Theatre Review: Dead Man’s Cell Phone
Well performed—at times brilliantly performed—and mildly amusing, Dead Man’s Cell Phone is not a bad way to spend an afternoon. More importantly, it’s a great way to support your fellow students.
Theatre Review: Arabian Nights
Director Heather Robertson presents a production full of colour, music, laughter, sadness, desperation, enchantment and redemption. The play is centered on the fate of its main characters, but the audience is presented with a truly remarkable ensemble effort by the entire cast.
Arabian Nights promises a spectacle you won’t want to miss
The first production of UFV Theatre’s new season of productions is Arabian Nights, which premieres November 11 at 7:30.
Theatre Review: Witness for the Prosecution
The Chilliwack Players Guild has created a fun production and the cast and crew provide a good night’s entertainment suitable for audiences of all ages. The play has three acts and lasts two hours and 45 minutes, including a 15 minute intermission. The play’s run concludes this week with performances at 7:30 p.m. on October 19, 20, 21 and 22.
TheatreSports Hits Town
TheatreSports, the Vancouver Improv League, is back in town – and they’re coming to UFV. This Friday the TheatreSports crew will be at the Chilliwack campus for both a workshop and an improv show.
UFV Coup d’Etat: by students for students
The brilliant and fresh UFV student group Coup d’ Ètat competed in the Fraser Valley Zone festival this past May. Their production of Dog Sees God was rather successful: Joshua Wilson won Best Emerging Director – Adjudicator‘s Choice; Haley Smith received an award for Best Graphic Design; and the group received an award for Best Backstage Cooperation.
A Madcap Night with Misty Hill!
Misty Hill Automaton! The Musical! is a cutting-edge creation of two Fraser Valley artists, Steve Martens and Ray de Kroon. Work on Misty Hill began back in 2004, as Martens a former UFV student and singer-songwriter began writing music for the play. de Kroon, a slam poet, freelance writer, and recent UFV graduate, began writing the script for Misty Hill a few years later after connecting with Martens through UFV’s English department head, John Carroll.
Writer’s Apology: “UFV Theatre Department Steals from Students”
To those affected by my article, I deeply regret the hurt and anger I have caused UFV, the Theatre Department and students. I am accountable for making sure my facts are 100 per cent accurate, and it is to my great shame and embarrassment that I so misrepresented UFV Theatre. I also sincerely apologize for [...]
Theatre Review: The Tempest
Generally Shakespeare is not for the faint of heart. With its perplexing archaisms and early 17th century humor, a perusal through a Shakespeare play often arouses only bewildered incomprehension in the modern reader (myself included). Therefore it provides a unique challenge to the director and cast willing to produce it, a challenge which the UFV Theatre program has decided to meet head-on.
Theatre review: Gallery 7 presents Tuesdays with Morrie
“I used to be Agnostic, but now I’m not sure” says the eponymous Morrie Schwartz. Tuesdays with Morrie was originally a book written on the true events of Mitch Albom and his professor Morrie Schwartz. Mitch was a student of Schwartz’s in the seventies where they were very close. Morrie would often call Schwartz “coach” because, “everyone needs a coach”. Albom left university and lost touch with Schwartz, only to reconnect with him sixteen years later when he learns that his mentor has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ASL) or Lou Gehrig’s disease. After a heartfelt talk, Albom promises to visit every Tuesday until he passes away.
Theatre Review: Girl in the Goldfish Bowl
For the first time in my life, I actually walked away with a glow from a UFV play – that’s right, I said “glow.” I can see why Canadian playwright Morris Panych won a Governor General’s Award for Girl in the Goldfish Bowl in 2004; the play, though set in a memory of 1962, is still very much designed to be meaningful to the twenty-first century audience. Girl in the Goldfish Bowl takes a humorous yet sad and touching look at the struggles of the post-modern family and, by extension, North American society. Without fear, the play tackles head on issues of sex, alcohol, drugs, gender, childhood, marriage, and religion, through the experiences of a little girl who believes that her goldfish has been reincarnated to save her family.
Invisible Wings: An “excellent” performance by bill bissett at UFV
bill bissett, the Canadian poet known for his unconventional poetry, read at UFV this past Monday, the 22. bissett, whose name is intentionally written in lower case, is the creator of blew ointment, the underground press that published such notables as Cathy Ford, Maxine Gadd, Michael Coutts, Hart Broudy, Rosemary Hollingshead, Beth Jankola, Carolyn Zonailo, bpNichol, Ken West, Lionel Kearns, and D. A. Levy. Furthermore, bissett has published more than sixty volumes of his own poetry.
The Dog Whisperer comes to Canada
We’ve all seen those dog owners that treat their pets like a child: the dog is so spoiled it eats, dresses and smells better than its owner; its ill-behaved and usually barks and snaps at anyone (or thing) that gets too close; and worst of all, the owner finds all of this behaviour adorable. Cesar Millan, dog behaviour guru and star of the National Geographic Channel’s The Dog Whisperer, says this needs to stop. Last week, he brought this message to the Red Robinson Show Theatre.
Theatre Review: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
In their 31st year, the UFV Theatre Department marked their first ever full scale musical with their presentation of A Funny a Thing happened on the Way to the Forum. There were some concerns among the department about doing a musical, but it turns out it was a huge success; opening night was packed with patrons and new comers alike.
