The Belfry Theatre presents
Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes
By Hannah Moscovitch
CAST
Vincent Gale – Jon Macklem
Sara Canning – Annie
CREATIVE TEAM
Hannah Moscovitch – Playwright
Michael Shamata – Director
Shawn Kerwin – Set & Costume Designer
Leigh Ann Vardy – Lighting Designer
Tobin Stokes – Composer & Sound Designer
Treena Stubel – Intimacy Director
Caryn Fehr – Stage Manager
Becca Jorgensen – Assistant Stage Manager
Hailee Jake Friesen – Assistant Set Designer
Tianxu Zhao – Assistant Director
Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is approximately 80 minutes in length. There is no intermission.
Audience Advisory – Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes contains adult themes, frequent coarse language, and complex sexual ethics.
This production is supported by generous gifts from Dianne Soberlak and John & Suzanne Stewart.
Generously sponsored by
The Belfry Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages professional Artists who are members of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the terms of the jointly negotiated Canadian Theatre Agreement.
Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is produced with the co-operation of the Union of B.C. Performers.
SEASON SPONSORS
PUBLIC FUNDERS
…from the Artistic Director
Between welcoming you back to the theatre during our past two productions, and finally getting back into the rehearsal hall and directing a play for this stage—I am the happiest man in the world—! The rehearsal hall is where I feel most alive, most creative, and closest to who I am.
So I thank you for returning to the Belfry—and thereby enabling us make theatre again.
Seeing this theatre coming increasingly back to life—and working with actors in-person and not on Zoom—is the best possible medicine for my pandemic blues—! And I sincerely hope that the return of the arts in our community similarly lifts your spirits, and fills your soul with joy—!
Everyone involved in this production has been thanking their lucky stars to be working on this play—in this theatre—for this audience. And I thank them in return for their talent, their enthusiasm, and their amazing goodwill.
Thank you, Hannah, for this incredible play—! And thank you, Sara, Vince, Shawn, Leigh Ann, Tobin, Caryn, Becca, Treena, Hailee, Tianxu, and every member of the brilliant Belfry staff and our loyal troupe of volunteers—!
“We few, we happy few!”
Michael
…from the Executive Director
Welcome back – for the third time this season I’m happy to say that to an audience sitting in this lovely theatre. After two years of uncertainty, of making plans no further away than a week, of planning for an audience only to have those plans dashed – here you are in-person to experience one of life’s great joys, a performance of an extraordinary play performed by exceptional actors. And a play by one of the country’s best playwrights! Your presence is what makes theatre special and unique. You are the reason we exist, and the excitement of your presence is always the last element that makes each play whole.
While the light of this long tunnel feels closer, and it feels safer to plan future opportunities of welcome, it is too soon to say we have emerged. However, it is never too soon to say welcome back and we hope this is the beginning of many more continuous welcomes. While we are ecstatic to see you again in our beautiful theatre, we welcome you with continued caution. Your well-being is our well-being, and so we have approached the end of mandates with caution. For your comfort, we are keeping our mask mandates in place for the first two weeks of this run before moving to a mask recommended but optional final two weeks. Other measures will continue including vaccine passport checks until April 8, and requiring our staff, artists and volunteers to be double vaccinated, as well as other building environment measures. We do this because you are the beating heart of the community, we are pleased to call the Belfry. So once again welcome back and enjoy a remarkable play with beautiful acting direction, and design, supported by an extraordinary team and you.
Ivan Habel
About the Belfry
What to Expect – Live in-person attendance
Cast & Creative Team
Vincent Gale – Jon
Vincent Gale previously appeared at the Belfry in Speed-the-Plow, Venus in Fur, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, God of Carnage, Stones in His Pockets, The Real Thing and The Cryptogram. Selected theatre credits include Dangerous Corner, True West, Vincent in Brixton, The Caretaker, Proof, The Relapse (Vancouver Playhouse), Mary Poppins (Citadel Theatre), Charley’s Aunt, Tons of Money (Theatre Calgary), A Line in the Sand (Tarragon Theatre), The Glass Menagerie (Gateway Theatre), Waiting for Godot, Dancing at Lughnasa, 7 Stories, Glengarry Glen Ross (Arts Club Theatre), John and Beatrice (Persephone) and The Real Thing (Manitoba Theatre Centre). Selected television credits include four seasons on Syfy’s Van Helsing, Snowpiercer, Midnight Mass, Bates Motel, Queer as Folk, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural and the feature films Brain on Fire, Hector and the Search for Happiness, Every Breath You Take, The Final Cut, Firewall, Bye Bye Blues, Fathers and Sons, and Bruce Sweeney’s Dirty, Last Wedding and American Venus. Vince has received 4 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, a Gemini nomination for the mini-series Major Crime, an AMPIA, and LEO Award for Best Actor, and the Genie in 2002 for his performance in Last Wedding.
