common grace | closing performance

COMMON GRACE closes with a 2pm matinee performance today!  Thanks so much to this team for their wonderful work.

common grace | design

The set for COMMON GRACE is a working kitchen!  It lends so much to the story seeing the cast make real coffee, wipe up real spills, and actually wash dishes.  Here are some photos of designer Carolyn Rapanos' presentation of the set maquette at the first reading.

"This set is designed to help pull us into very real, familiar lives while referencing the larger community they're grounded in. We're creating a comfortable, naturalistic modern-day kitchen. However, theatrical tiles integrated into the space set these lives within the context of the Dutch Reformed Church community's traditions, history, and world views - in the background, yet strongly informing these lives."
- Carolyn Rapanos

common grace | why the artists chose it

Here are a few words from the creative team behind COMMON GRACE on why they chose to work on this show.

"I am excited to be working on a new play by a local playwright, especially one that is set in a contemporary, local community."
-Carolyn Rapanos, Set Designer

"I've been lucky enough to see this play grow from a first draft to the beautiful story it is now and I cannot wait to watch as it really come to life."
-Cara Cunningham, Alanna

"I am excited to once again share the stage with the immensely talented Kerri Norris and to work hand in hand with playwright Shauna Johannesen on this beautiful slice of life."
-Carl Kennedy, Pastor Dan

"It's great to be working on a brand new show! I'm excited to help create an authentic-feeling kitchen on stage."
-Frances Henry, Properties Manager

“I’m thrilled to be in a play delving so deep into the hearts and souls of 5 (count ‘em 5!) distinct, real, and powerful-in-their-own-way women.”
-Julie Lynn Mortensen, Miriam

"I have had the privilege of watching this play evolve from some of its early drafts and am honoured to be a part of it coming to life. I am also very excited to be back together with so many artists that I respect and love working with."
-Kerri Norris, Carol

"I'm looking forward to being part of this show because I've gotten to be part of the workshopping process for this script from the beginning (inhabiting several of the roles). I love this story: the relationships between these sisters and their mother, the humour, and the honest wrestling with questions of love, death, faith and home. Also, what a fabulous group of people to get to spend the next 5 weeks with!"
-Rebecca de Boer, Abby

common grace | responses

"GO see Common Grace at Pacific Theatre. An intensely human story, lovingly realized and beautifully acted. Seeing such a polished new play and such transparent performances is a too-rare treat. Give yourself the gift of walking alongside people you have never met yet know better than your own image." Angela Konrad

"What a brilliant piece of theatre. The story, the characters, the performances, all stellar. The characters felt familiar to me, three dimensional and not dichotomous good/evil, they were real imperfect humans. The performances were true and nuanced and so well performed that the people I know disappeared very quickly leaving me happily surfing along in the story with the characters. I have now filed Shauna Johannesen in my "artists I love" organizer in the section with Lucia labelled "Awesome women writers who PT has had a hand in sharing with the world". Thanks for creating the theatre that has been able to do that for some many for so long." Maria Denholme

"Common Grace is well-written, well-acted, and well-directed. Congrats to all. Best theatre experience I've had in the city in some time." Lloyd Arnett

"We just arrived home from Common Grace and we were blown away by how fantastic it is!! Having been a doctor for 38 years and a palliative care physician for 27 of those years, this play is realistic to the core! It is true, in the deep sense of true. I have been in the middle of countless scenes like those in this play, all of them funny and scary and tragic (all at the same time) just like the interchanges in Common Grace. So good that it did not tidy up the loose ends - that seldom happens in real life - but the grace that was there so beautifully and subtly is one of the things that gives me the passion to continue to care for patients and families at the end of life. The resilience of the human spirit and the power of love in the midst of life's messes never cease to amaze and renew me. Thank you for supporting the young artists and believing in them. Thank you to all who worked to make Common Grace uncommonly wonderful." Margaret Cottle, MD, CCFP (Palliative Care)

"This play was a wonderful reflection on the nature of grief, thwarted desire, and what happens when you’re forced to confront just what you turned your back on." | Roxanne Kalenborn, Fun! Fun! Vancouver

"Directed by Ron Reed on Carolyn Rapanos’s realistic set, the performances are strong and committed... Mortensen takes Miriam through a huge transformation... Kerri Norris’s Carol is a salt-of-the-earth mother and Cunningham’s Alanna endears herself to us with her sweetness tinged with sardonic wit. Rebecca De Boer makes a furiously explosive Abby." | Jo Ledingham

