PRODUCTION GALLERY (scroll down)

LA CENERENTOLA  

by Gioachino Rossini

Produced by VANCOUVER OPERA

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"For Rossini’s take on the Cinderella story, director

Rachel Peake has created a vital, engaged staging, swiftly paced and full of comic verve and what seems authentically Italian buffoonery. Indeed, she has done her job so well that it can be difficult, while you are laughing so hard, to remember that these are killer vocal parts being sung exquisitely."

- David Gordon Duke, The Vancouver Sun

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"Perfect casting, insightful yet genuinely funny direction by Rachel Peake, witty acting and above all, brilliant singing throughout added up to nearly three hours of irresistible, effervescent fun." 

— Robert Jordan, Opera Canada

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www.vancouveropera.ca

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 

by Michael Shamata

Produced by THE GATEWAY THEATRE

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"Director Rachel Peake, aided by Shamata’s brisk adaptation, keeps things ticking along. It’s a very musical show, with the performers contributing both songs and an atmospheric score... You won't be disappointed" 

— Darren Barefoot, The Georgia Straight

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"Director Rachel Peake's... signature on the production’s overall quality is unmistakable.

— John Jane, Review Vancouver

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Ebenezer Scrooge is a greedy miser who despises Christmas. One Christmas Eve, he is visited by a ghost and three spirits. Scrooge is given the opportunity to reflect upon his life, examine his heart, and be transformed by the spirit of the season.

Featuring live music composed by Joelysa Pankanea

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www.gatewaytheatre.com

HYPERLINK

by Itai Erdal and TJ Dawe

Produced by THE ELBOW THEATRE presented by the FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE

"Hyperlink is terrific, stylin’ entertainment. It’s about social media. And, in crucial ways, it’s the opposite of social media....I’ve talked a lot about the effervescence of Hyperlink. There’s depth, too, and innovative artistry." 

— Colin Thomas, colinthomas.ca

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"Working with visionary director Rachel Peake the trio created Hyperlink, an exploration our digital world where anonymity can make us callous, and where a lack of veracity can lead to lies...Peake keeps the stage alive with movement"

— David C Jones, Vancouver Presents

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A show about life online and the limits of digital empathy.  Featuring live music by Mark Haney.

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www.theelbow.ca

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Produced by VANCOUVER OPERA ASSOCIATION

"Director Rachel Peake has coaxed some tremendously

energetic and joyful performances from the cast, " 

— Jessica Werb, The Georgia Straight

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"Everything in this Rachel Peake-directed production hits

the mark....

The perfect production of a perfect opera" 

— entertainmentvancouver.com

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Combining sublimely beautiful music, social commentary, deviousness and delight, Mozart's matchless Le nozze di Figaro is funny, tender and profoundly human. The beloved story of mistaken identities, lecherous masters and a couple who just want to get married is as deliciously hilarious now as it was in Mozart's time.

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www.vancouveropera.ca

L'Élection

A world-première play by Peter Boychuk

Produced by THÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME

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Two best friends have their eye on becoming School President: Olivia, who dreams of a political career, and Emilie, whose goal is to create a safer environment for those on the margins. Promising to not let the campaign impact their friendship, they soon discover that emotions, well-intentioned or not, get the better of them when the stakes are high. Just how far will they go to win this election? And which one will have actually earned it?

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Featuring Sabrina Auclair and Siona Gareau-Brennan

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seizieme.ca

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GREEN LAKE

A world-première play by Katey Hoffman

Produced by SOLO COLLECTIVE THEATRE

Jessie Richardson Award Winner - Outstanding Direction

Jessie Richardson Award Nomination - Outstanding Production

"Director Rachel Peake moves her four excellent actors around the otherwise bare space with choreographic precision" 

— Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight

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"Falling in love at (and with) Green Lake" — Colin Thomas

Do you remember that kid you met one summer when you were young? The weird one that others avoided but you felt magnetized to? You couldn't help but fall in love with the person you could be if you were more like them. This play is what happens if you never quite shake that feeling…

What does it unlock to remember?

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www.solocollective.ca

ANGELS IN AMERICA: PART ONE  Millennium Approaches

A Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tony Kushner

Produced by STUDIO 58

"The entire cast under Rachel Peake’s assured direction gives remarkable performances. Kudos to all of them...Thank you Rachel Peake and Studio 58." — David C Jones, Outtv

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"Somebody give this show an award. Director Rachel Peake and the students at Studio 58 have breathed fresh life into Angels in America—and that’s no small achievement."

