Skip to main content
  • Publicity image from Mother
Studio Theatre
May 18 – October 13
Modern

MOTHER'S DAUGHTER

by Kate Hennig
Director Alan Dilworth
World première commissioned by the Stratford Festival

Audience Advisory »

THE MAKING OF A KILLER QUEEN

Upon the death of Edward VI, the princess Mary – daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon – easily wrests the throne from Edward’s official heir. But Mary remains haunted by her mother’s ghost, urging her toward the course that will earn her the nickname of Bloody Mary.

Following The Last Wife and The Virgin Trial, this fascinating exploration of women, power and the nature of leadership concludes Hennig’s brilliant Queenmaker Trilogy.

House Program: Mother's Daughter

Production support is generously provided by Charles Beall & Karon Bales, by Dr. Robert & Roberta Sokol, by Sylvia Soyka, and by Catherine & David Wilkes.

Support for the creation of Mother’s Daughter was generously provided by The Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program and by Charles Beall & Karon Bales.

Support for the 2019 season of the Studio Theatre is generously provided by Sandra & Jim Pitblado.

2019 publicity photography by David Cooper.

CAST & CREATIVE

CAST

    Portrait of Shannon Taylor
    Shannon Taylor
    Mary
    2019: Mary in Mother's Daughter and Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible. Fifth season. Stratford: Twelfth Night (Olivia), The School for Scandal (Lady Teazle), Shakespeare in Love (Viola), The Hypochondriac (Angélique), The Diary of Anne Frank (Margot Frank), Oedipus Rex (Priest), She Stoops to Conquer (Rose), The Sound of Music (Liesl), Inherit the Wind. Elsewhere (selected): A Doll's House (RMTC); King Charles III (Mirvish/Studio 180); The Wars (Grand Theatre); The Road to Mecca (Soulpepper); Pride and Prejudice (NAC/Theatre Calgary); The Jones Boy (Surface/Underground); Salt-Water Moon (Thousand Islands Playhouse); A Midsummer Night's Dream, Little Women: The Musical (Citadel Theatre); The Madonna Painter (Factory Theatre). Film/TV: Private Eyes, MayDay, Eloise. Training: Birmingham Conservatory; Ryerson Theatre School (BFA). Awards: Mary Savidge Award; Dora nomination for Outstanding Performance. Et cetera: Shannon dedicates this season to the loving memory of Papa Taylor and Papa Whittle.
    Portrait of Beryl Bain
    Beryl Bain
    Bassett
    2019: Bassett in Mother's Daughter and Sarah Good in The Crucible. Second season. Stratford: Charlotte Brontë in Brontë: The World Without, Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, Mammon, Uriel in Paradise Lost (2018). Elsewhere: How Black Mothers Say I Love You (Factory Theatre/Girls In Bow Ties), The Mountaintop (Grand Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Theatre NorthWest), The Living by Colleen Wagner (SummerWorks 2015), Complex (SummerWorks 2014), The Mountaintop (Theatre Calgary - Betty Mitchell Award nomination, Calgary Critics Award nomination 2014), Dirty Butterfly (Bound to Create/Obsidian Theatre - Critic's Pick, NOW Magazine), Awake (Expect Theatre), Race (Theatre Yes), The Women, Born Yesterday, The Stepmother, After the Dance (Shaw Festival), The Little Prince (Grand Theatre). Film/TV: Suits, Awake (Best Actress nomination, Miami Urban Film Festival), The Firm, Rogue, Warehouse 13, Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft). Training: BFA York University. Instagram: @berylbain.
    Portrait of Jessica B. Hill
    Jessica B. Hill
    Bess, Anne
    2019: Bess, Anne in Mother's Daughter and Ann Putnam in The Crucible. Fifth season. Stratford: Antipholus of Syracuse (The Comedy of Errors), Emily (Brontë: The World Without), Gabriel/Beelzebub (Paradise Lost), Isabella (The Changeling), Lydia Lubey (All My Sons), Lola (Bunny), Dame Pliant (The Alchemist). Elsewhere: Ilona in The Play's the Thing, Petra in An Enemy of the People (Segal Centre); Lena Horne in Joe Louis: An American Romance (Infinithéâtre); Holly in The Lady Smith (Black Theatre Workshop); Scapin, Much Ado About Nothing (Repercussion Theatre). Film/TV: Assassin's Creed: Origins (Ubisoft), 30 vies (Radio-Canada), The Battle of Wills (Informaction). Training: Birmingham Conservatory; McGill University; Dawson College. Awards: Mary Savidge Award (2016); Elsa Bolam Award (2006); Brian Cloutte Award (2005). Online: jessicabhill.com, @jessicabhill. Et cetera: Love and Gratitude.
    Portrait of Irene Poole
    Irene Poole
    Catalina
    2019: Queen Katherine in Henry VIII,  Catalina in Mother's Daughter and understudy in The Crucible. Sixth  season. Stratford: Jean Louise Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Cassius in Julius Caesar, Breath of Kings, Kate in The Little Years, Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew, Olga in Three Sisters. Elsewhere: Happy Place, The Gigli Concert (Soulpepper); How Do I Love Thee? (Canadian Rep); The Bakelite Masterpiece, The Little Years (Tarragon Theatre); Manon, Sandra and the Virgin Mary (Buddies in Bad Times); Escape from Happiness, Better Living, Fighting Words, The Glace Bay Miners' Museum (Factory Theatre); Age of Arousal (ATP). Film/TV: Indian Horse (Elevation Pictures, TIFF, 2017), Cardinal, Rookie Blue, Reign, Murdoch Mysteries, Republic of Doyle, Carrie (MGM), Breakout Kings. Awards: Dora Awards for The Little Years, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Leisure Society; nominations for How Do I Love Thee? and Happy Place.
    Portrait of Andrea Rankin
    Andrea Rankin
    Jane
