William Head Inmates acting up yet again... with "Waiting for Godot"
"Waiting for Godot" is one of the best-known plays of the reknowned Irish-born playwright Samuel Beckett.
Tramps, Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot, who never arrives. Beckett’s play addresses the absurdity of, and need for, hope - themes relating directly to the William Head on Stage inmate's experiences.
“Waiting for Godot” continues the WHOS tradition of presenting inmate driven performance of the highest calibre within the walls of William Head Prison. Local theatre director, actor and producer, Ian Case, directs the Beckett's most recognized piece (and one of the world's iconic pieces of theatre). He is supported by local professional actress, Laura Harris (The Josephine Knot, Pitch Blonde) with the four main roles filled by inmates within the institution.
In the past performance of Macbeth, consummate director Ian Case mentioned that “Producing Shakespeare with a cast that for the most part has never read Shakespeare, let alone acted, is both a rare challenge and opportunity.” Case really has his work cut out for him this time. Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot is certainly a first of it's kind for us here at William Head, but everyone is up for the challenge.
Dates for the shows are; May 2nd and 3rd. (Opening weekend) followed with every weekend thereafter until June 7th.
Date for showings are May 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24,30,31 June, 6, and 7th
Tickets are available at the following outlets
(Tickets will be available as of March 19):
• My Chosen Café 4480 Happy Valley Road 474-2333
• The Soap Exchange 1393-A Hillside Avenue 475-0033
• Munro’s Books 1108 Government Street 382-2464
• Kritters & Fins 712 View Street 384-9728
• The Red Barn 5550 West Saanich 479-8349
Ticket price: $18.00 each
WHOS is located inside a Federal Prison, as such no persons under the age of 19 will be admitted. You may be electronically scanned for metals; personal belongings including money may not be taken in and must be locked in your car. Smokers may NOT bring cigarettes as well as other smoking materials into the prison due to a recent ban on tobacco within all Federal Institutions.
Prison gates will open at 6:00 p.m. and close at 7:15 p.m. with the performance beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The Violet Hour
Belfry closes 2007 – 08 Season with The Violet Hour, a wonderful comic fantasy about fate, ambition and time.
Victoria, BC...From April 15 - May 18, 2008 the Belfry Theatre will present The Violet Hour by Tony Award winning playwright Richard Greenberg. Directed by outgoing Artistic Director Roy Surette, The Violet Hour stars Bob Frazer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Frazer> (Skydive, Mary’s Wedding), Alessandro Juliani <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Juliani> (Felix Gaeta on TV’s Battlestar Galactica / Belfry acting debut), Allan Zinyk (Sylvia, The Number 14), Vanessa Richards (lead singer of the pop punk band Bolero Lava <http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/B/Bolero_Lava.html> / Belfry debut) and Emma Slipp (Belfry debut).
The Violet Hour is about a young publisher named John Pace Seavering who has enough money to publish one book. He is torn between publishing the gargantuan tome of his former college roommate, Denis McCleary, or the racy memoirs of his mistress, Jessie Brewster. Then a mysterious, paper-spewing machine arrives at his office. The papers are from books from the future that have information about the lives of Seavering and everyone else. The Violet Hour is a wonderful comic fantasy about fate, ambition and time.
Richard Greenberg has a deep passion for language, ideas and comedy. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Greenberg has written over 25 plays including the Tony Award-winning Take Me Out (Pulitzer Prize nomination in 2003) and Three Days of Rain (Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1998). The Violet Hour premiered at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Mesa%2C_California> in 2002 and has had subsequent productions in Chicago (Steppenwolf) and New York (Manhattan Theatre Club).
The Violet Hour features the talents of David Roberts (Set Designer) Sheila White (Costume Designer), Rebekah Johnson (Lighting Designer) and Brian Linds (Sound Designer). Melissa Rood is the Stage Manager.
The Violet Hour is generously supported by The Fairmont Empress, SHAW TV, KOOL FM, The Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of BC, BC Arts Council and CRD Arts Development.
