Liesl Lafferty
Jessie Award Winning Director – Dramaturg – Playwright – CAEA – LMDA – PGC
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

Canary

by Liesl Lafferty

 

 

“Lawrence is so convincing... one expects her to flinch when the lights go up. The cast never falters and stage management surpasses expectations.”

EYE Weekly, by Caroline Lock

Canary, written and directed by Liesl Lafferty, dramaturgy by Lois Brown, featuring Tasha Lawrence, Kathryn Haggis and Heidi Lynne Weeks… from July 2nd to 11th, 2009, at the TARRAGON EXTRA SPACE - 30 Bridgman Avenue the Fringe, Toronto’s Theatre Festival.

“Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” ~Marie Curie~ This play is for everybody who has had anything wrong with them, without knowing why. Canary is a dark comedy about Lily, a young woman who is struck with a mysterious and debilitating aversion to artificial light. Our hero battles a toxic world and raises the question, ‘Are you next?’

 

 

 

 

Strange Days

 

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

~ Anton Chekhov

Featuring: Daniela Bobadilla, Ryan Hesp, Elizabeth Marleau, Patricia Mayén-Salazar, Brendan Taylor, and Nevada Yates-Robart June 2nd to 6th, 2009, at the Beaumont Stage, 316 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Witness the magic and perfect chaos as a select group of actors expose their darkest secrets and channel their greatest joys into an original workshop production! The Evolving Arts Collective is proud to present “Strange Days” an original-work created out of a performance-driven class led by directors Liesl Lafferty and Lori Triolo. In a four month process, six actors of different age, race and experience are guided through script creation, experimental techniques and Meisner exercises, to strip away limitations and bare the results of their comedic and cathartic journey on stage.

 

 

 

The Sweetest Swing in Baseball

“Director Liesl Lafferty doesn’t just get great performances out of her cast; her staging, in which players simply turn their faces to the wall or lie down on the floor when they exit scenes, is a kind of minimalist poetry.”

The Georgia Straight, Colin Thomas, December, 2008

The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman
EVAC Collective presents a darkly delightful performance of Rebecca Gilman's The Sweetest Swing in Baseball. This vivid production is an exploration of art, success and the fragility of sanity. It's also insanely funny. Deftly directed by Jessie award winning Liesl Lafferty, the actors expertly manage multiple roles and multiple personalities. The heavy hitting cast features Lori Triolo, Jenn Griffin, Scott Miller, Nic Rhind and Kate Twa. At the Beaumont Stage 316 West 5th Avenue at Alberta Street.

 

 

 

Blind Submission

“Blind Submission is unquestionably a success for the playwrights, who have endeavoured in experimental theatre not only as writers, but actors as well. A process that is understood to entail a large amount of uncertainty as a writer, and require versatility as an actor, triumphs in both phases.”

Anthony Marcusa, www.thestrand.ca

Blind Submission, Reliving the Exquisite Corpse, dramaturged and directed by Liesl Lafferty, created and performed by Dmitry Chepovetsky, Jenn Griffin, Heidi Waters, choreographed by Patrick Tubajon, designed by Steve Marsh, stage managed by Shauna Japp, at The Theatre Centre @ the Great Hall Downstairs, 1087 Queen Street West, February 2007.

For 28 days, three artists, in three different cities, wrote three separate plays. Without a previously determined theme, without really knowing each other, and without having seen each other’s words, they blindly submitted their scripts to me. I collaged the pieces together. Then, the playwrights became the actors, I, the dramaturge, became the director, and after two weeks of rehearsal, the audience was invited to witness the unveiling of three plays in one. It was a courageous, thrilling and artistically satisfying experiment for all four of us and well-received by our audiences.

 

 

 

Three Plays at Malaspina; Check Please and Hard Candy, by Jonathan Rand and Booby in a Trap by Ed Monk,

 

“That was great… you don’t usually see movement on this stage. Congratulations!”

Syd Kozak, Casting Director

Three Plays at Malaspina; Check Please and Hard Candy, by Jonathan Rand and Booby in a Trap by Ed Monk, directed by Liesl Lafferty, starring the first and second year students at Malaspina University College in Nanaimo, BC, February 2005.

