In 1935, celebrated photographer and surrealist artist Dora Maar meets Pablo Picasso in a Paris café, igniting a charged collision of art and desire. Though Dora stands firmly on her own artistic path, their bond soon draws her into Picasso’s overpowering orbit. Across a decade marked by World War II and the occupation of France, she slowly sets aside her own work to sustain his brilliance. As their relationship fractures, Dora confronts the cost of becoming a muse—questioning what remains of her identity and what Picasso would be without her presence. Dora Maar: the wicked one is a theatrical exploration of love, obsession, artistic sacrifice, and the haunting search for self in the shadow of genius.
DORA MAAR: the wicked one is a one-woman play, written by Beth Graham and Daniela Vlaskalic, directed by Blake Brooker and featuring Daniela Vlaskalic as the surrealist photographer and painter, Dora Maar. The play is based on true events.
June 21st - 25rd 2026
CREATIVE TEAM
Dora Maar - Daniela Vlaskalic
Playwrights - Beth Graham & Daniela Vlaskalic
Producer - Hit & Myth/Joel Cochrane
Director – Blake Brooker
Stage Manager – Beth Graham
Lighting Design – David Fraser
Sound Design – Peter Moller
Costume Design – Narda McCarroll
Sculpture Design - T. Erin Gruber
DORA MAAR: the wicked one
By Daniela Vlaskalic and Beth Graham
In Hypothetical Baby, Rachel Cairns mixes data and drama to present an autobiographical work that dares to publicly talk about abortion the way we do privately — with neurotic vulnerability, unflinching honesty, and frank irreverence.
This darkly hilarious one-person show grapples with the personal and societal factors that shape our reproductive lives and the intricate relationship between choice, change, and loss. Cairns—named “one of the country’s most original actors” by The Globe & Mail and recognized with the publications Critic’s Pick—offers up a searingly honest, laugh-out-loud, and nuanced exploration of the practical and existential considerations involved in deciding whether to be, or not to be, a parent.
September 2nd - 13th 2026
CREATIVE TEAM
Rachel Cairns - Writer/Performer
Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster - Director
Julia Howman - Production Designer
Cosette Pin - Sound Designer
Taylor Young - Production Stage Manager
Hypothetical Baby
Written and Performed by Rachel Cairns
The Limited Engagement Series is sponsored by: Laura Dinner and Richard Rooney
Meet the Dora Maar Team
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Daniela is thrilled to be returning to Here For Now Theatre. Other HFN credits include Stick Around (2025), Ale Wives (2022). Daniela has worked across Canada, selected credits include: Stratford Festival, RMTC, Theatre Calgary, ATP, Citadel Theatre, Grand Theatre, Canadian Stage, NAC, Tarragon, Theatre Aquarius, Drayton Entertainment and many more. Film/TV credits include: Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Private Eyes (Global) and The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Muse Productions). As a playwright, Daniela’s plays include, The Fox (world premiere Here For Now 2023), Sleight of Mind. She has also co-written Mules, Comrades, and the internationally acclaimed and multiple award-winning play The Drowning Girls (co-written with Beth Graham & Charlie Tomlinson) which has received over 200 productions worldwide and is published by Playwrights Canada Press.
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As a Calgary-based artist, David works extensively in theatre, dance and opera with designs being presented across the country from the Vancouver Opera in British Columbia, to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Additional international work includes designs presented with Choreographers, Tania Alvarado, and Pamela Tzeng, and lighting designs for the 2015 and 2019 English Canadian Exhibition at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space and Design, for which he was also the Director of Production. Nominated for a Jessie Richardson Award, three Betty Mitchell Awards, a SATA Award and 12 Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards, David has been the recipient thrice for his designs.
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Beth Graham is a playwright and actor. Her plays and collaborations have been produced across the country and internationally. She has been a finalist for the Governor General’s Award and has received the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Alberta Literary Award twice. Beth’s plays and co-creations include Mermaid Legs, The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble, Weasel, Pretty Goblins, and The Drowning Girls (co-creator). Recently, Beth was the writer-in-residence at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.
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Peter Moller has run Egg Press Co., a Calgary-based graphic and sound design establishment, since 1976. He is the recipient of a number of Betty Mitchell and Elizabeth Sterling Haynes awards and nominations for his theatre sound designs. Recent designs: Dream Machine (One Yellow Rabbit), Indians & Cowboys, The Good, The Bad & The Treaty (One Yellow Rabbit & Making Treaty 7), The Gold Rush REDUX (OYR High Performance Rodeo); Modern Times REDUX (The GRAND); 1958, a sound design presented at Calgary’s Arts Commons. To see and hear Peter’s work, please visit eggpress.ca
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Joel Cochrane is the artistic producer of Hit & Myth, an independent professional theatre company, based in Calgary, that has produced shows across the country. Joel has produced over 40 shows, ranging from modern to classical to alternative. Hit & Myth has collaborated with numerous theatre companies. Recent producing credits include Botticelli in the Fire, Mules, Lewis and Tolkien, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Equivocation, Evil Dead: The Musical, Men Express Their Feelings, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Race, The Pillowman.
