First-time playwright’s social work training helps craft horror drama In the Shadow Beyond the Pines

The type of writing that thriller aficionado Rhonda Apetagon does on a day-to-day basis isn’t anyone’s idea of creative fun: as a trained social worker, the first-time playwright is accustomed to filing reports about “the real scary stuff” in life: loss, addiction, violence and the abuse and maltreatment of children.

“That’s way scarier for me than ghosts,” says the director of Kinosao Sipi Minisowin Agency, which provides child and family services to members of Apetagon’s community, Norway House Cree Nation.

Apetagon’s debut play, In the Shadow Beyond the Pines, premièring tonight at the Tom Hendry Warehouse, takes place at the intersection of those two strains of horror stories, sending three grieving men (Daniel Knight, Jeremy Proulx and James Dallas Smith) into the forest to light a sacred fire for their recently departed friend, Warren, who was the quartet’s “glue” since childhood, holding the group together even as the joys, pressures and traumas of adult life pulled them apart.

Apetagon wanted the play, set on the outskirts of an unnamed northern community, to highlight the double-edged nature of living in a remote environment, where the combination of intense togetherness and relative isolation presents both threat and opportunity.

Brandon-based visual artist focuses on precarious labour in series of portraits

What you’ll notice first in the portraits by Lisa Wood on view now at the School of Art Gallery at the University of Manitoba are not the subjects’ faces, but their hands.

Gesticulating hands, reaching hands, hands covering a mouth. Tattooed hands. Hands attached to wrists wrapped with friendship bracelets and smartwatches, tracking thousands of steps logged over hundreds of shifts. Hands that perform labour.

“I love painting hands,” the Brandon-based visual artist says. “I think that when a viewer sees faces, they’re thinking about that particular person, but when a viewer sees hands, they’re personal, but I think that we can connect more or think more about ourselves when we’re seeing somebody else’s hands.”

The paintings are part of a suite of works that compose SHIFT/WORK: Portraits of Precarity, a multimedia research-creation project that shares the experiences of rural Manitobans navigating precarious work — whether that’s insecure, short-term or contract-based employment — created from more than two years of research.

RWB presents reimagined version of Tchaikovsky classic The Sleeping Beauty

The classics tend to be the classics for a reason, and The Sleeping Beauty, the classical fairy-tale ballet choreographed by French-Russian master Marius Petipa to Tchaikovsky’s masterwork score, is no exception.

But that doesn’t mean they have to be done the way they’ve always been done.

The version the Royal Winnipeg Ballet will perform at the Centennial Concert Hall this week is an adaptation by the company’s new artistic director, Christopher Stowell, which was created for the Oregon Theatre Ballet in 2010 and is now part of three other companies’ repertoires.

“Part of my mission, I think, in keeping this art form that I love relevant, alive and on people’s minds and appealing to people, is to take a work that has been part of the repertoire for a long time, like Sleeping Beauty,” he says. “It’s 100-and-something years old, and I love it, and I value it, and it has an important place in our history.

Stars hit Paris runways, but fall’s real trend was dressing for hard times – and real life

PARIS (AP) — The celebrities came first, as they always do at the Paris runways.

After Oprah Winfrey stole the show in the opening stretch of the nine-day week, Naomi Watts and Kai Schreiber were at Balenciaga. Rooney Mara, Diane Kruger, Alexa Chung, Elizabeth Olsen and Yseult turned up at Givenchy.

Sarah Paulson and Tracee Ellis Ross watched Celine. Chappell Roan was at Vivienne Westwood and then at McQueen, where Myha’la and Sophie Thatcher were also there. Chanel was still to come Monday, and Louis Vuitton capping the season Tuesday.

But this week was about more than the front row.

Une 5e édition, et une incorporation pour Noir et Fier

Lors du gala de clôture de Noir et Fier, tenu le 26 février au Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne (MCDP), le festival conclut le mois de février avec l’annonce d’une incorporation. L’organisation franchit donc une étape structurante importante en devenant un organisme à but non lucratif à part entière.

“Le bilan que je fais de cette cinquième édition est très positif.”

