Show 56 #6 PERSUASION 2019

PERSUASION – The Show and it’s Performances

FAST FACTS:

Two ladies pulling away from each other in a picture frame
SHOW TIMES:

Evening Performances at 8 pm:
Thursday to Saturday
Matinee Performances at 2 pm:
April 7 & 14, 2019

SHOW RUN:

March 30 – April 20, 2019

  • The Director’s Talk is Fri, April 5
  • The Preview is on Friday, Mar 29 – it is the final dress rehearsal.
LOCATION:

1370 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC.  Next to the on-ramp to the Arthur Lang Bridge by Marine Drive and Granville.

Smiling Couple in picture frame
TICKET PRICING:

Tickets are $25 for adults or $22 for seniors and students, with a special every Thursday 2 for $37. Preview performance $15.

Tickets can be reserved by calling the Metro Box Office 604 266 7191 

BOX OFFICE WINDOWS HOURS:

Wed – Sat 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm & 1 Hour before each show.
Box Office Phone: 604 266 7191

604 266 7191 voicemail or Contact Us form below can be used at other times.

LICENSED LOUNGE HOURS:

Performance Evenings – 7:00 – 11:00 pm
Performance Matinees – 1:00 – 5:00 pm

PARKING:

There is plenty of easy parking – in the parking lot, on the street, even ‘All Evening Parking’ for $4 at the Value Liquor Store Lot just up the street from Metro – 1450 SW Marine Dr, Vancouver, BC V6P 5Z9

BUS ROUTES:

We’re close to the Marpole bus loop and on the #10 route. Check out www.translink.ca for transit directions.

CONTACT:

Metro Theatre via the contact form at the bottom of this page for more information, publicity photos, and arrangements for interviews.

IN REHEARSAL

Research is an important aspect of any production.  Often shows are set in the 20th century so you have real world knowledge/experiences to draw upon. This is what impacts the director’s choice for setting, furniture, costumes, music, etc. – all the elements that go into bringing the show to life for the audience.

Then, there are period/historical [The Georgian era/ Regency period (1811–1820)] pieces such as Jane Austen’s PERSUASION. How different is her world compared to our world today?

After what is called the read through (an organized reading around a table of the  script by the actors), the Director asks the cast to come back to the next rehearsal having learned something about their character or something they didn’t know about period of the written piece.

As an actor what do you need to know about a time and a place that you are not familiar with; how that determines where your character fits in society, equals to, how it impacts your character’s relationship to the other characters in the show.

How people carry themselves, sitting, walking, standing, the curtsy and bow in polite society. For example, no rehearsing in clucky running shoes and boots… shoes will change the way you move, sit, your posture. Today you might text to get together for a cup of coffee – in Jane Austen’s era what was considered a polite time to call upon a friend or family member? How did well mannered people call upon each other? and what was considered proper behaviour?

Research offers important insight into how the characters behave and interact. The cast of Persuasion spent a great deal of time discussing their characters with director Joan Bryans and each other.

Show Pictures:

PERSUASION
PERSUASION 2
PERSUASION 3
PERSUASION 4
PERSUASION 6
PERSUASION 7

Press Release: Jane Austen’s PERSUASION

Adapted by Tim Luscombe and Directed by Joan Bryans
Could you be persuaded to revisit a love gone wrong?

That is the question posed by Jane Austen’s final novel, PERSUASION, adapted by Timothy Luscombe into a play directed by Joan Bryans that  Metro Theatre is delighted to bring to our stage March 30 – April 20.

Young Couple in pictgure frame

Our heroine, Anne Elliot, is the daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, a spendthrift baronet and widower, with a swollen sense of social importance.  Anne is upright and compassionate.  Her youthful romance with dashing sailor Frederick Wentworth was kiboshed by her family’s disapproval on the grounds that he had no fortune. Heartbroken, Anne allowed herself to be persuaded to give him up but is haunted by ghosts of what might have been.

Thank goodness for romantic fiction, because rather than disappear forever, Wentworth goes to sea and returns a rich man. Unfortunately, he’s harbouring the misapprehension that he was rejected by Anne because she stopped loving him. Their reunion is a frosty affair as neither is in a hurry to reveal that they’re still in love with each other. What happens as the two are thrown together in the social world of Bath—and as an eager new suitor appears for Anne— touchingly and wittily unfolds  into a story of second chance as Anne struggles with love, friendship, and  family.

Director Joan BryansPersuasion is Austen’s greatest love story.   It’s not a story of young love but of a love which lasts through the years, when all hope has gone

Tickets are $25 Adult or $22 Senior/Student with a special 2 for $37 every Thursday.