I was invited by fellow director Leon Potter to direct a Mainstage Production. The faculty requested that I put as many people on stage as possible. I chose three short plays with forty two roles for the twenty two cast members. To challenge the actors, I selected a comedy, a farce and a tragedy. At first, the project appeared as though it would be too massive, the staff thought I may be bogged down with too many people and too many props to come and go. But, with extensive efforts in scheduling, I arranged ample time with each individual student. And, as a unique touch, I called on my choreographer friend Patrick Tubajon to help create some of his movement magic. Armed with a couple of funky tunes and a detailed props map, we created two dance pieces to perfectly link the plays together and to arrange and re-arrange a huge number of the props on the stage.

While in Nanaimo, my accommodations were a thirty-two foot yacht. I basically slept outside in February, but it was sunny every day and I sat on the bow of the boat, working on plays, thrilled to be a Canadian director.

 

Tape

"You can't go wrong with sex, drug, and rock 'n' roll… there's also strong acting, a stealth-message script, and a finale that's hilarious but that doesn't entirely defuse the tension."Alexander Varty, Georgia Straight

Tape, by Stephen Belber, directed by Liesl Lafferty, featuring Brett Queen, Heidi Waters and David Whitmey, at the Vibes Lounge, BYOV, Vancouver Fringe, September 2003 - Tape is a fast-paced, thought provoking and often-comedic play centered on a reunion of friends. Brilliantly crafted, this one-act set in real time, forces the characters and audience to face their perceptions of an unspeakable act.

Dave and Brett are the kind of guys who, between gigs and trips to the gym, get together regularly to practice their craft. They rehearse scenes and film each other's audition pieces. When they began to play around with passages from Tape, they invited me to their weekly sessions to check it out. Then, I invited the fabulous Heidi Waters to join us. We inadvertently began to rehearse European style, organically, over several months of regular sessions. Eventually, these young actors were itching to showcase their talents with this intelligent script. So we formed an Equity Coop, gathered our cash and implanted a stage in a funky downtown pub.

 

 

 

The Big Road

"Liesl knows her way around actors; how to bring out the best in people without crushing creativity or talking them into the ground."

Jenn Griffin, Playwright/Actor

The Big Road, A Radio Play with Slides, written and performed by Jenn Griffin, dramaturgy and direction by Liesl Lafferty, at the Carousel Theatre Rehearsal Hall, BYOV, Vancouver Fringe, September 2003 - The Big Road follows Deannie Hamstricker, hard-boiled professional driving instructor, who comes home after a long day behind the windshield to find that her husband, Harry, has been uploaded by a porn site.

At my first LMDA conference, I learned that if you nurture a playwright for a lifetime, they yield a play every five years. Having just done our eighth revival of our first show, Drinking with Persephone, and with a Canada Council Creation Grant secured for our next project, Into the Waves, Jenn had one other piece that she just wanted to squeeze in. She had a great concept for a story and she wanted to include sound effects and slide projections. The performance had fantastic audience response and we are currently re-working it into a real radio play.

 

 

 

Summer Camp

 

"It is impossible to motivate Margo to do anything, like eat or to the movies, but when it is time for acting class, she is the first one ready!"

Margo's Attendant

Summer Camp, a Collective by Theatre Terrific Society, Studio 16, Vancouver Fringe, September 2002 - Theatre Terrific Society has been working since 1985 to gain public acceptance for people with disabilities by enabling them to participate in Vancouver's theatrical community. Through productions, classes and workshops, Theatre Terrific is a catalyst for growth and change.