Tickets range in price from $21 - $36, depending on the show you attend, and can be purchased
by visiting or calling the Belfry Box Office at 250-385-6815. High School students receive a 50% discount* on tickets. Post secondary students receive a 25% discount* on tickets. (* With valid ID / Excluding Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm & Opening Nights).
Performance Schedule The Violet Hour
Date Time Status / Events Prices (+ GST)
Tuesday, April 15 8 pm Preview – Open Seating $21
Wednesday, April 16 8 pm Preview – Open Seating $21
Thursday, April 17 8 pm Opening – Reserved Seating $36
Friday, April 18 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Saturday, April 19 4 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $28
Saturday, April 19 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Sunday, April 20 2 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $25
NO SHOWS MONDAYS
Tuesday, April 22 8 pm Open Seating $21
Wednesday, April 23 1 pm Reserved Seating $25
Wednesday, April 23 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Thursday, April 24 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Friday, April 25 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Saturday, April 26 4 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $28
Saturday, April 26 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Sunday, April 27 2 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $25
NO SHOWS MONDAYS
Tuesday, April 29 8 pm Open Seating $21
Wednesday, April 30 1 pm Reserved Seating $25
Wednesday, April 30 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Thursday, May 1 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Friday, May 2 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Saturday, May 3 4 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $28
Saturday, May 3 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Sunday, May 4 2 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $25
NO SHOWS MONDAYS
Tuesday, May 6 8 pm Open Seating $21
Wednesday, May 7 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Thursday, May 8 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Friday, May 9 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Saturday, May 10 4 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $28
Saturday, May 10 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Sunday, May 11 2 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $25
NO SHOWS MONDAYS
Tuesday, May 13 8 pm Open Seating $21
Wednesday, May 14 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Thursday, May 15 8 pm Reserved Seating $28
Friday, May 16 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Saturday, May 17 4 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $28
Saturday, May 17 8 pm Reserved Seating $36
Sunday, May 18 2 pm Matinee - Reserved Seating $25
Sunday, May 18 8 pm SOLD OUT SOLD OUT
calling the Belfry Box Office at 250-385-6815. Student discounts (25% off for Post Secondary Students / 50% off for High School Students) are available.
by Marsha Norman
May 28 – June 14
This modern classic won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1983.
“Honest, uncompromising, lucid penetrating”
New York Magazine
‘Night Mother is a penetrating examination of a mother and
daughter relationship. The two characters in this play reach a
level of communication that transcends the generational,
cultural, and societal restrictions that define family confrontation.
While Norman’s writing is both deeply moving and unexpectedly humourous, her power lies in her ability to shock us out of the complacency that blinds us to hidden trauma.
‘Night Mother is directed by Clayton Jevne
and features Geli Bartlett and
Karen Lee Pickett
Show dates:
May 28th through June 14th,
(with exceptions – see below)
Half price ($6) preview:
Wednesday, May 28th at 8 pm.
Then:
Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8 pm until Dec 29th
*There will be no shows on Wednesday, June 4th
*There will be “Pay-what-You–Can” admission
on Thursday, June 5th at 8pm
*There will also be two Saturday afternoon matinees:
on May 31st, and June 14th at 2pm
Ticket prices: $10 & $12
Location:
1923 Fernwood Rd. (across from the Belfry Theatre)
Theatre Inconnu is wheelchair accessible.
Information and reservations: 360-0234
Email: tinconnu@islandnet.com
Copenhagen by Michael Frayn - Oct 18 – Nov 3
“Endlessly fascinating” New York Times. This Tony Award winning play has been receiving rave reviews for the past decade. It examines the mystery surrounding a meeting between physicists Werner Heisenberg and Neils Bohr in 1941 in Copenhagen, where Bohr was in exile. Both had been previously working together in Germany, in the field of nuclear research. Heisenberg’s visit with Bohr may have marked a turning point in his willingness to cooperate with Hitler. However, Frayn demonstrates that the perspective of the viewer dictates the interpretation of events.
