Summer in Vancouver is when Shakespeare comes back from his 399-year sleep. Bard On the Beach is the annual festival of the great playwright's own works and that inspired directly by his pulchritudinous prose. Staged out of doors on the seaside lawns of Vanier Park, the Swan of Avon becomes the Bard of Burrard in the hands of modern directors, actors and stage professionals of all sorts who re-ignite those literary and theatrical fires each July through August.
Watching almost any of the main productions at this year's Bard On the Beach series will bring audiences in touch with Prince George content.
The largest presence, although unseen directly, is that of Nicholas Harrison. He has a PhD in theatre, this is his 18th year on stage or staff at Bard On the Beach, and although he is an actor and writer as well, his specialty is the choreography of sword fights. He is fightmaster for three of the four plays this year, including one called Shakespeare's Rebel making its international premiere, written with a theatrical swordmaster as the protagonist. The other two are the steampunk version of The Comedy Of Errors and a jazzy/flapper rendition of Love's Labour's Lost.
It has been a busy time for Harrison. In addition to his Bard On The Beach duties, he is also the co-star of the internet comedy series Fools For Hire, designed the fights for the hit Shane Koyczan opera Stickboy and the Vancouver Opera production of Sweeney Todd, and directed the Capilano University production of The Government Inspector. Harrison is also in the process of developing his own autobiographical play.
The casts of some of this year's shows also have names familiar to Prince George. Jennifer Lines plays the role of Regan in King Lear and Tess in Shakespeare's Rebel. She is a 15-year veteran of Bard On The Beach and has multiple Jessie Award wins and nominations proving her status as one of the top names in the Vancouver live theatre industry. She is also a favourite of Theatre North West audiences, spanning her range of performances over the years including productions of The Garage Sale, Delphic Orioles and Dancock's Dance.
Another Bard On The Beach personality with Theatre North West on her resume is Melissa Oei. She is the apprentice director for Love's Labour's Lost and in 2013 was in the Prince George case of Privilege.
Along with the four mainstage plays at Bard On The Beach, the summer-long event comes with a number of special shows, classes and accompanying performances. One of those is an operatic assortment of Gilbert & Sullivan songs performed four times in late August by the UBC Opera Ensemble. This special feature is conducted by former Prince George Symphony Orchestra artistic director Leslie Dala.
