Design by Ricky Castanedo Laredo. rickycastanedo.com
Live at Studio 58
October 3-13, 2024
“Are you waiting for someone? Dumb question. Of course you’re waiting for someone.”
Unabashed, cynical and just a bit stuck, Jill navigates a new relationship with Ben in her late twenties. She’s surrounded by her failed relationships – literally. The emotional baggage of her exes lives in her apartment and the personified bags weigh in on her every move. Baggage explores what it’s like to be haunted by heartbreak and your past.
Creative Team
Playwright – Sarah Segal-Lazar | Director – Jessie Liang | Stage Manager – Lou Marshall* | Set and Props Design – Emerenne Saefkow | Assistant to the Set Designer – Kady Yeung* | Costume Design – Melissa McCowell | Assistant to the Costume Designer – Starlynn Chen* | Sound Design – Kate De Lorme Design | Assistant Sound Design – Victoria McNeil | Lighting Design – Gerald King | Assistant Lighting Design – Stefanie Lott* | Dialect Coach – Brad Gibson | Intimacy Director – Lisa Goebel
*Current Production Program student
Run Time: Approximately 2 hours plus a 15 minute intermission
Content Advisories: Adult themes including discussions of sex acts, sexual assault, pornography, misogyny, substance use, ableism; coarse language; use of haze and fog; flashing lights; loud, sudden noises
Baggage was created with support from Playwrights' Workshop Montreal. It was subsequently translated into French with support from Théâtre Aux Écuries and le Festival du Jamais Lu.
Baggage is produced by permission of the Playwright and Marquis Literary (Colin Rivers). www.MQlit.ca
Cast & Crew
Creative Team
Sarah Segal-Lazar is an award-winning writer, director and performer. Known for her dark comedy and biting wit, Sarah has been called "one to watch" and a "mesmerizing storyteller." She began her career in NYC, where her play The Barely Wives Club was a finalist for Red Bull Theatre’s Short New Plays Festival Off-Broadway and it has since been produced across Canada. Upon returning home, Sarah made a name for herself with her immersive musicals Talk, Mackerel and In Memoriam––but it's for her provocative piece of political theatre Don’t Read the Comments that she is best known. It has been remounted five times, including at the Centaur Theatre and the Segal Centre for Performing Arts. Sarah's play Baggage has also been translated into French. Taking the leap from stage to screen, Sarah’s short film Elvira is currently making the festival circuit. She holds an Honors BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. More about Sarah's acting, directing and music at: www.SarahSL.com
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Jessie Liang has appeared in series like Netflix's The Night Agent and Virgin River, The CW's Supergirl, and on stage with Arts Club/Pacific Theatre's productions of Kim's Convenience. Her play, Surrender, has been developed and showcased under Arts Club's Emerging Playwrights Unit, vAct's MSG Lab and at Ruby Slipper's Advance Theatre Festival. She has also workshopped her sophomore play with rice & bean's DBLSPK program. Jessie co-directed A Life Sentence for the 2023 Vancouver Fringe and 2024 rEvolver Festival and could not be more honoured to be making her solo directing debut at her alma mater with Baggage. Coming up, you can catch her in the next season of Fox's Animal Control on CBC Gem. Connect with her @jessieliang21
Originally from Treaty 6 Territory (or Edmonton, Alberta) Lou Marshall is proud to be a Stage Manager & Costume Designer in their final term in Studio 58’s Production Program.
Lou has been fortunate to work closely with experienced designers and other creatives at Studio 58 on productions including A Chorus Line (2023), The Tempest (2023) and Into the Woods (2024). Most recently, Lou spent three weeks working as a Stage Manager at the Sunset Theatre in Wells, BC.
They’re thrilled to have the opportunity to be the Stage Manager for this production of Baggage and will soon assume the role of Costume Production Intern for this year's East Van Panto.
Hailing 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. Select previous theatre credits include Studio 58’s The Tempest, Blue Stockings and Everybody (Set and Props); Green Thumb Theatre’s The Mixolydian (Set and Props); and Bard on the Beach’s Twelfth Night and Hamlet (Assistant Set and Props). They’re deeply grateful to live and create on the unceded traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. You can see more of their work at EmerenneSaefkow.com
Kady Yeung is an emerging artist and a graduating student in Studio 58’s Production Program. Growing up, she had a variety of musical and performing training (piano, ballet, choir and more). She eventually found her love in theatre and production, especially in stage management and sound design. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she moved to Vancouver in 2021 to pursue her dreams and tell stories. She is endlessly grateful to be able to complete her training at Studio 58 and to share her art on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Recent credits include: Into the Woods (Stage Manager, Studio 58) and Ring of Fire (Apprentice Sound Designer, Arts Club Theatre Company). You can also find out more about her work on Instagram @kadyworkshere
Melissa is a theatre artist based on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples (Vancouver), with a focus on costume design and stage management.