Before Play by Janet Sickler Howie Seigel – Dec. 6 – Dec. 22
Winner of the 2007 Canadian National Play Writing competition, this play was described by jurors as: “fabulous… great characters… great roles. Lovely and truthful.” This is a locally written play, co-authored by two Victoria celebrities; and will also be performed by the talented writers! It is a moving story of rediscovered past love, and is full of humour, suspense and insight. We are proud and delighted to premiere this play in Victoria. Ideally suited for the holiday season!
Events take place in our home venue: 1923 Fernwood Rd (across from The Belfry Theatre)
Theatre Inconnu
PO Box 8796
Victoria, BC
V8W 3S3
(250) 360-0234
www.theatreinconnu.com
Victoria, BC...Michael Shamata, the Belfry Theatre’s new Artistic Director, released the details for the theatre’s upcoming season today. The Belfry’s 2008 – 09 Mainstage Season will include Half Life by John Mighton, a new production of Brilliant! by the Electric Company, The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, and The Ends of the Earth by Morris Panych. During the summer the Belfry will present Mom’s the Word 2: Unhinged in June and produce a special summer musical, Anything That Moves by Ann-Marie Macdonald, Alisa Palmer and Allen Cole, in August. Details, descriptions and Michael’s notes follow:
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MAINSTAGE SEASON
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SEPTEMBER 16 – OCTOBER 19, 2008
Half Life
By John Mighton
Directed by James Fagan Tait
2005 Governor General’s Award for Drama
Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play
“If you like theatre, don’t miss it…because Half Life is that all too infrequent stage show capable of winning new converts for the fragile art of live drama” Montreal Gazette
John Mighton is a superb playwright and brilliant mathematician. This delicate, moving piece tells the story of Clara and Patrick, two elderly residents of a home who may have been lovers years earlier. Their children, confronted by their parents’ blossoming romance, must cope with their own feelings as their parents learn to love again. With tenderness and humour, Half Life explores the realities of love, beauty, memory and aging.
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NOVEMBER 11 – DECEMBER 14, 2008
Brilliant!
The Blinding Enlightenment of Nikola Tesla
By The Electric Company Theatre
Directed by Kim Collier
Jessie Richardson Awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Production
“Theatrical Magic” The Globe & Mail
The Electric Company’s unique brand of visually stunning storytelling has astounded audiences around the world. Brilliant! is an exuberant ride through the life of Nikola Tesla, the inventor whose visionary work and ideas (wireless communication, robotics) continue to shape and light our world today. Filled with immense charm, acrobatics and a tap dance battle between Edison and Tesla, Brilliant! is a dazzling look at the fleeting nature of fame.
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JANUARY 13 – FEBRUARY 15, 2009
The Real Thing
By Tom Stoppard
Directed by Michael Shamata
Tony Award for Best Play
“[A] play which reminds you why you go to the theatre and why you fall in love.” The Spectator
Stoppard, whose accolades include an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, is one of the most celebrated playwrights of our time. Brimming with sparkling dialogue, this is the funny and exhilarating story of Henry, a playwright in search of the real love of his life. What is real and what is an illusion? What’s a play and what’s real life? Stoppard builds a house of cards that comes tumbling down around Henry’s ears, and out of the debris he finds the answer to what constitutes “the real thing”. This is Stoppard at his very best – insightful, honest and endearingly romantic.
A co-production with the Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver
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APRIL 14 – MAY 17, 2009
The Ends of the Earth
By Morris Panych
Directed by Amiel Gladstone
1994 Governor General’s Award for Drama
“Wacky, hysterical…like a metaphysical Marx Brothers movie” CBC Radio
Renowned for his quirky off beat comedies, Morris Panych has a unique take on life. Frank, an unremarkable man, and Walker, an unlucky one, are determined to confirm their suspicions that the other is out to get him. In their frantic attempts to lose one another they end up in the same hotel, The Ends of the Earth. This delightfully warped tale serves to remind us all that fear can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Summer Shows
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Special Presentation
JUNE 4 – 22, 2008
Mom's the Word 2: Unhinged
by Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard and Deborah Williams
We’re pleased to announce that the hit comedy Mom's the Word 2: Unhinged will return to the Belfry this June for a very limited engagement.
