House Program
October 16-25, 2025
RUNNING TIME
Approximately 2 hours plus a 20-minute intermission
AUDIENCE CONSIDERATIONS
This production is suitable for all ages 13+. Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt 2B contains non-toxic fog, coarse language, violence, prop weapons, gunshot noises and references to self-harm and suggestive themes.
CREATIVE TEAM
| LAUREN TAYLOR | Director |
| EMILY DOTSON† | Set & Props Designer |
| EMILY FRIESEN | Costume Designer |
| JONATHAN KIM† | Lighting Designer |
| MARY JANE COOMBER† | Sound Designer |
| ANGELA BEAULIEU | Stage Manager |
| DEVON VECCHIO | Assistant Stage Manager |
| MIKE KOVAC | Fight Director |
| LISA GOEBEL | Intimacy Director |
| EMMA KNOX | Props Builder & Buyer |
| YANTING QIU | Surtitle Translator |
CAST
| KATE BESWORTH | Sherlock Holmes |
| RAMI KAHLON | Dr. Joan Watson |
| ANITA WITTENBERG | Irene Adler, Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Drebber |
| MARK CHAVEZ | Inspector Lestrade, Elliott Monk, & Others |
With generous support of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
† Indicated designers on this production are represented by the Associated Designers of Canada, IATSE Local ADC659.
PRODUCTION CREW
| JACOB WAN | Head Sound |
| JAIMIE LIEVERS | Head Wardrobe |
| DARREN JOHN | Head Electrician |
| EMMA KNOX | Head Props |
| KEVIN LIANG | Head Carpenter |
| SAMANTHA YIXEN SUN | Head Video (Surtitles) |
Gateway Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the terms of the jointly negotiated Canadian Theatre Agreement.
Production crew are members of Local 118 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.).
MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT 2B is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.trwplays.com
Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt 2B was commissioned by and received its World Premiere produced by Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Stuart Carden, Artistic Director, Angela Gieras, Executive Director
Developed in the JAW: New Works Festival at Portland Center Stage; Marisa Wolf, Artistic Director; Cynthia Furhman, Managing Director
FROM LAUREN TAYLOR
This rollercoaster ride of crime fighting and deduction has several spoonfuls of sugar to help the medicine go down. The laughs providing balm for our age, and a delightful reminder that growth and change can occur right when we least expect it through our connection with others. Broken things can be fixed. And some mysteries…can just stay a mystery.
Bringing Kate Hamill’s 21st century take on Holmes and Watson to life has been an athletic feat for the actors to perform, and our rehearsals have been full of laughter. It’s also sparked conversations – 5 years on from the pandemic, it has been illuminating to reflect: where are we at now?
On behalf of our wonderful creative team and sparkling cast, we hope you enjoy this performance, as much as we have enjoyed making it for you.
Thank you for coming out to the theatre tonight. Your presence at this delightfully analogue art form that has brought human beings together for thousands of years means that you – yes, you – are a vital part of making the magic happen.
Trust the science! The game’s afoot!
– Lauren Taylor
Director of Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt 2B by Kate Hamill
BIOS
(In alphabetical order)
Angela Beaulieu
Angela Beaulieu
Stage Manager
Angela has been a professional Stage Manager since 1987. Her career has taken her to numerous cities in the United States, Ireland and across Canada. Some of her favorite theatre experiences include, Beaches, One Man, Two Guvnors, Theatre Calgary; Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer, Belfry Theatre, Savage Society, Theatre Calgary & NAC Indigenous Theatre; Hey Viola!, Musical TheatreWorks; Jersey Boys, Kinky Boots, Thanks For Giving, Hand to God, One Man, Two Guvnors, Arts Club Theatre; In June 2008, Angela received the Mary Phillips Prize for her work behind the scenes. All my love to SJT, forever in my heart.
Kate Besworth
Kate Besworth
Sherlock Holmes
Previously at the Gateway Theatre: Lizzy Bennett in Pride and Prejudice.
Kate Besworth (she/her) is a theatre creator, performer, and writer living on the unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-waututh people. Kate has performed leading roles across Canada, from Mirvish to the Shaw Festival, and from RMTC to Bard on the Beach. Upcoming: Jo in Little Women (Arts Club).
Mark Chavez
Inspector Lestrade, Elliott Monk, & Others
Mark Chavez
Inspector Lestrade, Elliott Monk, & Others
Mark Chavez is a comedian, writer, actor, and director working in theatre, film and podcasts. He was one half of the Pajama Men, a duo that The Guardian hailed as “one of the most influential comedy groups of a generation”. He co-hosted the Webby award-winning CBC podcast, Let’s Make a… and is currently co-hosting a new comedy podcast, The Town Show. In Vancouver, Chavez most recently adapted and directed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at Bard on the Beach and has appeared on stage for the last 5 years in Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto. Mark performs every Sunday in the mainstay Vancouver improv group The Sunday Service.