En cinq ans, Noir et Fier est passé d’une exposition de portraits pour le mois de l’histoire des Noirs, à un festival qui occupe désormais tout au long de février et qui franchit aujourd’hui une nouvelle étape avec son incorporation.

“Chacune des activités a rassemblé beaucoup de personnes. Ça a été des moments de discussion très intenses, de très bons moments d’échange, de partage, de sensibilisation et d’éducation. Nos statistiques sont assez frappantes,” assure Wilgis Agossa, directeur artistique et fondateur de Noir et Fier.

Children’s book on Ramadan put back on school shelves

A Ramadan-themed children’s book is returning to elementary school shelves in Winnipeg following public outcry.

The Louis Riel School Division announced on Friday afternoon that it was bringing Upside-Down Iftar back into circulation.

The newly released picture book by Palestinian author Maysa Odeh is about a girl and her grandmother preparing a traditional dish for their family to break their fast together after sunset.

It was temporarily pulled from schools last week following a complaint about an illustration of a map.

VistaVision, a vintage format left for dead, is revived in ‘One Battle After Another’ and more

NEW YORK (AP) — When Paul Thomas Anderson told his cinematographer Michael Bauman that he wanted to shoot “One Battle After Another” on VistaVision — a large-scale film format born in the 1950s — he had some questions.

“Question one was: Is this even going to be reliable?” Bauman recalls.

For much of the past 60 years, the few remaining VistaVision cameras have been mostly collecting dust on shelves. Though the format was widely used in the 1950s, when Alfred Hitchcock shot “Vertigo” on it and Cecil B. DeMille used it for “The Ten Commandments,” VistaVision went dormant by the early 1960s.

Yet at the March 15 Academy Awards, a movie made largely with decades-old antique cameras is poised to win best picture. Even in 2026, when most films are shot digitally and AI has begun filtering into moviemaking, “One Battle After Another” has — with film equipment borrowed from collectors and museums — showed that a vintage, analog film system can still astonish moviegoers.

Kids’ book pulled from division shelves over map illustration

A school library-technician is raising concerns about the swift removal of a new children’s book about a Palestinian family preparing to break their fast during Ramadan.

The Louis Riel School Division has taken Maysa Odeh’s Upside-Down Iftar off its shelves in response to a complaint about an illustrated map.

The superintendent says the decision isn’t final, but the case has left one elementary school employee “feeling quite uncomfortable.”

“The process for challenging books is supposed to be quite long and involved,” said the library technician, who agreed to an interview on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution at work.

Dueling documentaries illuminate the promise and perils of artificial intelligence

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Artificial intelligence's dystopian specter has spawned a pair of documentaries dissecting a technology that's depicted in the films as a ravenous parasite devouring humanity's knowledge, creativity and empathy.

The films, “Deepfaking Sam Altman” and “The AI Doc," examine the issue through different lenses while similarly illuminating why the technology evokes both existential fears and utopian visions about how it might change the world.

Both documentaries coincide with an intensifying debate about whether AI will become a catalyst that helps enlighten and enrich people or a technological toxin that insidiously dulls human intelligence while wiping out millions of high-paying jobs that have traditionally required college educations.

Dealing with AI dread

Drumming program connects Southeast Asian students with traditional instrument, heritage

For many young musicians at Arthur E. Wright School, tabla class begins with a bow and tapping their music teacher’s toes.

Amjad Sabir isn’t all that fussy about formalities, but he recognizes his students’ families have taught them these gestures are important to show respect towards their Indo-Canadian elders.

“I just want to spread this art,” said Sabir, who is affectionately known as “guruji” — meaning esteemed teacher in Hindi and Punjabi — inside the kindergarten-to-Grade 8 building in the Maples.

The art in question? A pair of hand drums, known as tabla, that create a wide range of tones.

Imaginative production delivers excellent encore performances

When Brush Theatre first brought its flagship production, Doodle POP, to Winnipeg in 2022, the South Korean company was an unknown entity locally.

Not anymore: with its third visit to the Manitoba Theatre for Young People in five years underway, the highly imaginative troupe has scribbled its way into the memories of a generation of theatregoers.

