Illustration and design by Sid Watson (@parsleyguy)
Live at Studio 58
October 5-22, 2023
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”
A magical and ethereal tale, Shakespeare’s The Tempest tells the story of Prospero, the former leader of Milan, and their child, Miranda. While living on a deserted island, Prospero conjures a shipwreck to bring their usurpers to justice. The Tempest deals with the timeless themes of power, love and betrayal.
Written by Shakespeare
Directed by Diana Donnelly
Choreography by Lee Su-Feh
Composed, Sound Designed and Music Directed by Mary Jane Coomber
Stage Managed by Caroline Frost
Set and Props Design by Emerenne Saefkow
Costume Design by Alaia Hamer
Assistant Costume Design by Eloïse Pons
Lighting Design by Kyla Gardiner
Fight Directed by Jonathan Hawley Purvis
Content advisories: References to slavery, drug use and sexual assult; alcohol use
Creative Team
Diana Donnelly is a director, actor and teacher who moved to Vancouver in 2021. She has worked across the country. She spent over a decade at The Shaw Festival and acted at Soulpepper for a few seasons, most recently in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train. She premiered East of Berlin at The Tarragon, which played The Firehall on tour (Touchstone/Chutzpah Festival). Diana directed The Doctor's Dilemma and The Russian Play (Shaw Festival), as well as Far Away by Caryl Churchill (Neil Munro Director's Project). She was shortlisted for The Gina Wilkinson Prize and Crow's RBC Rising Star Emerging Director Prize. She won a Dora Award for Best Ensemble for Jerusalem (Crow's Theatre/Outside the March). Diana is grateful to be a new member of Vancouver’s theatre community. Her next directing project is Sexy Laundry at The Arts Club. She is married to Studio 58 grad Jeff Meadows. They have two tall children.
Lee Su-Feh (she/her/they/them)’s work encompasses choreography, performance, teaching, dramaturgy, writing and community-organizing.
Born and raised in Malaysia, they were indelibly marked by teachers who strove to find a contemporary Asian expression out of the remnants of colonialism and dislocated traditions. Since moving to xʷməθkʷəy̓əm(Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories, a.k.a. Vancouver, Canada, in 1988, Su-Feh has created a body of work that explores the contemporary body as a site of intersecting and displaced histories and habits. These works have taken place in theatres, on the streets, on beaches and in the forest, in print and online. Su-Feh is also a certified teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework and actively participates in the activities of the Fitzmaurice Voicework Institute, which supports the research and development of the vocal arts and sciences globally.
Mary Jane Coomber (they/them) is a collaborative music and sound artist who primarily works on the unceded, sovereign territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people. Recent theatre collaborations include Division Infinity Saves the World! (Neworld), Rubaboo (Grand/Arts Club), My Little Tomato (vAct/ZeeZee), Me Love Bingo (Arts Club), In My Day (ZeeZee), YAGA (Touchstone), To Perfection (Shameless Hussy), Kindred (Belfry), White Girls in Moccasins (Frank Theatre), Oz and Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls (Carousel Theatre) and Beautiful Man (Pi Theatre). Upcoming: Hurricane Mona (Touchstone), How Black Mothers Say I Love You (Frank) and Snow White (Carousel). They are a member of ADC and a graduate of the School of Contemporary Arts at SFU.
Caroline (she/her) is grateful to live, learn, and work on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people. Caroline is a stage manager, designer and lighting technician who works across Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Caroline is incredibly excited to be returning for Studio 58’s 58th season as the Stage Manager for The Tempest, having graduated from Studio 58’s Production Program in December 2021. Though recently, she has been working across the globe in concerts, festivals and live events, select pervious theatre credits include Lighting Designer for Wrecked: A Solo Show (Vancouver Fringe), Lighting Designer and Stage Manager for SEETHERED (rEvolver festival), Stage Manager for Disclosure (Vancouver Fringe) and Stage Manager for The Code (Green Thumb Theatre). She will next be in Vancouver in spring 2024 to stage manage La Befana with Théâtre la Seizième.
Originally from the small northern town of Smithers, BC (Wet'suwet'en territory), Emerenne Saefkow is a non-binary, multidisciplinary artist who adores almost anything creative and
hands-on. Emerenne currently works as a scenic helper at Great Northern Way scene shop and enjoys expanding their creative creating arsenal. Select previous theatre credits include Green Thumb Theatre's The Mixolydian (Set and Props design), Studio 58's Blue Stockings (Set and Props), and One of a Kind, a Zoom theatre piece for the Vancouver International Children's Festival (Writing and Illustrating). They're deeply grateful to live and create on the unceded traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. You can see more of their work at EmerenneSaefkow.com
Alaia is a Vancouver theatre designer originally from the Gulf Islands. Recent projects she has worked on include costume design for Million Dollar Quartet, The Cull, Beneath Springhill, The Birds and the Bees (Arts Club); The East Van Panto (The Little Mermaid); HMS Pinafore, Carmen Up Close and Personal (Vancouver Opera); costume design for Beautiful Man (PI Theatre); assistant costume design for Romeo and Juliet, Coriolanaus, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth (Bard on the Beach); set design for God Said This (Pacific Theatre); and Seventeen (Western Gold). She has worked on a variety of smaller shows throughout 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.
Eloïse Pons is a French costumer who studied in Paris. From 2016 to 2018, she lived and worked in Bolivia and Peru, discovering traditional costumes and crafts with First Nations. In 2018, she worked in a costume shop in England before going back to university in 2019 to get her Costume Design degree from La Sorbonne, Paris. She then worked in France as a costume designer, assistant costume designer and costumes maker.
In Vancouver since 2022, Eloïse has been a costume builder for a variety of projects, including with Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach and the East Van Panto. At Studio 58, she was part of the costumes team last season on Blue Stockings and A Chorus Line. In 2023, she designed her first show in BC with Théâtre la Seizième.