                                    — Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight

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This play is the epitome of what is theatrical: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Studio 58's production epitomizes what Kushner called for in this play: “an actor-driven event….it’s OK if the wires show, and maybe it’s good that they do”...

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langara.ca/studio-58/

GROS MORNE SUMMER MUSIC 2016

Firebird (featuring a new script by David Maggs)

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A New Heaven (featuring songs of Björk and Nikolai Korndorf )

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Created by and featuring the DARK BY FIVE Ensemble:

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David Maggs, Lynn Kuo, Paul Fadoul, Diederik Van Dijk, Kate Read, Christine Carter, Marianne Noordink, Yvette Coleman, and Rachel Peake

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Beatles Spectacular(featuring the music of the Beatles and acrobatics by Saltos Gymnastics)

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www.gmsm.ca

SEXYVOICES

A Burlesque Theatre Cabaret created by the ensemble

Produced by REALWHEELS THEATRE

"'The stories on stage will range from racy and sexually explicit to quite sweet,' director Rachel Peake said. 'The goal is to portray people with disabilities as three-dimensional through the illumination of their sex lives.'" — Tamsyn Burgmann, Canadian Press

A collective creation piece exploring sex, sexuality, love, and relationships from the perspective of people living with disabilities. Using humour, dance, text, and physical theatre to bring these sexy voices to the stage. Breaking down the stigma surrounding sexuality and disability in playful and dazzlingly unexpected ways

www.realwheels.ca

MATA HARI

A world-première play by Rachel Peake and Sinziana Corozel

Produced by SINGLE LINE THEATRE

"Mata Hari is a chamber piece: small, beautiful, intimate and musical...it’s as lovely as a little music box with Mata Hari turning, turning atop." — Jo Ledingham

Infamous alleged spy felled by firing squad in World War or mother of modern feminism? Mata Hari has inspired generations of women as she carved a new place for dance in European society. A physical theatre piece that examines the constructs of identity through the prism of this fascinating life.

Featuring Sinziana Corozel, Shane Snow, and Scott Augustine with live original music and foley by Mark Haney

www.singlelinetheatre.com

TROUT STANLEY

By Claudia Dey

Produced by PERSEPHONE THEATRE

"Director Rachel Peake makes the balance between wacky and profound look deceptively natural. The comedy dovetails into reality because the characters have no idea they’re funny... no detail is overlooked in this crooked smile of a play." 

                                        — Cam Fuller, Saskatoon Star Pheonix

This play is a quirky, adult fairy tale about Sugar and Grace Ducharme, a pair of seriously messed-up, non-identical twins. Playwright Claudia Dey imagines a different kind of love triangle when Trout Stanley appears, changing their family dynamic forever.

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persephonetheatre.org

SUSTAINABILITY IN AN IMAGINARY WORLD

An Interactive Experience

Produced by THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Sustainability in an Imaginary World brings together UBC researchers and Vancouver’s best theatre and digital artists in an interactive and immersive aesthetic encounter where, ultimately, you will be the author of your own experience. Explore how your deepest held beliefs and preconceptions shape your understanding of planetary sustainability.

ires.ubc.ca

THE SNOW QUEEN

A world-première play by RUTH SMILLIE

Produced by THE GLOBE THEATRE

"Director Rachel Peake did a remarkable job... the cast and crew was able to transform the stage into three different worlds with lighting, sound and a wonderful story. — Jeff Dedekker, The Regina Leader Post

Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director Ruth Smillie has re-imagined this Norse myth for audiences of all ages.  When the Snow Queen captures the Queen of Elves, the entire world is plunged into darkness and cold.  Two elfin children, Kai and Gerda, set out on a perilous journey to rescue their queen with the help of a host of magical creatures.  

globetheatrelive.com

MISS CALEDONIA

A play by MELODY JOHNSON

Produced by WESTERN CANADA THEATRE

It’s a feel-good story written by Melody Johnson and Lewis is charming. Highlights include Peggy Ann Douglas’ pageant talent, in which Lewis sings an energetic version of I’ve Been Everywhere while twirling a baton and her seamless transition into an auctioneer’s voice that had the audience laughing so loud you could hardly make out what she was saying as it rolled quickly off her tongue" - Kamloops This Week

It’s 1955, and Peggy Ann Douglas is hitching her wagon to the pageant circuit in the hope it’ll steer her from her farm to the bright lights of a Hollywood movie set. Miss Caledonia is for anyone who knows what it’s like to dream big and hustle to make it happen.