When I first spoke to Margo, she didn't respond, so it was hard to tell if she understood me. If she did talk, she mumbled very quietly in half sentences. As the summer progressed, Margo really enjoyed the painting and the mask making. She loved music and would gleefully wiggle around in her wheelchair during dance rehearsals. She caught on to some of the acting exercises, but we could never hear her. It finally occurred to me that a microphone might help. Once she got a hold of that mic, she would not let go. It brought so her so much joy. We created a spot in the show to stop and give Margo the microphone just to see what she would say. In the first two shows, the volunteer missed Margo's cue. On the third night, Margo's parents from out of town were in the audience. The show stopped as Margo received the mic. The room silenced in the anticipation of what would happen next. A family voice behind me whispered, "They are giving Margo a microphone?" More silence. The volunteer was ready to bail and tried to retrieve the talking stick, Margo pushed her away and slowly began a beautiful impromptu speech in her piece meal fashion. She thanked her parents and the audience for coming. She thanked the other actors for sharing the stage with her and she told me she wanted to take me or coffees. Then more silence, as she gently waved her have in the air. She established a beat, held the mic like Dionne Warwick and broke into an a cappella version of "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" As she finished, she bowed her head and the audience erupted. She really looked like a rock star. After the performance, outside in the sunlight, I spoke to Margo, she didn't respond. It was hard to tell is she understood me, even though I knew she did. The only place I heard her voice was on stage.

 

 

 

 

The George Man

 

"You did more for George in the last nine weeks than forty-two years of therapy."

Edward Lawson, student's father

The George Man, by George Lawson, dramaturgy and direction by Liesl Lafferty, at the Jericho Arts Centre and the Vancouver Public Library, 2001.

As Artistic Director of Theatre Terrific Society, the most surprising thing I learned was that creating plays with people with disabilities is exactly the same as creating plays with everyone else. When George Lawson signed up for our first summer camp, he told me that due to his disability, he was not allowed to take drama or creative writing in school, and now he wanted to tell his life story paralleled to the Elephant Man. I asked him to relate five of his impressions from the classic play. Then, I had him connect those impressions to five events from his life. As he spoke, I recorded a quote from each of his five stories then, told him to go home and write it all down. He returned to me with five monologues called the George Man. On stage, George shared personal, often painful revelations. He worked through issues of low self-esteem and achieved his ultimate goal of having people laugh with him instead of at him.

 

 

 

 

Fresh Fish

"Thanks for all of your hard work. It really helped me find my characters."

Peter Anderson, Superstar

Fresh Fish, A Love Story, Adapted and Directed by Liesl Lafferty, featuring Peter Anderson, Jenn Griffin, Steven Hill, Peter Scoular, Laurel Thomson and David Whitmey, at the Arts Club Theatre, March 2001 - A concert of images featuring six actors and an on-stage disc jockey. This brash new piece is a theatrical adaptation of Michael Turner's book, Company Town, featuring stories set in a lively and colourful British Columbia salmon cannery.

I enjoyed my research on this project, as it covered everything from the Beat Poets to bits of British Colombia history. We had a week, so I presented the performers with extensive text and character analyses, in order to skip the table work and spend most of our time with the actors exploring the story on their feet. The deejay created modern music drops which beautifully contrasted the historical context of the novel. Bill Millerd gave us the gift of time… to enjoy a investigation process.

 

 

 

The Hot l Baltimore

"Thanks Liesl for rescuing us."

Anonymous Student Feedback

Hot l Baltimore, by Langford Wilson, directed by Liesl Lafferty, at the Gastown Actor's Studio, January 2001 - The play is a classic seventies comedy about a manager's struggle to maintain order despite the hotel's destruction.

Sue Astley called to see if I was available to direct a play for the Gastown Actor's Studio. I asked if I could read the script, but she told me there wasn't time, the director had quit and she needed me to start the next day. The cast of fourteen was on stage most of the time. There were eighteen students, with some roles double-cast. We had two weeks to rehearse this full-length dinosaur and I quickly realized we had to start from scratch. The students committed fully to my process and we had a great time getting it done. Gastown Actor's Studio subsequently invited me to teach acting classes for the next term.

 

 

 

A Town Called HOCKEY

"When the news gets out just how funny A TOWN CALLED HOCKEY is, hockey fans will be breaking down the Arts Club door to get in."

Jo Ledingham, the Vancouver Courier

A Town Called Hockey, by Gary Jones, Liesl Lafferty, Richard Side, directed by Liesl Lafferty, assistant to the director Dmitry Chepovetsky, featuring Rod Crawford, David Mackay, Pippa Platt, Todd Talbot, Alicia Thorngrimson and Colleen Wheeler, at the Arts Club Theatre, February 2000 - Put on your ice skates. Sports and theatre enthusiasts alike will cheer on a town named after Canada's favorite sport. Finding themselves in danger of losing their beloved hockey franchise, the local residents are in a panic until a devoted fan discovers the team's only hope.