"There’s wit in Common Grace. And heart." | Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

"There is an authentic connection between the trio [Shauna Johannesen, Julie Lynn Mortensen, and Cara Cunningham] when they are on stage together. In her professional stage debut, Cunningham is particularly good here as the youngest of the siblings. Carl Kennedy brings a wonderfully understated performance as Pastor Dan" | Mark Robins, Vancouver Presents

"Common Grace is filled with surprises, so be prepared for an emotional ride. Be ready to laugh more than you expected too." | Daniel Chai, VancityBuzz

"Loved Common Grace at @PacificTheatre! Great play with honest, real characters, and excellent performances all around." | @CaptiveThunder, Twitter

"Amid the dark realism, punctuations of humour break the tension. The production nicely marries Johannesen’s clever writing and the cast’s outstanding timing." | Robin Lawrence, The MB Herald

"This show was right up there on our list of best ever PT productions. So well cast, brilliant acting and one of THE BEST SETS. Well done, all. I've already started word of mouth advertising and might just have to come again." | longtime subscriber

common grace | costume design

The costume design for COMMON GRACE is deceptively simple.  Sure, they're wearing everyday, contemporary clothing, but finding clothes that feel comfortable and worn that support each character's story is a challenge.  We love what designer Amy McDougall came up with!  Here are some shots from when she presented her concepts to the cast.

common grace | sunday matinees

This weekend and next we're breaking tradition with some Sunday matinees for COMMON GRACE!

throwback thursday | shauna johannesen in wittenberg

We've known Shauna Johannesen for a long time, and our long-term audiences may remember her from WITTENBERG.  Here's a little Throwback Thursday fun looking at the various characters she played in that show.

common grace | show photos

Here's a batch of photos from COMMON GRACE.  

common grace | opening night photos

We had a great opening of COMMON GRACE on Friday!  Thanks to all who came out, below are some shots from the post-show reception.

common grace | soundtrack

Rick Colhoun's selections for the soundtrack of Common Grace add up to a pretty great jazz playlist. Here's a rundown of the tunes, with links to online sources.

"I'd like to play something from Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis.

It's one of Dad's favourite albums. It's perfect."

Bewitched | Paul Desmond, "Cool Imagination" / "Easy Living"

Almost Blue | Chet Baker

Autumn Leaves | Cannonball Adderly & Miles Davis, "Somethin' Else"

Song For My Father | Horace Silver, "Song For My Father"

So What | Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue"

Blue Train | John Coltrane, "Blue Train"

I Want Jesus To Walk With Me | Nelson Boschman, "Keeping Time Vol. 2"

Blue In Green | Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"

Some Other Time | Bill Evans, "Everybody Digs Bill Evans" 

Marionette | Marvin Stamm, "Mystery Man"

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered | Brad Mehldau, "The Art Of The Trio, Vol. 3"

Blackbird | Brad Mehldau, "The Art of the Trio, Vol. 1"

common grace | meet the creative team

Here are the fine artists who are helping COMMON GRACE come together behind the scenes.

Ron Reed - Director
Kim Larson - Assistant Director
Tanya Schwaerzle - Stage Manager
Carolyn Rapanos - Set Designer
Matt Frankish - Lighting Designer
Amy McDougall - Costume Designer
Frances Henry - Properties Manager
Rick Colhoun - Sound Designer (not pictured)

common grace | rehearsal photos

We popped into COMMON GRACE rehearsal the other day and took a few shots of the team working a scene.  Here's your peek inside the process!

common grace | subscriber appreciation saturday

It's time for another Subscriber Appreciation Saturday!  For COMMON GRACE we'll jump into the world of playwriting and our Working With play development group!

Subscriber Appreciation Saturday: COMMON GRACE
Saturday, January 30th at 3:30 (approximately - following matinee performance)

Get a window into playwriting and the plays that Pacific Theatre's Working With writers are developing!  Join Ron Reed, Shauna Johannesen, and other playwrights in the Working With play development group as they discuss the process of writing and developing plays.  Hear portions of brand new scripts and learn more about how they discuss, critique, and encourage one another.  Refreshments available.

RSVP to Jess: apprentices@pacifictheatre.org

common grace | advance photos

We just did our advance photo shoot for COMMON GRACE!  Thanks to Emily Cooper for a great shoot.

common grace | first rehearsal

This morning was the first reading of COMMON GRACE.