PROGRAM
The Tyler Sisters
by
Alexandra Wood
Alexandra Wood
Alexandra Wood is a London-based playwright whose plays other than The Tyler Sisters include Never Vera Blue, The Human Ear, Ages, Merit, The Initiate, The Empty Quarter, The Centre, Unbroken, The Lion’s Mouth, The Eleventh Capital, the radio play Twelve Years and the short plays Invitation Interrupted, The Driving Rage, Pope’s Grotto, My Name is Tania Head, and work for the Royal Court, Oxford School of Drama, Rose Bruford College, Dry Write, nabokov and curious directive. Her English translation of Manfred Karge’s MAN TO MAN toured the UK and ended in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November 2017. Alexandra has been the Big Room Playwright-in-Residence at Paines Plough and is a past winner of the George Devine Award.
Playwright
Director
Maryth Gilroy
Maryth is a producer, director and performer who enjoys bringing tales of the human experience to vivid life and helping others manifest their ideas. Favourite directing credits include High Life, I Am Yours, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Children’s Hour, Hopscotch and SubUrbia. She takes great pleasure in all aspects of bringing stories to life and has found it especially rewarding working with writers on such original pieces as Children of Eve, Bothered, Must Go On!, Truth and Roses, the smash hit spoof soap opera series The Spice of Life, and most recently Portuguese Buns’ site-specific theatre experience FESTA! Originally from Winnipeg, Maryth attended The Banff Centre School of Fine Arts and holds an Advanced Certificate in Directing from Capilano University. Having had a collaborative relationship with Karen Hamm spanning more than 35 years, she is thrilled to be coming together once again to co-direct the North American premiere of The Tyler Sisters.
Director
Karen Hamm
Originally hailing from Winnipeg, Karen has directed, acted and produced theatre for 30 years across Canada. Although she has worked with countless theatre companies, her greatest accomplishment was producing theatre in Winnipeg with Hamm It Up Productions and being a founding member. Some of her other favourite projects include playing Brenna in Baloney! (Manitoba Theatre for Young People), playing Joey in Chasing the Money (Manitoba Theatre for Young People), directing The Shakespeare Show, or How an Illiterate Son of a Glover Became the Greatest Playwright in the World (Monster Theatre), directing The Best Restaurant in the World. Ever. (Stageworks Theatre Company) and acting in countless Improvised Murder Mysteries across Manitoba and BC. Karen is honoured to be a part of Leather & Lace's inaugural production and the North American premiere of The Tyler Sisters. She is beyond excited to be working again with Maryth Gilroy who has been a long time artistic collaborator.
Keri Bennett
as
Gail
Keri Bennett is thrilled to play Gail in The Tyler Sisters with Leather & Lace Theatre. She is Alberta born, Saskatchewan bred and has bounced back and forth between Toronto and Vancouver in her adult years. By day she is a lawyer at Roper Greyell LLP, but she continues to fill her passion for theatre at every possible opportunity. Favourite roles include Olivia in Twelfth Night, Adriana in Comedy of Errors and Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing (Nightwood Theatre Lawyer Show), Lemon in Watching Seanna McKenna Watch Paint Dry (Toronto Fringe), Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles (Regina) and her own shows that she wrote and performed at the Peterborough and Toronto Fringe, Tap Dancing Angels and Witness, Loretta. Up next is a Fringe show written by Diane Baker Mason (Roomers). Keri has a bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from the University of Regina.
Sarah Harlow
as
Maddy
As one of its founders, Sarah is “jumping for joy and doing cartwheels” to be bringing you Leather & Lace Theatre’s North American premiere of The Tyler Sisters. She is so excited to bring Maddy, the eldest sister, to life for our audiences. Some of Sarah’s favourite roles to date are Masha in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Cara in Mal and Cara, Sheila in Relatively Speaking, Maureen in Who We Care For and Astrid in You’ve Got Male . Other credits include A&E’s Twisted Sister, and LA Web Festival Selection Ivy Tower. When Sarah is not treading the boards, she can be found harmonizing with fellow choir mates at Top Line Vocal Collective or herding a kid, a cat and a dog.
Rachel Ruecker
as
Katrina
Rachel hails from Ladner which is famous for being the town next to the town where you catch the ferry. She studied theatre at NYU and was working in the theatre industry in the Big Apple before COVID brought her back to Beautiful BC. She made her professional theatre debut last fall in VOICES, a new play by Louise Phillips, at the Sechelt Arts Festival. Rachel also does stand up. And as a millennial-gen z cusp kid, she reluctantly makes TikToks. She has gone viral more than once. She’s on an endless quest to make her life into a coming-of-age movie. Or star in one. Whichever comes first.
Stage Manager
Maria Denholme
Once Upon A Time Maria naively told an artistic director “if you ever need a hand call me”. 60+ shows later Maria is glad they called. Maria is also happy to be back working with old friends and making new ones as we come back together as a community, telling stories and healing together through this strange pandemic time. When Maria is not hiding in a booth she serves on the Board of UpInTheAir Theatre who bring you the annual rEvolver Festival at the Cultch. Theatre being more avocation than income Maria also works as a social worker, a lot like stage management really.
WITH
Lighting by Bill Howarth
Costumes and Props by Karen Hamm
Sound by Maryth Gilroy
THANK YOU!
Christi Arellano, Suzanne Baxter, Catherine Bowers, Jason Broadfoot, Jim Buckshon, Dax Droski, Roper Greyell, Marylyn Hardman, Jim and Grace Kennedy, Nightwork Brand Development, Sam Nightwork, Parade Agency, Jonathon Paterson, Renegade Productions, Lauralene Saxton, Clive Scarff, Victoria Waterhouse
