MARY JANE by Amy Herzog - A Western Canadian Premiere
Mitch and Murray Productions is thrilled to present the western Canadian premiere of MARY JANE, running Friday October 23rd to Sunday November 1st at Studio 16, 1555 West 7th Avenue in Vancouver.
Audiences are invited into a story of quiet, fierce love with Mary Jane, an acclaimed drama by Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog. This deeply moving and warmly human play is directed by Aaron Craven and stars Kate Craven (pictured above, centre) in the title role, alongside (left-right) Jennifer Clement, Crystal Balint, Advah Soudack and Sewit Eden Haile. *Photo by Shimon Photo.
Mary Jane follows a single mother devoted to the round-the-clock care of her young son, who lives with a serious chronic illness. As she navigates doctors, caregivers, and a shifting circle of women who become an unlikely support system, Mary Jane reveals the extraordinary strength — and the everyday grace — hiding inside an ordinary life. It is a tender, clear-eyed portrait of what it means to keep showing up for the people we love. Mary Jane won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, picked up an Obie Award for Playwriting for Amy Herzog, and was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.
"The most profound and harrowing of Ms. Herzog's many fine plays.” - New York Times
"Must-see theatre for anyone with a heart." - Variety
Mitch and Murray - Making Theatre Accessible For All
Scroll down the page a bit to buy a Season's Pass, three shows including Mary Jane for just $89!
Or, click right here to buy tickets for Mary Jane.
Cast and Crew of Mary Jane
Aaron Craven - Director
Crystal Balint - Playing Sherry / Dr. Toros
Crystal Balint - Playing Sherry / Dr. Toros
Aaron wears many creative hats. He is the Artistic Director of Mitch and Murray Productions, where his recent work includes An Intervention (director), Instantaneous Blue (playwright), and Snowflake and Heroes of the Fourth Turning (actor; Jessie Award nomination for the former). He's split time for years between Vancouver and LA, filming on projects including The Sticks, Family Law, NCIS, Legends of Tomorrow, Big Eyes, Age of Adaline, and The Predator.
He's currently filming his first documentary, coaching actors at The Working Actors Gym, shopping around a pilot script, and squeezing in beer league hockey.
He dedicates Mary Jane to all the parents who battle extra challenges in the shadows. You are heroes.
Crystal Balint - Playing Sherry / Dr. Toros
Crystal Balint - Playing Sherry / Dr. Toros
Crystal Balint - Playing Sherry / Dr. Toros
Crystal Balint is an award-winning actor with a career spanning more than 25 years.
Some of her most notable theatre credits include Dreamgirls (Arts Club Theatre), Helen Lawrence (Arts Club Theatre), The Mountaintop (Arts Club Theatre), and City of Angels (The PIT Collective). She has also worked extensively in film and television, with some credits including major recurring roles in The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco (BritBox), Midnight Mass (Netflix), The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix), and The Audacity (AMC).
Crystal is thrilled to be back on stage with this formidable team of creatives and incredibly talented women. She thanks her friends for giving her loving space, her twins for enduring her industry lifestyle, and her husband, Nick, for being her anchor.
Jennifer Clement - Playing Ruthie / Tenkei
Crystal Balint - Playing Sherry / Dr. Toros
Jennifer Clement - Playing Ruthie / Tenkei
Happy to be part of this Mary Jane team. Jen last worked with Mitch & Murray in Heroes of the Fourth Turning. She was recently seen in The Search Party’s People, Places & Things and as a company member at Bard on the Beach. A graduate of YorkU & TMU Theatre School, Jen has over 100 credits in theatre/film/TV. She is passionate about actor education, currently teaching at VFS & Haven Studios.
Past honours include the Lorena Gale UBCP/Actra Award & a Jessie for The Trespassers. With gratitude to the indigenous peoples for their stewardship of this land and her family & friends who support a life in the arts.
Kate Craven - Playing Mary Jane
Sewit Eden Haile - Playing Amelia / Kat
Jennifer Clement - Playing Ruthie / Tenkei
Kate is delighted to be returning to the stage for Mitch and Murray Productions.
She works as both an actor – select theatre: An Intervention, Lungs (Mitch and Murray), Bull (Made it Ma), The Money Shot (MPD), Here to Eternity (Co. E), Chicago, Les Miserables (NTC); select screen: Time Out, October, High Potential, Family Law, The Good Doctor, Loudermilk, Batwoman; and a stage/screenwriter - After Burn, Nightingales, Wood, A Perfect Place, Inochi Sae, Autumn Falling, A Country Kind of Love. She also teaches ongoing classes at The Working Actors Gym.