I got it into my head that I was going to bring a new audience into the theatre. I told my friend Jesse Denos that I wanted my next project to be a play that a regular young Canadian guy would like to go to see. He said, "You should write a play about hockey!" I jotted down a few ideas, interviewed some friends and took an outline to Bill Millerd. He cut me a cheque for $500 and advised me to formulate a plot and procure comedy writers to help me. It was easy to get Gary Jones, because we had wanted to work together again since our first project Planet Jessiewood. Richard Side, on the other hand, stealthily held out until I took him to a Canucks/Red Wings Game. He caved and joined our team. Nine months later, we premiered at the Arts Club Theatre as their first play of the new millennium. We succeed in bringing in a new audience. The hockey types loved the laughs and the others enjoyed an evening at the theatre. Critics favoured the clever staging, which brought the game of hockey to life with a giant table hockey game, deft performance and hilariously accurate sound effects. Sound Designer John McCullough was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Sound Design.

 

 

 

 

bloodline

"Bloodline flows flawlessly… Director, Liesl Lafferty, gives this one-act-wonder a slightly breathless pace."

Peter Bernie, the Vancouver Province

bloodline, created and performed by Rita Bozi and Dmitry Chepovetsky, created and directed by Kate Hale and Liesl Lafferty, the Season Opener at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, October 1999 - A beautiful blend of dance, song and theatre, bloodline tells the intimate tale of an immigrant father's guilt and an immigrant daughter's struggle to adapt to a new country.

Rita and Dmitry actually secured enough money to travel to Wolverhampton, England to write an adaptation of their true-life immigrant stories with the wonderful Kate Hale. The result was a beautiful presentation that combined the actor's personal tales with their limitless performance skills. After some feedback, the pair felt that their piece was not quite finished. They asked me to create the next draft with them in preparation for a performance at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. We shuffled and wrote and rewrote. One day, Rita mentioned she had begun to study the violin. My instinct was to use it. I could not let go of the image of the haunting strings filling the hall at the Cultch. The violin was just what the play needed as it brought a symbolism which reflected the character's history, emotions and struggle for independence. The script was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Play.

 

 

 

Moon in My Kitchen

"Liesl has a great sense of humour, thank God…we all had so much fun…when push comes to shove, Liesl took the helm with firm hands and I was glad to be on her ship."

Anonymous Student Feedback

Moon in My Kitchen, by Jennifer Paterson, dramaturgy and direction by Liesl Lafferty, featuring Scott Fee, Kevin MacDonald, Dawn Milman, Robin Richardson and Joelly Segal, at Studio 58, Langara College, April 1999 - The play is a wry and witty look at suburban family life.

One day I sent my resume to Kathryn Shaw and on the back I wrote two sentences expressing my interest in working at Studio 58. She hired me to direct a student written FOURPLAY. At first, the piece I was assigned tried to attack too many issues and when I proposed major adjustments required she, like all great playwrights, accused me of wanting to rip out 'the most important part of the play'. She agreed to let the actors try it and the simplified plot made her brilliant jokes even funnier. To some of my friends who have seen many of my shows, this production remains a comedic triumph.

 

 

 

Drinking with Persephone

"Jenn Griffin's autobiographical script is horrifyingly hilarious… as tough and original as any character invented by Sam Shepard or David Mamet."

Colin Thomas, the Georgia Straight

Drinking with Persephone, written and performed by Jenn Griffin, dramaturgy and direction by Liesl Lafferty, choreography by Patrick Tubajon, at Liesl's Garage Vancouver, Presentation House North Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Winnipeg and New York Fringe Festivals 1998-2003 - This suicidal comedy parallels a teenage girl's descent into alcoholism with the mythic Persephone's descent into the underworld.

