Theatre Archives | Page 8 Of 29

The Sci-Fi Sampler is Everything a Nerd Wants at the 2022 Victoria Fringe Festival

The Sci-Fi Sampler also includes soft elements of horror, and I’m glad it deals with other aspects of the genre that defines speculative fiction.

SPOILER ALERT

The Sci-Fi Sampler is a very loving tribute to the genre by Outpost 31. It’s playing at the Victoria Fringe Festival, and it is a collection of stories inspired by cinema, fiction, and television! The set design is minimal, and to help audiences see what’s going on, the backgrounds are projected onto a huge movie theatre sized screen. The video production that goes with the first story is very snazzy and more often than not, I kept on being reminded of Frank Miller’s splashy Sin City design.

In act one, “The Back with Two Beasts” (written by David Elendune), we meet Blair, the host to a virtual reality video game which Emma and Dave play in to solve their marital problems. The software helps them out, but when we get a huge self-aware in-joke (regarding the name of the game) referring to what to expect, I had to chuckle as these tales are intermixed with their story.

These narratives look at existentialism in clones and robots. In another work, we are watching what some alien race is planning. The last two narratives hint at a thread linking all these narratives together. Although they were written independently, the writer in me senses a greater scheme which unites everything in The Sci-Fi Sampler.

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You Can’t Dodge This! Badges and Bullets Hilarious Debut At The Victoria Fringe Festival 2022

The show must go on! And just how well Vincent manages the talents for Badges and Bullets depends on who you ask. This old time radio drama began as an idea to put on the tuner, but after some talk between co-creators Mitch and Jo Barnes with director Terry Rowsell, the idea to make it a live show for Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival was green lit!

Victoria Fringe Theatre 2022
Roxy Theatre (2657 Quadra Street)

The show must go on! And just how well Vincent (Rob Friesen) manages the talents for Badges and Bullets depends on who you ask. This old time radio drama began as an idea to put on the tuner, but after some talk between co-creators Mitch and Jo Barnes with director Terry Rowsell, the idea to make it a live show for Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival was green lit!

“This is our gift to the Victoria Theatre Community because I tell you, we’ve had lots of support,” said Mitch of HB Productions theatre company.

I wasn’t expecting a similar experience as Casino Royale (review) back in 2015; I saw this performance at the Victoria Fringe. The difference is that instead of seeing a complete radio play from one perspective; we have two. The main story concerns how each of these talents are dreaming big. Charlotte (Jo Barnes) desires to be recognised in Hollywood, and Allen (Gerald Schieven) worries his work with this little radio station may tarnish his reputation elsewhere. Another subplot concerns the foley guy, Tom (Jesse Setka) at odds with Allen, and the feeling is mutual. Had this 45-minute performance been longer, I’m sure it could have been developed into a television show.

Meanwhile, Vince, also the producer of Badges and Bullets, cares more about keeping his operation afloat. However, when the lead. Eddie (Mitch) is supposed to carry the show, it’ll be difficult. He’s far worse than Robert Downey Jr. when he was in love with the bottle at the early part of his career. Add on top us, a real audience watching, not only do we become part of the experience, but also realise a few dirty secrets…

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Five Victoria Fringe Festival Picks of 2022

It’s business as usual for the Victoria Fringe Festival this year, and it’s almost a return to pre-pandemic form.

It’s business as usual for the Victoria Fringe Festival this year, and it’s almost a return to pre-pandemic form. That is, I can’t help but notice that there’s fewer international acts. That’s because not every part of the world has fully recovered from the pandemic or it still has travel restrictions in place. Until the latter lifts, it’s tough to get a true representation of all the acts touring this year.

Intrepid Theatre is no doubt being cautious in who to bring to the garden city. I’m just glad we have an event despite continous changes to where events can take place or the fact some venues, namely Langham Theatre is still temporarily closed.

Even though Mochinosha Company isn’t listed (they were a staple pre-pandemic), I hope once when travel restrictions to and from certain countries are lifted, they will be back! Suspicously missing is St. Michaels University School (SMUS) Summer Musical Theatre graduating performance. They usually perform a play every year, but ever since the pandemic hit, there hasn’t been a lot of news about what’s happening with them.

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WARPS Up HERO_sei with This New Single and Music Video Debut

WARPs UP’s latest single Hero_sei reminds us that even though life in our sometimes orderly modern society can be difficult…

Japanese-Chinese boys’ collective WARPs UP‘s new single HERO_sei is now out. It’s a mid-tempo ballad about living life your own way and is performed by a group who refuse to be confined by their own boundaries. The bold use of colours–of red, white and blue–contrasted against varied backdrops shows how they’re breaking free. Each tone is meaning, as red represents anger, white with sadness and blue with freedom. The progression is very telling.

This second original single released by the group’s two Chinese members LANGYI and MINGJUN, follows January’s single POWER_Shin. Previous songs by WARPs UP feature lyrics in English, Chinese and Japanese. This approach to reach a global market is an impressive achievement and helps make this group stand out.

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Brian Richmond’s Adaptation of Dracula Continues at Blue Bridge Theatre!

Artistic Director Brian Richmond’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic 19th century gothic horror story is back! The next part of the dramatised reading of parts one and two is set to thrill, and this time it’ll be Dracula in Red.

Blue Bridge Theatre
2657 Quadra St
Victoria, BC

Showtimes:
Saturday, February 26, 2022

Dracula In Black – 5:00 pm
Dracula In White – 6:30 pm
Dracula In Red – 8:00 pm

Artistic Director Brian Richmond‘s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic 19th century gothic horror story is back! The next part of the dramatised reading of parts one and two is set to thrill, and this time it’ll be Dracula in Red.

For avid radio drama enthusiasts, there’s over six hours of material to get reacquainted with, or those who want to get to the meat can partake in a particular section. Each colourized section focuses on a specific group of chapters, so that attendees are only getting part of a greater picture, which will cumulate to the ultimate confrontation with the master of darkness himself!

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When The Light The Peony Lantern is …

Victoria Fringe Festival

Showtimes:
Sept 10 to 16th

Streaming Online
Tickets can be bought online.

Botan Dōrō (牡丹燈籠, The Peony Lantern) is a classic Japanese ghost story that can easily deliver chills when adapted to the silver screen. It’s been made and remade since coming into publication circa 17th Century. One of its earliest incarnations was a 1910 silent film production from which I feel The Yokohama Theatre Group took inspiration from. There’s a German Expressionist design—intentional or not—which I recognize. The angles the two huge projection screens intersect are very reminiscent of how two walls in The Cabinet of Caligari bend towards Francis (with one foot bound to a chain) as though it’s laying pressure, holding him down.

The visual motifs are very clear in the theatrical adaptation. Here, the team creates a fantastic illusion of movement. One example is how the rickshaw seems to come alive when in front of a moving video. It carries a new arrival. A lone traveller, Islay Vogel (Nora Beryll), arrives by boat to Japan and he doesn’t have a place to stay until his cab gets lost, introduces a wandering spirit, and finally makes its way to a hostel. There, he encounters an attractive female, O-Tsuyu (May Sera), even though his landlady seems unaware of, and the young adults fall in love.

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