Mary Jane Coomber
Mary Jane Coomber
Sound Designer
Previous credits: The Mousetrap, Casey & Diana (Arts Club), Every Day She Rose (ZeeZee), Au Grand Jour (Seizième), Lasa Ng Imperyo (Rice & Beans), Linck & Mülhahn (Studio 58), The Hobbit (Pacific), YAGA (Touchstone/Gateway), Eyes of the Beast (Neworld), Hamlet (Bard on the Beach), Fat Joke (Neworld), This Is How We Got Here (Firehall), CHILD-ish (Pacific).
Emily Dotson
Emily Dotson
Set & Props Designer
Assistant set and costume designer of Dangerous Liaisons (Stratford Festival) Assistant set designer for Measure for Measure and Comedy of Errors (Bard on the Beach). Assistant set and costume designer 60th and 61st seasons at the Shaw Festival. Set and costume designer for Shawgrounds (Shaw Festival); Keepers of the Salish Sea (The Cultch). Set designer for Ghost Train (Mortal Coil); 9 to 5: The Musical. (RCMT) Film/TV: Scenic painter for Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix). Art Director for Goldteeth (Crazy8s): Best Production Design — The POV Film Festival, Emerging Artist Award — Prague Quadrennial. Online: emilydotson.design
Emily Friesen
Emily Friesen
Costume Designer
Emily is a multidisciplinary designer, artist, and graduate of the University of Victoria theatre program. She is delighted to be making her Gateway debut. Select credits: If You Could Read My Mind, Kindred (Belfry), Women of the Fur Trade (Firehall Arts Centre) We Are Boy Band, Metamorphoses (Studio 58), The Last Five Years, Ride The Cyclone, Salt Water Moon, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (BlueBridge), Great Works Festival (Puente/BBRT), The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Allihippo (Kaleidoscope), Snow White (Carousel), The Mixolydian (Green Thumb), Othello, The Children’s Hour (UVic Phoenix Theatre), and It’s Just Black Hair (Staging Equality). emilyfriesen-theatredesigner.com
Lisa Goebel
Lisa Goebel
Intimacy Director
Lisa Goebel is an interdisciplinary artist working as an actor, choreographer, and intimacy director. Select credits: choreographer/intimacy director for Bright Star (GTP/Mirvish), The Dark Lady (Bard on the Beach), A Doll’s House (Arts Club), and Pride & Prejudice (Western Canada/Gateway). For Gateway: intimacy director for China Doll, Oliver, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Yaga (Touchstone), and puppeteer in Otosan (Little Onion Puppet co). Lisa is a certified intimacy director through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and is a graduate of Studio 58.
Kate Hamill
Kate Hamill
Playwright
Kate Hamill is an actor & playwright. Kate has been one of the most-produced playwrights in America from 2017-2023 and is the most-produced playwright in the country for 2024/25 (tied with Rajiv Joseph). Wall Street Journal Playwright of the Year, 2017; Einhorn Award, 2023. Plays include Pride & Prejudice at Primary Stages / HVSF (originated role of Lizzy; nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award), Sense & Sensibility at Bedlam (originated role of Marianne; winner, Off-Broadway Alliance Award; nominee, Drama League Award); Vanity Fair at the Pearl (originated Becky; nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award), The Light and the Dark (the Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi) at CTC / Primary Stages (originated Artemisia), The Odyssey at A.R.T., Mansfield Park at Northlight, Little Women at Primary Stages & the Jungle, Dracula at Classic Stage Company (originated Renfield), Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B at KCRep, The Little Fellow (or: the Queen of Tarts Tells All) at Cygnet Theatre, Emma at the Guthrie; BadAssGalBoss at Primary Stages; The Scarlet Letter at Two River. Other plays include Scrooge for Senate; The Piper (O’Neill Finalist, PlayPenn Fellow), In the Mines (Sundance Finalist), and Murder Play (or: The Aristocrats!). www.kate-hamill.com
Rami Kahlon
Rami Kahlon
Dr. Joan Watson
Previous credits: Connie in Dance Nation (The Search Party), Aisha in Dil Ka (Ruby Slippers Theatre), Sahiban in Dooja Ghar (South Asian Arts Society), Sandy Nardini in The Troll Grandfather (Axis Theatre)
Jonathan Kim
Jonathan Kim
Lighting Designer
Jonathan, better known as Jono, is a Korean-Canadian lighting designer who currently lives and works on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Recent credits: Heathers: The Musical (Studio 58); Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. (Ruby Slippers Theatre); The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe (PHT); Behind The Moon (Touchstone Theatre); Ins Choi: Son of a Preacherman (Pacific Theatre); Casey and Diana (Arts Club); The Frontliners (Blackout Art Society, Firehall Arts Centre and vAct); Braiding the Land – tour (Raven Spirit Dance); RENT (Metro Theatre).
Emma Knox
Emma Knox
Props Builder & Buyer
Emma is a props fabrication artist based in Vancouver, working in both theatre and previously the construction of commercial mascots. Recent props credits include: Lionel Bart’s Oliver! (Gateway Theatre), Heathers the Musical (Studio 58), Into the Woods (Studio 58), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Vancouver Opera), The Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera), The Neverending Story (Storybook Theatre), Curious George (Storybook Theatre). Emma is a graduate from the University of Lethbridge and holds a BFA from their Technical Theatre & Design program.
