WINTER 2024
TWELFTH NIGHT
January 25, 26, 27, 28
February 1, 2, 3, 4
Fort Langley Community Hall
9167 Glover Rd, Langley
Doors at 6pm, Performances 7pm
Sunday Matineé 2pm
Directors Message
Andrew Gillot
I’ll let you in on a secret.
Lean in closer. Closer. Closer. Too close. Here it is: I never thought I’d want to direct.
I fell in love with Cymbeline after seeing it at Bard on the Beach. It was such a fantastic show! Why wasn’t it one of the top five produced Shakespearian shows?! When I realized the original version is almost four hours long that answered my question and I thought I should cut down a version so someone could direct it for Bard in the Valley. As I dove into the text and immensely enjoyed the story all over again, I realized I didn’t just want to cut it. I wanted to direct it!
I grew up loving fairy tales, and Cymbeline just fits the bill. It has all the fairytale and Shakespearian tropes including an evil step-mother (#spoileralert), missing princes, a princess in love with a commoner, a jealous husband, a death poison (or is it a death fake-out poison?), a woman dressed as a man in the woods, and an arrogant suiter. The only thing it really needed in my humble opinion was more pirates and a little less Jupiter ex machina. And so the BIV version was born.
I have so many people to thank! Thank you so much to our audiences for supporting us and sharing these stories. We would look very silly performing by ourselves. Thank you to the amazing BIV team of volunteers—everyone from cast and crew, designers and front of house: working with you all is the dream. I have been so inspired by your talents, creativity and problem-solving. Thank you to the team who read my first cut and gave me feedback. Thank you to my Dad for sharing a love of music with me and helping me create these songs. Thank you to the babysitters who have supported my family and allowed us to be a part of this project. Thank you to Dylan for being my best friend.
I am so thankful to have been given this opportunity.
Enjoy the show!
CAST
Lucas Morehouse
Cymbeline/Philario
Lucas is a theatre Graduate from Trinity Western University. Born and raised in Kelowna, Lucas has been acting since he was nine when he fell in love with Shaekspeare. Previous roles include Jimmy/Randy/Dave from Almost, Maine and Duke Vincentio from Measure for Measure, both with Bard in the Valley. He has also done Martin Marcus from Ruby Sunrise, Multiple Characters from The Comedy of Errors at the School of Arts, Media, and Culture at TWU.
JD Dueckman
Posthumus Leonatus
Hard to believe it's already been four years since J.D. was last onstage with Bard in the Valley, but we all collectively lost a couple years there, didn't we? And the return comes with a twist: puppets! This is a new one for J.D., both Cymbeline itself and being a puppeteer, but a welcome challenge after all this time away. You may have seen him before at BIV in A Midsummer Night's Dream (2019) or The Comedy of Errors (2013), or a number of productions at UFV Theatre before that. So sit back and watch as this play you're not familiar with becomes a show you won't easily forget!
JONATHAN (SHARKY) FRIESEN
Cloten, Pirate
Jonathan Friesen, also known as “Sharky”, will be playing as the conniving Cloten. He is excited that after a 10 year hiatus he is back on stage and working with puppets! An avid Muppet fan, he has been working as an Early Childhood Educator in recent years with some film experience prior. As a former student of University of the Fraser Valley, he has performed in a few Shakespeare shows and Director Festivals. Just before his hiatus, he enjoyed playing Rosencrantz in a Society for Creative Anachronism dinner theatre performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead; and his most recent role was Ebenezer Scrooge in Theatre Junkies’ production of A Christmas Carol. He wants to give special thanks to his Dungeons & Dragons friends, who got him through the lockdown as well as his Wifey and two amazingly creative children.
Dylan Coulter
Iachimo, Minstrel, Chorus
This year Dylan has found himself on the Bard in the Valley stage again for the sixth time, and he is overjoyed to be able to play alongside this talented cast. Last summer he played Lord Angelo in BIV's Measure for Measure, and this year he gets to try out another baddie in Iachimo. When not on-stage Dylan teaches high school in the Langley School District. Next summer Dylan will be once again sitting in the director’s chair for BIV. He last directed Hands Around for the Vancouver Fringe in 2016, and Much Ado About Nothing for Bard in the Valley in 2017.
Babysitters make the world go round, and he is grateful for all who have lent their help, both in childcare and in helping his daughter memorize her first words of Shakespeare. Dylan can’t wait to see the audience reaction to this bold production of an underperformed classic. Dayna, thank you for being such a wonderful director, wife, and best friend, not necessarily in that order, and for guiding this ship through the storms of rehearsal. It has been a wild ride and I can’t wait to share our labours with the Fraser Valley.
Sheri Eyre
Queen, Helen, Pirate
From childhood when her mom was her first director, (who got stuck doing the Christmas pageants every year at church.) Sheri has loved the theatre. She last appeared with Bard in the Valley in 2016 as Madame Baptista in Taming of the shrew. Other roles include: The beggar woman/Lucy in Sweeney Todd and Aunt Eller in “Oklahoma” with Secondary Characters. Mrs. Chratchit in a Christmas Carol, Miss Prism in “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Raymond De Chandabise in “A Flea in Her Ear with the Chilliwack Players Guild. Sheri is a Founding Member of The Valley Babes and Offtopic Theatre. When she is not onstage she is in disguise as Ms. Eyre, Drama teacher at Brookswood Secondary. Sheri is so excited to be crossing off puppetry on her bucket list in this wonder-world of Cymbeline!
Brayden Meehan
Pisanio, Arviragus, Chorus
This is Brayden's first appearance for BIV. Brayden attended CapU in the acting for stage and screen program. Brayden acted in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, and MacBeth for CapU. Brayden is eager to join BIV's cast and working with a local theatre company.
Patrick McMath
Cornelius, Pirate
I'm happy to return to the BIV stage. I've never had the opportunity to see Cymbeline, and so was really excited to join the team and to experience this title from the stage. Previously I've performed with Bard in the Valley in "Love's Labour's Lost" as Lord Boyet, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as Lysander. During the day I'm a teacher for Drama, Musical Theatre, and Visual Arts, having most recently directed Mary Poppins. Working with friends, in an area I'm passionate about, and performing live theatre outside, what could be better? Enjoy the show!
John McCallum
Guiderius, Lord 1, Minstrel, Chorus
John McCallum is a graduate of the Douglas College Performing Arts program. They have worked with multiple theatre companies in the Lower-mainland. They thank everyone who has supported and continues to support local theatre performances, and they hope you enjoy today's performance and appreciate the efforts of both the cast and crew. Thank you.
Gordon Law
Belarius, Minstrel, Chorus
A past student of the Vancouver Academy of Dramatic Arts (VADA), Gordon is excited to follow his 2022 role as a certain Scottish Lord. Last seen at BIV in 2019’s MIDSUMMER NIGHT’s DREAM, you might have also caught him playing multiple characters in VitalSpark’s 2023 production of UNDER MILK WOOD by Dylan Thomas at the Jericho Arts Centre and Metro Theatre. Gordon is glad and grateful to be back among this exalted company of friends, in a welcoming forest of smiles, and in a production with some of what he considers the best recent original show music. He sports a hasty hirsute look for his role but assures that it is, in fact, him playing BELARIUS.