Theatre SKAM is pleased to announce the following companies have been selected to perform at Bike Ride:

• Cat Thom
• Determined Illusions
• Head Through Painting
• Paper Street Theatre
• Puente Theatre
• TigerMilk Collective
• Theatre Inconnu
• Salt Frog
• This Is Twisted Theatre

Theatre SKAM is bidding the fondest and tearfulest of farewells to Managing Producer Allison Bottomley.

Allison Bottomley, Managing Producer (outgoing)

First of all the mushy stuff. We Love Allison. She has been an integral part of the growth of this company over the last three years. Allison has nurtured, coached, coddled, prodded, pushed, and carried Theatre SKAM, always forward.

Rechelle Ramikie, Aldous and Allison

Then there is the practical. During her tenure at SKAM we have seen: an increase in CRD funding, the establishing of Operational support from the Canada Council, and the strengthening of relationships with foundations, funders and partners.

There’s more to her legacy: the evolution of the mobile festival that’s best of all- Bike Ride, the improving of the Artistic Producer’s grant writing skills, and the formation of Theatre SKAM’s Vision Statement (snoop around- it’s on this site somewhere).

Allison Bottomley and Izad Etemadi at Bike Ride 2009

Allison is a life-long fan of the company. She was a barista in the Grace Bistro coffee shop in 1995 when SKAM did our very first show. She watched us from afar while she worked at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre (She scored the Artistic Producer a job there, and even got him to set up a kissing booth and call it an art project. He hated that.) (No, he didn’t). And now she’s going to be keeping an even closer eye on us from her new position as the Senior Arts Policy and Program Advisor (Theatre) with the BC Arts Council.

We couldn’t be happier for Allison and for the province. Her skill set is strong and she is the right person for this job. We know she’ll shine. BC Theatre makers, you are lucky.

Ally at the SKAM Birthday Bash, 2009

Congratulations Allison. SKAM misses you already.

[smiley-face-with-tear icon goes here.]

Theatre SKAM will appear at The Belfry Theatre’s Spark Festival with a reading of the new play My Memory’s Not So Good by Matthew Payne.

7pm, March 19, 2012,  Belfry Theatre 1291 Gladstone Ave.

This work focuses on the life of Joan Mans, legendary Victorian, who passed away Nov 2, 2010, having lived a life packed full of fun and adventure and no regrets. My Memory’s Not So Good features the talents of Ian Case, Matthew Payne, Lynda Raino Jan Wood, and of course, Joan Mans. The finished production will feature 51 people and a disco ball. This is not that finished production. This is a reading, and we think you should be the first to hear this new work.

Theatre SKAM’s Birthday BASH is January 14th and we want you there.

SKAM 17th Annual Birthday BASH

8pm-1am

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Oddfellows Hall

1315 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (map)

Tickets: $67 (or $17 with no chance to win the SKAMraffle.)

Our winter party series wraps up with a great big bash in a very unique space.

Theatre SKAM’s board of director’s has secured one of the great undiscovered party venues of Victoria- The International Order of Oddfellows Hall. (SKAM + Oddfellows = of course.) Located on Douglas Street, above the 7/11, this epic space featuring a pool hall, secret meeting room, and gorgeous bar has to be seen to be believed.

Come celebrate with a night full of live music by The Politics of Dancing, the stellar luxbooth, and ridiculously fun games by the SKAM Party Committee (listed below the poster) that just might bring out the 17-year-old in all of us.

$67 gets you in the door and a shot at the best door prize in Canadian Theatre- see the right margin. Admission sans SKAMraffle is $17. Volunteers get in free.

Games at the BASH include:

• Memory Game- Try your hand at cards and see if you can match all the pairs in one go.
• Smalltown Pickup Target Practice- Slide the pickup truck into the target and you could win big.
• Pin the Beard on the Buckaroo- A blindfold, a sharp pin, you spun three times- what could possibly go wrong?
• Mini Bike Ride Race- fastest time wins.

Games are a buck (cheaper if you buy in bulk). Try your luck. 

It’s not too late. To book your tickets in advance, please call 250 FUN SKAM- that’s 250 386 7526. Or email our Managing Producer, Allison Bottomley allison[at]skam[dot]ca.

SKAMRAFFLE

The list of prizes to be won by one at the BASH is still growing.

The odds to win this giant door prize are very much in your favour.

So far the prize list includes tickets or treats from:

Accent Inns- accomm at any BC location,

Intrepid Theatre,

Victoria International Film Festival,

Victoria Jazz Society,

Ballet Victoria,

Victoria Conservatory of Music,

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria,

Oak Bay Bistro- food,

Phoenix Theatres,

University Centre,

University Centre again yes- 2 prizes,

Cinecenta,

Janis Lacouvee- hand made truffles,

Cam Culham- 1-hour family sing-a-long,

Dave Lennam- Your own guest segment on or co-host his TV show “The Seen”,

Belfry Theatre,

Pacific Opera Victoria,

Victoria Symphony,

Atomique Productions,

Niagara Grocery- food,

SNAFU Dance,

Smart Events- consultancy,

&

Smoking Lily- something groovy

Announcing Theatre SKAM’s Winter Subscription Series- Three unique parties, each designed to blow the winter blues away.

