Ale Wives
by Mark Weatherley
Sponsored by Jobsite Brewing Co.
Beer Brewers.
700 years ago.
Almost exclusively women.
These were the Alewives. Inventive, industrious, and determined women, always having to kick back at a society that distrusted and dismissed female entrepreneurs.
This is the story of two of them.
Agnes and Margaret are two brewers in a small English village in the 1300s, forced to fight the Reeve, the priest, the Aletaster (yeah that really was a thing) and the Bailiff for the right to chart their own destiny.
Raucous, raunchy, witty, thought provoking, and oddly timely considering it takes place in the middle ages
Please be advised that there is mature content in this production, including swearing, references of a sexual nature and consumption of alcohol.
Cast and Creative
Written by: Mark Weatherley
Directed by: Sara-Jeanne Hosie
Cast: Lauren Bowler, Daniela Vlaskalic and Mark Weatherley
Stage Management: Patrice Bowler
Lighting and Sound Design: Stephen Degenstein
Costume and Set Design: Bonnie Deakin
Sara-Jeanne Hosie
With over 25 years in the business, Sara-Jeanne straddles many avenues; Director, Choreographer, Actor and Playwright. With a passion for new work she is thrilled to be directing at the Here For Now Festival.
Directing/Choreography Credits include: Private Lives (Choreographer, Stratford Festival); A Little Night Music, Man of La Mancha (Associate Director, Stratford Festival); Out of Order (Drayton); Kiss of the Spider Woman (Eclipse-Dora Nomination for best choreography) ; My Fair Lady, (Bluebridge), BuddyHolly (Chemainus), Godspell, Altar Boyz, SUDS (Arts Club) and The Executive Director of the Eclipse Theatre Company 2018-2019.
In February of 2020, Sara-Jeanne premiered her musical Talking Sex On Sunday at the Firehall Arts Centre. It was nominated for best production in the Jessie Richardson Awards. During the pandemic, SJ explored yet another avenue by opening a small business on York Street: FAWN. www.fawnoveryou.ca
Mark Weatherley
Mark Weatherley is a playwright, actor, director, musician, composer, lyricist, wine lover, beer brewer, decent cook, reasonable raconteur, and a fiercly passionate live theatre lover. Originally from Vancouver he has lived in Stratford with his family for 13 years. As an actor he has performed on stages throughout North America, the United Kingdom and Israel. Last year he wrote and performed in The Wonder of it All for the Here For Now Festival which then went on to have a successful run at the Lighthouse Festival, and will play this summer at the Victoria Playhouse on Prince Edward Island. He also wrote the book for last year's season opener, the musical The Tracks currently being developed into a two act and slated for next season at the Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia. Other plays staged by Here For Now are Whack! and his one person show Infinite Possibilities which he also performed. Other plays include Fitz Happens for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics, Framed! and Mozart and her Brother which premiered in Vancouver in May. He is thrilled to once again be part of the Here For Now Festival and wishes to thank everyone attending this festival for supporting work by local artists. Please enjoy Alewives and if you stick around after the show, I might just buy you a beer. Cheers!
Daniela Vlaskalic
Daniela is a multiple award-winning Canadian actor and playwright. As an actor she has appeared across the county with many of Canada’s major theatres; Stratford Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Theatre Calgary, Citadel Theatre, Globe Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse, Canadian Stage Company, Tarragon Theatre, Belfry Theatre, and many more. Film & Television credits included: Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Private Eyes (Global) and The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Muse Productions). As a playwright Daniela’s plays include, The Castaways and Sleight of Mind (world premiere in 2022). She has also co-written several plays including: The Last Train, Comrades, Mules, and the multiple award-winning play; The Drowning Girls. The Drowning Girls has received multiple productions nationally and internationally and is published by Canada Playwrights Press. Her latest collaboration, Dora Maar: the wicked one (with co-writer Beth Graham) recently premiered at the, High Performance Rodeo Festival in Calgary. Daniela lives in Toronto.
Lauren Bowler
I am so pleased to be joining Here For Now Theatre Company for the second time, after performing last year alongside my husband in The Tracks, a brand new two-hander written for us by our friend Mark Weatherley. Some of the companies my career has taken me to are the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, Arts Club Theatre, National Arts Centre, Firehall Arts Centre, Belfry Theatre, Chemainus Theatre Festival, Western Canada Theatre, and Theatre Calgary. I am a proud supporter and advocate for the work done by the organizations in the Sexual Rights Initiative through the UN. I round out my time as the co-owner of Great Wall Tea Company, and am opening up a second brick and mortar location this fall. Yes, I drink a lot of tea. Thanks for supporting this fabulous festival, and I hope you enjoy.
Patrice Bowler
I am a multi-disciplinary artist hailing from the west coast of British Columbia. Recent credits include Les Filles Du Roi (Raven Theatre/Fugue Theatre), The Annual Walk of Terror (Caravan Farm Theatre), Stories That Transform Us (Urban Ink), and Corey Payette: Live in Concert (Intrepid Theatre.) I have worked as a puppeteer on two parallel productions where giant sea goddess puppets educated the audience on the urgent topic of ocean health and climate change: Sedna (Urban Ink/Caravan Farm Theatre), and Storm (Vision Mechanics). This is my first summer living in Stratford, and to spend it working at the Here For Now Festival on all of these new productions is absolutely dreamy! Enjoy!
Stephen Degenstein
Stephen is thrilled to be on board with Here For Now Theatre as lighting and sound designer. Stephen has more than 600 production credits across Canada over the past 35 years; his theatre design credits include Stratford Festival, Drayton Entertainment, National Arts Centre, Native Earth Performing Arts and Neptune Theatre. Credits in Stratford include resident lighting designer for INNERchamber, set and lighting designer for Alternative Theatre Works where credits include lighting for The Wind in the Willows, set and lighting for The Bear, Yalta Game, Afterplay, Jewel, and A Tender Thing. In addition to creating multiple set designs for Off The Wall at Factory 163, Stephen has been the technical director for SpringWorks over the past 10 years and was the designer/technical director for The International Children’s Festival held in Stratford in 2016. Stephen has taught in various technical theatre programmes including The Performing Arts Prep Program at Sheridan College, Humber College and Fanshawe College. Stephen resides in Stratford with his wife, singer/songwriter Pamela Jane Gerrand.
Bonnie Deakin
Bonnie is very happy to be working and designing with Here For Now. Bonnie spent many years in the Design Department at The Stratford Festival and is grateful for all she learned working with some of the world’s greatest designers. She has designed many productions including “Hedda Gabler”, “Man of La Mancha”, “Mamma Mia!”, “Oklahoma”, “Les Miserables”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, and “Elf, the Musical” . She recently designed (pre pandemic) “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” for Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon, after designing many of their mainstage shows. She has designed for Neptune Theatre, The Charlottetown Festival, Theatre Northwest, and The Globe Theatre, to name a few. Bonnie lives in Stratford with her actor husband, Ian Deakin and son Robin.