Sara Canning – Annie
Sara Canning’s film and television career spans 15 years. Select credits include War for the Planet of the Apes, the Emmy nominated A Series of Unfortunate Events and Remedy, for which she won UBCP/ACTRA and Leo Awards. Her work in Hospital Show earned her a Canadian Screen Award nomination. This year she’ll be seen in Sweetland, a feature shot in Newfoundland where she’s proud to have grown up. A frequent director for the Vancouver Film School, Sara is also developing projects of her own and was selected for the Whistler Film Festival Screenwriting Program in 2019. She’s thrilled to be making her BC theatre debut at the Belfry.
Hannah Moscovitch – Playwright
Hannah Moscovitch is an acclaimed playwright, TV writer, and librettist. She has been honoured with numerous awards and accolades, including the Governor General’s Award for Drama, the Fringe First and Herald Angels Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Trillium Book Award, the Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award and the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize administered by Yale.
Hannah’s music-theatre hybrid Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (co-created with Christian Barry and Ben Caplan) played at both 59E59 Theatres off-Broadway and at the International Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it garnered a landslide of critical praise, including more than 50 four and five-star reviews, becoming a TimeOut and New York Times Critic’s Pick and receiving six Drama Desk Award nominations. Before the pandemic hit, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story had been touring internationally for two years.
Hannah’s other writing for the stage includes Post-Democracy, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, East of Berlin, Bunny, What a Young Wife Ought to Know, The Russian Play, This is War, Infinity, and Secret Life of a Mother (with Maev Beaty and Ann-Marie Kerr). Hannah is playwright-in-residence at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.
Michael Shamata – Director
Michael has been a grateful guest on Lekwungen territory for the past 14 years. As Artistic Director of the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, he commissioned and directed BEING HERE: The Refugee Project, Home Is A Beautiful Word and Forget About Tomorrow, and collaborated with Nick Bantock on the adaptation of Griffin & Sabine. Other Belfry credits include the Canadian premieres of The Year of Magical Thinking and A Doll’s House, Part 2, the English-language premiere of And Slowly Beauty…, and his own adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Credits elsewhere include Glengarry Glen Ross starring Eric McCormack (Arts Club), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Belfry/Arts Club, Jessie Award for Outstanding Direction), Mary Poppins (Citadel Theatre/Theatre Calgary, Calgary Critics Award for Best Director) The Light in the Piazza (Theatre Calgary, Calgary Critics Award for Best Director), and numerous Shakespeare productions in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. He has directed at most of Canada’s major theatres, including Stratford and Canadian Stage, and his production of A Christmas Carol at Soulpepper became an annual Toronto tradition. Other writing includes the Full Circle (Trafalgar 24 Award), and adaptations of Dracula and The Secret Garden (co-written with Paula Wing), Great Expectations and The Wind in the Willows.
Celebrating over 45 years in professional theatre, Michael is the former Artistic Director of Theatre New Brunswick and the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario. He has taught in a number of theatre training programs, including those at the University of Victoria and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He has served as Vice-President of PACT, as an Actors’ Equity Council Member, and as Chair of the Jury for the Governor General’s Award for English Language Drama.
He considers himself blessed to be working with Vincent Gale once again, having previously had the joy of directing him in two productions of Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing (Manitoba Theatre Centre & Belfry Theatre), David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross (Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver), Mary Poppins (Citadel Theatre, Edmonton/Theatre Calgary), and the Belfry’s productions of Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Venus in Fur, and Speed-the-Plow.
Shawn Kerwin – Set & Costume Designer
Shawn Kerwin is an award-winning set and costume designer whose work has been seen across Canada, the United States, and England. Recent work includes set/costume designs for Between Breaths (Artistic Fraud), The Bakkhai (Stratford Festival), Sea Sick (Theatre Centre, international tour). She has designed multiple productions for Mirvish Productions, Artistic Fraud, the Grand Theatre, Soulpepper, and the Belfry. Recent costume design includes The Two Odysseys; Pimooteewin (Signal Theatre /Soundstreams).
She was co-creator, with Jillian Keiley, of the multi-choir, 150-person outdoor performance, float, in St. John’s in 2017.
Shawn is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Theatre at York University.