While adult audiences might not appreciate a professional theatre company programming similar shows with such frequency, MTYP hasn’t hesitated to extend return invitations to Brush, which blends miming, clowning, drawing and dazzling projections into unique and approachable stage concoctions, driven by participation from a rapt, ever-changing audience.

A kid only gets one chance to see their first theatre performance, and Doodle POP is just about as fun and engaging an introductory experience one can dream up.

Churchill s’expose à l’Hôtel Fort Garry

À peine franchi le seuil de la passerelle arrière de l’emblématique Hôtel Fort Garry, le visiteur est happé par un regard. Immense. Blanc. Perçant. Celui d’un ours polaire saisi à Churchill par le photographe manitobain Jean-Pierre Parenty. Depuis quelques jours à peine, 46 de ses clichés transforment le couloir vitré de l’hôtel en une véritable immersion arctique.

Photographe animalier, Jean-Pierre Parenty s’est spécialisé depuis une dizaine d’années dans la faune canadienne. “Je suis Canadien et j’aime chercher, photographier et représenter la faune canadienne,” confie-t-il.

Né et élevé au Manitoba dans une ferme, Jean-Pierre Parenty nourrit depuis l’enfance une passion pour les animaux et la photographie. “La partie qui m’intéresse et que j’adore, c’est être en nature, chercher des animaux, les trouver et puis essayer de les capturer dans mon appareil photo,” dit-il. S’il a longtemps parcouru le monde, c’est désormais vers le Nord qu’il tourne son objectif, et plus particulièrement vers Churchill, cette localité de la baie d’Hudson capitale mondiale de l’ours polaire.

L’idée de l’exposition est née d’un appel de l’hôtel, il y a environ un an. “L’Hôtel Fort Garry m’a appelé pour créer une galerie dans la passerelle arrière de l’hôtel. Et ils ont demandé que ce soient des photos d’animaux de Churchill,” explique-t-il. Une demande sur mesure pour celui qui fréquente régulièrement la région. “Je vais à Churchill très souvent, donc j’ai beaucoup de photos que j’ai prises là-bas,” souligne le photographe.

Exhibit connects traditional and contemporary Métis beadwork artists

Suspended from the ceiling in Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg is an octopus bag, created by Métis visual artist Claire Johnston.

Eddie Vedder turns solo vulnerability into a powerful plea in Netflix’s ‘Matter of Time’

The first time Eddie Vedder toured without Pearl Jam, he made some glaring mistakes onstage and felt discouraged. A few shows later, he ran into Bruce Springsteen, who told him that performing solo is terrifying but that vulnerability can be a force to harness.

Vedder described Springsteen’s advice as a North Star that stuck with him. Nearly two decades later, he leaned into it when he took the stage for two sold-out solo shows in October 2023 at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.

“I remember kind of swimming through it and almost having a psychedelic experience,” he said. “I was so emotional, but I had to keep it together just to play properly.”

The emotional performances were part of a fundraiser to find a cure for epidermolysis bullosa, a rare and debilitating genetic skin disorder. A new Netflix documentary “ Matter of Time ” weaves the performances with personal stories of those on the front lines with EB.

Métis leaders unveil 1920s model dog sled repatriated from Vatican

OTTAWA - Métis leaders on Wednesday unveiled a model dog sled repatriated to their communities after more than a century in the Vatican collection.

The sled, made in the 1920s of leather, wood and glass beads, was one of 62 items repatriated to Indigenous Peoples from the Vatican last year after decades of calls for their return.

“We’re not simply opening a box. We’re welcoming something very special home. We’re beginning a new chapter, a chapter that’s grounded in relationship, kinship and connection,” Métis National Council president Victoria Pruden said during the ceremony.

“These are not artifacts in the Western sense. These are carriers of memory – that Kiyas Kiskiowin Oma – remembering who we are, our memories returning. They hold the imprint of the hands that made them, and the communities who once knew them.”

