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 

Across Lands & Waters CERC gathering

by | Apr 29, 2025 | Alumni, Art History & Visual Studies, climate, Events, Faculty, indigenous, Undergraduate, Visual Arts

The Qiaqsutuq installation will be on view at Across Lands and Waters

Victoria may not immediately come to mind as the obvious location for an international gathering of 60 circumpolar and Pacific artists and curators, but that’s one of the advantages that comes with Dr Heather Igloliorte now calling UVic home.

As the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Decolonial & Transformational Indigenous Art Practices, Igloliorte has held this prestigious eight-year, $8-million position in UVic’s Department of Visual Arts since November 2023 — and, out of 45 current CERC chair holders, remains the only artist/curator in a field dominated by hard sciences.

Running April 29-May 1, Across Lands and Waters will be the first major gathering of Igloliorte’s CERC network of mostly Indigenous artists, scholars, museum/gallery directors, curators, students and community members. Over three days, participants will gather for lively discussions, gallery visits, land-based activities and performances, sharing current research and projects while making plans for future collaborations. They’ll also engage with the public via Igloliorte’s new Taqsiqtuut Research-Creation Lab.

Noting that her attendees are coming from nearly every time zone in the world, Igloliorte feels Across Lands and Waters offers an unprecedented opportunity to connect in-person. Representing a wide variety of nations and cultures — including Inuk, Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian), Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw, Sami, Sāmoan/Persian/Cantonese, Sugpiaq, Ts’msyen and Zuni Pueblo — participants will be coming from as far afield as Norway, Greenland, Rankin Inlet, New Mexico and Honolulu.

“Victoria is nestled at the center of both the Pacific and the North, from the west coast of North America on up to Alaska, then across the Arctic and around the circumpolar world, but also over to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa,” says Igloliorte. “I have a large network of colleagues and artists I’ve been working with for a long time — partners who are working and thinking across Indigenous cultures and learning from each other in order to move towards this place of transformation and decolonization.”

While attending, Across Lands and Waters invited guests will engage in Pecha Kucha-style research presentations; an “On The Land” session focusing on the removal of invasive species and replanting of native plants; a site visit to the studio of UVic Impact Chair Carey Newman; a visit to Island Timber salvage operation, which provides timber to Indigenous artists; a tour of new Legacy Gallery exhibit, GEORGE CLUTESI: ḥašaḥʔap / ʔaapḥii / ʕc̓ik  / ḥaaʔaksuqƛ / ʔiiḥmisʔap; plus performances and storytelling by Indigenous artists, with an opening from Chief David Knox at Mungo Martin House.

Public participation

Across Lands and Waters culminates in a free public event on Thursday, May 1, featuring panel sessions from 1-5pm (Phillip T Young Recital Hall, MacLaurin B-Wing) and a reception with art installations and interactive projects from 5-7pm (Visual Arts building). During this time, the public is invited to:

  • engage with Carey Newman’s new Witness Blanket VR project
  • explore Qiaqsutuq, a multimedia sculptural installation which offers an Inuit perspective on climate change, as told Greek Chorus-style from the perspectives of five gigantic Arctic animals or beings
  • watch 3D Sami films via VR headsets
  • participate in a group stop-motion short film project
  • hear panels on “Sovereignty & the Arts”, “Institutional Practices”, “Resistance & Transformation” and “These Lands & Waters” (see UVic Calendar link for details)
  • view the exhibition Continuum, showcasing work by past, present and future Indigenous students from UVic’s Visual Arts program (co-curated by Alexandra Nordstrom and Jasmine Sihra, Concordia University PhD students)
  • enjoy a reception with live music and light refreshments.

Carey Newman’s Witness Blanket VR 

About Heather Igloliorte

Canada’s first Inuk art historian to hold a doctoral degree, Igloliorte has developed a well-deserved reputation as an internationally renowned curator whose work has positioned circumpolar Indigenous arts and knowledge at the centre of global exhibition practices. In addition to her teaching duties, her other current projects include curating Newfoundland’s international Bonavista Biennale (August-Sept) and being on the jury for both the upcoming Salt Spring National Art Prize (Sept-Oct) and Yukon Art Prize (Oct).

As UVic’s only CERC, Igloliorte is focused on advancing reconciliation through the transformative power of art and innovative exhibition practices. “Indigenous people don’t necessarily have access to the same cutting-edge technologies that others do, just like they lack access to museums and galleries in the North,” she says. She is supporting a new generation of students, researchers, educators, curators and artists to drive change through artistic practice.

