Sep 18, 2024 — Oct 6, 2024
Mary Swanson arrives in Middletown ready to start her family in a normal suburb.
art by Yvonne Fabian
Tickets | Date | Time | Special Performances |
---|---|---|---|
Buy Tickets | Wed, Sep 18, 2024 | 7:30 pm | Preview |
Buy Tickets | Thu, Sep 19, 2024 | 7:30 pm | Preview |
Buy Tickets | Fri, Sep 20, 2024 | 8:00 pm | Opening Night |
Buy Tickets | Sat, Sep 21, 2024 | 2:00 pm | Theatre Club |
Buy Tickets | Sat, Sep 21, 2024 | 8:00 pm | |
Buy Tickets | Wed, Sep 25, 2024 | 7:30 pm | Wine Wednesday |
Buy Tickets | Thu, Sep 26, 2024 | 7:30 pm | |
Buy Tickets | Fri, Sep 27, 2024 | 8:00 pm | |
Buy Tickets | Sat, Sep 28, 2024 | 2:00 pm | Matinée |
Buy Tickets | Sat, Sep 28, 2024 | 8:00 pm | |
Buy Tickets | Sun, Sep 29, 2024 | 2:00 pm | Matinée |
Buy Tickets | Wed, Oct 2, 2024 | 7:30 am | |
Buy Tickets | Thu, Oct 3, 2024 | 7:30 am | |
Buy Tickets | Fri, Oct 4, 2024 | 8:00 pm | |
Buy Tickets | Sat, Oct 5, 2024 | 2:00 pm | Matinée |
Buy Tickets | Sat, Oct 5, 2024 | 8:00 pm | |
Buy Tickets | Sun, Oct 6, 2024 | 2:00 pm | Matinée |
Sep 18, 2024 — Oct 6, 2024
2 hours, 20 min. (15 min. intermission) Audience Advisory
This show contains some strong language, a brief depiction of choking, and some discussions of self-harm and death.
Mary Swanson arrives in Middletown ready to start her family in a normal suburb. But her new neighbours see the surreal in the status quo and the outer bounds of the universe in their local garden patch. As Mary connects to her community via the magic and tragedy of ordinary experiences, Middletown dives into the big questions: what are beginnings? How should we end? And how are we supposed to deal with all the stuff in between?
View GalleryA guest production by Sticks and Stones Theatre | Website
Co-Director
Co-Director
Arthi Chandra is a Vancouver based director, writer, and theatre maker. She is the Artistic Director of The Library Performance Collective. Her practice is rooted in devising text-based new works, and adaptations of contemporary and classical plays. Her work focuses on queerness, joy, and parties.
Recent works include Antigonick (Shaw Festival; Neil Munro Apprentice), Done/Undone (Bard on the Beach), and HOT DYKE PARTY (Library Performance).
Arthi also teaches devising and directing (Studio 58, Toronto Metropolitan University, VanArts). She is the artist in residence at the Arts Club, and is an associate artist with Theatre Replacement. She is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts.
Co-Director
Co-Director
Jamie King is an awarded theatre director, producer and dramaturg born and raised on the sunshine and rain of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, colonially: Vancouver. Their practice speaks to contemporary issues through a comedic lens (and with a lot of heart). Previously, they directed The Wolves and LOVE/SICK at Pacific Theatre, and are grateful to Zac and Kaitlin for this opportunity to play on this stage again. Arthi - thank you for taking this journey with me. Recent directing credits: Pretty Girls, Blue Stockings and Can We Fix It? for Studio 58, Sunrise Betties for Itsazoo Productions; As You Like It for Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan; The Legend of Georgia McBride for Arts Club Theatre Company; What if? for Green Thumb Theatre; SYSTEM FAILURE, The Fleetwing Fables, and SPARAGMOS for Caravan Farm Theatre; Big Sister at The Cultch; and Bull for Rumble Theatre. JK is the current Associate Producer for Theatre Replacement. For more information about their work visit www.jamiekinghere.com
Stage Manager
Stage Manager
Based on the west coast, Emma has been working in theatre and opera as a professional stage manager for 10 years. She has worked at a variety of companies including; Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera, The Firehall, Ruby Slippers, Western Canada Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, Theatre Replacement, and the Cultch. She is very excited to be working with Stick and Stones Theatre for the first time. Thanks go to her parents Maggie and Iain, who have been bringing her to Pacific Theatre since she was a kid.
