Director’s Notes

It is such a joy and a privilege to be creating theatre with the inspiring young souls of the Summer Theatre Troupe at Place des Arts! Through the LookingGlass is a journey of the imagination, as Alice declares at the beginning of the story: “Let’s pretend!” And thus she invites us to follow alongside on her dreamlike journey as she enters the world of the looking-glass, where the absurdities and challenges of growing up in the real world are reflected through the mind’s eye of a child. Upon discovering that this new adventure is much like a chess game, Alice sets off on her journey to become a queen. Our audiences will move right along with her, encountering talking flowers and animals, stern queens and silly knights, and familiar characters such as Tweedledum, Tweedledee and Humpty Dumpty!

Lindsay Price’s adaptation of this playful and surreal story highlights the poetry of Lewis Carroll, providing a wonderful opportunity to explore choral work and movement, and this young troupe has thrown themselves into these ridiculous roles and sometimes nonsensical language with playful abandon. And that truly opens the door to creativity – play is as the heart of all we do. Let’s pretend, indeed!

The Creative Team

Director – Mike Stack

Production Designer – Midori O’Connor

Stage Manager – Amy Bell

Assistant Stage Manager and Props – Janavi Chawla

Sound Designer – Shona Struthers

Mural Designer – Jocelyn Sanchez

The Company

Gus Setala-Gay.....Larkspur / Tweedledum / Humpty Dumpty / Red Knight

Hana Lowey..........................................Daisies / Sheep / Haigha

Indah Del Bianco..................................Alice

Ioana Lazar...........................................Tiger-lily / White King

Luke Ablett...........Violet / Train Guard / Tweedledee / Hatta / White Knight

Onyx Schwengler................................Red Queen / Lion

Rosemary Diab.....................................Rose / White Queen / Unicorn

Map of your journey with Alice!

Mike Stack – Director

Mike is extremely grateful to have the opportunity to create and play with the STT at Place des Arts. A theatre educator, performer and director, his extensive experience with young people includes leading programs for Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, Mortal Coil Performance, Carousel Theatre, Templeton Secondary and throughout the Lower Mainland home learning community. As a performer, he has worked with Bard on the Beach, Arts Club, Axis Theatre, Carousel, Gateway, Touchstone Theatre, Ruby Slippers, Pi Theatre and the Vancouver Playhouse, among others, and has been fortunate enough to tour throughout North America as well as overseas. He also serves as an adjudicator of Speech Arts at festivals throughout British Columbia and Alberta. Mike is a multiple Jessie Award nominee and recipient and a Studio 58 Professional Theatre training program graduate.

Midori O’Connor – Production Designer

Midori is in her final year at UBC studying Theatre: Design and Production and this will be her first show as the Lead Designer. She has years of experience building sets, props and costumes for a variety of UBC main stage shows as well as smaller productions and has been a Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager on many performances both at and outside of UBC. Some of her more recent credits include Stage Manager – The How and the Why (Aenigma Theatre), Assistant Costume Designer – The Birds (UBC), Stage Manager – Parliament of the Birds (UBC), Assistant Stage Manager – Something Rotten (Theatre Under The Stars), & Assistant Stage Manager – Coriolanus (UBC).

Amy Bell – Stage Manager

Amy (she/her) is an emerging Stage Manager in the Lower Mainland living and working on the unceded territory of the Kwikwetlem First Nations land for this year’s Summer Theatre Troupe (STT) production. She is very excited to be stage managing this year’s production. Amy is a graduate of Douglas Colleges’ Stagecraft program. Previous Stage Management credits include Mad Forest (Douglas College Fall 2022), Nosegate (Vancouver Fringe Festival 2022), From Now to Nowhere (STT 2022), Light Rapid Transit (Coffeehouse Theatre presented at rEvolver Fest) and an upcoming production for Vancouver Fringe Festival!