WHOSE LIVE ANYWAY?
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Tuesday, July 12, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $79-$91.75 from through the Royal Theatre box office, , or 250-386-6121
Why: Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis and Joel Murray are the ever-agile cast members of this dependable comedy vehicle, which adapts to the stage the improv games and musical hijinks of the Emmy-nominated TV show, Whose Line Is It Anyway? Everything is off the cuff, but with a keen sense of playfulness. These comedians are experts in their field, which makes for a very entertaining night on the town. The troupe also performs at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo on July 13 and 14.
THE ZOMBIES WITH ALTAMEDA
Where: Alix Goolden Performance Hall, 907 Pandora Ave.
When: Wednesday, July 13, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $56.56 from or 250-386-5311
Why: Singers and co-leaders Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone are still at the helm of The Zombies, which is good news for those attending the band’s first-ever show in Victoria next week. With platinum pop hits like She’s Not There (from 1964) and Time of the Season (1968), the British group was in-step with The Beatles at one point, before letting it all slip away in 1968. Named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, Argent and Blunstone are back touring and recording as a unit and should make some serious waves at the Alix Goolden Performance Hall.
WE CAN’T PAY! WE WON’T PAY!
Where: Roxy Theatre, 2657 Quadra St.
When: July 7 through July 12 (in person); July 13-17 (livestreamed)
Tickets: $25 from or 250-382-3370
Why: Italian playwright Dario Fo won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997 for “scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden” in his decades of work. That came to a head in 1974 with Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!, which looked at what would happen if the working class refused to pay high prices for food. Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre has changed the locale from Italy to an early-’80s Safeway grocery store on Vancouver Island, but the sentiment remains eerily relevant.