Assistant Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
"Born in Vancouver BC, Brynna has always had a love for theatre. Graduating from Studio 58’s production program (2019) and years later completing Studio’s Acting program (2024).
Brynna is thrilled to be a part of the Middletown team as their Assistant Stagemanager. Previously she has been an ASM for The Cultch’s Holiday at the Elbow Room Café (2019) Stage Manager for Carousel’s The Tempest (2021), ChildMinder for Arts Clubs Kinky Boots (2022), and ChildMinder for Arts Clubs Elf:The Musical (2023). It’s always a joy for Brynna to support other fellow artists through art and storytelling! "
Production Manager
Production Manager
Lighting Designer
Lighting Designer
Alexandra Caprara is a queer interdisciplinary artist from Toronto, Ontario whose practice is grounded in performance making and design, with a focus on devised processes, movement, and design lead creation. She has worked internationally as a director, performer, and designer for lighting and video projection, and has presented her work across Canada alongside companies such as WorkMan Arts, Factory Theatre, Theatre Replacement, Electric Company Theatre, and GoodWoman Dance. Select credits include direction and creation of “EVREN” (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), devised performance in “A Hunger Artist” (Prague Quadrennial 2023), lighting design for “Song from the Uproar" (City Opera Vancouver), and projection design for “A Silent Howl” (Dancing on The Edge). She currently resides in Vancouver where she recently completed her MFA in interdisciplinary arts at Simon Fraser University.
Production Designer
Production Designer
Alaia is a Vancouver theatre designer originally from the Gulf Islands. Recent projects she has worked on include costume design for Measure for Measure (Bard on the Beach), Million Dollar Quartet, Sexy Laundry, The Cull, Beneath Springhill, The Birds and the Bees (Artsclub) The East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (Theatre Replacement), HMS Pinafore, Carmen Up Close and Personal (Vancouver Opera), costume design for Beautiful Man (PI Theatre), set design for Midsummer Night’s Dream (TWU), Case for Existence of God, God Said This (Pacific Theatre), Seventeen (Western Gold). She has worked on a variety of smaller shows through Vancouver and has a passion for costuming dance. Alaia is a graduate of the UBC Theatre Design program in 2017 and holds an English literature degree from 2012.
Fight Director
Fight Director
Sound Designer
Sound Designer
Matthew is a Vancouver-based actor/sound designer who is delighted to be back at Pacific Theatre.Other design credits specific to PT include The Wolves, Bar Mitzvah Boy, Cherry Docs, and The Lonesome West. Matthew is a graduate of Studio 58 and a four-time Jessie Award nominee and two-time Award winner in both Sound Design and Acting. Special thanks to my wife Jalen for years of love and support.
Projection Illustrator
Projection Illustrator
Keely O'Brien (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Richmond, BC, on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm / hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking peoples. Her practice incorporates intricately handmade objects with innovative theatre creation. Devoted to a thoroughly DIY process, Keely’s work includes immersive installations, imaginative ephemera, and interactive experiences. She often collaborates with community members who may not consider themselves artists, and invites the public to participate in unusual meaning-making experiences. Keely is Co-Artistic Director of experimental theatre company Popcorn Galaxies, whose recent works include The Dead Letter Office (presented at Eastern Front Theatre STAGES Festival, The Array Showcase), and Perfect Strangers (presented at Nakai Theatre, Found Festival, rEvolver Festival). She is Theatre Replacement’s current COLLIDER Artist in Residence, and an annual associate artist at Mountain View Cemetery’s Night for All Souls. She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University.
Projection Designer
Projection Designer
"Daniel O’Shea makes theatre, designs projections, and creates films, using technology and design as a keystone to support narrative and deepen dramaturgy. Daniel employs a low-fi DYI aesthetic, exposing the guts of the performance machinery in parallel to convoluting the act of spectating. His work focuses on states of presence, unbalancing audienceship and novel constructions of light through design and new media. Daniel’s artistic research has explored the ephemeral nature of a ‘self’, interruptions of technology on human processes, and the results cognitive dissonance.
