Play delivers staggering, interpretive take on cultural control
Published 5:15 am Monday, July 28, 2025
By Katie Steinhauer
Thomas Hernandez and Aimee Ford perform “Steamboat Willie Enters the Public Domain” Friday at the Five Points Museum for Here Be Monsters Theatre’s ‘Any Minute Now’ short plays series. (Katie Steinhauer photo)
For a decade, Here Be Monsters theatre has challenged Victoria audiences to step into the unknown, to embrace the theatrical frontier where narratives contort, boundaries blur and the very act of performance becomes an experiment in itself.
The group’s 10th annual experimental theater series, “Any Minute Now,” presented at the atmospheric Five Points Museum of Contemporary Art on Moody Street, proved to be their most audacious dive yet into the compelling, often comical and utterly staggering theme of control.
From the moment the lights dimmed Friday evening within the Five Points Museum’s unique setting, it was clear this was no ordinary night at the theater. “Any Minute Now” didn’t just present stories; it deconstructed them, playing with expectations and twisting familiar concepts into thought-provoking, often hilarious, new forms.
The raw, intimate space of the museum proved to be the perfect crucible for these explorations, allowing the audience to feel deeply embedded in each unfolding experiment.
“We try to do it here as much as we possibly can. It’s a wonderful space and they treat us so well,” Mandy Heindall, co-founder and producer of Here Be Monsters theatre, said. “It fits the vibe and our whole ideology which is experimental theater. It’s not traditional, and that pushes us to try different things and not get caught up in how things are supposed to be.”
The evening’s diverse program, performed by a plethora of Victoria’s own remarkable local talent, tackled the pervasive theme of control from every conceivable angle. One particularly striking piece saw a familiar animated icon, Steamboat Willie, grappling with a newfound, albeit bewildering, freedom.
As his copyright restrictions finally expired, the beloved character found himself questioning his pre-programmed existence, comically and poignantly vying for genuine free will. The performance brilliantly highlighted the absurdities of intellectual property and the inherent human (or, in this case, cartoon) desire for self-determination.
Another piece ventured into the fantastical, presenting the peculiar dilemma of ancient mountain guardians who, overwhelmed by their colossal charge, had to resort to hiring a “mountain trainer.” This absurd premise, executed with deadpan humor and imaginative staging, explored the struggle to control the uncontrollable, blurring the lines between nature and nurture, wildness and domestication. The audience roared with laughter at the guardians’ futile attempts to rein in their mountainous responsibility, all while pondering the deeper implications of humanity’s often-futile quest for dominion.
Adding another layer to the experimental tapestry were the numerous interpretive dance performances interwoven throughout the evening. These sequences, ranging from fluid and ethereal to jarring and confrontational, offered a visceral counterpoint to the spoken word.