As such, her Taqsiqtuut Research Creation lab is focused on not only sharing practical digital skills but also the creation of exhibitions, the training and mentoring of students and youth, and the development of new policies and best practices for institutions that engage with Indigenous art and artists.

Heather Igloliorte

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. 

Submission call for $1K Student Impact Awards!

by | Mar 25, 2025 | Art History & Visual Studies, Award, donor, School of Music, Theatre, Undergraduate, Visual Arts, Writing

Are you a current or graduating Fine Arts student who’s been involved with some community-engaged creative activity between January 1 2024 & May 31 2025? If so, you could qualify for $1,000 via our annual juried, donor-funded Community Impact Awards. 

Since 2021, we’ve awarded over $13,000 to 11 students from across Fine Arts for projects ranging from murals, theatre productions, music performances, art shows, curatorial projects & more. Your activity may include (but isn’t limited to) any exhibit, performance, workshop, publication, curatorial, educational, digital, production and/or administrative role within the regional boundaries of Greater Victoria (Sidney to Sooke).

These awards are looking to highlight the efforts of undergraduate Fine Arts students who have demonstrated an outstanding effort in a community-engaged creative activity in Greater Victoria that went over and above their academic studies.

Read about our previous winners here: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021.

The fine print

A complete submission package — including the submission form and all supporting materials — must be received by 5pm Friday, May 30, 2025.

This award is open to any current or graduating undergraduate student enrolled in Art History & Visual Studies, Theatre, Visual Arts, Writing or the School of Music. Typically, three students receive awards each year and you must be a Fine Arts major to win: double-majors (ie: Humanities and Fine Arts) will only qualify if they choose Fine Arts as their graduating faculty.

The actual awards will be presented in fall 2025 as part of the annual Greater Victoria Regional Arts Awards, and recipients will be expected to attend. You will receive a physical award with your name on it as well as the funds, which are distributed by UVic’s Student Awards and Financial Aid office.

Helpful tips

To apply for this juried award, you’ll need the following:

  1. A description of the community-engaged creative activity (500 words max), including a title page with your contact information
  2. A letter from an individual or organization explaining how you were involved in this activity (300 words max)
  3. Two letters of endorsement for the project, from different people than #2 (two pages max, written by people unrelated to you)
  4. Your resume, CV or portfolio, noting relevant experience.

When it comes to your supporting material, consider these points:

  • What was the actual impact of your project? How many people did you reach? What kind of feedback did you receive, even anecdotally?
  • What are the benefits of engaging with the community through your arts practice?
  • How did your studies prepare you to engage in this kind of community project?
  • How will this award financially assist you?

What kind of work doesn’t qualify for this award?

  • Any project for which you received a grade as part of your coursework
  • Any student job that doesn’t have a creative element tied to a specific project
  • Anything that falls out of the required date range (2023 or earlier, or later in 2025)
  • Any project outside of Greater Victoria.

Frequently asked questions:

  • What qualifies as “community-engaged creative activity”?
    We’re looking for projects that engage the greater community in some aspect: past winners have been involved with painting murals, local theatre festivals, running sound for an orchestral series, performing live at pop-up installations, leading children’s arts camps, creating and distributing a ’zine, doing volunteer work for an arts group, mentoring with a children’s choir, running a gallery, and applying for and then mounting exhibitions of their own art. If it’s creative, isn’t for a grade and involves people, then it counts.

     

  • I mounted a self-created art project that had limited duration and no official support. Would this qualify?
    It would qualify as long as you have sufficient documentation, can articulate the project’s impact and can find support letters for it.
  • What’s the difference between the support letters?
    One letter speaks to how you were directly involved in the project (ideally written by a supervisor, funder or community partner) while the other two letters speak to the project’s overall impact (could be written by a participant, audience member or other attendee).
     
  • Can it be an on-campus project or does it have to have happened off-campus?
    On-campus projects do qualify, as long as they are not directly related to a course or self-directed study.
     
  • I’m graduating in June: can I still qualify for this award?
    As long as your project fits into the required date range, you qualify.

  • Would a project for a non-Fine Arts course qualify?
    No, this would still be considered course-related work.

  • I applied before but didn’t win. Can I apply again?
    Yes, as long as your project fits the qualifying date range.
     