    2019: Jane in Mother's Daughter and appears in The Crucible. Second season. Stratford: Anne Brontë in Brontë: The World Without, Astoreth/Urania in Paradise Lost, Officer in The Comedy of Errors. Elsewhere: Cordelia in King Lear, Sarah in Shakespeare's Rebel (Bard on the Beach); Cordelia in King Lear, Luciana in The Comedy of Errors (Theatre Calgary); Desdemona in Othello (Shakespeare Company); Molly Aster in Peter and the Starcatcher, Fanny in A Christmas Carol, Ginger Rogers in Make Mine Love (Citadel); Crissy in Hair (Mayfield); Macbeth, Hansel & Gretel (Edmonton Opera); Juliet in Fair Verona (Lost & Gone); Moth in Love's Labour's Lost, Wife in Blood Wedding, Marie in Pains of Youth (Studio Theatre). Voiceover: Mass Effect 3 (EA Games). Training: Birmingham Conservatory. BFA, UofA. Awards: Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Excellence (UofA). Dasha Goody Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre. Online: @heyandrearankin; andrea-rankin.com.
    Portrait of Maria Vacratsis
    Maria Vacratsis
    Susan
    2019: Susan in Mother's Daughter and Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible. Fourth season. Stratford: The Boys From Syracuse; Pericles; Winter's Tale; Agamemnon; Electra; The Flies; The Swanne; The Elephant Song.Elsewhere: Through the Leaves, Domesticated (Company Theatre); Escaped Alone, Home, Endgame, You Can't Take It With You, The Way of the World, Twelfth Night, A Streetcar Named Desire (Soulpepper); The Old Ladies (Shaw); Prince Hamlet (Why Not Theatre); Cake & Dirt, Slavs! (Tarragon); The Piper, Beating Heart Cadaver, King Lear (Necessary Angel); Such Creatures (Passe Muraille); Glorious, The House of Bernarda Alba (Canadian Stage); 2nd Nature (VideoCabaret); Romeo and Juliet (Persephone). Film/TV: Mamma Mia 2; My Big Fat Greek Wedding 1 and 2; Tommy Boy; Shoot 'Em Up; Jesse Stone - Lost in Paradise; recurring characters on Dino Dana, Rent-A-Goalie, Rick Mercer Report, Degrassi: The Next Generation. Awards: Two Doras plus one nomination; three Gemini nominations; one National Radio Award nomination.
    Portrait of Gordon Patrick White
    Gordon Patrick White
    Simon
    2019: Simon in Mother's Daughter and Ezekiel Cheever in The Crucible. Third season. Stratford: The Comedy of Errors, Napoli Milionaria!, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Treasure Island, The Breathing Hole. Elsewhere: Edgar, King Lear (NAC); Mooch, Where the Blood Mixes (Theatre NorthWest); Clov, Endgame (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador); Puck, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Stephenville); Titus, The Devil's Disciple (Neptune); Kemp, Vigil (Live Bait Theatre); Velveteen Rabbit, The Velveteen Rabbit (Theatre New Brunswick); Loomis, Our Eliza (Ship's Company Theatre); An Acre of Time (GCTC); Robbie, A Very Polite Genocide (Native Earth Performing Arts); Injun Joe/Fred, Dead White Writer on the Floor (Magnus Theatre). Film/TV: Haven, Mr. D, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, New Waterford Girl, Blackfly, Gracie's Choice, Trudeau II, Black Harbour, Charlie Zone, Picnicface. Training: BFA, Memorial University. Et cetera: Wela'lin to my family in Newfoundland, my friends in Nova Scotia, and all my relations on Turtle Island.
    Portrait of Déjah Dixon-Green
    Déjah Dixon-Green
    Understudy
    2019: Susanna Walcott in The Crucible and understudy in Mother's Daughter. Second season. Stratford: An Ideal Husband, Julius Caesar, To Kill a Mockingbird. Elsewhere: The Penelopiad (The Grand Theatre); Charmian in Antony and Cleopatra, Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing, Artemidorus in Julius Caesar (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); Chiza/Jade Tree in we could be clouds (New Words Festival); Goneril in Lear (National Theatre School of Canada); The Railway Children (Mirvish). Film/TV: Aaliyah in Until the Real Thing Comes Along, Iris in The Fall of Grace. Training: Earl Haig Claude Watson Arts and National Theatre School of Canada. Online: dejahdixongreen.com, @dejahdixongreen. Et cetera: Thank you to the many gems in my life that continue to help me follow my dreams… especially Mom, Dad, Melly, Antoine and Bryan. Dream big, work hard, never give up.
    Portrait of Jacklyn Francis
    Jacklyn Francis
    Understudy
    2019: Patience Maria and Marchioness of Dorset in Henry VIII and understudy in Mother's Daughter and The Crucible. Seventh season. Stratford: Jacklyn received the Tanya Award in recognition of her commitment to excellence during the 2018 season. Past seasons include To Kill a Mockingbird, Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, Madwoman of Chaillot, Pride and Prejudice, As You Like It, Richard III. Elsewhere: Citadel, Blyth Festival, Shakespeare in the Ruff, Canadian Stage, YPT, Theatre Northwest, Sudbury Theatre Centre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Resurgence Theatre, Theatre By the Bay, Brookstone Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times, Thought For Food, Pencil Kit Productions, The Troubled Souls Co-op, Equity Showcase Theatre, Toronto Fringe, SummerWorks. Film/TV: Re:Possessed Homes, Murdoch Mysteries, Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Missing, Train 48, Do No Harm, Starhunter 2300, It's Always Something, Our Hero, The City, FX: The Series, Falling Fire. Training: George Brown Theatre School, Banff/Citadel Robbins Academy. Awards: Jean A. Chalmers Award.
    Portrait of Brad Hodder
    Brad Hodder
    Understudy

