valley song | sereana malani

Introducing Sereana Malani, playing Veronica Jonkers in VALLEY SONG. Serena was born in the Fiji Islands and raised in Coquitlam, BC. She received her BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta and currently lives in Vancouver with her husband, Elliott. This is Sereana's first time on the PT stage, and we're so excited to see her take on the role of Veronica for the second time (original appearance at Gateway Theatre, 2015)!

Select theatre credits include:
YOU WILL REMEMBER ME (Ruby Slippers), CLEBURNE PARK (Citadel Theatre), SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO (Quiet Things Creative), THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT (Exit 22), GO DOG GO! (Carousel Theatre), GOOD PEOPLE (Arts Club), MEASURE FOR MEASURE, MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, THE TEMPEST, COMEDY OF ERRORS, OTHELLO AND PERICLES (Bard on the Beach). Up next Sereana will be returning to Bard on the Beach where she will be playing Hermione in THE WINTER'S TALE.

Where did you study theatre?
University of Alberta

What are your hobbies, skills, or work outside of theatre?
I love live performance: theatre, opera, concerts, the symphony, spoken word. I love the energy that is created when people gather- strangers coming together to share an experience, I love the humanity and the tradition of it.

I am currently learning ASL and am obsessed with Game of Thrones.

I am an avid reader, I enjoy plays, fiction, poetry and the odd Buzzfeed article.

I have worked on staff at Carousel Theatre for Young People as an assistant drama teacher. Our youngest kids were three and four years old and aside from being unbearably cute they were so funny, I got a kick out of their honest observations about the world.

Where can you be found online?
twitter and instagram: @fiji__bitter
snapchat: adi_sereana

Do you have any personal connections with the content of the play?
Veronica is a dreamer and that's something I think many of us can relate to.

This is a beautiful story about family, dreams and change. Athol Fugard is a prolific figure in the international theatre community and I commend Jovanni Sy and Ron Reed for producing his work in Vancouver. We first staged this play in 2015 at the Gateway Theatre, remounts are a rare invitation to go deeper and further into the character and the story and I am very much looking forward to recreating this world with Jovanni and the incredible David Adams.