Pacific Theatre's Wakey, Wakey remount offers profound meditations on life, October 15 to November 2

Will Eno’s powerful play garnered five Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominations with its Canadian premiere in 2021

Craig Erickson in *Wakey, Wakey*. Photo by Jalen Saip

Pacific Theatre presents Wakey, Wakey from October 15 to November 2

WHEN WAKEY, WAKEY premiered off Broadway in 2017, the New York Times called it a “glowingly dark, profoundly moving” work that encompasses “a master’s blend” of emotion.

Four years later, Will Eno’s play had its Canadian debut at Pacific Theatre, garnering five Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominations for its creative team helmed by director Kaitlin Williams. Now, the production is returning to the Pacific Theatre stage for a remount from October 15 to November 2, directed by Williams once more.

The play centres on a man, known simply as Guy, who has reached the end of his life. He wakes in a wheelchair in an empty room with only a stack of flashcards to interpret before the world goes dark. Video projections designed by Wladimiro Woyno Rodriguez enhance Guy’s touching monologues, showing the audience snippets of his memories. His stories range from disorienting to joyful, capturing the essence of what it means to be human.

Pacific Theatre’s upcoming production will star the same cast as its 2021 run: Craig Erickson as Guy and Agnes Tong as Lisa, Guy’s home-care aide who enters late in the story, offering a bit more insight into his ambiguous life history.

Wakey, Wakey marks the halfway point in Pacific Theatre’s fall-only season. The company will pause its programming in the new year when it leaves the historic Chalmers Heritage Building—its home of three decades—owing to the fact that it is in need of more than $500,000 worth of major structural upgrades.

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Emily Lyth

Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.

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