    2019: Assistant director of and understudy in The Crucible, First Gentleman and Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury in Henry VIII and understudy in Mother's Daughter. Eighth season. Stratford: Principals in An Ideal Husband, To Kill a Mockingbird, Julius Caesar, The Virgin Trial, Shakespeare in Love, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, She Stoops to Conquer, King Lear, Othello; appeared in Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, Oedipus Rex, The Beaux' Stratagem, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mary Stuart, Measure for Measure, Cymbeline, Elektra. Elsewhere: Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (Neptune); Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (Grand); Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (c2c). Directing: 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love Suicide, Fleeto, Oh, the Humanity (Tiny Room); Henry IV: I, Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Perchance); The Leisure Society, Autobahn, The Stendhal Syndrome (c2c). Associate directing: Lear, Measure for Measure, The Winter's Tale (Groundling). Film/TV: Reign (CW); Republic of Doyle, Diverted, Above and Beyond (CBC). Training: BFA (Acting), University of Alberta.

    Portrait of Alexandra Lainfiesta
    Alexandra Lainfiesta
    Understudy
    2019: Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII, appears in The Crucible and understudy in Mother's Daughter. Second season. Stratford: Adriana in The Comedy of Errors, Assunta in Napoli Milionaria! and appeared in The Tempest. Elsewhere: Green Lake (Solo Collective), Good Day and Good Night (Carousel Theatre), West Side Story (Theatre Under the Stars), El Jinete: A Mariachi Opera (Puente Theatre). Film/TV: Bella Ciao! (Commercial Drive Productions), Un Día de Sol (Códice Cinema). Training: Canadian College of Performing Arts, Studio 58, Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Awards: Jessie Richardson Award (Best Actor in a Lead Role: Green Lake), Ovation Award nomination (Best Supporting Actor: Anita in West Side Story), Sidney J. Risk Foundation and Studio 58 Acting Award, Outstanding Emerging Playwright Award (CCPA). Et cetera: Up next you can catch Alexandra in Carmen Aguirre's world première of Anywhere But Here with Electric Company.

