HOUSE PROGRAM
BEING HERE: The Refugee Project
Streaming March 16 – 21, 2021
Belfry DigitalBelfry DigitalHOUSE PROGRAM
Streaming March 16 – 21, 2021
BEING HERE: The Refugee Project
Created by Joel Bernbaum
from Interviews Conducted by Joel Bernbaum
Starring (in alphabetical order)
Ghazal Azarbad
Austin Eckert
Evan Frayne
Kayvon Khoshkam
Adrian Neblett
Monice Peter
Celine Stubel
Director – Michael Shamata
Videographer & Video Editor – Candelario Andrade
Stage Manager – Jennifer Swan
Production Designer – Carole Klemm
Lighting Designer – Sophie Tang
Costume Designer – Jeff Chief
Composer & Sound Designer – Tobin Stokes
Assistant Stage Manager – Becca Jorgensen
Dialect Coach – Adrienne Smook
Videography of Joel Bernbaum by Damien Kent
BEING HERE: The Refugee Project is 90 minutes in length.
BEING HERE: The Refugee Project was commissioned and developed by the Belfry Theatre.
BEING HERE: The Refugee Project is produced with the co-operation of the
The Belfry Theatre is a registered Canadian charity, 11921 5549 RR0001.
The Belfry Theatre is a member of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Arts Alliance of Greater Victoria.
The Belfry Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the terms of the jointly negotiated Canadian Theatre Agreement.
SHOW SPONSOR
SHOW SPONSOR
SHOW SPONSOR
SEASON SPONSOR
SEASON SPONSOR
PUBLIC FUNDER
PUBLIC FUNDER
PUBLIC FUNDER
PUBLIC FUNDER
PUBLIC FUNDER
Belfry Theatre Staff
Kate Barry – Development Coordinator
Jane Broomfield – Front of House Manager
Helena Descoteau – Box Office Clerk
Mark Dusseault – Director of Marketing & Communications
Linda Findlay – Head of Wardrobe
Mike Ford – Director of Production and Operations
Ian Gibson – Audience Services Manager
Ivan Habel – Executive Director
Keith Houghton – Head Technician & Systems Administrator
Valerie Houle – Company Manager
Carole Klemm – Scenic Artist
Matty Cervantes Navarrete – Manager of Community and Artistic Connections
Patricia O’Brien – Financial Officer
Samantha Pelkey – Associate Producer and Indigenous Relations Manager
Peter Pokorny – Head of Props
Dale Pudwell – Head Scenic Carpenter
Michael Shamata – Artistic Director
Lara Shepard – Custodian
Gregory Smith – Technical Director
Susan Stevenson – Director of Development
BEING HERE: The Refugee Project -Development History
BEING HERE was commissioned by the Belfry Theatre in 2017.
Workshop 1
December 14 – 21, 2017 in Vancouver, BC
Cast: Mariam Barry, Raylene Harewood, Kayvon Khoshkam, Baraka Rahmani, Hal Wesley Rogers, Donna Soares
Workshop 2
October 24 – 27, 2019 in Victoria, BC
Cast: Kelt Eccleston, Kayvon Khoshkam, Vjosa Mala, Tenyjah Mckenna, Celine Stubel
Workshop 3
August 3 – 8, 2020 via Zoom
Cast: Sarah Afful, Austin Eckert, Raylene Harewood, Kayvon Khoshkam, E.B. Smith, Celine Stubel, Bahareh Yaraghi
Transcribers
Mackenzie Dawson, Paige Goodman, Jonelle Gunderson, Lauren Holfeuer, Jenna-Lee Hyde, Megan Zong.
Thanks
This show was filmed in Victoria and Vancouver. Our thanks to the Arts Club Theatre and their exceptional staff who worked on BEING HERE: The Refugee Project.