This joyful romp, created by comediennes Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard and Deborah Williams, is pure delight. The show does skewer teenagers, both being one and trying to live with one, but more importantly it explores what it means for these amazing women to arrive at mid-life.
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Summer Bonus Production
JULY 29 – AUGUST 16, 2008
Anything That Moves
Book by Ann-Marie MacDonald with Alisa Palmer / Music by Allen Cole / Lyrics by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Directed by Michael Shamata
Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical
“Anything That Moves comes deliciously close to being the finest Canadian musical in recent memory…it’s rare to get that combination of sassy dialogue, (and) rich score…” Eye Weekly
Ann-Marie MacDonald, the best-selling author of Fall On Your Knees and The Way the Crow Flies, together with Alisa Palmer and Allen Cole, has created this wonderfully romantic and very funny musical.
It’s a simple timeless story. Well, almost. Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl thinks boy is gay. Boy plays along to get close to girl. Boy gets caught up in ever-growing web of lies. Girl finds out.
MacDonald, Palmer and Cole have filled this outstanding musical with clever lyrics, witty dialogue and a wide variety of musical styles from Latin to blues, from Sondheim to rock, making it impossible not to love.
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SPARK FESTIVAL
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MARCH 10 – 22, 2009
The Belfry’s Festival has a new name and a new format. We are compressing the festival into two exciting weeks, adding a mini-festival of ten-minute plays, a play reading series, and workshops with some of Canada’s most innovative artists.
The following plays are under consideration:
BASH’d
By Chris Craddock & Nathan Cuckow
Outstanding Musical – New York Fringe Festival
Two angels, one explosive gay rap opera.
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The Drowning Girls
By Daniela Vlaskalic, Beth Graham and Charlie Tomlinson
Three bathtubs, three murdered brides.
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Rage
By Michele Riml
Jessie Awards for Outstanding New Play & Outstanding New Production
One teacher, one student, one gun.
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Haircuts by Children
Conceived and Directed by Darren O’Donnell
Presented in collaboration with Theatre SKAM. One hair salon, 20 eleven year olds, one unbelievable theatre event.
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Michael’s Notes on the 2008 – 09 Season
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“The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready and which have gone a little further down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves.”
That quote is from the great British novelist E. M. Forster, and I have always thought that the same sentiments can be applied to the theatre: the only plays which influence us are those which look at the world we know, but from a different – and hopefully illuminating – perspective. I trust that the plays I have chosen for the Belfry Theatre’s 2008-2009 Season – award-winners all – will take us all a little further down “our particular path,” and express new ideas about the familiar.
We are opening the season with John Mighton’s delicate and beautiful Half Life. I fell in love with this play when I saw the original production. It looks at memory, loss and love. It examines later-life romance, but through the filter of middle-aged children. In a seniors’ home for veterans and their widows, Patrick and Claire rekindle a relationship from many years ago – or so they believe. Claire’s son is skeptical and, ultimately, terrified of losing his mother to another man. Must our world diminish as we get older, or is it possible for it to blossom into new and undiscovered life? As children of aging parents, what are our responsibilities, and what do we do when asked to alter them? As a son with a 90 year-old mother, the ideas in this play are intriguing.
In November, the electrifying Electric Company hits the Belfry stage with a play about -- electricity! This will mark the first time that this remarkable Vancouver company has been seen at the Belfry – or anywhere on the island. I was very anxious to include them in the season, and to include a play with a strong visual component. What defines a piece of theatre is constantly evolving, and many companies in Canada and BC are on the cutting edge of new and innovative work. I want to make sure that some of that work shows up on our stage.