Featuring Holly Lewis with fiddle by Christina Cuglietta

www.wctlive.ca

GROS MORNE SUMMER MUSIC 2015

A Poet Must Live (featuring the poetry of Don MacKay)

A Singer Must Die (featuring shadow play by Tara Manuel)

Created by and featuring the DARK BY FIVE Ensemble:

David Maggs, Lynn Kuo, Paul Fadoul, Diederik Van Dijk, Kate Read, Christine Carter, Elizabeth Janzen, Yvette Coleman, and Rachel Peake

www.gmsm.ca

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

By DAVID MAMET

Produced by CLASSIC CHIC PRODUCTIONS

"Class Chic Productions’ all-female Glengarry Glen Ross is a feast of talent"

- Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

The Best of Vancouver Theatre in 2015

#6 Glengarry Glen Ross

"Glengarry Glen Ross proves solid acting can be genderless"

- Mark Robins, vancouverpresents.com

"Director Peake deserves a verbal standing-o for the tight-tight-tight blocking and rapid-fire dialogue she demanded of her cast"

- Baird Blackstone, brokenlegreviews.ca

classicchic.ca

SELFIE

A world première by CHRISTINE QUINTANA

Produced by THÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME

Jessie Richardson Award Winner - Rachel Peake - Outstanding Artistic Creation (Direction)

Jessie Richardson Award Nominee- Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

Anna and Lili have been friends since childhood. But when Anna's lifelong crush on Lili's older brother comes to light, the result is unlike anything they would have thought of.

Featuring Jessie Award winning performances by Julie Trépanier, Siona Gareau-Brennan, and Vincent Leblanc-Beaudoin

www.seizieme.ca 

THE CONTEST OF THE WINDS

A world première by LINZ KENYON, adapted from traditional tales of the Secwepemc and the Okanagan Peoples

Produced by CARAVAN FARM THEATRE

"Caravan's Winter Offering is a Breath of Fresh Air...

It is told admirably by Caravan's cast and crew, and director Rachel Peake, who do this local story,

and the keepers of this land, justice."

- Kristin Froneman, Vernon Morning Star 

With young Sonny Boy and Ava Girl caught in a feud between tradition and technology, Auntie Joes uses a traditional tale of the battle between North and South Wind to make clear that the only answer is balance. The audience rides sleighs pulled by teams of Clydesdales horses discovering scenes amid a winter wonderland.

www.caravanfarmtheatre.com

STICKBOY

Libretto by SHANE KOYCZAN, Composed by NEIL WEISENSEL

Produced by VANCOUVER OPERA

"Survival isn't an instinct. It's an act of sheer will.  Get up."

One of the "Top 10 standout arts events of 2014"

- The Georgia Straight

"Director Rachel Peake never allows the cutting edge multimedia or the ingenious set ...overwhelm the production’s message. Stickboy aims to provoke thought, and it most definitely succeeds."

- John Jane, reviewvancouver

"If the power of this raw, ambitious work doesn’t hit you like a punch to the gut—well, we’ll see you at the next production of

Die Fledermaus."

- Janet Smith, Georgia Straight 

www.vancouveropera.ca

ROSALIND

A play by JM BARRIE

Produced by SHAW FESTIVAL - DIRECTORS' PROJECT

"When you come to write my epitaph, Charles, let it be in these delicious words, 'She had a long twenty-nine.' "

Turning age into a question of will, Barrie uses magic realism to twist and spin our sense of reality. Leaving two questions: is growing old really so bad? But also... why grow old?

Featuring performances by: Claire Jullien, Ben Sanders, and Patti Jamieson

"Rachel Peake’s direction of Rosalind, by J.M. Barrie, allowed the audience to witness a clever and witty century-old story with contemporary overtones about ageism in society."

- Roxanne Joseph, Theatre Ontario

www.theatreontario.blogspot.ca

COOL BEANS

A New Musical Comedy by ANTON LIPOVETSKY

Produced by SOLO COLLECTIVE THEATRE

"Ironic, Funny, Unsentimental and Hip."  - David C Jones OutTV

"An eccentric charmer"

-Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

"Cool Beans is totes amazeballs"  - Mark Robins, GayVancouver

Andi loves Holden. Holden loves Meadow. Patrick also loves Meadow. Meadow is not sure she really needs to love anyone at the moment. Through it all, these twenty-somethings are left scrambling to hold on to who they thought they were . . . and who they think they should be. 