Stephan Baeuml – Director of Production
Ted Roberts – Resident Designer/Technical Director
Dan Paterson – Newmont Stage Technical Director
Ace Martens – Pre-Production Manager
Jack Holmes – Facilities/Venue Rentals Manager
Kirsten McGhie – Head of Wardrobe
Dawn Padget – Production Administrator
Kevin Gault – Audio Technician
Lucas Hall – Lighting Technician
Darren Paine – Audio Technician
Hana / Eman / Eileen
Ghazal Azarbad is an actor, creator, and storyteller born in Mashhad, Iran and raised in Vancouver, BC. Selected stage credits include The Seagull, Wedding at Aulis, La Bête, Innocence Lost (Soulpepper); Shakespeare in Love, Taming of the Shrew (Bard on the Beach); It’s a Wonderful Christmas-ish Holiday Miracle, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Arts Club); and Entrances and Exits: An Improvised Farce (Howland Company/Bad Dog Comedy). Digital theatre credits include: Unexpected (Arts Club), Divine Darkness (Bard on the Beach), The Seagull (Soulpepper). Writing credits include: Dear Konstantin (Spotify/Apple Podcasts), REAL (Babelle Theatre), and Divine Darkness (Bard on the Beach). TV credits include: Charmed (CW), Kim’s Convenience (CBC), and WatchTV with Kelly & Kelly (CBC Gem). She is a graduate of the UBC BFA and the Soulpepper Academy; a Jessie Award nominee; and the recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation Award.
Sabir / Omar
Austin is from Treaty 4 territory (Regina, Saskatchewan). Select Theatre; Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter’s Tale, Macbeth, As You Like It, Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare in Love (Bard on the Beach), HAIR (Mayfield), Beauty and the Beast (Arts Club), MAMMA MIA! (WCT), Miss Understood (Frank). Select Television; Batwoman, The Flash, Supernatural (CW), Narcoleap (Telus/ CBC), Colony (USA), The Magicians (SyFy). Austin is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts, and was in the company of Spring Awakening at the Belfry.
Donald / Julian
Evan is a Victoria based, actor, director and educator. Last seen on stage in The Explanation with the Frank Theatre, he has worked with many companies including Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Touchstone Theatre, Blackbird Theatre, the Arts Club and the Chemainus Theatre Festival. Film and television projects include roles on Arrow, I-Zombie, When We Rise, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1 and others. Nominated for multiple Jessies for his work, Evan is a recipient of the Sam Payne Award, and holds a BFA in Acting, an MFA in Directing and a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia. Evan played Bob Cratchit in the Belfry’s 2017 production of A Christmas Carol.
Abbas / Mohammed / Sayid / Bruce
Black and Indigenous Lives Matter. Wear a Mask. Be Kind.
Check out Kayvon’s Podcast; The Vigilante Book Club @ClubVigilante
Minkah / Joseph
Adrian Neblett was born in Montreal, Québec, and studied Computer Engineering at the University of Manitoba, where a sign on a telephone pole seeking “African American” background performers reignited his passion for make believe. A local casting director, at a subsequent audition complimented his instincts, triggering a decades-long pursuit for the truth of each moment. TV: Wendy Williams: The Movie, Snowpiercer, The Flash, Supernatural, and others. Stage: Of Mice and Men (Hardline), Ruined, Deep into Darkness (Third Wheel), The Shipment (Speakeasy), Reframed (Electric Company Theatre) and more. IG/Twitter @ebonyskygod
Sarah / Bonnie / Rima / Omar’s Mother
Monice Peter has performed across Canada with esteemed theatre companies, directors, and worked with noteworthy network television companies. She spent three seasons at The Stratford Festival and one season at The Shaw Festival. Notable credits include Sex by Mae West, The Aeneid by Olivier Kemeid, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by Adrian Mitchell and Julius Caesar where she played Portia.
This will be Ms. Peter’s first western theatre credit after the sad cancellation of ‘Da Kink In My Hair with The Arts Club. Monice is ecstatic to bring BEING HERE to life and to work with the Belfry. She would like to thank her family back home in Calgary for their continued support and encouragement and her sister Maryke and nephew Mattius for their hospitality.
