There’s still over a month left in our 2026 Season, so if you haven’t already, make sure to see The Merry Wives of Windsor before it’s too late! One patron says, “The Merry Wives of Windsor has to be one of the best productions we have experienced.”

Last week, we spoke with Raf Rogers about Dr. Caius, and now we’re turning the spotlight to yet another one of Anne Page’s suitors—the singular and unforgettable influencer, Slender.

Joining us for their fourth Season at Bard is actor, singer-songwriter, and theatre creator Sara Vickruck, who is bringing Slender to life this summer with endless humour and heart. We chatted with Sara about the online personalities that helped shape Slender’s character, how following the Vancouver Rise women’s soccer team has kept them grounded through the summer, and the musicians and artists that keep them inspired.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you first discovered acting?
When I was one and just starting to walk, someone brought a video camera into the house. There’s a video of me playing this ball game where I would throw the ball to people, but when the camera was there, I would only throw it to the person filming so I could be looking into the camera the whole time. So the joke is that it started young. I also have a memory of going to a clown show with my dad when I was six. It was just her on stage, and I remember being really excited by the show. So I feel like acting’s been part of my whole life. I did plays in elementary school, and then I went to an arts-specific high school. After graduating, I went to Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton. Then I came out here to study with Scott Swan, and that’s what landed me out in Vancouver.

This is your fourth Season with Bard and your first year on the BMO Mainstage! How has that been for you?
It’s awesome. This year has also been my first time doing rep, because every other time I was in the Douglas Campbell Theatre, we happened to be doing shows in stock. Getting to do two shows at the same time has been really exciting for me this year. The flipping between shows keeps my ADHD brain engaged. If you get tired of doing one show for a little while, and you can switch to the other show. It’s been fun to build two different characters alongside each other while also learning how to stay engaged and thinking about both shows.

Sara Vickruck as Slender and Ashley Wright as Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor (2026) | Photo by Emily Cooper

 

What was it like to step into a role like Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor this year?
Building Slender has been really fun, and a lot of that is in part to Rebecca [Northan] and the way that she leads a rehearsal room. I felt so much freedom to explore and play, and that was so nurturing. The script already had the idea of Slender being an influencer, so I would just play around with different slang. I would use what Rebecca and Bruce [Horak] had come up with, and then sometimes I would change the words to something I’d looked up the night before or that I’d consulted on with my younger castmates. In the original text, Slender’s written to be, well, male, and also played as either really nervous or really dense. When Rebecca and Bruce wrote the character as an influencer, it didn’t make sense to me for them to be either stupid or shy. I watched a few different influencers for reference. There’s a boy band called Midnight ‘Til Morning that I watch, and a queer comedian named Rachel Scanlon. I took those two inspirations and Slender became an amalgamation somewhere in the middle of boy band bro and queer comedian.

Sara Vickruck as Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor (2026) | Photo by Emily Cooper

And I believe you’re a Vancouver Rise fan as well! What’s it been like to be in a show about soccer and share that celebration of soccer with this audience?
It’s really fun. My wife and I got season tickets to the Vancouver Rise as soon as they announced the team. Until recently, I didn’t necessarily watch sports that much, but as soon as we started having women’s teams, right away, I was like, “Okay, we’re getting tickets.” Now we’re so in it. Because I’m at Bard, I’m missing all the Vancouver Rise games this year, but even during intermission I’m watching them play or highlights from games I missed. I think there’s a community around sports that allows connection with people from who knows where that you can have nothing in common with. To sit in the stands while everybody’s cheering on a team and to feel like a big part of something, I mean, hopefully that’s positive, right? You could unify over war or hatred, but in sports, you’re unifying over excitement for a team. Also, as theatre artists, our worlds become consumed by these shows, and being engaged in soccer and also the Vancouver Goldeneyes women’s hockey team has felt like engaging in society in a way that I don’t always get to during a contract.

