Category: 2017 SEASON

Age of Arousal
by Linda Griffiths

Feb 14 – Mar 4

This highly praised play, set against a backdrop of the late 19th woman’s suffrage movement in London, was the final play of Linda Griffiths, one of Canada’s most lauded modern theatre voices. The setting is a school for secretaries run by Mary, with help from her lover Rhoda.  As the school welcomes three new pupils – all sisters – political ideology begins to butt heads with human desire. The frequent presence of the striking doctor Barfoot adds fuel to the fire. We begin to see that each character’s vision of liberation is as unique as their individual personalities, and that common ground in a cause can be infuriatingly elusive. According to Griffiths this play was “wildly inspired” by George Gissing’s Victoria novel The Odd Women. In her own words, “Age of Arousal doesn’t take place in historical reality but in… a dream of Victorian England.”

Cast (alphabetically): Joy Lynn Andersen as Virginia, Ellen Law as Monica, Fran Patterson as Mary, Gloria Snider as Alice, Deirdre Tipping as Rhoda, and Corin Wrigley as Everard.

Preview: Feb 14-8pm
8pm shows: Feb 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, Mar 2, 3, 4
2pm show: Feb 18, 25, Mar 4

Reservations and Ticket Sales

Through TICKET ROCKET:  ticketrocket.co or   250-590-6291 (a $2.50 surcharge will be added).

Directly through THEATRE INCONNU: Phone (250) 360-0234  or  by  Email.
(please do not reserve through Facebook)
Complimentary tickets, special needs seating, and subscribers: need to reserve directly through Theatre Inconnu.

Ticket prices: $14 regular, $10 seniors (60+) /students/unwaged
Feb 14 – Preview is $7
Tuesday Feb 21 is Pay-What-You-Wish admission

The show is about 2 and a half hours long, including one intermission.

Theatre Inconnu is located at 1923 Fernwood Road (across the street from the Belfry Theatre). For parking we suggest the side streets west of Fernwood Road as these do not have parking restriction signs.

 We are wheelchair accessible.

Deirdre Tipping, Fran Patterson, Gloria Snider, Ellen Law

 

Jocasta Regina
by Nancy Huston

This is a story about love: the love of a mother and the love of a wife. And how one woman – Queen Jocasta – must do all she can to bury the secret that threatens to destroy that love. Through a modern retelling of the classic Oedipus story – from Queen Jocasta’s perspective – Governor General Award winner Nancy Huston succeeds brilliantly in challenging the norms of moral authority. In a fight to preserve the life she cherishes, Jocasta is prepared to accept the “unacceptable,” encouraging us to question our own traditional notions of right and wrong. Jocasta Regina is a play that celebrates our human need for joy, passion, and love, but above all, it is a play that begs for a societal return to rational thought.

“admirable take on one of humankind’s archetypal tales… worthwhile direction… strong performances… delivered with convincing passion… Magahay makes us comprehend the profundity of the tragedy.” Times Colonist

“The two leads are superb… Wendy Magahay is a seasoned Victoria actress… I think this is, by far, her best work… Bjornson keeps up with her step for faltering step and their explosive climax at the end is real and raw and as good as you’ll see.” CBC

“Wendy Magahay and Monty Bjornson light up the stage… director Clayton Jevne has drawn incredibly realistic performances from this pair of accomplished and fearless actors… the cast leaves no corner unexplored… boldly interpreted by excellent thespians.” Janis Lacouvee, I Have My Own Life to Live

“Jocasta… brilliantly played by Wendy Magahay… Montgomery Bjornson… appears perfect in the part… Theatre Inconnu… may be one of Victoria’s best-kept secrets.”  Monday Magazine

Directed by Clayton Jevne
Costumes by Clara Van Horn-Foy
Stage Managed by Jessical Alford

Cast (alphabetically): Autumn Antonsen as Ismene,  Geli Bartlett as Eudoxia, Montgomery Bjornson as Oedipus, Catriona Black as Coryphaeus,  Amber Landry as Antigone, and Wendy Magahay as Jocasta.

Preview: May 2 @ 8pm
8pm shows: May 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20
2pm show: May 6, 13, 20

Reservations and Ticket Sales

Through TICKET ROCKET:  ticketrocket.co or   250-590-6291 (a $2.50 surcharge will be added).

Directly through THEATRE INCONNU: Phone (250) 360-0234  or  by  Email.
(please do not reserve through Facebook)
Complimentary tickets, special needs seating, and subscribers: need to reserve directly through Theatre Inconnu.

Ticket Prices:
14 regular, $10 seniors (60+) /students/unwaged
May 2 – Preview is $7
Wednesday May 10 is Pay-What-You-Wish admission

The show is about 2 hours long, including one intermission.

Theatre Inconnu is located at 1923 Fernwood Road (across the street from the Belfry Theatre). For parking we suggest the side streets west of Fernwood Road as these do not have parking restriction signs.

 We are wheelchair accessible.

