Sarah Garton Stanley steps in to direct Bunny

Sarah Garton Stanley steps in to direct Bunny

April 20, 2016… Vanessa Porteous has had to withdraw from the Stratford Festival's 2016 season, in which she was to direct Hannah Moscovitch's new play, Bunny. An unforeseen family health issue requires her attention in Calgary.

Sarah Garton Stanley will step in to direct Bunny, a Festival commission, which begins rehearsals on June 9 and premières on August 18.

"We were all very sorry to hear that Vanessa would not be able to direct this exciting new play," said Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. "Her previous Festival production of Christina, The Girl King was beautiful and Vanessa's collaboration with Hannah on Bunny promised a terrific experience in the theatre. I wish Vanessa well and look forward to her return to the Festival in the years ahead. 

"Fortunately in Sarah Stanley we have a director who is extremely gifted, skilled at developing new plays and deeply trusted by Hannah herself. I'm delighted to welcome Sarah to the Stratford Festival. I have long admired her work and am profoundly grateful that she has made herself available to direct this remarkable script."

"I'm very sorry to lose the chance to work with the formidable Vanessa Porteous," said Ms Moscovitch. "It's been an immense pleasure to develop Bunny with her.

"I've admired Sarah's art for the last 10 years and so I'm big time thrilled to finally get to work with her. I love the collaborative and original spirit she brings to all her work. I'm very grateful to Stratford, Bob White and Antoni Cimolino for giving me the opportunity to première a new play with a director I've longed to work with."

Ms Stanley is the Associate Artistic Director of English Theatre at Canada's National Arts Centre, Artistic Director of SpiderWebShow.ca and co-director of Selfconscious Theatre. She co-founded The Baby Grand, in Kingston, co-created Women Making Scenes in Montreal, and Die in Debt Theatre in Toronto. Ms Stanley is a former Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and over a 25-year award-winning career, she has held extended stays at the National Theatre School of Canada, the Magnetic North Theatre Festival and Factory Theatre in Toronto. Recently Ms Stanley was Associate Director on Stan Douglas's Helen Lawrence, a live film noir project that played New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Munich, Edinburgh and Antwerp. She directed Colleen Murphy's December Man (L'homme de décembre) at the NAC, and Caught by Jordi Mand at TPM. This will be her Stratford Festival directorial debut.

Support for the 2016 season of the Studio Theatre is generously provided by Sandra & Jim Pitblado.

The 2016 season runs from April 19 to October 30. It features Macbeth, As You Like It, A Chorus Line, Shakespeare in Love, A Little Night Music, All My Sons, Breath of Kings, John Gabriel Borkman, The Hypochondriac, The Aeneid, Bunny and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1.800.567.1600.