The First Folio. Published 7 years after the death of William Shakespeare. Why do we care? Why all the fuss? And why still him? Shakespeare.

This is a play about the creation and publication of Shakespeare’s first folio. The impossible dream of it. The even more impossible circumstances around making it happen. This play is also about the theatre. Two actors seeking to preserve their friend Will’s legacy; entrepreneurs who are perhaps asking their audience to rethink how plays were considered. That tricky, shifty crossroads where art meets commerce. We are introduced to two others—The Printer and The Publisher. The labour and the business of making it happen. They have no skin in preserving Shakespeare’s legacy. For them the only reason to go to the theatre is for the actors; the stars that make those words come to life and leave them breathless.

We meet a fellow writer, Ben Jonson, considered the second most successful English dramatist after Shakespeare to this day. And in that relationship, we examine our obsession with creating artistic gods to the exclusion of everyone else. Why, in the middle of such a robust and exciting time for Art can there be only one who lasts? What is that fickle drive we have to deify a single artistic entity?

Surrounding our “heroes”, the industry, and the scaffolding of excluded artists are a theatre fangirl and future writer, giving us a glimpse into the populist nature of the theatre of the day. A brilliant technician who allows us access to the process of the 17th century printing, a theatre philanthropist and amateur dramatist and a peek at the first theatre critic. This is a love letter to the theatre. To its precarious nature, its fickleness, its inner machinery, its commercial potential to make money and lose it, its wizardry to move and dazzle us.

And just so we don’t get too jaded or decide to stage a revolution to do away with Shakespeare completely, studded throughout the play are “pop outs” of Shakespeare from all 18 of the plays that might have been lost had the first folio gone unpublished. I guess it’s up to us to convince the audience why the book matters. Only the text and the actors will be able to make that argument. As they always have. And always Will? Who knows.

Moya O’Connell
Director

Ensemble, Kent, Charmian Isabella Buonaiuto
Isaac Jaggard Miles Davies
Mrs. Jaggard, Cleopatra Ekaterina De Boni
Ms. Blount, Lady Macbeth Paula Goldie
Alice, Venus Yan Ching (Rainbow) Hui
Ensemble, Albany Shivorn Kan
Henry Condell, Boatswain Dahlia-Raphael Kerr
Dering, Jacques Baltzer Musherure
Joan, Cressida Raven Mutford
Ben Jonson, Duke Lauren Ohh
John Heminges, King Lear Alivia Sabatino
Ensemble, Edgar Skylar Somnus

Director Moya O’Connell
Assistant Director Larisse Campbell
Choreography Isabella Buonaiuto, Paula Goldie, Shivorn Kan
Scenic Design Sam Cheng
Asst. Scenic Design Stella Chen
Sail Design Stella Chen, Hana Yoneyama
Costume Design Madeleine Polak
Asst. Costume Design Jenna Hajung Lee
Sound Design Damien Kwan
Lighting Design Amy Currie
Asst. Lighting Design Emily Chang
Stage Manager Michelle Lee
Asst. Stage Manager Sydney Klose
Asst. Stage Manager Cami Newton
Swing ASM Elizabeth Cho
Assistant PM Hana Yaguchi

Head Scenic Artist Luella De Geer
Asst. Scenic Artist Lee Funnell
Head Electrician Olivia Niese
Asst. Electrician Amelia Wagenaar
LX Board Operators Sylena Wong, Diego Camacho Chemor, Carol Tu
Sound Board Operators Thorn Austin, Stacey Kok

Set Build Crew
Thorn Austin, Nia Chauhan, Raina Compton, Kaitlyn Fernandez, Irena Hoti, Olivia Niese, Emily Nash, Jasper Oberst, Marilia Saito, Cristian Twist, Amelia Wagenaar, Hana Yaguchi

Set Run Crew
Leah Liu, Stephanie Zheng Feng, Summer Xu

Costume Build Crew
Wren-Harlow Gillespie, Cindy Huang, Eunseong Huh, Elly Ich, Olivia Niese, Lauren Rankin, Willow Tiessen, Stanley Tung Yu Wong

Costume Run Crew
Annika Chan, Cindy Huang, Allison Latondresse, Stanley Tung Yu Wong

Paint Crew
Annika Chan, Kristos Grames, Eunseong Huh, Marília Saito, Maddie Steppler, Jaddi Sze, Sylena Wong

Props Build Crew
Thorn Austin, Stella Chen, Kaitlyn Fernandez, Lee Funnell, Wren-Harlow Gillespie, Irena Hoti, Cole Joliat, Judy Lee, Jenna Lee, Emma McDonald, Willow Tiessen, Cristian Twist, Helena Ventosa, Hana Yoneyama

Lighting Crew
Kaitlyn Fernandes, Carol Tu, Amelia Wagenaar, Sylena Wong, Hana Yaguchi

Department Head Kirsty Johnson
Direction Leora Morris
Scenic Design Patrick Rizzotti
Technical Direction & Crew Brad Powers
Scenic Paint Advisor Lorraine West
Lighting Advisor Mimi Abrams
Sound Advisor Patrick Parra Pennefather
Costume Advisor Jacqueline Firkins
Stage Management Advisor Susan Miyagashima
Movement Advisor Daisy Thompson
Vocal Coach Alana Hawley Purvis

Academic Administrator/Advisor Mia Booth|
Theatre Production ManagerBorja Brown
Administrator Cam Cronin
Film Production Administrator Sarah Crauder
Assistant to the Head Kirsten Dougans
Wardrobe Specialist Jodi Jacyk
Audience Services Tony Koelwyn
Properties Specialist Amanda Larder
Film Collections Coordinator Dmitri Lennikov
Technical Director Ryan Murcar 
Communications Specialist Linda Pitt
Department Secretary Karen Tong
Stage & Lighting Specialist Jeremy Vreeken
Wardrobe Cutter Holly Anderson
Wardrobe Stitcher Celeste Mol

Costume Assistant Lauren Rankin
Properties Assistant Lee Funnell
Communications Assistant Aidan Scott
Costumes/Props Assistant Jenna Lee

Graphic Designer Jonathan Wood
Photographer Javier R. Sotres
Department Doggos Gracie, Lolo, Oz, Teddy, Vegemite
Lobby Display Sam Cheng, Vincie Lin

Arts Club Theatre & Michael Gall, Bard on the Beach, Chelsea Shriver, Gregory Mackie, Hallie Marshall, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Katherine Kalsbeek, Patrick Parra Pennefather, Sloane Madden, UBC Emerging Media Lab, UBC Library Rare Books and Special Collections