A stranger approached me with a stack of loose-leaf, chicken-scratched stories. The ninety page volume sat on my desk for a month. When I finally picked it up to read, I only got to page seven before I ran to the phone to tell her I would do whatever it took to move her piece forward. A few months later, Jenn Griffin and I were ready to try this new Bring Your Own Venue thing. As soon as we decided to do a play in 'Liesl's Garage', magic began to happen on Commercial Drive. All of the neighbours pitched in with clean up, painting, photography, publicity and box office, to name a few. A pair of teenagers sold lemonade in the front yard each night and then watched every performance. In ten days, eight hundred people came over to my house to watch a play in my garage and people still talk about it. The production received nominations for Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play, Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Production of a Play, and won the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance and the Sydney Risk Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Emerging Playwright. We have enjoyed many remounts of this show, but my personal favorite was being accepted to the New York Fringe in 1999. We maxed out our credit cards, stayed at a fleabag hotel and did our show in New York City!

 

 

 

Going Down

"Lafferty always chooses challenging material and show a knack for simple yet theatrical staging."

Colin Thomas, the Georgia Straight

Going Down and Other Stories, by Steven Berkoff, directed by Liesl Lafferty, choreography by Patrick Tubajon, featuring Erin Fitzgerald and Alex Zahara, at the Woom Shakti Studio, April 1997 -An evening of theatrically transformed, poignant, poetic and hilarious stories.

I was the kind of kid who put on variety shows for my family and listened to radio plays. While majoring in theatre at university, I studied for a couple of semesters in London. My epiphany came one afternoon in the West End, as I watched Steven Berkoff perform in his play Decadence. As the players exploded onto the stage, I sat breathless. The dialogue was funny, fast-paced and brilliantly acted. To me, it was flawless. Years later, I bumped into Steven Berkoff on a London street. I shook his hand and told him that he had changed my life. He thanked me and smiled as I walked away. When I returned home I was inspired to stretch myself directorially. I wanted to create a movement piece based on a book of Berkoff's short stories. There were no venues available, so I found a warehouse downtown and adapted the piece to the space. Fortunately, people wanted to check it out and we sold out most of the performances… just for the fun of it.

 

 

 

 

The Clutch

"Thanks to a clever script and some deft moves…his tale of terror set somewhere near Sicamous is both amusing and alarming."

Peter Bernie, Vancouver Sun

The Clutch, written and performed by Richard Lett, dramaturgy and direction by Liesl Lafferty, at the Havana Gallery, November 1997 - This thriller of comic proportions retraces a stand-up comedians B.C. road trip to hell and back.

People said to me, "You are going to direct Richard Lett?" He had a reputation of being a bit of a challenge, but he came to me with an open mind and a poignant, hilarious, autobiographical story. He let me rip the script apart and thread it back together. Then, he rose to the occasion and performed a complex story around a simple picnic table. And I only made him cry once. The script was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Play.

 

 

 

Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards 1997

"These are the words I think of when I think of Liesl: dedicated, honest, hard-working, co-operative, centred, intelligent, curious, objective, supportive and fun."

Gary Jones, actor and playwright

Planet Jessiewood, a production of the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Ceremony, presented by the Vancouver TheatreSports League, at the Vogue Theatre, 1997

The first year Vancouver TheatreSports League took over the production of the awards ceremony was the most exciting time to be involved. We took the opportunity to blow it up and re-invent it. We created a show called Planet Jessiewood, a future world where the Vancouver theatre community had become a parody of itself after following in the footsteps of Hollywood. The best part was the Extreme Techie Dance Team. At first, the technicians didn't want to be cheerleaders. It took some convincing, but I assured them that they would maintain their integrity, and that the piece would be brief, easy and hilarious. Once the first guy agreed, the rest fell like dominos. They had a couple of rehearsals to learn their steps. By the time the production load-in came, the designer Ted Roberts had become very frustrated, because the technicians were not to be found. They were all in dance rehearsal! Night of, in the hush that falls right before the house opens, I walked through the theatre. From the lobby, through the audience, from backstage to the bowels of the green room, that silence was broken… thump, thump, crash, thump, thump, crash… the sweet sound of technicians, stealing away in dark corners, beating out their rhythms for their opening number. When they hit the stage, the crowd leapt to their feet and cheered. It was crazy good times.

 

 

 

 

House

"Go see this one… no excuses."

Colin Thomas, the Georgia Straight

House, by Daniel MacIvor, directed by Liesl Lafferty and Chris McGregor, at the Havana Gallery, June 1997, The Vancouver East Cultural Center, and the Uno and Fringe Festivals in Victoria - "My mother is possessed by the devil, my father is the saddest man in the world, my sister is in love with a dog, the one I love does not love me and I got no place to live…what should I do?"