For my boy - who is my sun and stars, and his dad - who hung the moon. And the village of people who surround and support us; you have my heart.
Selah.
Sewit Eden Haile - Playing Amelia / Kat
Sewit Eden Haile - Playing Amelia / Kat
Sewit Eden Haile - Playing Amelia / Kat
Sewit Eden Haile (she/her) is an actor and writer based on the unceded, traditional homelands of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh(Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, or “Vancouver.” Select acting credits: [Theatre] Sylvia (500 Words, Green Thumb Theatre), Turtle (East Van Panto: Robin Hood, Theatre Replacement); [Film/TV] Fire Country (CBS), Scrubs (ABC), Mayfair Witches (AMC).
Most recently, she participated in Ruby Slippers' Advance Theatre Festival and was published in Momentum 180’s anthology of monologues for BIPOC actors by Playwrights Canada Press. Sewit is a graduate of Studio 58. All love to the MJ team!
Advah Soudack - Playing Brianne / Chaya
Sewit Eden Haile - Playing Amelia / Kat
Sewit Eden Haile - Playing Amelia / Kat
Advah is overjoyed to be making her Mitch and Murray debut with this production of Mary Jane. A Vancouver-based actor, voice over artist, singer, and a proud graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA acting program. Selected theatre credits: The Animal Kingdom (The Cultch Lab), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry V (Bard on the Beach), Courage Now (Firehall Arts Centre) and Stuart Little (Carousel Theatre). Selected screen credits: Fire Country, Blockbuster and Love, Lights, Hanukkah. Selected animation credits: Lego Friends, My Little Pony, and Beyblade Burst Evolution.
Thank you Eema and Jonathan for your endless support. For my Abba.
David Roberts - Set Design
Matthew MacDonald-Bain - Sound Design
Matthew MacDonald-Bain - Sound Design
David is delighted to be working with Mitch and Murray once again!
Recent work for the stage includes Harm, Body Awareness,
Snowflake, Instantaneous Blue and The Intervention for Mitch and Murray, Crazy For
You, Royal City Musical Company, Blood Wedding, Studio 58 Langara, Medicine, Pi
Theatre, The Wolves, Douglas College and Romeo and Juliet for Studio 58.
David was nominated for The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (Genie) and Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of
British Columbia (Leo) awards. He is also the recipient of seven Vancouver Theatre
Alliance (Jessie) awards.
David has taught design in Vancouver, London and Prague
and is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and IATSE local 891.
Matthew MacDonald-Bain - Sound Design
Matthew MacDonald-Bain - Sound Design
Matthew MacDonald-Bain - Sound Design
Matthew MacDonald-Bain is a Vancouver-based actor/sound designer. He is a four-time Jessie Award nominee and two-time Award winner for Acting and Sound Design.
Select design credits include Harm, Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Mitch & Murray Productions), Annie (Gateway), Macbeth (Arts Umbrella), People Like Vince, 500 Words (Green Thumb), Middletown, The Lonesome West, The Wolves (Pacific Theatre), The Competition Is Fierce (Itsazoo), The Fighting Season (Bleeding Heart) Bright Blue Future, Bug, Of Mice And Men (Hardline). Matthew is a graduate of Studio 58.
Emily Friesen - Costume Design
Matthew MacDonald-Bain - Sound Design
Emily Friesen - Costume Design
Emily is a multidisciplinary designer, artist, and graduate of the University of Victoria theatre program. She is delighted to be making her Mitch and Murray debut.
Select credits: Vascular Necrosis (Touchstone), The Fiancée (WCT) Ms Holmes and Ms Watson- Apt 2B (Gateway Theatre) If You Could Read My Mind, Kindred (Belfry), Women of the Fur Trade (Firehall Arts Centre) We Are Boy Band, Metamorphoses (Studio 58), The Last Five Years, Ride The Cyclone, Salt Water Moon, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Blue Bridge Repertory), The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Allihipporhinocrocodilligator(Kaleidoscope), Snow White (Carousel), The Mixolydian (Green Thumb) http://emilyfriesen-theatredesigner.com/
Sign up for our e-newsletter!
Stay in the loop with occasional updates on our shows, events and classes.