CREATIVE

    Kate Hennig
    Playwright

    2019: Playwright of Mother's Daughter. Kate's plays have the great good fortune to be supported by the Stratford Festival, and to have the enthusiastic appreciation of the Festival audiences. The Last Wife premièred at the Stratford Festival in 2015, has since had more than 10 productions across Canada and the United States, and will première in Sydney, Australia, this September. The Virgin Trial won the Carol Bolt Award for Best New Play 2017, was short-listed for the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama, and has had several subsequent regional productions. For the Shaw Festival, Kate has translated and adapted Cyrano de Bergerac, playing this season, and Oscar Wilde's stories for children, Wilde Tales. Kate's plays are published by Playwrights Canada Press. Kate is the Associate Artistic Director at the Shaw Festival. katehennig.com. 

    Alan Dilworth
    Director
    2019: Director of Mother's Daughter. Fifth season. Stratford: Director: The Virgin Trial, The Last Wife. Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction: Elektra, The Little Years. Elsewhere: Director: Wedding at Aulis, Idomeneus, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Incident at Vichy, Happy Place, Eurydice, Twelve Angry Men, La Ronde (Soulpepper); This Is War (Porta Theatre, Athens); Small Axe (Project: Humanity, Theatre Centre); The De Chardin Project, Crash (Passe Muraille); The Middle Place (Project: Humanity, Passe Muraille, CanStage); If We Were Birds (Tarragon); The Unforgetting (Sheep No Wool). Training: MFA Directing, York University. Awards: Inaugural Christopher Plummer Award; Toronto Theatre Critics Award; seven directing Dora Award nominations; three SummerWorks Jury Prizes. Et cetera: Alan was the 2018 Acting Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre.
    Lorenzo Savoini
    Designer
    2019: Designer of Mother's Daughter and set designer of The Front Page. Seventh season. Stratford: The Two Gentleman of Verona - set and lighting; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Timon of Athens, Agamemnon, Electra, Bereav'd of Light, Fellini Radio Plays, Walk Right Up, Shadows - set; The Flies - set and costumes. Elsewhere: Designs for Soulpepper, Pershing Square Theatre (Off-Broadway), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, The Grand Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Citadel Theatre, MTC, Tarragon Theatre, Neptune Theatre, NAC, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Blyth Festival, The Globe Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Buddies in Bad Times, Theatrefront. His design for Soulpepper's Of Human Bondage was selected to represent Canada at the 2015 Prague Quadrennial. Awards: Dora Awards for set and lighting design for Of Human Bondage, Soulpepper Theatre. Et cetera: Lorenzo is the Director of Design for Soulpepper Theatre Company and is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada. Online:  lorenzosavoini.com.
    Kimberly Purtell
    Lighting Designer
    Debashis Sinha
    Sound Designer
    2019: Composer and sound designer of The Crucible and sound designer of Mother's Daughter and Nathan the Wise. Third season. Stratford: Composer and sound designer of Treasure Island, The Changeling, Breath of Kings; sound designer of The Aeneid. Elsewhere: Music and sound for Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Soulpepper, Volcano Theatre, Theatre Centre, Pleiades, Project Humanity, Tribal Crackling Wind, and others; appearances at Madrid Abierto, Banff Centre, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Guelph Jazz Festival, Sound Symposium, ISEA, Art Gallery of Ontario and other venues. Radio/Recordings: Radio works broadcast on Deutschlandradio Kultur, ORF Kunstradio, Radio National España, Banff New Media Institute, NAISA; numerous solo recordings, audio artworks, and audiovisual and live cinema projects. Awards: Dora Awards for Original Music and Sound for Crash (Theatre Passe Muraille) and We Are Proud to Present… (Theatre Centre/Why Not), XIV Radio Works Prize (Centro para la Difusión de la Música Contemporanea).
    Bob White
    Dramaturge