Cast and Production Team

Cast of Persuasion
CAST
  • Anne Elliot………………………..…Mikayla Wust
  • Mary/Mrs Smith…………………Sarah Prato
  • Lady Russell…………………………Judy McLellan
  • Elizabeth/Louisa…………………Jamé Wonacott
  • Mrs. Croft/Mrs. Clay……………Lini Hutchings
  • Mrs. Harville/ Lady Dalrymple…………………Isabella Ciccone
  • Jemima/Croft’s maid…………..Cassie Legg
  • Sir Walter Elliott…………….……Roger Monk
  • Frederick………………………………Quinn Matthews
  • Charles/Benwick…………………Stephen Braun
  • Wm. Elliott/Harville…….………Kimball Finigan
  • Admiral Croft/Butler/ Mr. Taylor………………Richard Guenther
PRODUCTION TEAM
  • Director………………………..………Joan Bryans
  • Assistant Director…………………Frances Herzer
  • Production Manager……….……Heather Stewart
  • Stage Manager…………………..…Heather Stewart
  • Asst Stg Mgr…………………………Cassie Legg
  • Choreographer…………………..…Allyson Riley
  • Dance Captain………………………Sarah Prato
  • Set Designer…………….……………John R Taylor
  • Costume Designer……..…………Catherine E. Carr
  • Sound Designer…………….………Heather Stewart
  • Music Advisor ………………………Pat Unruh
  • Technical Director………………….Jamie Horsley
  • General Manager…………………..Les Erskine
  • Head Carpenter………………….…Robin Richardson
  • Scenic Painting……..………………Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
  • Set Decoration………………………Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
  • Publicity……………..………….………Debra Danny
  • Photography…………….………..…Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
  • Graphic Design………..……………Barbara LaBounta
  • Wardrobe Manager…..……….…Sean Ullmann

The Story

Of all Jane Austen’s great and delightful novels, Persuasion is widely regarded as the most moving. It is the story of a second chance.

Many years ago Anne Elliott fell in love with a young dashing sea captain, Frederick Wentworth.  However she was strongly advised, by family friend Lady Russell, not to allow it to go further.  Frederick had no connections, no fortune, and was engaged in a dangerous profession.  Anne is persuaded and breaks off the attachment. Wentworth, resentful and hurt leaves the area.

PERSUASION

Over seven years pass and we find Anne’s family in dire financial straights. Advice comes, again from Lady Russell,  that the best way to remedy this is to rent out their house and move to Bath (cheaper than London to live).  Who should rent the family home but Wentworth’s sister and brother-in-law, Admiral and Mrs. Croft.

Of course the old lovers meet. Wentworth is now a self made man, rich and powerful.  And he still has not forgiven Anne.  Moreover,  it seems he is finding the company of young Louisa amusing.   Will Anne and Wentworth ever find a way to come together again?   The path there is far from easy and littered with wonderful characters.

We meet Anne’s father, Sir Charles, surely the most vain and self obsessed chap in literature, who lives with daughter Elizabeth and her good friend Mrs. Clay. Of low birth and somewhat unattractive,  Mrs Clay is desperately trying to manipulate her way into Sir Walter’s affections.

Then we have Mary, Anne’s older sister.  A hypochondriac of great measure, she is married to Charles, a huntin’ shootin’ and fishin’ kind of chap, more interested in his dogs than his wife and children;  and Charles’  sister, the young and bubbly Louise,  who is setting her cap at Wentworth.

PERSUATION

Add a couple of Wentworth’s old sea-going buddies, Captain Harville and his sea-going feminist wife, and the melancholic Benwick,  and Lady Dalrymple, whose high social station impresses Anne’s father so much, and you have enough wonderful characters to upset any straightforward path to love.

Director’s Talk

Director with her cast in various frames

Director Joan Bryans and the cast of PERSUASION held an informal chat immediately following the show on Friday, April 5. The topics covered were:

  • Filmic approach to staging
  • Austen’s feminism in Persuasion
  • The challenges of dealing  with instant changes of character/scenes

Questions and comments from the audience were encouraged.

During the run of PERSUASION, Metro Theatre is hosting a Sealed Silent Auction for a custom created abstract painting by painter Tracy-Lynn Chernaske. Valued at $600 the painting was created with Jane Austen’s PERSUASION as inspiration. By tying together appropriate colours and soft textures the painting reflects suggestions of Austen’s historical multi-location story line full of ships, seaside beaches, grand old manors and tidy cottages.

Silient Auction Fund Raiser

The ABSTRACT PAINTING was made similarly to Tracy-Lynn’s paintings that were released during Metro’s inaugural art show – Reclaiming, Reworking & Revisiting – completely of recycled materials from past productions here at Metro Theatre.

The painting is available for bidding until April 18th 2019 with the  Opening Bid set at $300.  The winner  will be announced on  the Closing Night of Persuasion on April 20th.  Donations are a part of Metro’s life blood and this auction is a way to reach out and thank our patrons for their continuous contributions. The majority of funds collected through the winning bid will go directly to Metro to help with building up-keep; a small portion will go to the artist.

Bid with mouse

Bidding Ballots, the Artist’s Bio and more details can be found at PERSUASION PAINTING Silent Auction.  Bidding is also hosted on our Facebook page Metro Theatre Vancouver, as well as in person during regular box office hours and performances.

The Abstract Painting is on display in the LOBBY of Metro Theatre, located at 1370 SW Marine Drive in Vancouver until April 20, 2019.

Measurements are 36″ x 22.75″ on doorskin wood with frame.

  • This is YOUR chance to enrich many lives, become part of the captivating narrative that is Metro Theatre, and possibly end up owning a custom created original piece of art. Thank you so much for supporting Metro Theatre in this our first ever Sealed Silent Auction.

Good Luck Everyone!