Daniel’s work has been seen in Canada and internationally. He is a founding member of A Wake Of Vultures. Daniel is engaged with Vancouver’s thriving contemporary performance scene and often engages in crossover with indie film and the digital arts."
Public Speaker / Male Tourist / Male Doctor
Public Speaker / Male Tourist / Male Doctor
Peter’s delighted to be back at Pacific Theatre, where he last appeared in Measure for Measure, and happy to be joining this great team at Sticks & Stones. Some favorite credits include The Overcoat, Titus Bouffonius, The Number 14, and roles in his many plays for the Caravan Farm Theatre. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre, he’s the recipient of eight Jessie Awards. Upcoming: his adaptation A Christmas Carol Sleigh Ride at the Caravan this December, and a role in Niall McNeil’s Beauty and the Beast My Life at the Cultch next spring.
John Dodge
John Dodge
Jay is a Vancouver based theatre artist, this is Jay’s Pacific Theatre acting debut. He most recently walked the boards in the Pi Theatre production of Medicine directed by Richard Wolfe. Described by The Guardian as an “Enigmatic Stranger,” in last year's hit UK film The Latent Image, Jay is known for his uncanny ability to craft characters which defy expectations, mining for the complexities in everyday life. You should see his Starbucks order. It is…complicated. Jay is a neurodiverse human being and is thrilled to bring the character of John to life alongside some of Canada’s most prolific and top tier artists.
Female Tourist/ Woman on Date/ Attendant 2
Female Tourist/ Woman on Date/ Attendant 2
Steffanie is thrilled to be sharing this beautiful story with such a wonderful group of people.
She is an actor, singer, dancer and model based here in Vancouver. Last year she was one of ten artists chosen from across the country to participate in the EveryBody On Stage’s “Leading Players Project” in Toronto. When she isn’t working in theatre she can be found singing at various venues such as Guilt & Co or working in film & television. Recent theatre credits: Belle in Beauty & The Beast: The East Van Panto (Theatre Replacement); Someone Like You (Arts Club Theatre), We Will Rock You (Theatre Under the Stars); Cabaret (Raincity Theatre); Stile & Drewe’s The Three Little Pigs (Carousel Theatre for Young People); Grease (Chemainus); Frog Belly Rat Bone (Axis Theatre). Up next she is returning to the York Theatre for this year's East Van Panto: Robin Hood. Afterwards she is excited to be touring Someone Like You with the Arts Club Theatre Company!
IG: Steffwithanff
Tour Guide/ Aunt/ Female Doctor
Tour Guide/ Aunt/ Female Doctor
As an actor Lisa has worked with companies including Caravan Farm, Hardline Productions, Open Pit Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and Urban Ink. Recent credits: associate movement director and intimacy director for Choir Boy (Arts Club), movement consultant for Red Velvet (Arts Club), and choreographer and intimacy director for Hamlet (Bard on the Beach). Pacific Theatre credits include choreographer for Measure for Measure (Honest Fishmongers), and intimacy director for The Mountaintop. She is a graduate of Studio 58.
Greg/ Man on date/ Janitor
Greg/ Man on date/ Janitor
Kevin Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Canadian artist based in Vancouver, BC. After falling in love with acting in high school, Kevin decided to further his training at Studio 58’s theatre program. He has co-created and appeared in works such as Everybody (Studio 58), Blue Stockings (Studio 58), East Van Panto: Little Mermaid (Theatre Replacement), Annette is a Bimbo! (The Women’s Company), The Bright Young Things (Folding Camera), and For Now (Green Thumb). Kevin was a part of the 2022 Riotous Youth ensemble at Bard on the Beach and the 2022 recipient of the United Players Andrée Karas scholarship award. This past year, Kevin played part in The Official Guidebook to Lying (Unsung Voices 2023) which premiered at the Toronto Asian Film Festival.
