and deeply moving play sheds light on a pivotal chapter in our history: set during the HIV/AIDS crisis, this poignant production celebrates the resilience of diverse communities who came together in extraordinary ways. Through vivid storytelling, richly drawn characters and moments of humour and joy, Victoria-based playwright Rick Waines honours the voices of those who lived, loved and endured during an era marked by loss, fear and stigma.

Actually inspired by a UVic community-based research project, In My Day brings to life the true stories of long-term survivors living with HIV and their caregivers from the first 15 years of the HIV pandemic in British Columbia. Highlighting the experiences of diverse communities — including women, people of colour, Indigenous peoples, trans individuals, and more — it gives voice to those whose perspectives have often been overlooked. “My aim with In My Day was to accurately, without losing meaning, tell the story of the first 15 years of the AIDS pandemic using the testimonies of the participants in a theatrically exciting way,” says Waines.

* The Salty Scent of Home is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded performance, while In My Day is partially supported by SSHRC funding. 

Subscriptions to the 2025-26 Phoenix Theatre season are now on sale for just $51-$68, which lets you choose 3 or 4 plays from our season and save up to 50% off single ticket prices. For more subscription benefits, please see the Phoenix Tickets site.