Take a moment to read the details and act soon. There are a limited number of subscriptions available.

Party One
Eviction Day
Saturday December 17th, 2011
9pm until 4am the next day

It is the end of an era, folks, as SKAM has been kicked out of Studio D. Major renovations are beginning in the new year and the venue that once housed 29 Plays in 59 Minutes and other plays from Victoria’s indie theatre scene will be split in two and made into teeny lofts.
No furniture, a keg, our favourite local musicians, and one last party til daybreak.

Party Two
Everything’s a Competition With You!- SKAM’s Birthday Bash
Saturday January 14th, 2012
8pm to 1am the next day

Seventeen years ago four brazen artists concocted a night of short plays in a cafe, and the city of Victoria, performing arts festivals from here to Philadelphia, and one little town in Northern France have never been the same. Join us for the biggest birthday bash yet. A games room, a pool room, a band room. Competitive games to bring out the 17-year-old in you, all based on current SKAM projects, plus the biggest door prize for audiences in Canadian Theatre – the SKAMraffle.

Plus, donate $25 or more to Theatre SKAM and you are in to…

Special Donor Party
Don’t Forget the Wine and Cheese
Sunday December 11th, 2011
6pm to 9pm

An exclusive not-so-public first look at My Memory’s Not So Good, the new play inspired by the late great Joan Mans and written by SKAM Artistic Producer, Matthew Payne.
Ian Case, Jan Wood, Lynda Raino, Spencer Sacht-Lund and Matthew spent a week in Banff in early October with three video projectors, a leaf drop, rock and roll, a disco ball, 24 children and 17 dancers. Come hear the latest draft, listen to the artists talk about the work, and see how the video and audio Joan recorded over the last three years of her life are being integrated into the work. Oh, and let our new board members pour you a glass of Shiraz while you nibble on some bleu.

Each party is individually priced:

Party One- $10 (includes one drink ticket!)
Party Two- $67 (or $17 with no chance to win the SKAMraffle.)
Donor Party- Free to Donors who contribute $25 or more (includes wine and cheese!)

But Fans, why pay so much money to party when you can *subscribe* to SKAM’s Winter Party Series?

Subscribe to attend parties One and Two for as low as $25. ($75 with a SKAMraffle ticket). Or you can attend all three soirees for $99 ($49 without a SKAMraffle ticket) and you’ll get a charitable receipt for a portion of that.

Your maximum savings could be as high as almost three percent! Yes, nearly 3%!

Forget your significant other- stuff your own stocking.

To subscribe- call 250 FUN SKAM- that’s 250 386 7526. Or email the Artistic Producer, Matthew Payne matthew@skam.ca.

Lest you think we are being tongue in cheek, may we say here how serious we are. You need three dollars, we need you. Subscribe to SKAM’s Winter Season. Party, party, party and make great theatre possible.

…are you in?

After having just completed a successful
BC & Banff tour and Victoria run of Cariboo Buckaroo, we have been invited to present the play at the upcoming Symposium hosted by Puente Theatre.

Join us on Saturday November 19th at Intrepid Theatre for the 8pm show, followed by a talk back discussion regarding the unique creation and development process of this work.

Running November 17th through 20th, please visit puentetheatre.ca for the Symposium’s full agenda and registration details. Buckaroo tickets are now available in advance through Puente’s homepage for $15

Just in time for the opening of Cariboo Buckaroo in Victoria check out these matching tee shirts for you n’ the young’uns…

For colours, sizes and ordering please visit Buckaroo Merch

His beard is fully grown and the Buckaroo is ready to hit the trail! Kicking off his tour yesterday in Banff, he’s now en route to BC’s central interior for performances over the next two weeks and will return home to Victoria at the end of October for a run at Intrepid Theatre.

If you have friends in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of BC – let them know they can lasso up info on the show in the community nearest them via THIS link.

Yeeeee-haw!

It would just be super fantastic if you would vote for Theatre SKAM through CityHUB.ca

Find us in the Arts category. If we get enough love we’ll be featured in Victoria’s 2011/12 CityHUB, an interactive virtual community showcasing Victoria’s most loved businesses.

Celebrate and unwind with Theatre SKAM after one helluva summer. Official AGM proceedings will be less than one minute, we promise. Followed by happy hour drinks accompanied live music by local talent Steph MacPherson, who was rained out of her gig at Bike Ride and has very generously offered to play at this event.

Friday September 16th
5:00 to 7:00pm
Studio C – 666 Herald St
(just above Viberg Boots)

$2 SKAMembership fee = Snacks + $4 Beers     ….ARE YOU IN?