POSTPONED – March 31 – April 11, 2020 at The Cultch – Historic Theatre (Vancouver, BC). TICKETS
POSTPONED – Special presentation April 15-19, 2020 at Western Canada Theatre – Pavilion Theatre (Kamloops, BC). TICKETS
Based on Canadian journalist Ian Brown’s memoir of life with his son, The Boy in the Moon tells a deeply moving story about a family raising a child with a rare disease.
Written by Emil Sher based on the book by Ian Brown • Director Chelsea Haberlin • Performers Marcus Youssef, Meghan Gardiner, Parmiss Sehat • Costume Designer Carmen Alatorre • Set and Prop Designer Drew Facey • Lighting Designer Andrew Pye • Composer/Sound Designer Marc Stewart • Projection Designer Candelario Andrade • Stage Manager Yvonne Yip • Production Manager/Technical Director Andrew Pye • Assistant Technical Director Diana Bartosh • Emotional Support Program Coordinator Natasha Zacher • Produced by Neworld Theatre • In partnership with the Rare Disease Foundation • With the support of Vancouver Foundation • Presented by The Cultch • Special presentation by Western Canada Theatre • Photo of Walker Brown, Marcus Youssef, Meghan Gardiner by Matt Reznak/Reznak Creative.
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT: Emotional support workers will be available in a private space during each performance to ensure that those who need to talk at any point during the show will have someone to talk to. Additionally, there will be facilitated talkbacks after each performance to ensure that everyone in the audience has a chance to debrief the piece and share their stories with the presence of cast members, a facilitator and emotional support workers.
POSTPONED: Pre-show Conversations with the Playwright
Staging Disability: A Playwright’s Perspective: Where do disability and dramatic license intersect? How do you give voice to an on-stage character who is front-and-centre but never seen? Does a playwright’s toolbox have what is needed to convey an unknowable point-of-view? Emil Sher does not have any easy answers, but invites you to join him in a conversation.
Supported by:
How We Got Here
This is a unique project in that the idea came to us from our community partner, the Rare Disease Foundation. Bill McKellin, a board member at the Rare Disease Foundation and the father of a daughter with a rare disease, first became aware of this play when it was originally produced in Ottawa at GCTC and then followed the development of the play from Ottawa to Toronto in the hopes that he could bring it to Vancouver. He contacted Sasa Brown and Stephen Drover who are both intimately involved in the theatre community and have a son with a rare disease. It was through this connection that Bill found his way to us. Over the years in our mixed-ability work we have developed close relationships with the parents of neurodiverse individuals. In this project, we recognized an opportunity to centre and share with audiences experiences similar to those of the families we have been privileged to work with. And here we are. –Chelsea Haberlin