Portia Kingsbury rules with an iron fist over the women of Easthaven Girls’ High, an Australian school on the eve of the Second World War. A “moral lapse” by a student roils the school and pits its staff in a power struggle.

The stage is set for Morning Sacrifice, presented by the University Players from Feb. 28 to March 8 in the Hatch Studio Theatre. Playwright Dymphna Cusack drew on her own experiences as a teacher, referring to the women in the show as second-class citizens, notes director Sarah Kitz.

“In addition to the traps that these women face, still familiar to so many of us — economic hardship, social respectability politics, gendered double standards — she points at the high cost of in-group fighting rather than solidarity in an oppressed class,” says Kitz. “In our contemporary take on this period drama, we are including a modern perspective which underlines the cost of performing old oppressions as a way of keeping them alive and well.”

Morning Sacrifice opens Friday with an 8 p.m. performance. The Hatch Studio Theatre is located in the Jackman Dramatic Art Centre.

Tickets can be purchased at www.universityplayers.com or by calling the box office at 519-253-3000, ext. 2808.

By day, Marshall Sfalcin — a reluctant construction worker — lays ceramic tiles in kitchens and bathrooms through Windsor. But by night, he escapes his blue-collar life by making movies.

The Rise and Fall of the Grumpy Burger follows his obsessive efforts to tell the story of his family and its once legendary fast-food empire.

Directed by UWindsor alumnus Matt Gallagher, it will be screened Friday, Feb. 28, as part of a Windsor Film Society series featuring works by graduates of the Department of Communication, Media, and Film. Opening the bill is Braunte Petric’s short documentary Defender.

The screening is set for the Performance Hall, SoCA Armouries, 37 University Ave. East. Admission is free. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the films begin at 7:30 p.m. Learn more on the event’s Facebook page.

The series will continue March 20 with screenings of Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, produced by Patrick White, and Obscura, directed by Armend Bajrami.

Professor and practicing criminal law attorney Anil Kapoor will discuss the need for an independent bar in his free public lecture “Justice Denied,” the 2020 Distinguished Lecture of the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, at 5 p.m. Monday, March 2.

Kapoor is an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall law school and regularly appears before the Supreme Court of Canada and Courts of Appeal in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. He was appointed to the Commission Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182, Minister of Justice (Canada), the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on National Security, and the Board of Directors of the Advocates Society.

The event, presented by Windsor Law in association with the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, will take place in the Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building’s Moot Court. Visit the event website for more information.

—Rachelle Prince

A retreat held in 2018 for UWindsor mid-career faculty is the subject of a feature in the latest edition of University Affairs magazine.

Judy Bornais, executive director of the Office of Experiential Learning, and kinesiology professor Dave Andrews have written an article about the retreat, explaining why they organized it and what they learned.

“Associate professors are some of the unhappiest people in academe,” they write. They say institutions invest a great deal of time and resources on early career faculty, but little on professors with tenure.

In the article, Bornais and Andrews offer 17 tips for organizers of such retreats. The tips are categorized under the headings of creating a conducive environment, nurturing professional development, developing an organizational structure, and following up and maintaining connections.

“The retreat — created by mid-career faculty, for mid-career faculty — provided them with time to reflect on and rejuvenate their teaching practice,” Bornais and Andrews write.

“We felt this would not only benefit faculty as educators, but may also help them improve the culture of teaching and learning on campus by enhancing the learning experiences they provide to students.”

—Sarah Sacheli

Ontario University Athletics has named Lancer guard Kayah Clarke a second-team all-star in women’s basketball.

A fourth-year kinesiology student, she averaged 12.8 points over 24 minutes of play per game, leading Windsor to a second-place finish in the OUA west division.

Head coach Chantal Vallée said she is happy to see Clarke win the honour.

“She has put a lot of work and effort over the last couple of years working at improving herself both personally and on the court,” she said. “I look forward to seeing her lead the team next season.”

Read the full story at goLancers.ca.

New works for sound and video are on the program for performances by the Noiseborder Ensemble in the Alan Wildeman Centre for Creative Arts on Monday, March 2.

Solo instrumentalists with live interactive elements and some short, fixed video pieces will run 7 to 8 p.m. in the Multimedia Studio. Presenting will be Brent Lee, Chris McNamara, Nicholas Papador, Sigi Torinus, as well as pianist Megumi Masaki performing a new work for piano, 3D video, and electroacoustic sound.

Admission is free and open to the public.