Featuring performances by: Gili Roskies, Jay Clift, Katey Hoffman, Josh Epstein. Musical Direction by Mishelle Cuttler

www.solocollective.ca

KAYAK

A play by JORDAN HALL

Produced by ALLEY THEATRE at the Neanderthal Festival and the Firehall Arts Centre

"You will – or ought to – talk about this play for ages"  

- Jo Ledingham, The Courier

"Smart, funny, political -- if this play were a guy, I'd date him."

-Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

BMW-driving, bleached-blond Annie is out to save her son from the dangers of his radical environmentalist girlfriend and unwittingly throws herself into a path of events larger than she could ever have imagined. Floating in a kayak she is catapulted through a literal storm of memories as she struggles to cling to what’s right in her ever-shrinking world. 

Featuring performances by: Susan Hogan, Marisa Smith, and Sebastian Kroon

www.alleytheatre.ca

GROS MORNE SUMMER MUSIC 2013

Beyond Words (featuring Don MacKay)

Revolution

Carmen Fantasy (featuring Duane Andrews)

Aberdeen and the Old Boot (featuring Candice Pike)

Sherlock Holmes and the Nazi of Bonne Bay (featuring Louis MacDonald and Brian McHugh)

Created by and featuring the DARK BY FIVE Ensemble:

David Maggs, MinTze Wu, Paul Fadoul, Diederik Van Dijk, Bernard Kane, Christine Carter, Elizabeth Janzen, Yvette Coleman, and Rachel Peake

www.gmsm.ca

THE LITTLE SWEEP

Music by BENJAMIN BRITTEN, Lyrics by ERIC CROZIER

Produced by BELFRY THEATRE and PACIFIC OPERA VICTORIA

"A hilarious good time flowed through the packed Stewart Theatre for the weekend opening of The Little Sweep/Let’s Make And Opera....perfectly executed by director Rachel Peake"

- Colin Cayer, Monday Magazine

The première collaboration between Victoria's professional opera company - Pacific Opera Victoria - and Victoria's largest professional theatre company - the Belfry Theatre. The play Let's Make an Opera portrays an adventure in collaboration, as children and adults create an opera they will perform together.  The Little Sweep is the actual opera, the tale of a young sweep who gets stuck up a chimney and is rescued by plucky children who plot to keep him safe from his brutal master.  Britten at his inventive best.

www.belfry.bc.ca

www.pov.bc.ca

PLAY WITH MONSTERS

A world première play by AARON BUSHKOWSKY

Produced by SOLO COLLECTIVE THEATRE

“Playful Play With Monsters Kills at Performance Works”

- Mark Leiren Young, Vancouver Sun

"Rachel Peake has done an excellent job of directing Play with Monsters—casting it, shaping the business, creating theatrical moments"

- Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight

A man with a checkered past and a criminal record tries to reconcile with the memory of his parents as zombies after meeting the girl of his dreams in a vineyard in France. An imaginative and whimsical show that culminates with a battle between zombies and a ninja, and impossible love.

Featuring Bill Dow, Karin Konoval, Hiro Kanagawa, Andrew McNee, and Josette Jorge

www.solocollective.ca

GROS MORNE SUMMER MUSIC 2012

The Trolley Car Opera

Guitar on Fire

Bardsey Sound

Carmen Fantasy 

Sherlock Holmes and the Nazi of Bonne Bay (featuring Louis McDonald and Ryan Butt)

Created by and featuring the DARK BY FIVE Ensemble:

David Maggs, MinTze Wu, Paul Fadoul, Diederik Van Dijk, Jason Nett, Bernard Kane, Christine Carter, Elizabeth Janzen, Yvette Coleman, and Rachel Peake

www.gmsm.ca

LE PORTRAIT GOOBLE

A world première play by JON LACHLIN STEWART

Translated by Lyne Barnabé

Produced by THÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME

Jessie Richardson Award Winner - Rachel Peake - Outstanding Direction (Outstanding Artistic Creation, TYA)

Jessie Richardson Award Winner - Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

Au décès de leur père, un frère et une sœur sont entraînés dans un tournoi visant à déterminer lequel des deux est le meilleur peintre.  Lydia et Denver sauront-ils mettre leur rivalité de côté avant qu’un nouveau malheur frappe leur famille?Le portrait Gooble est une histoire de fraternité, de pinceaux et de fantômes haute en couleurs sur le respect des différences et l’accomplissement de soi.

