Discover the magic behind our advance photo shoot for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Read on for our first official photo reveal of the 2020 Season!
We are excited to announce that Vancouver actor Sarah Roa will be playing the role of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Bard veteran Scott Bellis (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, 2017).
This production will transport you to a world where the natural and supernatural have merged, so trust us when we say this blog is just a taste of the magic to come this summer!
To bring the play’s enchanted and magical forest to life, real leaves and flowers were incorporated into Sarah’s hair and makeup. After sketching a preliminary look in advance of the shoot, Carey Williams (Hair and Makeup Artist) created this work of art in consultation with Dean Paul Gibson (Bard Associate Artistic Director & Creative Director for the shoot), Heather Kennedy (Marketing Director) and Amy McDougall (Head of Wardrobe).
The team worked hard to make sure the foliage stayed perfectly in place, but we still had the occasional falling leaf on set! We also used ‘fairy dust’ (glitter) to enhance the magic of the forest.
Working with our photographer, the incomparable Emily Cooper, it took focused work, experiments with different looks, lots of touch-ups, and hundreds of photos to make sure we’d brought our vision for Puck and A Midsummer Night’s Dream to life. But the work wasn’t finished there! Once the shoot wrapped, Emily applied her compositing skills to bring the final photo to life. And here it is!

Sarah Roa as Puck | Photo & Image Design: Emily Cooper
Don’t miss out on the magic this summer. Get your Flex Packs now before they disappear!
February 23, 7:53 pm
Wow kitty cats. If you don’t have something nice to say, then you know what to do…
February 21, 11:36 am
I am feeling very excited from this photo of Puck as the character is such a bridge between the Audience and Players . Can’t wait to book my seats !
( I think this photo shoot fulfills it’s purpose to engage our Bard Patrons and I appreciate your efforts- hope there’s more . The idea of talking vegetation is great and I think it will make connections with our younger audiences . Any First Nations involvement ? )
February 21, 10:03 am
It looks lovely, and I do want to attend one of my favourite plays. It was the first play I saw as a child at Stratford Festival in Ontario. My concern is over the glitter, which is usually plastic, and has been proven to contaminate the ocean. Please use a biodegradable, plant based glitter, which is now available.
February 21, 9:18 am
The final illustration/photo is beautiful, but the story is sorely lacking. If you were intending on creating a good photo story, you needed much more revealing images. Use a decent documentary photographer with an instinct for the story instead of someone who makes art.
February 20, 9:09 pm
For those who for one reason or another are not able to get to Vancouver, who once were able to get a taste of the Bard in Christopher’s Corner, is it not possible to release post-season DVDs at the price of a seat?
February 20, 5:50 pm
I love backstage work and especially make-up and this is glorious! Kudos for creative thinking and a steady hand.
February 20, 5:26 pm
You call this “behind the lens” and so does that mean this will be a movie and not a play?
The first sentence of the article, below the title, says it is about a photo shoot!