The Shoes That Were Danced To Pieces
In place of the usual project description we offer this letter we received from an audience member:
To: The Sponsors, Producers, Director(s), Cast and Crew of “The Shoes that Were Danced to Pieces”
I have decided that the rarest and most cherished commodity in my adult life is to be pleasantly surprised. And so, though it has been weeks since the evening we spent with Boca del Lupo in Stanley Park, I write to offer my thanks and my praise for what was one of the most memorable evenings of the summer. I mean, really, the idea that 100 people would willingly suspend their disbelief and run with you through the forest to unravel a mystery that solves itself in the title of the play? Frankly, the more the script called attention to itself and the ridiculousness of our co-operation in this enterprise, the more I bought in. My family (including construction worker husband [read: not a theatre buff], 9 and 11-year old children, and even my world-weary mother in-law from New York) were equally charmed by this production.
While this note is, in some measure, meant to urge the creators and co-conspirators in this project to please carry on with your fantastic work, I know you will no matter what I say. So what I really hope is that you will also pass along my note to the sponsors of this event as an inducement to continuing their support of the Boca del Lupo productions in Stanley Park. This is a wonderful gift to the city and a superb example of how thoughtful sponsorship can play a major role in developing and advancing the artistic, intellectual and cultural life of Vancouver.
Again, my thanks and praise to all of you. See you next year!
Best wishes,
Jillian
Creative Team
Sherry J Yoon
Sherry J. Yoon, Artistic Director of Boca del Lupo, is a theatre creator and director with a passion for creating new performances through collaborative pursuits. With Boca del Lupo, Sherry has co-created more than 35 productions, including: Fall Away Home, an intergenerational site-specific production in the forest of Stanley Park; Photog, a large-scale show that toured across Canada and was created with interviews from prominent conflict photographers; and You Are It, as part of the Silver commissions from the Arts Club Theatre that investigates the complex dynamics between female friendships. During Sherry’s tenure, the company has received numerous awards, including the Rio Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award, and Jessie Awards for Outstanding Production, Design, Actor, Ensemble, as well as the Critic’s Choice Innovation Award. Her productions have toured festivals and venues across Canada, Europe and Mexico. She co-created an online exhibition of Expedition, an iterative collaboration between Boca del Lupo and the Performance Corporation, and working on Net Zero, an interactive theatre installation about climate change that involves the audience charging a battery with a stationary bicycle. She is also a freelance director who has worked at the Richmond Gateway Theatre, Bard on the Beach, the Vancouver International Children’s Festival and at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa Canada. Sherry J Yoon was a 2022 Finalist for the Siminovitch Prize.
Jay Dodge
An inventor, creator and entrepreneur, Jay’s imagination for the what, how and why of theatre defies conventional boundaries . During his tenure, the company has won the peer-assessed Alcan Performing Arts Award, and several Jesse Richardson Theatre Awards including seven nominations for the Critic’s Choice Award for Innovation and the Patrick O’Neill Award for best anthology with Plays2Perform@Home. Jay is a passionate set and video designer with Jessie Richardson Awards in both of those categories as well as a published playwright including a contribution to Boca del Lupo’s Red Phone project. His artistry is one of innovation and daring and his one man show, PHOTOG. featured interactive video, stunt rigging and verbatim text, touring to World Stage, Prismatic, Festival Trans Amerique and PuSh. Having served as President on the national board of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, Jay also has special interest in creative space making including as co-founder of celebrated colocation space PL1422, co-founder of the Granville Island Theatre District. Happiest when he is tinkering in his studio with collaborators from a diverse range of disciplines and backgrounds, the impact of Jay’s influence is quiet yet profound.
Assistant Directors Tamara McCarthy and Rachel Peake Performers Lois Anderson, Thomas Conlin Jones, Kelly Metzger, Ari Solomon, Andy Thompson, Tamara McCarthy, Donna Soares, Lindsay Alford, Cat Main and Hazel Venzon Costumes Mima Preston Music Joelysa Pankanea, Steve Charles and Jenna Newman Managing Producer Hilary Davis Associate Producer Kris Nelson Crew Jamie Nesbitt and Sebastian Kroon