Ann / Gerry
Celine is a Jessie Award winning Victoria-based actress. Theatre highlights include: The Last Wife, Venus in Fur, Proud, Speed the Plow, And Slowly Beauty, and A Christmas Carol (Belfry). Elsewhere: The Great Gatsby (Theatre Calgary), Oliver (National Arts Centre), Fire, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Blue Bridge), Angels in America, The Graduate, (Arts Club Theatre), Electric Company’s Studies In Motion (Citadel and Canadian Stage,) Tyland, (ATP), Legoland, (Atomic Vaudeville), All’s Well That Ends Well, (Bard on The Beach), Unity (1918) and My Three Sisters (Theatre SKAM). Film and TV credits include: All in Madonna, Encore, The Cameraman, The Gourmet Detective, Motive, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, Arrow, and Eadward.
Joel Bernbaum is an actor, director, playwright, journalist and the founding artistic director of Sum Theatre. He is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts and Carleton University, where he did his Master’s Thesis on Verbatim Theatre’s Relationship to Journalism. Joel’s produced plays include Operation Big Rock, My Rabbi (with Kayvon Khoshkam), Home Is a Beautiful Word and Reasonable Doubt (with Yvette Nolan and Lancelot Knight). Joel is currently a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan, investigating the potential of theatre to strengthen cities. He is proud to be the first Urjo Kareda Resident from Saskatchewan and the first Trudeau Foundation Scholar from the U of S. Joel resides in Saskatoon with his 5-year old son, Judah – but his heart still lives at the Belfry.
Candelario Andrade is a video editor and media designer for theatre, dance and performance arts. Recent streaming credits include: Body Parts (Tara Cheyenne Performance); Bard Beyond the Beach (Bard on the Beach) and Pathetic Fallacy (The Chop -with Milton Lim). Recent theatre credits: Anywhere But Here (Electric Company); House and Home (Firehall); Anon(ymous) (Studio58). For the Belfry: Griffin and Sabine; Forget About Tomorrow. As video editor he has worked for Knowledge Network, VIFF and several short films and animations for visual artist Cindy Mochizuki. Cande is a faculty teacher at Studio58 and co-artistic director of Rough House productions.
Carole is a Victoria based designer and scenic artist whose recent work includes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime for Theatre Inconnu and Emerald City for William Head on Stage. Her set designs for the Belfry include: Taking Off, Helen’s Necklace, Big Mama, Mesa, The Cmplt Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), Trying, Skylight, Knock Knock, The Sum of Us and Atlantis.
She has designed and painted for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Theatre SKAM, Chemainus Theatre Festival, Pacific Opera Victoria, Victoria Shakespeare Festival, Blue Bridge Theatre, Kaleidoscope Theatre, Western Canada Theatre Company and others.
Sophie Tang is a Jessie Award Winner and Nominee, as well as an Ovation Award Nominee. She holds an MFA theatre design degree from UBC and a BFA theatre production and design degree from SFU. Recent credits: East Van Panto: Panto Come Home! (Lighting)- Theatre Replacement, The Human Voice (Lighting)- City Opera, 12 Dates of Christmas (Lighting)- Arts Club Theatre, Straight White Men (Lighting)- ITSAZOO Productions, Little Volcano (Lighting)- Veda Hille X Theatre Replacement, Peter Pan (Lighting) – Carousel Theatre, Kuroko (Set) – Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre. Up Coming: Tomorrowlove (Lighting and Projection)-Studio 58. Portfolio website: sophieyufeitang.com
Jeff is a Plains Cree costume designer from Saskatchewan. He designed the costumes for the Belfry’s production of The Ministry of Grace last season. Other Costume Designs include Kronborg – The Hamlet Rock Musical (Confederation Centre of the Arts); Honour Beat (Theatre Calgary); Hedda Noir (Theatre NorthWest); Le Wild West Show de Gabriel Dumont (National Arts Centre); Ipperwash (Blyth Festival); In Care (GTNT); Popcorn Elder (SNTC/Dancing Sky Theatre); Dreary and Izzy (Theatre NorthWest); Othello (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan); Where the Blood Mixes (Western Canada Theatre); Migration (Red Sky/Black Grace); A Man A Fish, God of Carnage, The Berlin Blues (Persephone Theatre).
