Victoria Summer 2011 Theater with the Blue Bridge Who's afraid of Virginia Woolfe · Friday July 15, 2011 by colin newell
As much as I enjoy a well written, filmed and acted movie – whether it be drama, comedy or action adventure, it never comes close to live theater – especially when it is great theater – like most of the productions that Victoria’s own Blue Bridge Repertory have been delivering.
Blue Bridge Repertory Theater, established in 2008 is led by veteran producer and director Brian Richmond. The founders of B.B. were convinced that the City of Victoria would support a professional theater offering its residents and visitors the opportunity to see world class productions of the great plays while offering early professional artists, many from UVic, the opportunity to work with some of Canada’s most respected directors and actors.
Andrea and I have been supporting Blue Bridge for the last couple of years. With this latest production, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?, we feel they have simply outdone themselves.
The story revolves around associate professor George (played by the massively talented Andrew Wheeler) and his boozy and combative wife, Martha (played to breathtaking perfection by Meg Tilly) as they wind their way through an evening with a younger faculty member, Nick (in the role a dyed blond Alex Plouffe…) and his capricious and often bubble-headed wife, Honey, (again played to perfection by the skilled Celine Stubel).
“Who’s Afraid” is as much gut-wrenching drama, with impeccably timed witticism and repartee as it is a oddly comedic study on the nature of human romantic and sexual relationships… and their eventual and epic decay into sadness, loss and frustration.
And as much as I expected Meg Tilly, as Martha, to steal the “show”, that would be unfair to the rest of the ensemble cast – the truth is, Ms. Tilly puts everything on the line with her character. Martha is a gin soaked, bombastic whirlwind whose unrelenting cannonade of cyclonic verbal abuse leaves the average viewer, inexperienced with any form of domestic calamity, in a sensory coma. The literacy of the two characters, Martha and George, and their collaborative seduction and corruption of the two guests create a sense of team folly – that keeps us guessing as to their motives and their true feelings for each other.
“Who’s afraid” is a three act play with two 15 minute intermissions – and the intermissions are as as much an opportunity for the audience to grab some oxygen and ground themselves as they are for the cast to take a breather.
For the two of us, neither of whom have ever seen the movie (with Liz and Richard), I had no idea of what to expect. “Who’s Afraid” is a hurricane of journeyman acting and the key to balance is equal participation of all four members. It’s not for the faint of heart or those with delicate sensibilities. There is a visceral sexuality and open-wound emotional vulnerability that would, if not unchecked with the brilliant dialogue, lead to overload in short order. Most of us survived. The audience did dwindle after the end of the 2nd intermission – but that was more a product of the late start and the average age of the audience – many of whom were way passed bedtime.
Meg Tilly’s portrayal of Martha demands complete physicality, full-on, safety off, emotional release. Watching her from the 4th row of the “Mac” wind up and unleash a fury of frustration infused verbal abuse upon an all-to-eager to expiate and thoroughly pecked George… was exhausting – and the relief would come in the final moments of the final act with a completely unexpected and dazzling dénouement.
Andrea commented after the standing ovation – “How does one sleep after a performance like that – how does anyone have anything left to give?”
I have never seen anything like it in my life – like many people, I have witnessed some domestic fireworks in my childhood, most of which began and ended within seconds or minutes and did not involve any physical harm to anyone – But “Who’s afraid” takes you to a place you have never been before, a place you don’t want to be – and it’s only the artful skill of the thespians that allow you to witness the complete extreme of human pain and domestic discourse without completely being blown from the theater.
Meg and the cast of “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolfe” were utterly brilliant and delivered “the goods” – their interpretation of timeless sexuality infidelity and complete sadness within the context of the drama was flawless. If you were lucky enough to get tickets to this show… Enjoy… and I use that term loosely.
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Victoria Summer 2011 About Victoria - Kicking it old school with Yoka · Sunday July 10, 2011 by colin newell
I am a big advocate for buying your coffee whole bean – recently roasted and ideally direct from the roaster.
That way you know what you are getting, you are supporting local business and getting a product that is fresh and ideal for immediate consumption.
Photo left – Yoka keeps it old school at #5- 1046 Mason Street in the historic North Park neighborhood – High Cook near Wellburns Grocery
Here is the thing about coffee. It is a food product and like many others, has a freshness sweet spot. And to put this into perspective, whole bean or ground coffee is not like a bowl of rice or lentils or flour that can sit in a fairly air tight container indefinitely.
It is more like a bowl of fruit or a head of lettuce. And we all know that these food items are fairly fragile and only consumable for X number of days.
So how long is freshly roasted coffee good for? Opinions vary but it generally accepted that whole bean coffee is most ideal between 3 and 11 days off the roast day. Some folks extend this a bit but here is the thing. The moment coffee is roasted, it starts to give off carbon dioxide and this degassing process protects the coffee from the inevitable incursion of oxygen (the oxidizer) which stales coffee. Coffees degas at different rates but it is a given that whole bean coffee has the best and freshest flavor to offer between 3 and 7 days off roast. Between 7 to 12 days, the beans are running out of CO2 to release – and after that, the oxygen makes swift work of robbing the coffee of its great taste.