Montgomery Bjornson as Oedipus & Wendy Magahay as Jocasta

The Good Soldier Schweik
by Michael John Nimchuk

Sept 26 – Oct 14

Nimchuk’s adaptation of Czech novelist Jaroslav Hašek’s 1923 great anti-war satire was a model of experimentation in the early heyday of Canada’s alternative theatre movement when it was first produced by Toronto Workshop Productions in 1969. Hašek died having completed only four volumes of his planned six-volume masterpiece, but Nimchuk has expertly woven together highlights from this massive work in such a way that we are immediately flung into the constantly evolving story of Joseph Schweik with a momentum that never abates. Schweik is either an idiot or a genius, and we are never sure if his survival and success are the result of the former or the latter. As with other great comic characters he never seems to be aware of the dangers approaching, and it is this ignorance that proves his greatest ally. Schweik’s escapades with the army and with the established church represent Hašek’s indictment of both institutions, and – as is the case with any long-standing institution – his observations ring as true today as they did almost a century ago.

“Muirhead embodies the bewilderment and insouciance of the title character—shrugging his way through situation after situation with a devil may care attitude… As subversive and thought-provoking as the day it was written.” Janis Lacouvee, I Have My Own Life to Live

“There’s a lot of humour in it…strong political points…quite fun…absurdly comic.”  Monica Predergast, CBC On the Island

Directed by Don Keith
Staged Managed by Kathy Macovichuk
Choreography by Sylvia Hosie
Costumes by Pearl Arden
Props by Maureen Colgan
Sound and projection design by Don Keith

Cast (alphabetically):  Anton Brakhage, Kara Flanagan, Julie Gray, Pati-Ann Lawe, Justin Muirhead, Ken Yvorchuk.

Preview: Sept 26 @ 8pm
8pm shows:  Sept 27, 28, 30, Oct 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14
2pm show:  Sept 30, Oct 7, 14

Reservations and Ticket Sales

Through TICKET ROCKET:  ticketrocket.co or   250-590-6291 (a $2.50 surcharge will be added).

Directly through THEATRE INCONNU: Phone (250) 360-0234  or  by  Email.
(please do not reserve through Facebook)
Complimentary tickets, special needs seating, and subscribers: need to reserve directly through Theatre Inconnu.

Ticket prices: $14 regular, $10 seniors (60+) /students/unwaged
Sept 26 – Preview is $7
Tuesday Oct 3 is Pay-What-You-Wish admission

The show is about 2 hours long, including one intermission.

Theatre Inconnu is located at 1923 Fernwood Road (across the street from the Belfry Theatre). For parking we suggest the side streets west of Fernwood Road as these do not have parking restriction signs.

 We are wheelchair accessible.

Anton Brakhage, Pati-Ann Lawe, Ken Yvorchuk, Justin Muirhead (as Schweik), Kara Flanagan

 

Whiskey Fugue & Requiem
by David MacPherson & the Ensemble

Nov 28 – Dec 16

It’s 1863 in the gold fields of central British Columbia. What do you do when your wife – who has accompanied you on this “dreamer’s quest” dies and the nearest centre of civilization is 400 miles away? And from there, you must get her cherished remains back east for burial before the body begins to deteriorate? Well, if you’re one of the lucky few who struck it rich, you set off by dog sled towards Victoria, and from there you transfer the frozen remains to a metal coffin filled with preservative – whiskey of course – where it begins it’s journey homeward; via Panama. But wait! Did the inexplicably heavy coffin really contain the beloved Margaret? And if not….? What did it contain? And where was Margaret? The eccentric nature of John “Cariboo” Cameron invited speculation and his attempt to clarify the situation could only lead to one inevitable course of action. This collectively created physical theatre piece – chronicling the outrageous (but true) adventures of Cameron – was originally a highlight on the Fringe Festival tour circuit in the early 1990’s. Under the guidance and participation of David MacPherson – one of the original troupe members (and current Artistic Director of Victoria’s internationally acclaimed Story Theatre) – a new group of collaborators will re-create this intriguing and bizarre piece of BC history.

An Off-Broadway New York feel to it… very, very well done… Two actors hold the stage the entire time… Impressive… Such a great evening.   CVTV

Blank and Judd … are intrepid and fearless performers equal to the task at hand… they attack the material ferociously—with complete and utter focus… the director and ensemble clearly had a great deal of fun with the process of crafting this fine piece of theatre for our enjoyment.   Janis Lacouvee   I Have My Own Life to Live

Directed by David MacPherson

Preview: Nov 28 @ 8pm
8pm shows:  Nov 30, Dec 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16
2pm show:  Dec 2, 9, 16

Reservations and Ticket Sales

Through TICKET ROCKET:  ticketrocket.co or   250-590-6291 (a $2.50 surcharge will be added).

Directly through THEATRE INCONNU: Phone (250) 360-0234  or  by  Email.

Complimentary tickets, special needs seating, and subscribers: need to reserve directly through Theatre Inconnu.

Ticket prices: $14 regular, $10 seniors (60+) /students/unwaged
Nov 28 – Preview is $7
Tuesday Dec 5 is Pay-What-You-Wish admission

The show is about 90 minutes long, including one intermission.

Theatre Inconnu is located at 1923 Fernwood Road (across the street from the Belfry Theatre). For parking we suggest the side streets west of Fernwood Road as these do not have parking restriction signs.
We are wheelchair accessible.                                                  Melissa Blank and Alex Judd