Mike Kovac
Mike Kovac
Fight Director
Previous credits at Gateway Theatre: Lionel Bart’s Oliver! (2024), Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (2024), Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (2023), Anne of Green Gables (2022)
Yanting Qiu
Yanting Qiu
Surtitle Translator
Yanting Qiu is a first-generation Chinese immigrant theatre creator based in the unceded lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ Nations. She is a producer, playwright, translator, and storyteller. As the co-founder of the Theatre as a Second Language Society, Yanting is working on building community for culturally and linguistically diverse artists and audiences. Her first play translation for Gateway Theatre is the Forbidden Phoenix (2011) by Marty Chan. Her most recent play translations, in both simplified and traditional Chinese, include the Baskerville and Pride and Prejudice. Yanting is very proud working on Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson-Apt.2B and hopes that her work will help more Chinese audience to enjoy the beauty of this sharp and comedic reinvention of the classic detective tale.
Lauren Taylor
Lauren Taylor
Director
Lauren Taylor is a director and dramaturg originally from Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Recent work includes: The Birds and the Bees (The Arts Club, Alberta Theatre Projects, Kay Meek, Surrey Arts Centre, Anvil Centre), Kindred (The Belfry), C’mon Angie (Touchstone), Lights (dramaturg, Touchstone), Tomorrow Love (Studio 58), Fourplay (dramaturg, Studio 58), Love and Information (UBC). Her work has also been seen at Factory Theatre, Banff Centre, Sydney Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, and more. A Lincoln Centre Director’s Lab alumni, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Film and Theatre at UBC, her production of Shaw’s Arms and the Man will be seen at United Players in April/May 2026.
Devon Vecchio
Devon Vecchio
Assistant Stage Manager
Devon (she/her) is returning to Gateway after having spent the last 2 holiday seasons here on Oliver! and Cinderella. Her favorite work credits include: Invictus Games 2025: Opening & Closing Ceremonies (PRP), Jersey Boys, Every Brilliant Thing (Arts Club), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Stage West), Dido and Aeneas (Opera Atelier) and The Phantom of the Opera (Grand). When she isn’t working behind the scenes in a theatre, you may be able to see her in the background of one of your favorite BC-filmed shows. Love always to Mom & Dad, and her devoted family cats.
Anita Wittenberg
Irene Adler, Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Drebber
Anita Wittenberg
Irene Adler, Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Drebber
Anita is so happy to return to The Gateway Theatre with this fun show! She played “Mrs. Bennett” in Pride and Prejudice this past spring. She has enjoyed a long and varied career as a theatre artist and is grateful for every opportunity that comes her way! Recent credits: Middletown (Sticks and Stones/Pacific Theatre), The Three Musketeers (Arts Club/Citadel Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Bard on the Beach), White Noise (Firehall Theatre/Savage Society). She also appears occasionally on film and TV, most recently as “Esther” on Hallmark’s The Chicken Sisters.
SPONSORS
Anna’s Cake House
Catering Sponsor
Boy with a Knife
Catering Sponsor
BeeFAMILY
Community Sponsor
Stir
Media Sponsor
Vancouver Is Awesome
Media Sponsor
Richmond News
Media Sponsor
Fairchild Radio
Media Sponsor
Country Vines Winery
Wine Sponsor
Spotlight on Sponsor
For nearly half a century, Anna’s Cake House has been delighting our community with highest quality handcrafted cakes and pastries, made from the freshest ingredients. A beloved family-owned bakery, Anna’s has always treated customers like family. For over fifteen years, Gateway Theatre enthusiasts have been enjoying sweet treats from Anna’s at a variety of special occasions.
From our Opening Night receptions, Tea Matinee programs, Academy Welcome Night, to Volunteer Appreciation, and festive community gatherings like our Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes, Anna’s Cake House proudly serves as our Catering Sponsor to help us celebrate every moment in the sweetest way possible. Their generous support touches every corner of Gateway, from our professional productions to Academy students and dedicated volunteers.
Just as theatre brings people together and sparks joy, Anna’s creations remind us of the simple pleasures that connect us. We are deeply grateful to Anna’s Cake House for their ongoing partnership and for filling our 2025–26 season with sweetness, celebration, and community spirit.
GOVERNMENT FUNDERS
BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTS COUNCIL
CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS
SPECIAL THANKS
Kyrie Vincent, Sarah Sosick, Kevin MacDonald & Studio 58
Dedicated workers, supporters and donors make our artistic offerings and initiatives possible. Gateway Theatre would like to acknowledge its government funders, corporate supporters, foundation supporters, individual donors, Gateway Theatre volunteers, board of directors and staff for their contributions. Help us fulfill our commitment to the community by becoming a Donor to Gateway Theatre, a not-for-profit registered charity.
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Save 15% off food and non-alcoholic beverages at Harold’s Kitchen & Bar, 75 West Coast Grill or Cavu Kitchen Bar on performance days at Gateway Theatre! To take advantage of the discount, patrons must show proof of their Gateway Theatre ticket to the server.
DINING PARTNERS
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75 West Coast Grill
Dining Partner
Cavu Kitchen Bar
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