Tobin Stokes composes for opera, concerts, theatre, film, and dance. He writes opera libretti, choral texts, song lyrics, and short plays. His opera, Fallujah, premiered with Long Beach Opera and New York City Opera in 2016. Pauline, an opera collaboration with Margaret Atwood, premiered in 2014. Tobin has composed music for dozens of films. His most recent series, The Wild Canadian Year, was recorded with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. For theatre, he composes and works in sound design. Tobin’s choral music is performed around the world, and his orchestral music and other operas have been commissioned and premiered in Canada. His orchestral music has been recorded in Moscow and Bratislava.
Born and raised on Lekwungen territory, also recently known as Victoria, she is thankful to the Songhees and Esquimalt nations, on whose land she has the immense privilege and joy to be living. Jennifer has been a part of the Belfry since 1999, and it remains one of her favourite places to be. When not stage managing, she is lucky to also work in theatre administration, and has been fortunate this year to find work as the Associate Producer for Electric Company Theatre, and as Interim General Manager for Neworld Theatre, both in Vancouver.
Becca is a Victoria born and raised stage manager and marathoner. She is thrilled to be back and creating with the Belfry for her 4th season. For the Belfry: The Ministry of Grace, Every Brilliant Thing, Bears, Griffin & Sabine, Bed & Breakfast, A Christmas Carol. Other favourites elsewhere: Busted Up! A Yukon Story (OpenPit), The Piano Teacher (Arts Club), Garden of Alice, La Bohème, Il Trittico (POV), Mamma Mia!, Kim’s Convenience, 2 Pianos, 4 Hands (Chemainus Theatre Festival), Gruff (Kaleidoscope). She is a graduate of the University of Victoria, and proud auntie to Audrey, Clara, and Ellie Mae.
“A country, this is the the feeling of safe. When you you close your eyes, in the night, and whe-you you BELIEVE or you you be sure that, in the morning, you can find yourself in safe place.”
-Hana, Act 1, Scene 21
This project has changed my life.
Thanks to the generosity of the Belfry Theatre, I had the opportunity to travel across Canada and sit with hundreds of people who openly shared their life stories with me.
As I sat and listened, I could not help but realise that for my entire life I have taken my country and my upbringing for granted. The situations faced by refugees in so many countries around the world put my privilege as a white middle class Canadian into perspective. My family is not wealthy, but I have never felt unsafe in my home.
The resulting play (on film) that you will see is a type of theatre called “verbatim theatre.” This is a term for theatre where the script for the play is constructed out of transcripts. These transcripts can be of interviews, court proceedings or tribunals. There is no one right way to make verbatim theatre – it is an art after all – but due to my training as a playwright and journalist I believe in a certain way to construct a verbatim theatre script.
For this project (just as you may have seen in our production of Home Is a Beautiful Word seven years ago) every word you hear spoken by the actors was spoken to me in an interview. The interviews were then carefully transcribed, including every “um” and pause to accurately record the conversations I had. The actors worked from these transcripts to discover the real people they are channelling in the play. All names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the interview subjects, and any of the interview subjects that wanted to were offered the chance to approve their transcribed interview.
This project is four years in the making and has had many iterations. The one you will see not only includes the voices of refugees, but also the people who help them. As we hear, the relationship between these two groups can be both challenging and rewarding. To the people across Canada sponsoring and assisting refugees, thank you for the work you do.
I am so appreciative of Michael, Ivan and the entire staff at the Belfry Theatre for their continued work in making Being Here a reality, even in this unprecedented time. Although I live in Saskatoon and work for a theatre company there, The Belfry Theatre remains my “home theatre.” I am grateful to each and every one of the interview subjects for trusting me with their stories. Even though only a portion of the interviews were used, each and every person’s story had an impact on me.
I hope that this play takes you a little further down your path of understanding all the people you hear from. At the end of the day we are all people living here together, and it is up to us to do the work of creating the country we share.
PHOTO BY MARK HALLIDAY / MOONRIDER PRODUCTIONS
PHOTO BY MARK HALLIDAY / MOONRIDER PRODUCTIONS
Little did I think four years ago, when I asked Joel Bernbaum to create a theatre piece about new Canadians arriving in this country, that I would find myself on a film set, directing a documentary. But I suppose the past 12 months has found all of us doing things we never imagined—and never believed ourselves capable of—!
