News Stories
VIU Colloquium Series kicks off with a deep dive into the action thriller Atomic Blonde
September 21, 2022
Arts and Humanities lectures at the VIU Nanaimo campus are free and open to everyone to attend. Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Arts and Humanities Colloquium Series returns this fall with three fascinating lectures. The lectures delve into the action thriller Atomic Blonde, housing availability and affordability in Louisville, and the use of songs in musical theatre. All lectures are free... Read more
VIU Theatre Professor explores a “Grotesque” Satirical Play During First Colloquium Lecture
January 10, 2022
Arts & Humanities Colloquium Series returns this spring with a thought-provoking lineup. Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Spring Arts & Humanities Colloquium Series will take audience members on a journey through the theatre of grotesque, and audio media techniques and creative pathways for producers and audiences. The Colloquium Series began in 2009 with the aim of creating... Read more
Zombies and Shakespeare Collide in VIU Theatre Department's Spring Play
March 3, 2020
Theatre Department presents William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead as its spring production, which opens March 5. To be, or not to be … a zombie? Zombies shuffle through the streets of medieval London as historical characters deal with their own human schemes and woes while trying to avoid becoming one of the undead during the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Theatre Department’s production of ... Read more
VIU Theatre Department Presents Fall Studio Show – The End of Civilization
November 18, 2019
Student actors push envelope during dark, gritty play that explores rage, murder and the actions of desperate people. What does it mean to be civilized? What happens when the limits of integrity and morality are pushed beyond the breaking point? These questions are posed in Canadian playwright George F. Walker’s Suburban Motel. In the fourth chapter of this gritty series of short plays, The End... Read more
VIU Partners with Other Guys Theatre Company to Produce Hysterical Melodrama
October 17, 2019
Ross Desprez is a VIU Theatre Department Professor and creator of SlugFest – a musical comedy set in a dystopian Vancouver Island community. What happens when slug slime is hailed as a medical miracle? The residents of a small poverty-stricken and slug-infested village begin celebrating their good fortune! But Samantha, a young crusader for the environment, is determined to stop the lucrative yet... Read more
Cozy Classrooms, Biomusical Beats, and Crime and Punishment Explored in Colloquium Series
September 23, 2019
Lectures allow VIU faculty to explore questions and share their passions with students, colleagues and the public. This fall, three Vancouver Island University (VIU) drummers will attempt to merge into a single entity of sound during a performance of Nebojša Živković’s Trio Per Uno. The piece, which requires the musicians to play on multiple percussion setups, combines quick tempos, complex... Read more
Murder, Living in Hell and Facing Fate: VIU's Malaspina Theatre Introduces 2018-19 Season
October 9, 2018
The Malaspina Theatre at VIU’s 2018-19 performance lineup includes Concord Floral, No Exit and Oedipus Rex performed by students. From a creepy, murder-thriller, to a play set in hell, to a re-envisioned Greek classic, Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Malaspina Theatre explores a range of themes this year. The Theatre’s 2018-19 season includes two mainstage plays – Concord Floral (October... Read more
Drummer Brain, Prison Theatre and Heritage Graffiti Featured in Colloquium Talks
September 24, 2018
Free public lecture series hosted by the VIU Faculty of Arts and Humanities covers range of themes From how drummers, prisoners and 16th Century Scottish women think; to the role graffiti plays in the art world; to an investigation of how media creates a sense of belonging, a free public lecture series at Vancouver Island University (VIU) investigates a wide range of topics. Every year, Vancouver... Read more
5 Questions with Leon Potter
June 6, 2018
Meet Leon Potter, Chair of VIU’s Theatre department, who prior to coming to VIU had been working as an actor, director and designer in the theatre industry since 1989. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, specializing in lighting and set design, from the University of Victoria and a Master of Arts in Directing from London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. The founding Artistic... Read more