International Women’s Day, March 8, serves as a reminder to celebrate the role of women in the creative and cultural economies of our region. From art to dance, in drama and with puppets there are many opportunities to experience women’s stories this month, both from historical and contemporary perspectives.
Women Hold Up Half the Sky is an exhibition by the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria Feb. 25-March 13 at the Bay Centre. Opening reception Feb. 25 from 7-9pm. cacgv.ca
Langham Court Theatre’s next show is Steve Gooch’s historical drama Female Transport, a detailed and accurate account of survival and solidarity as six women convicts endure the six-month voyage from England to the penal colony in what is now Australia. March 2-19. langhamtheatre.ca
The Victoria Refugee Initiative, in cooperation with Creative Mage and Blue Bridge’s Roxy Theatre, present Bent (a 1979 play about the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany) at the Roxy March 3-6 in aid of a Syrian refugee family. By donation at the door.
Puppets are at the forefront in the next Intrepid Theatre YOU Show March 5. Mack the Nurse: the Legacy of Carl Gustafson, is an absurd puppet play by local actor Paul Shortt. ticketrocket.co
The Canadian College of Performing Arts returns with their Bond-themed fundraiser (voted Favourite Artsy Fundraiser at the M Awards) Casino Royale 007 From The Empress With Love, March 5. ccpacanada.com
Dance is experiencing a renaissance in Victoria. One of the newest companies in town, Convergence Contemporary Ballet, hosts an evening of New Works March 5 at the Oak Bay High Theatre. convergence.dance
Do you like thrillers? St Luke’s Players present Cliffhanger, an ingeniously plotted and suspenseful tale of a mild-mannered professor of philosophy who is apparently driven to murder. March 9-20. Stlukesplayers.org
UVic’s Phoenix Theatre mounts Tennessee Williams’ most passionate play, Summer and Smoke, a bittersweet exploration of love and longing, directed by MFA candidate Alan Brodie, March 10-19.
Year Two students of the Canadian College of Performing Arts present Theatrical Treasures, March 10-12 with Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by Bard on the Beach founding member Christopher Weddell; and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, directed by Story Theatre founder Jim Leard. ccpacanada.com
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (March 10 at the Roxy Theatre) is a unique performance combining the oldest surviving animated shadow puppet feature-length film (1926) by German director Lotte Reiniger with a brand new score composed and performed live by the Montréal-based trio, Small World Project. brownpapertickets.com
Intrepid Theatre’s Theatre Under the Gun returns March 13. Witness performances by groups of imaginative theatre-makers who race against the clock to create new seven-minute plays in 48 hours using only quick wits, raw talent and a mysterious gift-wrapped box of inspiration. intrepidtheatre.com
One of Victoria’s newest performing arts groups is The Closed Loop Theatre Collective, a group of UVic writing students who have devised an unconventionally structured theatre piece. Join them March 14 at the Victoria Events Centre to see their creation.
Blue Bridge Theatre brings Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play The Gin Game to life at the Roxy Theatre March 15-27. With Scott Hylands (Waiting for Godot) and Gwynyth Walsh (Da Vinci’s Inquest) as two nursing home residents who are drawn together over a game of Gin Rummy. bluebridgetheatre.ca
Launch Pad Productions returns to Craigdarroch Castle March 31 to April 9 with Bard in the Ballroom’s The Charming of the Shrew adapted from William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. thecastle.ca
Janis La Couvée is a community builder, writer and arts advocate.
