Art exhibit explores mushrooms, ecology, climate change

This month, guest curator Mel Granley and chief collaborator Jaimie Isaac are releasing a new environmental-focused exhibit at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. It’s called Symbiosis and, according to Granley, the exhibit’s main focus is the power of mushrooms and how they can help us tackle climate change. “I have been interested in mushrooms […]

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2023 Fringe Fest review: Celexia mind-opening experience

I saw Celexia, written and performed by Alexa R. McGinn, last night at the Victoria Fringe Festival. Celexia is a deep and thought-provoking account of McGinn’s own relationship with a dyslexia diagnosis. I was immediately drawn in to McGinn’s performance; she has a sharp and witty style. Her extremely personal story begins in childhood, and […]

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2023 Fringe Fest review: Renfield gutsy in more ways than one

I love the Fringe Festival. I love everything it stands for. I especially love that it gives aspiring actors, writers, and directors the chance to produce their own work, to get to see or perform that work, and to have other people experience it. One of the Fringe performances I saw recently was Renfield or, […]

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2023 Fringe Fest review: Pico and The Golden Lagoon fun but not much more

Prior to attending Pico and The Golden Lagoon at the 2023 Victoria Fringe Festival, I’d only ever seen one theatrical performance in my adult life. It was an experience I walked away from with the opinion that live theatre is profoundly boring and not something I’d ever want to do again. Then I got an […]

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2023 Fringe Fest review: Pieces Of connects with audience through visuals

Pieces Of, which I saw at the 2023 Victoria Fringe Fest, is an interdisciplinary work that incorporates video, 360-degree surround sound, interpretive dance, and fragmented stories. It’s an immersive journey through one woman’s memories of drug abuse, sex work, homelessness, and friendships. This experimental performance executed by Chandler McMurray-Ives (who is also the creator and […]

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2023 Fringe Fest review: Sadec 1965 endearing story but lacking stage presence

Sadec 1965: A Love Story by Flora Le tells the story of her trip across Vietnam on a motorcycle in a mission to visit her estranged, late father’s hometown to find emotional closure. The performance oscillates between time periods, recollections of Le’s trip interspersed with flashbacks of the life that led her to that narrow […]

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Reverb delivers three days of great music and beer

Vancouver Island festival-goers were treated to talented musicians, craft beer, and delicious food trucks during Reverb at Phillips Backyard from Friday, August 11 to Sunday, August 13. I had doubts going into the festival, as I’d heard complaints about the layout and overall organization of the event from last year; this year, however, it was […]

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Jayne Imagination gets personal with friends imaginary and real

Local electronic musician Jayne Murray—also known as Jayne Imagination—released her new album Friends on July 27. And while the album—her second this year, following up May’s Messenger—is the latest step forward for Murray, she’s also looking back. Murray says that she had a spectacular childhood, so much so that she never wanted to stop being […]

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Monsters on Maple Street interesting but not light summer read

Monsters on Maple Street: The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream by author and historian David J. Brokaw delivers a thought-provoking examination of the relationship between the classic science-fiction show The Twilight Zone and post-World War II America.  Reading this non-fiction book is like taking a step back into the 1950s and 1960s, to […]

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New book offers fascinating look into the life of Harry Dean Stanton

One of the most interesting books I’ve read so far this summer is Jospeh B. Atkins’ Harry Dean Stanton: Hollywood’s Zen Rebel. Through its fantastic use of first-person perspective to its engrossing depiction of Stanton’s life, Atkins creates a wonderful book that honours the Hollywood acting legend as much as it entertains its reader.  The […]

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