She has had the pleasure of working with many incredible companies including After Party Theatre, Bard on the Beach, Caravan Farm Theatre, Carousel Theatre for Young People, Green Thumb Theatre, ITSAZOO Productions, Presentation House Theatre, Ruby Slippers Theatre, Studio 58, The Elbow Theatre, Theatre Replacement, Théâtre la Seizième and Touchstone Theatre.
Recent and upcoming credits include: Costume Designer for The Kitchen, Associate Costume Designer for Blood Wedding with Studio 58 and Interim Head of Wardrobe with Bard on the Beach for their 2024 season.
Melissa is a graduate of Queen's University and Studio 58.
Starlynn Chen (she/her) is an emerging costume and set designer, graduating this December from the Production Program at Studio 58.
Next: Set Designer for Linck & Mülhahn (Studio 58).
Recent credits: Apprentice Costume Designer for Twelfth Night (Bard on the Beach); Costume Designer for The Play That Goes Wrong (Metro Theatre); Design Assistant for Father Tartuffe: An Indigenous Misadventure (Arts Club, Touchstone Theatre); Apprentice Designer for Community Creates 2024 (Arts Club).
Starlynn was the recipient of 2024 BC Arts Council Scholarship, 2023 David Pritchard Stage Management Scholarship and 2023 Boca del Lupo’s SLaM Program Bursary.
Kate De Lorme is a sound artist from the Okanagan - currently living on the traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlil̓wətaʔɬ peoples, aka Vancouver, BC. Kate’s work integrates immersive spatial sound landscapes, technology and sound healing. She graduated from UBC in 2015 with a BFA, majoring in Theatre Design and Production and has a certification in Audio Engineering. Kate has been working in sound design since the age of 16, highly involved and interested in sound’s effect on an audience. As a professional sound designer, her work has been primarily in live performance with a large focus on contemporary dance and theatre. Kate’s designs are inclusive of high caliber recording and editing, composition, programming, live mixing and interactivity. In 2018, Kate was an Artist in Residence at The Spatial Sound Institute in Budapest, Hungary for two months, where she created her debut solo work Sta/g-mos. Kate co-founded Lobe Spatial Sound Studio in 2019. katedelorme.com
For Studio 58: The Crowd
Other Credits (Selected): carried away on the crest of a wave (NAC); Guys and Dolls (Arts Club); As You Like It (Theatre Calgary, Citadel, Washington Shakespeare Co, Chicago Shakespeare Co, Bard on the Beach, Royal Manitoba Theatre Co); Julius Caesar, Hamlet (Bard on the Beach); Love, Sex, and Death, Wabi Sabi, The Book of Love (Kokoro Dance); Fairie Queen (Royal Winnipeg Ballet); Carmen (Pacific Opera Victoria); Flying Dutchman, Faust, Dead Man Walking, Otello (Vancouver Opera)
Stefanie Lott was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil and is a current student in Studio 58’s Production Program. She left her career full of spreadsheets and business suits to follow her dream of working in theatre production, specifically in costuming and lighting. She is privileged to work, learn and grow on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Recent theatre credits include: Assistant to the Costume Designer (Blood Wedding, Studio 58), Set Crew Head (The Kitchen, Studio 58), Lighting Crew Head (A Chorus Line, Studio 58), Lighting Designer (Or Festival, 2023) and Production Crew (Bard on the Beach, 2023-2024).
Lisa Goebel (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist working as an actor, choreographer, intimacy director and producer. As an intimacy director she has worked with companies including Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, The Firehall Arts Centre, Gateway Theatre, Pacific Theatre, Touchstone Theatre and Urban Ink. Recent credits: associate movement director and intimacy director for Choir Boy (Arts Club), movement consultant for Red Velvet (Arts Club) and choreographer and intimacy director for Hamlet (Bard on the Beach). She completed her Intimacy Certification through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and is a graduate of Studio 58. Upcoming: intimacy direction for Die Fledermaus (Vancouver Opera).