    2019:  Director of The Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program. Dramaturge of Mother's Daughter, Birds of a Kind and The Front Page. 11th season. Stratford: Dramaturgy credits include Paradise Lost, Brontë: The World Without, The Breathing Hole, The Virgin Trial, Bunny, The Last Wife, Christina, The Girl King, Taking Shakespeare and Hirsch. Elsewhere: Artistic Director, Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary (1999 to 2009); Co-Director, Banff Playwrights Colony (1997 to 2009); Artistic Director, Factory Theatre, Toronto (1979 to 1987). Director of over 75 productions from Cow Head, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia, and places in between, but mostly in Calgary and Toronto. Training: Loyola College, Montreal, and University of Alberta. Awards: Member, Order of Canada; Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD), University of Calgary; eight Betty Mitchell Award nominations and three wins: "Outstanding Direction" (Calgary). In 2018, Bob was awarded the GE Lessing Award for Career Achievement by the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
    Kim Lott
    Stage Manager
    2019: Production stage manager of the Studio Theatre. Stage manager of Mother's Daughter. 22nd season. Stratford: Stage manager credits (selected): The Matchmaker, Titus Andronicus, Evita, West Side Story. Assistant stage manager credits (selected): Treasure Island, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, South Pacific, The King and I, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing. Elsewhere: Stage manager credits (selected): Ring of Fire, Hana's Suitcase, Annie, Twist and Shout (Grand Theatre); My Fair Lady (Drayton Entertainment). Assistant stage manager credits (selected): The Spitfire Grill, Proof (Grand Theatre); Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Opera Ontario); The Who's Tommy (Elgin Theatre). Et cetera: Gratitude to my beautiful loved ones I am blessed to celebrate with every day and share energy, enthusiasm, breakfast, joy, laughter and unconditional love. Be well & shine.
    Katherine Arcus
    Assistant Stage Manager
    2019: Assistant stage manager of Mother's Daughter and The Crucible. 10th season. Stratford: Coriolanus, The Tempest, The School for Scandal, Tartuffe, Breath of Kings, She Stoops to Conquer, The Last Wife, Mother Courage, Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline, Elektra, The Winter's Tale, Three Sisters, Bartholomew Fair. Elsewhere: Credits include Blue Remembered Hills U.K. tour (Northern Stage); Anne of Green Gables: The Musical, The Full Monty (Charlottetown Festival); Head à Tête (Theatre Direct); The Sound of Music (Mirvish); Cinderella (Ross Petty Productions); Homebody/Kabul (Mercury Theatre). Film/TV: Writers' assistant for Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town (CBC), story coordinator for Less Than Kind (HBO Canada), Picnicface (Comedy Network), Zerby Derby (TVO). Training: Technical theatre program at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Et cetera: Thank you to mom and dad for all your love and support.
    Marie Fewer-Muncic
    Production Stage Manager
    2019: Production stage manager of the Studio Theatre. 13th season. Stratford: Stage manager: Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet (2017), Bunny, Possible Worlds, Hirsch. Assistant stage manager: Tartuffe, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Evita, Kiss Me, Kate, Macbeth, Rice Boy, Romeo and Juliet (2008), Caesar and Cleopatra, My One and Only, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Duchess of Malfi, The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead. Apprentice stage manager: Noises Off. Elsewhere: Theatre Sheridan, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Erindale, Theatre Direct Canada/Eldritch Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille/Obsidian Theatre Company, Bluewater Summer Playhouse, Charlottetown Festival. Training: Sheridan College. Et cetera: Much love to Emily and Michael.
    Maxwell T. Wilson
    Production Stage Manager
    2019: Production stage manager of the Studio Theatre and stage manager of Nathan the Wise. 21st season. Stratford (selected): An Ideal Husband, Treasure Island, The Breathing Hole, Breath of Kings: Rebellion, Carousel, Man of La Mancha, The Three Musketeers, Taking Shakespeare, Henry V, Hosanna, Peter Pan, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Cabaret, South Pacific, My One and Only, The Winter's Tale and Death of a Salesman. Elsewhere: Max's career spans over 30 years, including work with Citadel Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Edmonton Opera, Opera Atelier, the Canadian Opera Company, Canadian Stage, Young People's Theatre and Mirvish Productions. Training: BA, University of Lethbridge. Awards: 2012 and 2017 Guthrie Award. Et cetera: For a change, Max works with a leading purveyor of orchid-growing supplies at ravenvision.ca.

PLAY SCHEDULE

Take advantage of various special deals to save on tickets!
There are no events matching your search criteria!

STUDIO THEATRE  
To find out more about all our theatres, please visit the Theatre Maps & Guides page.