Electric Company’s Brilliant! deals with Nikola Tesla, the visionary inventor of wireless communication (radio), and the man who has been deemed “the patron saint of electricity.” Marconi and Edison are the names most closely associated with these inventions, and Brilliant! examines the short distance between fame and ignominy. Brilliant! has been a hugely successful piece for the Electric Company. They have played to critical and audience acclaim at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and the Edinburgh Festival, among others. And now, for the Belfry Theatre, the Electric Company will be creating a brand new production of Brilliant! The show will be redesigned, restaged, recast and, for the first time, they will be supplementing the cast of four principal actors with a chorus of five. A great show is about to become even a little bit greater.
The new year begins with the Belfry’s first production of a play by the astonishing Tom Stoppard. Stoppard is probably best known as the screenwriter of Shakespeare in Love. I saw that film on its first day – Christmas Day – in Chicago. I hadn’t realized that Stoppard had written it, and I remember thinking, “this is too good to be true – they’ll never be able to keep up this level of language and invention.” Of course, they did; and of course, when the credits rolled, I understood why. Stoppard’s stock-in-trade is intelligent wit and linguistic pyrotechnics (e.g.: “Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?”).
What sets The Real Thing apart from the majority of his plays is its enormous heart and emotion. Often accused of being overly cerebral, The Real Thing – his play about love – has often been held up as the exception to the rule, and proof that Stoppard is far from being a chilly intellectual. The Real Thing is chock-full of passion for what matters most to Stoppard: love and art. And adhering to the notions put forth in the quote at the top of this article, Stoppard’s ideas will make us all look at love in a slightly new and intriguing way. Like hitting a ball with a cricket bat, Stoppard knocks ideas from the stage in such a way that you can almost see them floating across the footlights, and being caught and relished by the audience. I directed this play a year ago, and I have never encountered such a tangible sensation of ideas being exchanged between actors and audience.
The season winds up in the friendly and familiar world of Morris Panych. The Ends of the Earth is one of Morris’ early plays, and brought him his first Governor General’s Award. Some of you know Morris; most of you know Morris’ plays, so it will come as no surprise that The Ends of the Earth is populated with characters who are singular, paranoid, and neurotic!
I have always been fascinated by this play, and have never understood why, though frequently produced in the States, it hasn’t been produced more often in Canada. Perhaps it was overshadowed by the success of 7 Stories, which preceded it, and Vigil, which followed it. Whatever the reason, Morris is extremely happy that we are programming it. I suppose he feels a bit like a parent whose favourite child has been ignored. And perhaps our production will put the play back on the radar screen of other artistic directors in the country.
As with all of Morris’ plays, The Ends of the Earth deals with ordinary human beings. When their foibles, failures and peculiarities ricochet off of one another, it creates an extraordinary chain of events. The comedy lies in the familiar, and in the tiny, personal details. Once again, this is the world we know, but the perspective is totally Panych.
Before the season begins, we have a special treat: a multi-award-winning hit Canadian musical, written by one of our most astonishing writers, Ann-Marie MacDonald. Anything That Moves is smart, sexy, and very funny. The songs are great, the characters are endearing, and the situations are hilarious. I first saw this musical at the Tarragon Theatre a number of years ago, and immediately bought a ticket to go back for a second time. It truly is that elusive animal: the successful Canadian musical.
Anything That Moves will mark the first time that I direct on the Belfry stage. I can’t wait. It has been a kind of exquisite torture – being here at the theatre, sitting in my office, staring at the entrance to the Mainstage, and not being able to work on it yet. So, that will change soon, and what a joyous way to begin!
Michael Shamata
Artistic Director
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Mainstage Season Tickets (4 Mainstage Shows) range in price from $68 - $165, depending on the package, and can be purchased by visiting or calling the Belfry Box Office at 250-385-6815.
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