Friday, March 13—part way through the first week of the 2020 SPARK Festival—the Belfry Theatre ceased all public performances. Life since then—both professionally and personally—has been one long improvisation—as it has for every other profession and every other person. We have done our best to maintain a presence—creating “theatre” on ZOOM—a platform most of us had never even heard of before the pandemic arrived. I am profoundly grateful to the audiences who attended these novice attempts—as well as the artists involved in our online readings of Two Rooms by Mansel Robinson, East of Berlin by Hannah Moscovitch, Bluebirds by Vern Thiessen, and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, plus our online editions of The Flame storytelling event. While this wasn’t theatre as any of us had previously known it—you generously accepted it for what it was—attending in ever-growing numbers—and using the “chat” feature to provide the artists with “type-written applause”—!
In January, we presented our first online SPARK Festival—starting with a presentation of the Musical Stage Company’s Uncovered, and followed by three evenings of new work by local artists—including plays, film and dance. Again—attendance was heartening—and the results were well worth the effort. Through all of this—I have been joined at the hip with Keith Houghton, the Belfry’s Head Technician and Systems Administrator, who managed to make our fledgling efforts look and work as much like theatre as possible—! A huge “thank you” to Keith for being my creative partner through the past six months.
And now this remarkable play—based on interviews that Joel conducted across the country—from Charlottetown to Victoria. During the four years of its development, it has changed focus, changed titles—and now at last minute—it has actually changed form—! Given that it was created as a piece of “verbatim theatre”—in which every word in the script was drawn from those revealing interviews—it was already documentary in style. So as thrilling as it would have been to float these ideas across the footlights—live—in the intimacy of the Belfry—it lends itself—and hopefully even gains something—from the intimacy of the camera.
BEING HERE: The Refugee Project is, to my knowledge, the first real examination, in any medium, of the complex, surprising and sometimes challenging relationships between people forced to leave their homelands and the Canadians compelled to help them.
Joel Bernbaum has been an inspiration to me for many years. His enthusiasm, honesty, and unimpeachable ethics are the reasons why the people he interviews feel safe sharing their stories—the stories that make this play and this film what it is. Joel’s beautiful verbatim play about homelessness in Victoria—Home Is a Beautiful Word—will always be one of the most important pieces of theatre on which I have had the privilege of working—as well as one of my favourites.
The acting requirements in verbatim work are specific and unusual. Given the extreme detail of the text—including as it does, every “um,” “er,” hesitation, and sudden change of thought—together with the fact that these are real people—the actors are encouraged to be “vessels”—allowing the words and the thought patterns to reveal the character of each person—as opposed to making “acting choices.” We were blessed with exceptional actors, who dedicated themselves to these individual voices, honouring their words, and allowing them to flow through them. Thank you, Ghazal Azarbad, Austin Eckert, Evan Frayne, Kayvon Khoshkam, Adrian Neblett, Monice Peter, and Celine Stubel—your work is beautiful—and it was a joy working with you on this project.
I also want to express my enormous gratitude to our film crew—Candelario Andrade, our Camera Operator and Editor; Sophie Tang, our Lighting Designer; Greg Smith (Victoria), Darren Paine and Kevin Gault (Vancouver), our Sound Operators; Keith Houghton (Victoria) and Lucas Hall (Vancouver), our Lighting Board Operators; and Jennifer Swan, the Belfry’s Stage Manager, who acted as Assistant Director—and a myriad of other positions she needed to assume from moment to moment throughout the shoot—!
Michael Shamata
Welcome to a truncated and unusual season for the Belfry. Over our 43-year history the Belfry has been through a number of challenges which could have resulted in very different outcomes than the well-loved success that we have become. This past year has been another challenge – one that is not yet over and remains unpredictable. What we can predict however is that our desire to produce outstanding experiences for you, our dedicated audience and loving supporters, remains at the heart of who we are and what we wish to accomplish.
The journey to this point – almost exactly a year to the day we announced the suspension of performances – has been fraught with uncertainty, change, ideas kept and discarded, stress and worry. Most of all this past year has been about our concern for you, our patrons, and how we can best bring you the theatre you love, and we love to make for you. So, we have arrived here – a new approach to the theatrical experience that in some measure fills the gap of an extended delay before we are able to gather again as community to share the experience of live performance.
