One of Vancouver’s most admired plays of 2022 will be restaged this month in New Westminster. The Anvil Theatre will present The Search Party production of Hannah Moscovitch’s Bunny in a preview at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (February 8). That will be followed by an opening-night performance at the same time on Friday (February 9).
“In most love stories, a man is pursuing a woman who is hesitating,” Moscovitch states on The Search Party website. “In that structure, the man is the protagonist and the woman is the antagonist. We have two thousand years of that. Bunny is a whole rewriting of the structure.”
There will be additional 7:30 p.m. performances on February 10, 11, 15, 16, and 17. Matinees are scheduled at 2 p.m. on February 10, 17, and 18.
In 2022, lead actor Emma Slipp told the Georgia Straight that her character, Sorrel, is dealing with “internalized shame”.
“And the shame she’s putting on herself is not necessarily being inflicted by the world,” she stated. “But it’s something that we are inflicting on ourselves as women in our culture still to this day.”
Director Mindy Parfitt’s team includes Amir Ofek as set designer, Itai Erdal as lighting designer, and Jessica Oostergo as costume designer. All three worked on The Search Party’s Jessie Award-winning production of The Father.
Bunny captured four Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards in 2022, including Outstanding Production of a Play. In addition, Slipp won for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Dramatic or Comedic Role, and Parfitt won for Outstanding Direction. The other Jessie went to Oostergo for Outstanding Costume Design.
The Anvil Theatre will present The Search Party’s production of Bunny from February 8 to 18. Tickets are available at ticketsnw.ca or at 604-521-5050. Follow Pancouver on Twitter @PancouverMedia and on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