Featuring Gerogina Beaty, Vincent Forcier, and Emilie Le Clerc

www.seizieme.ca

AFTER JERUSALEM

A world première play by AARON BUSHKOWSKY

Produced by SOLO COLLECTIVE THEATRE

Number 4 on the “Top 10 shows of 2011 - The gift that kept on giving”                                 - Mark Robins, GayVancouver 

"After Jerusalem is a banquet of pleasure. Playwright Aaron Bushkowsky and actors Deborah Williams and Andrew McNee don’t just chow down on the material, they roll around in it...Besides casting the show perfectly, director Rachel Peake stages it wittily. Just wait till you see Vladimir and Carol’s tango.”                            - Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight

A down-on-her-luck school teacher tries to find love in Israel by making herself out to be a famous actress only to run into a wannabe script-writer soldier with many tall tales.  What will happen in the naked light of truth?

Featuring Andrew McNee and Deborah Williams

www.solocollective.ca

COMMENT DEVENIR PARFAIT EN TROIS JOURS

(How to Become Perfect in Three Days)

A play by GILLES GAUTHIER from the book by Stephen Manes

Produced by THÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME

Jessie Richardson Award Nomination - Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

Annick, dix ans, ne cesse d’accumuler les gaffes. Lorsqu’elle découvre le manuel « Comment devenir parfait en trois jours», elle décide, pleine d’espoir, de le suivre à la lettre… Un spectacle qui traite avec humour de l’acceptation de soi.

Tournée dans les écoles primaires de Colombie-Britannique et d’Alberta.

Featuring Joey Lespérance and Mélanie Desbiens

www.seizieme.ca

THE TROLLEY CAR

(part of LOVE FIGHTS)

a world première one act play by AMIEL GLADSTONE

Produced by SOLO COLLECTIVE THEATRE

Jessie Richardson Award Nomination - Outstanding Direction

"Under Rachel Peake's direction this is a very stylish and stylized production"                     - Jo Ledingham, Courier

Inspired by Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit", Nazi-occupied France sets the stage for Amiel Gladstone's deeply poetic investigation of illicit love and the dilemma of ordinary life against the backdrop of imminent danger. 

What would you choose?

www.solocollective.ca

LA CENERENTOLA

(Cinderella)

An opera by GIOACHINO ROSSINI

Adapted by Ann Hodges

Produced by VANCOUVER OPERA IN SCHOOLS

An English adaptation of Rossini's La Cenerentola brings a new voice to the Cinderella story we thought we knew.  Rossini created a Cinderella who was very much in charge of her own destiny. Rather than accidentally dropping a shoe as she runs away, his Cinderella chooses to leave a bracelet behind as a way of finding out whether this prince will love the real her.

Featuring Cat Affleck, Erin Lawson, Brian Lee, and Joshua McFaul 

www.vancouveropera.ca

ÉCRAN DE FUMÉE

(Smokescreen)

By DAVID S CRAIG

Translated by Lisa L’Heureux

Produced by THÉÂTRE LA SEIZIÈME

Futé et charismatique Trent Dolin est aussi un ado tourmenté. Condamné pour avoir vendu de la marijuana, il est pris en charge par une jeune assistante sociale. Au fil de leurs discussions, celle-ci va s’appliquer à démonter les arguments qui justifient chez l’adolescent l’usage de la substance. Sur fond de culture de la drogue, le texte explore les questions de la communication entre l’ado et sa famille, de la vérité et du déni.

Featuring Joh Lachlan Stewart, Emilie LeClerc, and Martin Simms

www.seizieme.ca

THE PROJECT

A world première play by AARON BUSHKOWSKY

Produced by SOLO COLLECTIVE THEATRE

Hollywood dips its toes into pseudo-salvation when a big shot director discovers his life's emptiness.  In an attempt to find meaning, he plans a documentary to save starving Africans, enlisting his fading-starlett ex-wife to lead the brigade.  But agendas collide when they discover "saving" Africa might be a bit more complex than they'd imagined...

Featuring Andrew McNee, Sarah Rodgers, Lindsey Angell, Maiko Bae Yamamoto, and Alvin Sanders

www.solocollective.ca