Peter Scoular climbed the stairs to my Arts Club Production office with an obsessed expression on his face. He found House and had to do it. I knew the play, so I immediately said, "Let's go!" It turns out Peter had already asked his friend Chris McGregor to direct the show, so we were faced with a potential dilemma. Our shared passion for the play was unrelenting and we decided to collaborate. Mr. McGregor and I share the Larry Lillo - Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play, and Peter Scoular received a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Body of Work for an Actor in the same year.

 

 

 

Fetch !

"A man, a stage, a few props and two deliciously imaginative minds made Fetch!"

Barbara Crook, the Vancouver Sun.

Fetch! written and performed by Dmitry Chepovetsky, written and directed by Liesl Lafferty, at Men's Fest '95 at Station Street Arts Centre and at the Arts Club Revue Theatre 1996 - An imaginative and thought-provoking collection of off-beat songs and sketches about men.

I can't remember exactly where Dmitry came from, I just know that out of the blue this hilarious guy appeared and began to entertain me. When he expressed frustration as a young actor trying to find his place I said, "I can help you". He is truly a triple threat, so it was easy to mould a performance piece that highlighted the things he was good at. Richard Lett said we could have a slot in the Men's Fest in a month, so we geared our play towards that. We sat on his balcony laughing and pouring ideas into my laptop. I wrote some of the pieces and edited other bits, but the strongest stuff came right out of Dmitry's head and onto the page. He performed things that were first draft. It was exhilarating. Later, we were picked up by the Arts Club and ran on a double bill with Denis Simpson's Denis Anyone? At year's end, our little experiment made the Vancouver Sun Theatre Critic's Top Ten List, alongside the likes of Broadway's Show Boat and Morris Panych's The Company.

 

Sarah And Hans

"Scripts don't come much worse than this."

Colin Thomas, the Georgia Straight

Sarah and Hans, the artists will remain anonymous

When I was approached with a poor script, yet an opportunity to earn a thousand dollars, I sought the advice of the one who'd taught me about 'artistic integrity' in the first place. Surprisingly, he told me to take the money. Ouch, I learned that one the hard way.

 

 

 

MALEBOX

"The tight, witty script left me ready to run home and catch up on my long-neglected mail."

Anna Friz, the Ubyssey

MALEBOX, written and performed by Laurel Thomson, written and directed by Liesl Lafferty, at the Vancouver Little Theatre, September 1992 - Sydney finds the answer to loneliness when romantic postcards from a lover begin to arrive. Hilarity ensues as she decides to respond to the sweet notes even though they are not addressed to her.

It took gathering all of the courage we had, but Laurel and I decided it was time to write our first play. We bought a typewriter, paid our Fringe fees and started meeting regularly. We talked for hours, wrote about our lives and seemingly stumbled across the plot. Who knew we could make loneliness funny?

In The Beginning.....

My dedication to the creation of new theatre was sparked while studying the Royal Court Theatre at University in London. After World War II, Artistic Director George Devine forged the foundation of modern theatre by focusing on the playwright and the new play. New plays brought in new audiences. "The Edwardian audience which Saw alternately shocked and flattered no longer exists. The ideas that stirred it… no longer stir us." London Observer, 12 February 1956

I began my career of directing new works by answering an ad in the Georgia Straight to tackle a student written piece in the Brave New Play Rites Festival at the University of British Columbia. There I worked with Deb Pickman and Renee Iaci, who went onto create and tour many successful original plays as Shameless Hussy Productions. My first Fringe show was Big Hands Tearing My Panties, by Cartar Bragg featuring Callum Keith Rennie, Rondelle Reynoldson and Sandra Summerfield. My first professional gig was Dancing with the Wildebeest, by Jeremy Davis. Both were new plays by local playwrights. In my second season with the Brave New Play Rites, the play I directed Parental Guidance, by, Garth Sim, was voted Best of the Festival and was awarded a second production at Presentation House in North Vancouver. I was off to a roaring start. With each new piece I realized, I was also doing a lot of dramaturgical work. It was exhausting, but I loved it.