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Narda is a set, costume and lighting designer currently based in Calgary. She particularly enjoys collaborating on new Canadian Plays. Favourite designs for Canadian premières she’s collaborated on include: Mermaid Legs (SkirtsAfire); Vigilante (Catalyst Theatre); Vimy, Einstein’s Gift, Extinction Song, The Forbidden Phoenix (Citadel Theatre); Cowgirl Up, To the Light, Gracie, Cockroach, The Circle (Alberta Theatre Projects); The Drowning Girls (ATP/Bent out of Shape/Canadian Tour); Glory (Western Canada Theatre/ATP/Canadian Tour); Cipher (Vertigo Theatre/Arts Club); Brontë: The World Without (Stratford Festival). Narda was the costume designer for The Freewill Shakespeare Festival in Edmonton for 16 seasons. She also designed the costumes for the feature film Cut Bank. See her work at: https://narda.ca/
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One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre co-founder and Artistic Director, Blake is a graduate of the University of Calgary. He has created and collaborated on many projects as writer, director, or dramaturge, specializing in new works. Blake is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
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T. Erin Gruber is an award-winning set, lighting, costume and projected media designer. She is an Assistant Professor in Theatre Design (Lighting) at the University of Alberta and works professionally across Canada and around the world. In June 2019 her work was featured at the Prague Quadrennial International Design Exhibition. In 2021 she co-curated “Level UP” an online symposium presented by the Associate Designers of Canada that attracted hundreds of participants from around the world. Selected Award-winning projects: Cycle (Thou Art Here Theatre, Sterling Award for Multimedia Design), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (Citadel Theatre and RMTC, Sterling Award for Lighting Design). For more information visit her online: eringruber.com, levelup.designers.ca
Meet the Hypothetical Baby Team
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Rachel Cairns is a Toronto-based creator currently developing both the memoir and film adaptations of her critically acclaimed play Hypothetical Baby, in partnership with ECW Press and with support from Telefilm. She is the creator and host of Aborsh, a Planned Parenthood Choice Award–winning podcast exploring abortion in Canada through conversations with experts, activists, and people across the country. Rachel teaches at George Brown’s School of Media and Performing Arts and directs audiobooks for Penguin Random House. She is also a recent alum of the Broadbent Institute’s Emerging Leaders Program a national fellowship for emerging progressive leaders
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Cosette Pin is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in sound, lighting, projection, and scenic design for theatre and live performance. Their recent Off-Broadway credits include Stranger Sings! (sound design) and The Big Reveal: Live Show! (production design, La MaMa). Select design credits include Hypothetical Baby (Tarragon), 1999 (WAM Theatre), Shedding a Skin (Nightwood), Velour: A Drag Spectacular (Tectonic Theatre Project), Box 4901 (Buddies in Bad Times), and Third Law (WWTNS?). They are a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and have received nominations for the Craig Noel Award and Dora Mavor Moore Award.
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Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster is a director, performer, and artistic leader of The Howland Company. She recently served as Assistant Artistic Director at Tarragon Theatre and is a former resident artist with Soulpepper Theatre. Her directing credits include The Wolves (Howland/Crow’s – Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Outstanding Ensemble), Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon – Dora Nomination for Outstanding Direction), The Home Project (Howland/Native Earth/Soulpepper – 5 Dora nominations), and Cannibal (Next Stage Festival). Courtney has performed extensively across Canada, winning multiple Dora Awards for Best Ensemble and appearing twice on Now Magazine’s Top Ten Theatre Artists list. She is also a co-creator of the children’s musical podcast Stillwater School for Mosquitos and teaches at York University.
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Julia Howman is a multidisciplinary designer and production manager with a special interest in projection design and the integration of video with live performance. She has served as Production and Facilities Manager at Native Earth Performing Arts since 2023. Recent design credits include Hypothetical Baby (The Howland Company/ Nightwood Theatre, 2023/2025), The Chemical Valley Project (various productions, 2017–2024), Access Me (Boys in Chairs Collective), and Distant Early Warning (Buddies in Bad Times). Julia is a settler on Turtle Island, was raised in Doha, Qatar, and lives in Tkaronto.
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Taylor Young is a Toronto-based stage manager and production manager, originally from Calgary, AB. They hold a BFA in Performance Production from Toronto Metropolitan University. Taylor has worked with a wide range of dance and theatre companies, including Dance Made in Canada, Pencil Kit Productions, Kaeja d’Dance, ProArteDanza, Citadel + Compagnie, Toronto Dance Theatre, Rock Bottom Movement, and Fall for Dance North.