This and the programming yet to come is all because of you: our loyal audiences, our generous donors, sponsors, and grant providers. It is our responsibility to you to produce the very best theatrical experience possible to honour that loyalty and generosity. We look forward to presenting you with more on-line programming and to eventually welcoming you again into your beautiful theatre.
Ivan Habel
The Belfry Theatre gratefully acknowledges the financial support of The Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, the Capital Regional District Arts Development Office and the City of Victoria.
Helijet
Times Colonist
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Graham Isenegger & Neil Chappell of CIBC Wood Gundy – Blue Heron Advisory Group
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FOCUS Magazine
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Used.ca
Showcase Awards
Government of Canada
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Fastrac Printing
APM Fund for the Arts†
Belfry Theatre Society Endowment Fund†
Benevity Community Impact Fund
Irma J. Brydson Foundation
Cederberg Family Fund †
Charitable Gift Funds Canada Foundation†
Government of Canada
The Jawl Foundation
Henley Family Fund†
Humber/Frampton Fund†
Marymax Fund†
The Mclean Foundation
Elizabeth McPherson Fund for the Arts†
Provincial Employees Community Services Fund
The Stewart Fund (through the Vancouver Foundation)
Vancouver Foundation
Victoria Foundation
† through the Victoria Foundation
Dr. Perry & Annamaria Bamji
Richard Brownsey & Glynis Leyshon
Jane Francis & Dave Skilling
Barbara Greeniaus & Bill Israel
Bruce & Barbara Housser
Judi James
John & Anne Keay
Robert & Ann Myers
Joan Peggs
Cindy Petrowski & Phil Marsh
Ross Richardson
John & Suzanne Stewart
Judy Stewart
Julie & John Richard Swenson
Plus, a further seven anonymous members
We invite you to join the Belfry Legacy Circle by making a planned gift or bequest. Gift planning is an inspired, meaningful and deeply personal way to secure the future of the Belfry Theatre. The support of visionary philanthropy ensures that the Belfry will continue to flourish as Greater Victoria’s premier contemporary theatre company.
Consult your professional advisors about the many forms through which you can achieve tax advantages of charitable donations and bequests. Please inform us if you have included the Belfry in your estate plans, so we can acknowledge your support during and/or after your lifetime, according to your wishes. Contact: Susan Stevenson, Director of Development, 250-385-6835 ext. 229 or development@belfry.bc.ca
The Belfry acknowledges the generous recent and past gifts from the estates of
Helena Balczewska
Roger J. Bishop
Shirley Mae Dawson
Marguerite Kathleen Friesen
David Neil Lee
Maria Luisa Macrae
Grace Mersereau
Margaret Seens
Alan Geoffrey White
Anonymous
In Memory of Eric Adler
In Memory of Violet Armstrong (2)
In Memory of Annamaria Bamji from Lady Jane
In Memory of my sister Beth, from Casey
In Memory of Agnes and Arnold Davies
In Memory of my brother Gerry Emery
In Memory of Michael Fallis (2)
In Memory of Antonietta Forte
In Memory of Jean Elizabeth Kõdar
In Memory of Nikki & Bruce MacKenzie from the family
In Memory of Ronald Adam Polstein
In Memory of Jacqueline Price
