United Players of Vancouver

HAVEN

By Mishka Lavigne
Translated by Neil Blackadder
Directed by Jack Paterson
Featuring  Tina Georgieva and Alexander Lowe

“…a moving and sensitive production of this GG-award-winning play…the perfect play for the pandemic: two lonely figures, reaching out, and discovering they have many points of connection..” – Toph Marshall, Artistic Director, United Players

“…convincing, nuanced performances… a fine example of the resilience of the human spirit.” – reviewvancouver.com

Elsie and Matt meet when a hole opens up in her road. She’s just lost her mother; he is tracing his ancestry in Sarajevo. Both are adults feeling voids concerning their parents, and they find what they need in their memories and each other. ‘Haven’ (Havre) won the 2019 Governor-General’s award for French drama, and is here produced for the first time in English.

Creative Team

Directed by Jack Paterson | Assistant Directed by Hannah Siden | Stage Managed by Glee Devereaux | Technical Direction by Karen Chiang | Associate Technical Director Kaeden Atkinson Hill | Set & Projections Design by Joel Grinke | Lighting Design by Vanka Chaitra Salim | Associate Lighting Designer Kai Wong | Set Decoration & Props by Alis B | Sound Design & Composition by Georgia Zell Couver | Costume Design by Shasta Lily Barkman | Head Carpentry by Bruce Suttie | Produced by Fran Burnside

Gallery

Meet playwright Mishka Lavigne
Haven Digital / Live Q&A

Sun, Feb 6, 2022 | 3:45 pm PT / 6:45 pm ET

Join us for a Digital / Live post show chat with multiple GG Award winning playwright Mishka Lavigne and translator Neil Blackadder | Moderated by Jack Paterson

Mishka Lavigne

Mishka Lavigne is a playwright and theatre translator based in Ottawa-Gatineau. She has written ‘Cinéma’, produced in 2015 by the Théâtre la Catapulte and Théâtre Belvédère, and ‘Vigile’, produced in 2017 by Théâtre Rouge Écarlate. She also wrote ‘Havre’ (Haven) as playwright-in-residence at Théâtre la Catapulte; the play was translated into English by Neil Blackadder, and into German by Frank Weigand. ‘Havre’, in French, premiered in Saskatoon in 2018, and was also produced in Geneva, Switzerland in 2019; it was subsequently awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award, Canada’s most prestigious literary prize.

Mishka’s first English-language play ‘Albumen’ premiered in 2019 at Arts Court Theatre. The play won “Outstanding New Creation” at the Prix Rideau, Ottawa’s professional theatre awards. Mishka is currently working on ‘Copeaux,’ a mouvement-based poetic creation piece, and ‘Shorelines’ as playwright-in-residence with Ottawa’s Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre.

Mishka is also a translator, translating both into French and English, and is part of the Anglophone reading committee of La Maison Antoine-Vitez, an international centre for theatre translation in Paris, France.

PRE/ POST SHOW SHORT FILM SERIES

Conceived of by Jack Paterson with Hannah Siden
Curated by Hannah Siden

Sunset in Spring, Wuhan | A film by: Haylin Cai. Shot when lockdown was lifted after the first wave in Wuhan, China.

Vancouver April 2020 18:59:30 PT | A film by: Ann Marie Fleming. Commissioned by “Greetings From Isolation”.

Óljós | Director/ Cinematographer: Ash Tailor-Jones. Shot in self-isolation in Toronto, Canada.

Plastic Wings | Music: David Beckingham. Choreographer: Emily Chessa. Director: Hannah Siden. In collaboration with Ballet BC.

Isolations | Director: Talia Shea Levin. Choreographer: MUDA/Maritza Navarro. Music: Amanda Leigh Jerry. In loving memory of Kat Devoe-Peterson.

East Vancouver April 7 2021 | A film by: Ann Marie Fleming. Commissioned by “Greetings From Isolation”.

We Rise Again – Cross Canada Virtual Choir Tour | Featuring: The Elmer Iseler Singers joined by Agincourt Madrigal Singers, Cape Breton Chorale, Thunder Bay Symphony Chorus, Whitehorse Community Choir, Wiarton Concert Choir.