Leigh Ann Vardy – Lighting Designer
Originally from Newfoundland, Leigh Ann has designed lights for theatre and dance across Canada. Recently she designed For A Look or a Touch (Pacific Opera Victoria), Dear Rita (Charlottetown Festival), Everybody Just C@lm The F#ck Down, Between Breaths (Artistic Fraud), The Neverending Story (Stratford, NAC), The Silver Arrow (Citadel Theatre), The Third Colour (Prairie Theatre Exchange), As You Like it, The Diary of Anne Frank (Stratford) Secret Life of a Mother (Theatre Centre, Crows Theatre), and The God That Comes, What a Young Wife Ought to Know (2b). Leigh Ann is a teacher and coach at National Theatre School of Canada.
Tobin Stokes – Composer & Sound Designer
Tobin is so happy to finally be back in his favourite theatre! Since the late 80s, he’s been lurking here as a performer, arranger, musical director, composer and/or sound designer for various productions. Musical projects at the Belfry have featured the music of Leonard Cohen, Patsy Cline, Harry Chapin, Joni Mitchell, and his own opera, The Vinedressers. Recently he was involved with Belfry’s online productions (music and sound) of Being Here: A Refugee Project and Taking Shakespeare. Besides creating for theatre and opera, Tobin composes concert music, and scores documentary films.
Treena Stubel – Intimacy Director
Treena has been working in theatre for over thirty years as a choreographer, dancer, actor, and movement director. She has appeared in a wide range of stage productions and has created numerous new physical theatre works for festivals in Canada and abroad. She has choreographed for: Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, Bard On The Beach, Belfry Theatre, Caravan Farm Theatre, Atomic Vaudeville, Theatre SKAM and her own company Bounce Performance Works. She has received two Monday Magazine Awards, A Chrystal Award, and nominations for both Sterling and Broadway World Awards for Best Choreography. She was the original choreographer and movement director of the Dora Award winning musical Ride The Cyclone which has gone on to US productions including Off Broadway. She is also a sought after teacher of movement and holds an MFA in Lecoq Physical Theatre from LISPA in London, UK. Upcoming, she will direct I Claudia and will co-direct Ride the Cyclone for Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre.
Caryn Fehr – Stage Manager
Based in Vancouver, Caryn is very happy to be back at the wonderful Belfry Theatre where she has previously stage managed Same Old Same Old, Forget About Tomorrow, The Valley, Best Brothers, How To Disappear Completely and Proud. Recent credits with the Arts Club Theatre Company include Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, Beneath Springhill, Buffoon,The Shoplifters, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Once and The Waiting Room. She has toured with productions throughout Canada and to Ireland. Other Vancouver productions include work with The Vancouver Playhouse, New Play Centre, Firehall Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, Axis Theatre and the Fringe Festival. Caryn is a recipient of the Mary Phillips Prize, a Jessie award for behind-the-scenes achievement.
Becca Jorgensen – Assistant Stage Manager
Becca is a Vancouver Island-born and raised Indo-Canadian Marathoner. As a Stage Manager, Becca has supported teams on the West Coast from theatre to opera, to dance, and beyond. She is overjoyed to be creating and working with the Belfry Theatre for her 5th Season. Becca is a graduate of the University of Victoria and a proud auntie to Audrey Nora, Clara Jane, Ellie Mae, Otis, and Primrose.
Hailee Jake Friesen – Assistant Set Designer
Hailee Jake Friesen is thrilled to be making her Belfry debut as the Assistant Set Designer. She has recently completed her BFA in theatre at the University of Victoria. She will be attending the National Theatre School’s design program this coming September. Hailee’s credits include costume design for Love and Information (UVIC, 2021) and Caravan Farm Theatre’s Walk of Terror (2018), assistant costume design for The Children’s Hour (UVIC, 2020), The Coyotes (Caravan Farm Theatre, 2019), Law of The Land (Caravan Farm Theatre, 2018). Hailee extends her gratitude to the Belfry for this wonderful opportunity.
Hailee’s position is funded by the RBC Emerging Artist Project.
Tianxu Zhao – Assistant Director
Tianxu Zhao was born and raised in northeast China and graduated from the theatre program of UVic last December. With a self-directed major, Tianxu mainly focuses on theatrical directing. Previous directing credit: Reset (Student Alternative Theatre Company). He thanks the director, Michael Shamata, for offering the learning opportunity and is excited to provide assistance in Michael’s unique, innovative vision of the story.
Bravo!
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.
Sponsors
Belfry Legacy Circle
The support of visionary philanthropy ensures that the Belfry will continue to flourish as Greater Victoria’s premier contemporary theatre company.
Donors
Our thanks to the 136 Believers ($75 – $149) and 196 Friends (up to $74)
* Donor moved up a category
** New donor
† Through the Victoria Foundation
🔨 Capital donor
As of March 8, 2022