In Memory of Jack & Lisa Valikoski
Ronald & Juliana Polstein
John & Suzanne Stewart *
Stephen & Michelle Brown *
Fiona Hunter *
The Nikki & Bruce MacKenzie Family *
Patrick Stewart *
Dr. Stephen Tax
Lee Adler *
Ian & Gloria Back Fund †
Katherine Farris & Kit Pearson *
Anne McLaughlin *
Claude & Joan Mury
Gregg & Jennifer Perry
Barbara & Kim Potash
Jane & Steve Savidant *
Lee & Karl Soberlak Foundation
Lesley Watson & Evert Lindquist *
Honorable & Mrs. David & Sandra Anderson
Dr. Perry & Annamaria Bamji *
Gary & Susan Braley
Richard Brownsey & Glynis Leyshon
Stephen Cushing & Debbie Gill *
Commodore & Janice Drent
Paul & Sheila Elworthy
Lorraine Fallis *
David Harris Flaherty *
Barbara Greeniaus & Bill Israel
Ivan Habel
Bruce & Barbara Housser
Rob & Shirley Hunter
Audrey Johnson *
Robert & Suzanne Johnston *
Martin & Patti-Anne Kay
Helen Lansdowne *
Alan Marcus & Gail Nagley
Mary McAvoy
Kini McDonald *
Barb & Steve McKerrell
Celso E. Mendoza
Robert Milne *
Michael Morres *
Bill & Maureen Murphy-Dyson *
Robert & Ann Myers *
Patricia O’Brien & Michael Gaudet
Ronald & Judith Parish *
Joan Peggs *
Lisa Ricci
Brad & Shelagh Rinald
Bob & Joan Snowden *
Andy Stephenson *
Judy Stewart *
Robert & Anna Thomson
Al & Judith Title *
Jane & Ross Woodland
Michael & Vicki Ziegler *
Anonymous (4)
Elaine Calder & William J. Bennett
Darlene Elaine Clover *
Florence & Tom Dingle
Susan Findlay
John & Anne Keay
Katie McGowan
Beate & Kirk Northcott *
Ajay Parikh-Friese
Mary Ellen Purkis
Gordon & Grace Rogers *
David Zussman & Sheridan Scott
Victoria Guest Services Network
Paul McKinnon & David Alexander
John & Barbara Barton *
H Diane Bell *
Karen Blakely *
Lorie Bradley & Russ Pym
Nancy Buan *
Dr. Oscar & Malca Casiro
Chris & Mary Chapman *
Jane Clinckett *
Chris & Susan Considine *
Ginny Crawford
Jane Francis & Dave Skilling
Denny Gelinas *
Sara Harman
Rosemarie Hayes *
Bill & Joan Huzar *
Diana Dampsy
Ray Jones
Andrew Karwowski & Sylvie Cote *
John Krich
Jeanne Lamon & Christina Mahler
Marty Laurence & Mort Nelson
Carol Leach *
Laurence & Anne Mackett *
Ann Maffey *
Mia Maki *
Cindy Petrowski & Phil Marsh
Jeff McEown & Helen Smith
Joan McNeely
Sara Neely
Carol Nelson *
Ivo & Sara Olivotto
Pauline Price *
Susan & Peter Salomonsson
Diane Scott
Donna Christie & RIchard Shapka
Avril & Robert J. Tyrrell
Tom Ward and Marlie Manning *
Anne Wood *
Gillian Wood *
Marianne Yelle *
Patricia M. Young *
Anonymous (4)
Amy Adams & David Secord
Lynne Bain
Sharon & Bill Baker
Arlette Baker
Terence Barker
Christine & Michael Bloomfield
Sheila & Murray Bradley *
Peter Bray & Lorna Bray
Karen Carter
B & L Copley
Ross Crockford & Jennifer Wise
Lyn Davis *
Brenda Eaton
Eric & Michele Fretz *
George Galt
Chris & Catriona Harker *
Rand & Margaret Harrison *
Peter Kruselnicki
Allana Lindgren *
Peter & Helen Malcolm *
Frank McGilly *
Elinor Mix
Jon & Gail Muzio *
Sara Olivotto *
Nicola Ruth Rendell
Jaci Ross *
Bruce Scott *
Brian & Barbara Smith
Susan Stevenson & Bruce McGuigan
Sandra T. Stott *
Kenneth Wm. Thornicroft
Judy Treloar
Lindy Van Alstine
Terry Vatrt *
Gordon & Deanna Wallace *
Alison Watt *
Barbara L. Wilson *
Colin Wolf
Rachel Wyatt
David & Eloise Yaxley *
Anonymous (4)
Marjory Acton *
Sandra Anderson *
Catherine Aquart *
Douglas Baer
Clayton Baraniuk & Jason Dubois
Reginald Beniac *
Josie & Gene Bernhard
