Belfry’s SPARK Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary

Victoria, BC...This March (8 - 24) the Belfry Theatre’s annual SPARK Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary of bringing innovative theatre from across Canada to Victoria, some of it created in our own backyard.

Comedian Mike Delamont has had a tremendous impact on Victoria’s comedy scene and is now making his mark across North America, appearing at the Halifax Comedy Festival, Just For Laughs, and on CBC Radio’s The Debaters .

Mama’s Boy (March 8 + 9) is his true story about being raised by a single mother who struggled with an addiction to alcohol her entire life. Mike is a talented storyteller who will have you in stitches and in tears.

Filmmaker Franco Nguyen went to Vietnam looking for inspiration for his first feature film and found an unexpected subject – his mom. Good Morning Viet Mom (March 12 - 16) is authentic and irreverent, as Nguyen delves into the personal, sharing stories about visiting Vietnam for the first time and being re-introduced to the mother he thought he knew.

In Sound of the Beast (March 12 - 16), Toronto emcee Belladonna the Blest (Dora Award-winning playwright DM St. Bernard) shares stories of coming up in Toronto’s budding hip-hop scene, the intersections between conscious rap and political activism, and the sacrifices we make for the things we believe in.

Fresh off Australian and UK tours, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story rocks the SPARK Festival from March 20 - 24. Musicals at the Belfry are always a joy and Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story is a very special musical. It was nominated for six Drama Desk Awards (in New York) including Outstanding Musical.

Starring international Klezmer sensation Ben Caplan, Old Stock is inspired by the true story of Hannah Moscovitch’s grandparents, who came to Canada in 1908. Hannah teamed up with Ben and Christian Barry to create this dark folk tale woven together with a high energy concert.

With Pathetic Fallacy (March 19 - 23), actor and director Anita Rochon set herself the challenge of creating a touring piece with a touring party of zero. For each performance we’ll cast a different local actor or personality to take on the central role and explore the line between ancient weather gods and our present-day climate crisis.

SPARK closes at the end of March with a one-off performance (March 24) by the high school students enrolled in our Belfry 101 program. They come from public and private schools across the region and they always create a unique and surprising theatre event.

As always at SPARK, there are  dozens of free events - play readings, hootenannies, miniplays and cabarets abound.

Late Breaking News

We’ll also be offering two professional development workshops - one on creating virtual reality theatre and the other on evolving an ethical practice in storytelling, led by Kevin Kerr and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard respectively.

Tickets, dates and descriptions are available on our microsite - sparkfestival.ca

SPARK Festival Sponsors

The 10th Anniversary SPARK Festival  is generously supported by the government of Canada, Caffe Fantastico, CVTV, Do250 and Used.ca.

Season Sponsors

The Belfry is generously supported by The Times Colonist and Helijet.

Public Funders

The Belfry is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, the Province of BC, BC Arts Council, CRD Arts Development and the City of Victoria.

Ticket Information

Tickets - $30 (with discounts for students and seniors) are available at 250-385-6815 or online at tickets.belfry.bc.ca. Prices are subject to change.

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Media Contact
Mark Dusseault
Director of Marketing & Communications
Belfry Theatre
250-385-6835
[email protected]