PTE play shines a light on cultural harms caused by forgeries

Drew Hayden Taylor explores art authentication with his signature wit in The Undeniable Accusations of Red Cadmium Light, a play inspired by the ongoing challenges to the artistic legacy of Anishinaabe painter Norval Morrisseau.

Belated Lunar New Year party a feast of Korean culture

For the last month, Andrea Kitano has been spending her weekends hosting hanbok fashion shows at shopping centres across Winnipeg.

Children’s film festival showcases joy of shared experience

In a world where anyone can stream anything almost instantly at any time, film festivals such as Freeze Frame International still matter, says artistic director Pascal Boutroy.

“I am disheartened by how accessible some things are to children,” says Boutroy, who established the festival in 1996 with his wife Nicole Matiation.

“We have screens everywhere — the television, the computer, the cellphones … shared experience has disappeared over the years. But (watching a movie with an audience) is such a thrill; it’s actually like watching a game of hockey or soccer with people in a stadium or arena rather than watching it in front of TV by yourself.

“There’s something very precious about the shared experience.”

Actor connects multiple storylines in RMTC’s telecommunications drama Rogers v. Rogers

Inviting audiences into the inner sanctum of a dysfunctional dynasty, playwright Michael Healey’s Rogers v. Rogers does for the Canadian telecommunications industry what Adam McKay’s The Big Short did for subprime loans: surveying a national economic ecosystem that feels destined to take advantage of consumer’s best interests while lining the coffers of a controlling billionaire class.

‘Anti-social’ dancer fell in love with metal, ‘community’ at WECC

Dammecia Hall is an artist, and for her that means spending a lot of time by herself.

“I’m extremely anti-social,” says the dancer, choreographer and educator. “But as soon as you put me in a social environment, I come alive.”

One of the social environments Hall finds herself in these days is the West End Cultural Centre, the non-profit performance venue inside a former church at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

While attending an event at the WECC, a friend of a friend encouraged Hall to volunteer at the venue. The 43-year-old Wolseley resident applied soon after, and has been volunteering at the WECC for more than a year.

Elmwood students’ clothing venture instils pride, breaks down stereotypes in blue-collar neighbourhood

Xander Woodley is spending his fourth period filling orders.

The Grade 12 Elmwood High School student pulls a blank sweatshirt from the supply closet and double-checks the customer’s purchase: one double-extra-large GPS Crewneck in navy.

He walks over to the heat press at the back of the graphics lab and flips through a stack of transfer sheets to find the correct design.

“It’s a map of our community of Elmwood; these are all of the streets, as well as the Red River and co-ordinates of where we are,” Woodley says, pointing to the line-art rendition of the northeast Winnipeg neighbourhood, the ward boundaries of which run from McLeod Avenue to the Canadian Pacific mainline and from the eastern bank of the Red River to Lagimodiere Boulevard.

Harlequin Costume seeks to sell building, ‘staggering’ collection; dancewear store to continue under same name

Looking to buy a building in downtown Winnipeg? Get in touch with the owners of Harlequin Costume.

If you’re interested in purchasing thousands upon thousands of costumes, you’ll want to talk to them, too.

Scott and Jan Malabar are selling their building at 375 Hargrave St., where the husband and wife have operated their costume, dance and formal wear business since the 1980s.

The asking price for the building, which sits a few blocks south of the Exchange District and a short walk from Central Park, is $995,000.

Art for Minneapolis: West Broadway not-for-profit partners with sister agency

Art City has issued a callout to creatives of all kinds for paintings and other flat artworks to show solidarity with residents of Minneapolis.

The West Broadway not-for-profit is hosting a free workshop on Monday to create and collect art to send south of the border.

“There’s a lot of feelings of anxiety because this is a situation that we have no control over and we don’t like it,” said Eddie Ayoub, artistic director of the local community hub.

As ICE operations continue to upend daily life in their sister city, Ayoub said his team wants to give residents a chance to gather, process and take action.

Stage-fighting the system in touching madcap comedy 'Holland'

One of Winnipeg’s funniest playwrights and an ensemble of five of the city’s strongest comic actors spin gold from parental rage in Holland, a guns-blazing production full of righteously madcap decision-making at the Tom Hendry Warehouse.