Barbara Best *
Harry & Beryl Borris *
Frances Bryan *
Monty & Nancy Bryant *
Walter & Sandra Burgess *
Sherry & John Butler *
Trevor & Maureen Calkins *
Colin & Linda Campbell
David & Moira Cameron *
Elizabeth (Scotty) Carley
Erika Carter *
Linda Chang *
Ida Chong, FCPA, FCGA
George & Anne Clark *
Jo-Anne Clarke
Nancy & Michael Coady *
George & Diane Copley *
Ron Cox *
Alex Currie
Trudy David
Concha Dennis
Oksana Dexter *
Gail Duguid *
Rita Estock *
Christine Fagan *
Carol Fedrau-Ens *
Maggi Feehan *
Wes & Heidi Fisher *
Celine Fittes *
Lorna Stirling & Edward Fong
Rene Fortier *
Malcolm Foy
Adria Fraser
Gordon D. Fulton
Christine Gaudet *
Peter Gibson *
Geoff & Linda Giles *
Leslie Glazier *
Daphne Elizabeth Goode
Carol Goodger-Hill
Paula Gunn
May Hamilton *
William & Dorothy Hamilton *
Alan & Dianne Hanna *
Joel Hefty *
Piers Henwood
Gerhard & Josephine Herndler *
John & Elaine Hooper *
Katrin Horowitz *
Sheila Hunter
Patricia Huntsman *
Edward & Dana Jackson *
Ellie James *
Rex Johnson *
Carol Jane Johnston *
Chris Jones & Catherine Wright
Peter & Arden Kagis
Robert & Sydney Kalef
Harriet Kendrick *
Bruce & Gwyneth Kingham *
Kim Knight *
George Kyle
Yvonne Lawson
David A. Leach
Brian Linds & Jan Wood
Lynn / Susan
Sang-Kiet Ly
Katherine Joan Maas *
Joan MacLeod
Ken & May Mah-Paulson *
Tom & Marilyn Mahan
Ronald Manzer
Margaret Martin *
Sandra Diane Martyn
Sandy Mayzel & John Gould
Pauline & David McDowell
Barbara McLauchlin
Lois McNabb *
Fay Melling
Barbara Menzies *
Rob Mitchell and Eloise Spitzer
Joanne Moon *
Catharine & Anthony Moses *
Jack & Marilyn Mulkins *
Earl & Roxanne Naismith
Kris Ovens *
Jo Owens *
Anne Park Shannon
Nancy & Keith
Julie & Bill Pearce
Gordon Phillipe & Anne Holtzman *
Michael W. Pidgeon
Adrienne Radford *
Peter Richards
Penny & Mel Rinald *
D. Rothschild
Esther Sangster-Gormley
Peter Seward
Kathryn Sihota *
Marie Skinnider *
Ann Smith *
Kathy St. John
Linda Stead
Catherine A. Stephenson
Megan Stone *
Jan & Don Storch *
Henry & Marian Summerfield *
Lynn Thomson *
Jeanette and Stephen Titus
David & Dorothy Torontow *
Beverley Tracey *
Bob & Vicky Turner *
Andrew and Joanne Turner
Anne Underhill *
Matt & Jean Valikoski *
Nick van Der Westhuizen *
Margaret Walker *
Donald & Adelina White
Lorita Whitehead
Carolyn Whitfield *
Jim & Anne Williams *
Bill Williamson *
Anonymous (19)
Our thanks to the 155 Believers ($75 – $149), 211 Friends (up to $74), plus 1,399 additional supporters who donated the value of their tickets.
* Also donated the value of their cancelled tickets.
† Through the Victoria Foundation
As of February 12, 2021
The Belfry Theatre thanks our generous donors who contributed to the 2020 / 21 Capital Retrofitting Project. Their support made it possible to install a wheelchair elevator and washroom backstage, making our stage and dressing rooms accessible to all artists, visitors, volunteers and staff.
Andrew Sheret Limited
The Barraclough Foundation
British Columbia Arts Council
Charis and Brian
Donna Christie & Richard Shapka
Alex & Samantha Currie
Government of Canada
The Hamber Foundation
Jill Kean
Mary McAvoy
Peninsula Co-op
Cindy Petrowski & Phillip Marsh
Nicola Ruth Rendell
Milton Schlosser & Paul Harland
Rotary Club of Victoria
Victoria Foundation
Patricia M. Young
Anonymous (6)
Plus 3 Name a Seat donors