On campus

Drama Festival

For a school without a dedicated theatre department, McGill's stage scene is a vibrant and many splendoured thing.

The McGill Drama Festival has been around long enough to be considered venerable, but they're hardly sitting still.

Produced under the aegis of the Player's Theatre, the festival is the result of the creative efforts of McGill students. Six one-act plays, written, directed and performed by McGill students, will be staged from March 3 to March 13.

Player's Theatre director of publicity Amy Gajaria explained that a call for scripts in November produced a number of submissions. These were judged by an independent reader with no McGill affiliation, who selected the six that will be performed.

Remember Me Now by David Jaffer and Becoming Destiny's Child by Lara Chatterjee will be performed on March 3, 6 and 11

The Ocean by Elise Newman and This Time by Michael Belcher will be performed on March 4, 10 and 13

Exposed in High Park by Joshua Ginsberg and Chinese Boxes by Jeremy Morris will be performed on March 5, 9 and 12.

All shows begin at 8 pm. Call 398-6813 for information and reservations. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for students.

Educating postmodern kids

The McGill Education Project is presenting a public lecture by multiliteracy expert Allan Luke, Dean of the National Institute of Education (Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Raised in Los Angeles, Luke has worked in Canada and Australia, and is an award-winning author and academic. In 2003, he was named first of the top ten leaders in education in Australia. "He developed the New Basics program," McGill Dean of Education Roger Slee explains, "which was a way of putting up a curriculum that was transdisciplinary, based on what young people in schools need to know to go out into the world." Students, who are more varied than ever in this age of globalization, live in a media-saturated world and must learn to be critically literate.

"He's a really good presenter and very challenging. As you can see by the title of his talk, he will be provocative," adds Slee.

"Globalization and Education: A view from the outside in OR why the future of education is in Asia," Tuesday, March 2, 7:15 pm, in the Faculty of Education's Jack Cram Auditorium, 3700 McTavish St.

Yo ho ho and 40 bottles of rum!

Rollicking pirates, ardent love, mistaken identities... It can only mean one thing: the McGill Savoy Society is back at their fiendish and clever high-jinks, bringing merry music, glitzy dance numbers and fine vocals to all Gilbert and Sullivan fans.

The society has been wielding the theatre schtick for 40 years now, and for this landmark anniversary they've chosen one of G & S's chestnuts: The Pirates of Penzance or, The Slave of Duty.

"Pirates is one of the most beloved G & S shows," says Shannon Cohen, the Savoy Society president. After a few years of lesser-known plays, such as Ruddigore and Iolanthe, they felt it was time to bring out a big gun out of nostalgia and to showcase their talents for the 40th anniversary. "The last major one we did was Mikado in 2000," she adds.

Like pirates to booty, G & S attracts old Savoyards from far and wide. "We have one of the founders of the Savoy Society, Robin Alder, coming all the way from Luxembourg to conduct the overture on Saturday, February 28, which is patron's night," Cohen says.

"The people are really stellar and they won't disappoint. The whole chorus is so jubilant and so happy to be there," she says. Having students in the youthful roles of pirates adds a certain spice to the musical event. "G & S brings a smile to your face anyway, but when you have 18- or 20-year-olds playing these parts it really brings something. You can't help but tap your toes to it."

Cohen's favourite musical number? "The Act One finale. This one particularly is an interesting medley and involves everyone in an interesting manner. Keep your ears peeled for that."

February 27, 28; March 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13. Moyse Hall, 8 pm (plus a 2 pm matinee March 6). Adults, $15; Students, $10; call 398-3001 ext. 09632. Tickets can be easily reserved online at www.savoy.ca

Ethnographic Film Festival

The McGill leg of the Interuniversity Ethno-graphic Film Festival of Montreal will take place in room 26 of the Leacock Building, on Feb 20. For more information on the event, see the Off Campus section, page 16.

To kick off the fest at 4:30 pm, McGill anthropologists Andre Costopoulos and Bob White will give a talk on ethnography in Hollywood.

5:45 pm: Montreal Jewish Memories/post war period, (Dov Okounoff). This is the third part of a series of historical documentaries about the Jewish community of Montréal.

7:30 pm: Black Jaguar White Jungle, (Christian Johnson). An Ecuadorian healer is accused of criminal negligence in Ontario after a fatality of a woman is caused by his administering ayahuasca.