  • I won this award before: can I apply again?
    No, you can only win this award once.

  • Does a project involving a larger event or organization count?
    Yes: many of our students work or volunteer for the Fringe Festival, SKAMpede, Art Gallery Paint-In, Symphony Splash, JazzFest or Rifflandia, for example. But keep in mind we are looking for students who have made an “outstanding effort”, not simply finding a summer job in the arts.

Questions? Contact fineartsawards@uvic.ca 

Phoenix Theatre is seeing double with Twelfth Night

by | Mar 13, 2025 | Faculty, Theatre, Undergraduate

Running March 13-22, the final mainstage production of Phoenix’s 24/25 season is Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Shipwrecked and separated from her twin brother Sebastian, Viola disguises herself as a young man to serve Duke Orsino. What follows is a whirlwind of romantic entanglements, mischievous pranks, mistaken identity and hilarious misunderstandings.

Director and Theatre professor Fran Gebhard reimagines this classic comedy in a post-climate change future inspired by BC’s rugged coastline. Expect a mix of mistaken identities, love triangles and the delightful chaos of reality and illusion.

“I set this play in late summer 2037 on Vancouver Island’s West Coast, where climate-related catastrophes—wildfires, extreme rainfall, hurricanes, flooding and earthquakes—have impact the region,” explains Gebhard. “Olivia’s father and brother have perished in these disasters, and the character we meet are rebuilding their lives in Illyria, where their summer homes once stood.”

Samantha Frew (photo: Dean Kalyan) 

And, in fact, this production has a unique twist—our real-life identical twins, Makayla and Mariah Madill (above) take the stage as twins Viola and Sebastian. Audiences will have fun trying to tell these fourth-year acting students apart! Makayla and Mariah are so alike that their teachers even ask them to wear different hairstyles to class. Subtle differences include one being slightly taller and the other having a small eyebrow scar. Let’s see if you can spot who’s who, especially when Viola is disguised as a boy! Don’t miss this playful and inventive take on one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies.

“I am so grateful to have worked with such an inventive and adaptable cast and crew of students and staff,” says Gebhard. “Our talented students have designed an engaging environment, striking costumes, evocative lighting and sound. We even have a student musician who composed some of their own music . . . . We have had such fun realizing our production of Shakespeare’s timeless play! My only hope is that the audience’s enjoyment exceeds our own!”

 

The Killing Game at the Phoenix

by | Feb 13, 2025 | Theatre, Undergraduate

The latest mainstage production at our Phoenix Theatre is Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist comedy The Killing Game. Directed by Theatre professor Conrad Alexandrowicz, from a translation by Helen Gary Bishop, The Killing Game transcends the ordinary by offering a surreal, captivating play that immerses audiences in the tale of a town facing a deadly plague. As the body count rises, accusations fly, tensions rise, and the line between reality and absurdity is blurred. Death spares no one, regardless of wealth, age, innocence, or guilt, turning the community into a chaotic mix of paranoia, hypocrisy and opportunism.

“Over the course of working on this piece, I realized that it could be about a different kind of crisis,” Alexandrowicz said in this interview with the local Nexus newspaper. “It’s not really about a deadly epidemic, it’s a satire on people’s folly, bad behaviour, criminality. It could be something else that [Ionesco] had chosen to reveal all these things. It presents a very dim view of humanity, indeed.”

Despite its dark subject matter, The Killing Game — one of Ionesco’s last plays — is filled with humour and reveals how social connections can become fragile when confronted with an existential threat. With razor-sharp wit and keen satire, Ionesco skillfully allows the audience to engage while maintaining a sense of detachment through laughter. (“The human drama is as absurd as it is painful,” Ionesco observed.)

“The absurdists were very much about the way the comic and the tragic are intertwined, it’s not an either/or proposition,” continues Alexandrowicz. “We laugh at things that are horrible sometimes, and I’ve really tried to go as far as I could with that idea. Of course we laugh at all this ridiculous activity and nonsense and insane beliefs that people hold. It makes people dropping dead mostly hilarious, and I’m really pushing the comedic aspect of this because I think that’s what [Ionesco] intends us to experience.”

 

The Killing Game cast (photo: Dean Kalyan)

Fearing a cast and creative team of over 25 students, The Killing Game offers a memorable commentary on the absurdity of society in the face of an uncontrollable crisis.

The Killing Game runs February 13–22 at UVic’s Phoenix Theatre. Tickets start at $18.