FILM: Framing Agnes
Where: Cinecenta, 3800 Finnerty Rd., University of Victoria
When: Thursday, March 17, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $6.50-$8.50
Why: University of Victoria gender studies professor Chase Joynt has a hit on his hands with Framing Agnes, which premiered as part of the Sundance Film Festival last month. The 75-minute feature, which presents gender health research at UCLA in the 1960s in a quasi-dramatic light, won two awards as part of the iconic festival’s NEXT program, including the audience award and innovator prize. The New Yorker described the film (which features a cast of notable trans actors and activists) as one of “quiet but decisive radicality,” and praised Joynt’s ability to mix fact and fiction into one compelling package. The film will have a special preview tonight with two screenings at Cinecenta.
MUSIC: Music Festival at Craigflower Manor
Where: craigflowercommunitycentre.com
When: Sunday, March 20, 10 a.m.
Tickets: By donation
Why: Organizers of the Victoria Highland Games are getting in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit with a livestream concert and fundraiser on Sunday. A strong roster of Celtic musicians from the area — including Coastline, Ivonne Hernandez, Cookeilidh, Black Angus and the Tom Morrissey Band — will perform live from Craigflower Manor, with donations going toward the building of Craigflower Community Center that is scheduled to open in August. The music, which runs from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., will be livestreamed through the Victoria Highland Games website, in addition to CHEK TV’s Youtube channel and streaming service, CHEK+.
THEATRE: Shakespeare’s Women
Where: Phoenix Theatre, 3800 Finnerty Rd., University of Victoria
When: Through March 26
Tickets: $16-$30 from finearts.uvic.ca or 250-721-8000
Why: The appeal of a play about the iconic female leads in William Shakespeare’s world, from Viola in Twelfth Night to Rosalind in As You Like It, has a built-in appeal; it’s The Bard, after all. Playwright Libby Appel weaves together selected scenes from 15 Shakespearean classics as two narrators, a man and a woman, try to make sense of it all. It’s a refreshing offering which presents a different side to each of these literary heroines.
