Theatre

News Stories

Actors Makenna Paugh, Cameron Greer and Ellie Crawford rehearse a scene from Tough.

Life’s unexpected realities explored in VIU Theatre department’s studio play – Tough

September 24, 2024

What: Tough – VIU Theatre department’s studio play When: October 3 to 5 Where: VIU’s Mike Taugher Studio (Building 330, Room 109), Nanaimo campus Friends Tina, Jill and Bobby are navigating the challenges of life after high school when Tina, Bobby’s girlfriend, announces an unexpected pregnancy. After the bombshell, the three must face the realities of life. Their story unfolds in the one-act... Read more


Six actors on the left reach out to one of their cast mates while another stands in fear on the right.

Beyond the boy wizard’s limelight – PUFFS offers a hilarious twist on a beloved magical world

February 27, 2024

What: PUFFS, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic When: March 7 to 16 at 7:30 pm, Opening Gala March 7, 7:30 pm Where: VIU’s Malaspina Theatre (Building 310), Nanaimo campus For seven years, a bespectacled boy wizard with a scar went to a certain wizard school and conquered evil. But this isn’t his story. This is the story of the puffs who happen to be at... Read more


An illustrated book page with wings that says Two Truths and A.I.

Audience members challenged to identify the play written by AI in VIU performance

November 28, 2023

What: Two Truths and an A.I. When: December 6-8, 12 to 1 pm  Where: Mike Taugher Studio (Building 330, Room 109), Nanaimo campus Can you tell the difference between a play written by a person and an AI? That’s the question audience members are asked during the interactive performance Two Truths and an A.I. The show is a collaboration between two classes led by VIU Creative Writing and Journalism... Read more


Six actors stand in two lines holding their arms up over their heads while rehearsing a scene at Malaspina Theatre.

VIU Theatre Department presents the dark parody Collateral Damage

October 13, 2023

What: Collateral Damage, VIU Theatre Department fall play When: October 19 to 21 and 26 to 28 Where: VIU’s Malaspina Theatre (Building 310), Nanaimo campus Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Theatre Department presents playwright Jackie Crossland’s Collateral Damage this fall. Collateral Damage explores and reimagines the ancient Greek myth of Medea. In the original myth, Medea’s husband... Read more


Headshot of Christina Mansueti

Colloquium series begins with a talk about TV shows Chewing Gum and Fleabag

September 19, 2023

VIU’s Christina Mansueti examines how comedy shows challenge and affirm contemporary feminisms. Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Arts and Humanities Colloquium Series returns this fall with an engaging lineup. This season explores contemporary feminisms in two UK-based TV comedies, the history of special effects on stage and the value of failure. “For the Colloquium’s fifteenth year, we have... Read more


Lexi Barudin, who wears a crown of pink roses and a pink outfit, holds onto Brandon Caul's hand.

VIU’s Theatre Department presents the dramatic comedy She Kills Monsters

February 15, 2023

What: She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen – presented by VIU’s Theatre Department  When: March 2 to 11 Where: VIU’s Malaspina Theatre (Building 310), Nanaimo campus Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Theatre Department presents the hysterical dramatic comedy She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen as this year’s spring production. The play tells the story of Agnes Evans as she comes to terms with the... Read more


Dr. Theo Finigan, a VIU English Professor, holds up the book Atomic Blonde while standing in front of the VIU koi pond.

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


Leon Potter, a VIU Theatre Professor, faces the camera, smiling.

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


Linda Dohmeier, left, Ana Carvalho, and Brando Martell rehearse a scene from The End of Civilization.

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