Mrs Swanson
Mrs Swanson
Melissa is a theatre actor and an emerging director who has worked with companies across Western Canada. Recent acting credits include Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Gateway), Unexpecting (Zee Zee Theatre), The Cafe (Aphotic/Itsazoo), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bard on the Beach), Lampedusa and Beautiful Man (Pi Theatre), Like it or Not and New Canadian Kid (Green Thumb), and The Twelve Dates of Christmas (Arts Club). Melissa will return to Pacific Theatre in 2025 revisiting the role of Nora in A Doll's House Part 2. Melissa was born, raised and lives in Vancouver and acknowledges the history of these stolen lands, the traditional territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Producer/Mechanic
Producer/Mechanic
Zac is an actor, sound designer and producer, and is the general manager and one of the founders of Sticks and Stones Theatre. Select past acting credits include Body Awareness (Mitch and Murray Productions), Armstrong’s War (Western Canada Theatre), Hidden (Itsazoo productions), The Out Vigil (Twenty Something Theatre), This is War (Rumble Theatre) The Aliens, This Is Our Youth, The Open House (Sticks and Stones Theatre). Zac would like to thank all of the amazing artists who have lent their immeasurable talents to this production, especially his darling wife Ruth, without her this project never could have happened. Zac is a graduate of Studio 58.
Ground Control / Freelancer / Landscaper / Attendant
Ground Control / Freelancer / Landscaper / Attendant
Cop
Cop
Born and raised in Vancouver, Mike’s been lurking around professionally for twenty-five years and has appeared on most stages in Vancouver and a few across Canada. If you’re paying really close attention you may catch a glimpse of him on TV from time to time. Mike lives with his wife, actor Jenny Wasko-Paterson and their two sons, Dash and Eddie. Honourable mention to cats, Whiskey Whiskers and Little Buddy. Mike is a graduate of Studio 58.
Librarian
Librarian
For Sticks and Stones Theatre: Will Eno’s “The Open House”. For Pacific Theatre: “Mother of the Maid”, “ Holy Mo A Christmas Show!”, “ Mourning Dove”, “ Agnes of God”, “Holy Mo!”. Other recent theatre: “The Three Musketeers”
(Citadel Theatre, Edmonton), “White Noise”( The Firehall/Savage Society), “Romeo and Juliet” ( Bard on the Beach), “The Curious Incident of the dog in the Nightime” (Arts Club).
This production has come together through the hard work and talents of many like minded artists. It is an honour to be a part of it. For C, always.
Sweetheart
Sweetheart
In 2022, Scout made her theatrical debut in East Van Panto: The Little Mermaid. She showcased her range by performing multiple roles including Jellyfish, Shellfish, and Rockfish. The following year, she played Mouse, Mischievous Skunk, and a Piece of Singing Sushi in East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast. Scout’s most recent dramatic adventures including writing, acting, singing, and dancing up a storm in Queen Victoria Annex’s student led musical extravaganza: Extraordinary Magic. She has studied dance at Trout Lake Community Centre and musical theatre at Performing Stars, and Arts Umbrella. When Scout’s not creating art, she can be found racking up XP points on Duolingo, training her guinea pigs, and blending up experimental smoothie concoctions with her precocious Commercial Drive girlies.
Sweetheart
Sweetheart
Kazja is excited for her first role with Pacific Theatre! Her previous experience includes productions of Wizard of Oz, Newsies, and Star Warts (Saint George's School). She's also performed in adaptations of Frozen through Arts Umbrella and "The Scottish Play," Midsummer Night's Dream, and As You Like It through Bard Spring and Summer camps.
Sweetheart
Sweetheart
Zoe Hirtle is thrilled to debut in the role of Sweetheart. She enjoyed attending Bard Youth Fest in Spring 2024, has performed in school plays, and taken drama classes at Carousel Theatre for Young People. Zoe plays ultimate frisbee and badminton, writes and draws, and loves cats. She is very excited to be part of Middletown.
The good. The not so good.
(But mostly the good.)
13 occupants of a small community brood over life and death, happiness and misery, often in the same sentence. Provocative, funny, and highly recommended.
Photo by Matt Reznek
Photo by Matt Reznek
L-R, back row: Peter Anderson, Kaitlyn Yott, Melissa Oei, Mike Wasko, Anita Wittenberg. Front row: Steffanie Davis, Jay Clift, Kevin Nguyen, Lisa Goebel. Photo by Matt Reznek
Photo by Matt Reznek
“Snag your favourite seats early and see the show from (your) best seat in the house.”
Learn More