In Macbeth, you play Malcolm, who has to make some difficult choices over the course of the play. How did you prepare for a role like that?
I’ve been in shows where I feel really emotionally affected, but I think because we’re in rep and get to flop back to the comedy of The Merry Wives of Windsor so much, this hasn’t been one of those shows for me. What I have had to do is take care of my body. The Merry Wives of Windsor has a lot of choreography, and Macbeth has a lot of fighting, so it’s about making sure that I get to the gym and do my physio and that my vocal articulators are warmed up. Also, because there’s a scene where I play a citizen, I have to switch characters and can’t spent the whole show being Malcolm. If you get too close or too invested in a character, you can get emotionally raw, so sometimes playing these little side parts gets you out of that mindset and resets your system. As for how I approached Malcolm, it was the same as how I approached Slender: Who are they? What does this character want? How do they get what they want? What are the meaning of my words? What’s their journey through the show?

Jacob Leonard as Macduff and Sara Vickruck as Malcolm in Macbeth (2026) | Photo by Emily Cooper

Do you have a favourite memory from your time at Bard?
In my first Season, during Coriolanus, there was a lot of fighting that we don’t normally do in the small tent. The fights would be super exciting, because you’d die on stage, run off, and then literally sprint to your next entrance. Moya O’Connell, who was playing Coriolanus, would be coming off, and someone would smear her face with blood and then I would spray water on it, and then someone else would smudge it more so she could run on. There was so much running around, and I remember it being so exciting. In Romeo and Juliet, the barbecues that we’d have in between shows, hanging out with my castmates, was great too.

Sara Vickruck as Malcolm in Macbeth (2026) | Photo by Emily Cooper

In addition to your work as an actor, you’re also a singer-songwriter and theatre creator. Can you tell us a little bit about that side of your practice?
I started writing music after college, and I really just wanted to write what was in my heart. The songwriting side of my practice has always been really self-focused. It was a way to work through what I was feeling. Doing theatre and film was about bringing other stories to life, but my music was about myself. For theatre creation, I started writing right out of college because my friends and I wanted shows that we could do together. We were focused on very female-driven narratives at the time. Now it’s shifted a bit, but it’s still about the roles and stories that I’m not seeing in mainstream media. Most of the shows that I’ve come on board to sound design or do music for are queer LGBTQIA+ stories. There’s one show that I can’t be in because I’m in Bard this summer, which is called Postcards to My Younger Transexual Self (or YTS), and that’s happening at PAL Theatre in August. I’ll still help with the sound design, but someone else will be doing it live on stage. I’m really inspired by shows that use live music in ways that aren’t necessarily the big flashy musicals: maybe the actors are playing the music themselves or the music is woven into the story somehow. I love Anton Lipovetski’s music and the videos that he’s creating right now, which are really silly and relevant and heartfelt in tragic ways. I’m also really inspired by Amanda Sum and the way she is using music in her storytelling.

Is there anything that you’ve been reading or watching or listening to lately?
A musician that I listen to, E.R. Fightmaster, is a non-binary actor, musician, and podcaster out of the US. They have a new album called Tolerance that just came out, so I’ve been listening to that a lot. I’ve been listening to a lot of The Oprah Podcast when I’m driving or on the train. I like her stuff. It’s usually well researched and human-centric. I also love Rachel Scanlon, who was the comedian that I mentioned earlier as an inspiration for Slender. She’s really funny, and she has a podcast called Two Dykes and a Mic.

Finally, when you’re not on stage, how do you like to spend your time?
The majority of my hobbies feed back into my art, so I do spend a lot of time doing artist things, but I love going on adventures with my beautiful wife. I also work for a non-profit called the Grizzly Bear Foundation, which focuses on grizzly bear welfare and conservation, so that’s normally where my spare time is spent.

Are you a big outdoorsy person then?
I wouldn’t say I’m a crazy big outdoorsy person, but yes. I love camping, and we usually try to do one overnight backpacking or canoe trip each summer. If I had all the time in the world, I’d spend even more time outside.

Do you have any favourite backpacking spots that you’ve been to?
Mount Robson. I’ve gone there twice with my dad. It’s one of the most beautiful places.

Thanks so much for sitting down with us, Sara!

Be sure to see them in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Macbeth this summer. Our 2026 Season runs until September 19—tickets start at $30!