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The BackstagePASS Update

Listen Up: Ben Travers Lecture online now

Missed the preshow lecture? No worries. You can always tune in to the audio file the following week when we post the recording of the Preshow lecture.

Learn more about prolific playwright and master of the farce, Ben Travers, with Dr. Denis Johnston's lecture "Ben Travers and the Aldwych Farces." Dr. Johnston is a UVic alumnus and the former Audience Outreach Director for the Shaw Festival. Click here to listen to it now.

Photos: Capturing the Fun!

Our photographer David Lowes caught some great moments of this fast-paced farce. Enjoy a few below and click here to see more!

In the press: "Rookery Nook’s shenanigans
are not to be missed."

Wow! The critics have spoken! Rookery is definitely a lot of fun! Read on to see what the media is saying.

"... the UVic crew has done a tremendous job. Bindon Kinghorn's clever direction is relentlessly zippy, with great emphasis on zany physical hijinks... The set and costumes are truly lovely - a triumph for the design team... Jessica P. Wong's set of a Tudor cottage shows painstaking attention to detail... from the antique sconces to the old wooden-handled golf clubs crisscrossing the fireplace. Kat Jeffery's costumes are rooted in historical accuracy; at the same time, she has fantastical fun with them." Read more of Adrian Chamberlain's review of Rookery Nook in the Times Colonist.

"Bindon Kinghorn and his student cast have managed to capture this simpler time, its simpler joys and its simpler deep-seated sexual neuroses in a sugary, easy to drink form...All the finest stereotypes come out of their cages to flirt and joust and ruin the furniture. Mason’s Clive, a thin-moustached bachelor with a blue-on-orange-on-tan suit and elastic conscience, is particularly fun to watch. Once Mason teams up with Wallis and Lucas Hall, who plays cosmic punching bag Harold Twine, it’s as though a British Three Stooges took the stage. The trio is witty, petty and hopeless in their bad luck. In other words, comedy gold." Read more of "Rookery Nook – Bugs Bunny by way of Great Britain," the review by Chris Felling of Culture Vulture Victoria.

And from the Martlet: "The play’s director (and dedicated Phoenix Theatre manager), Bindon Kinghorn, matches writer Ben Travers’ brilliant script with his own careful attention to detail, impeccable comedic timing and a real eye for farce in this 1920s comedy... The fake cat was uproariously funny and almost made me wet my pants... Rookery Nook’s shenanigans are not to be missed. Just try to keep a straight face — I'm sure you won't be able to."

Hot off the press from from Monday Magazine: "...a hilarious chain of missadventures...Rookery Nook delivers those laughs in spades. It quickly becomes clear that the cast had a lot of fun rehearsing this play, and that translates into solid performances from virtually the entire ensemble...On the whole, this play is a heck of a lot of fun."

And finally, The Marble, Victoria's newest theatre blog, sat down with Director Bindon Kinghorn for a conversation about his past, the play and the art of directing.

Photos by David Lowes.
Top: The daily woman Mrs. Leverett (Breanna Wise) discovers a young woman (Taryn Lees) in the rented cottage. | Middle: Rhoda (Taryn Lees) is surprisingly convincing when Gerald (Derek Wallis) and Clive (Jonathan Mason) persuade Harold Twine (Lucas Hall) to go along with their plans! | Bottom: Mrs. Gertrude Twine (Hayley Feigs) and the daily woman Mrs. Leverett (Breanna Wise) sneak back into the cottage to spy on Mrs. Twine's brother-in-law Gerald.


Phoenix eNews is a regular email magazine (5-6 times per year) for those interested in the Phoenix Theatre and the not-for-profit productions with the students at the University of Victoria's Department of Theatre.

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