Yoka and her partner Tristan have been running a coffee roaster and shop since 1983 in Vancouver and recently moved their operation to Victoria for a change of pace. In addition to a wide selection of darker roast old origin coffees, they offer whole Belgian chocolate and local honey. There is a seating area for sipping on of their brews and they have a single group Rancilio for an espresso, latte or cappuccino.
Yoka runs a neat operation in that it is somewhat old school – fresh roast coffee in glass bins, old style weighing scales and a roaster in the main room. They event won a Hallmark heritage nod on the update and redesigns to the building on Mason.
Their roast profiles tend to roll towards the darker of the spectrum and get this, they have 3 different roast profiles on the Swiss Water organic decaf – the best decaf in the World… that is produced in Burnaby of all places.
Yoka’s shop is open Tuesday to Saturday 9AM til late in the afternoon – come on by and make sure you tell them that Colin sent you!
Victoria Summer 2011 About Victoria - Victory Chapter 3 · Saturday July 9, 2011 by colin newell
We spoke with Matthew Conrad of Victory Barbers yesterday prior to and during a much needed haircut.
Victory Barbers and hard goods for Men is the latest addition to the Atrium on Blanshard – also housing Habit Coffee and Culture, Cook Culture, AJ Organic, Zambri’s and PIG BBQ – a welcome addition indeed.
Photo at left – Matthew Conrad (and Victory Barber mascot “Belle”) holds down the fort at Victory Barbers – Victoria
Sensing the need for a male enclave, Matthew has built this around his own vision but also based on encouragement and recruitment from the likes of Shane Devereaux of Habit Coffee and the ever benevolent Jawl Properties – the owners of the building.
Matthew notes, “Victoria is saturated with Salons – the ladies are well represented in Victoria…” “The classic barber seemed to be near extinction, but the demand has never disappeared…”
In some ways, the craft of male grooming was on the decline in Victoria – but for the staff of Victory, all was not lost. Each of Victory’s skilled scissor wizards (including two lovely ladies) had training from a master barber. And it shows. You feel like you are there – in a modern day wild west version of the classic masculine enclave.
For Matthew and his crew, this joint is all about honest to goodness male grooming without the stigma or labeling of “metrosexuality” – simply, Victory Barbers is a man’s World… inside the confines of the salon. Outside, you are on your own.
My salon barber, Kim, circles skillfully with razor sharp shears taking my reasonable sparse pate to a more civilized place – a better place – a manly place.
I leave the chair and the salon with a rugged Bruce Willis (slight more hair) look. No nonsense.
Matthew concludes, “You might not want a straight razor and hot towel shave every day… but you might love one once a month… a treat. Guys need to indulge themselves occasionally…”
And I agree wholeheartedly.
Victory Barbers is open 6 days a week for walk ins or with a reservation.
Victoria Summer 2011 Starting Fridays Off Chapter 2 · Friday July 8, 2011 by colin newell
It’s a ritual. In July and August, in lieu of taking any time off of work, we take every Friday off during these two bright months. It is amazing what it does to the overall look and feel of the week.
Let’s talk about today – our first Friday in July off (not counting last Friday as it was Canada Day…)
Dropped into John’s Place in the 700 block of Pandora Avenue. Photo above I have been going there since they first opened in October 1984. I have 35mm photos of friends clustered around tables from those “old days”. Truth is, little has changed in the 27 odd years they have been open; real food for real people… or something like that. Their grub is reliable as gravity – particularly the breakfasts… waffles, eggs any which way, bottomless mugs of coffee.
Today we were late for the breakfast so we opted for the late breakfast specials of Omelette’s – we had the veg and the meat ones with sides of toast and English muffins – I tend to pass on the “Home style potatoes” – they are breakfast plate filler.
Their coffee is strong enough to stand a spoon in and is great for kick starting a caffeine kind of day… like today.
Quick stops in City Hall to flash up my downtown parking card and then Capital Iron and Steel to look at some tools and hardware.
Second stop was Ken Gordon’s Street Level Espresso for a shot of the good stuff. Ken Gordon’s lilliputian espresso bar is super small but it kind of adds to the overall intimacy of the joint… because it is always packed with beautiful men and women. I do not know where they all come from but be prepared to rub shoulders if you are in for coffee – or hang out on the sidewalk for some of Victoria’s finest people watching near the corner of 700 Block Fort and Douglas Street.
Today I walked in for the espresso and Ken put a size large Street Level Tee on my back – the one with the 60’s era Diana camera on it.
Third stop – Victory Barbers in the Atrium (going to do an entire blog on this place because it deserves it…) for my haircut. Victory is a barber shop with some interesting period energy from yesteryear – but totally in the 21st Century. They do conventional cuts for Men and straight razor shaves – as well as a wide selection of “hard goods” for men; shaving kits, colognes, pomades and knives… yes, knives. They even have a Bulldog mascot who does a cute trick. So, if you love dogs, handsome male (and female) barbers – and neat stuff, get on down to Victory!
Victory is the brain child of the devilishly handsome Matthew “Matty” Conrad – who would not be out of place in a wild west flick – He and his equally absurdly and unrealistically good looking staff are on-duty to bring out the manly-man in you.
Fourth stop – HABIT coffee and culture in the Atrium for decaf and some cookies from Origin Bakery
Victoria B.C. is a great place to spend a Friday – great food, coffee and attractions for everyone.
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