What's it really like to be a woman in the theatre? Take a peek into this dressing room as King Lear's three leading ladies wade through the choppy waters of racism, ageism, and rampant sexism.
Set in the early autumn of 2016, Love Us Most is a biting, satirical look at what it takes for a woman to make it in what seems to remain a man's world.
WORLD PREMIERE | DRAMATIC COMEDY
Love Us Most
Summer Season
June 17th - 28th 2026
Opening June 19th
CAST
Julian Jeffrey – Kevin Bundy
The One Who Plays Cordelia – Jasmine Case
The One Who Plays Regan – Zara Jestadt
The One Who Plays Goneril – Shannon Taylor
CREATIVE TEAM
Playwright – Sara Farb
Director – Sabryn Rock
Lighting Designer – Darren Burkett
Sound Designer – Thomas Ryder Payne
Stage Manager – Sam Snyders
Set Designer – Ariel Slack
Costume Designer – Jennie Wonnacott
Love Us Most is supported by these wonderful people:
Show Sponsor: Mary Hofstetter and David Riggs
Production Supporters: Kim and Dave Thompson, In Honour of Diana Leblanc
Meet the Cast
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Kevin Bundy’s recent theatre credits include: Eureka Day (Coal Mine Theatre), Twelve Dinners (Talk is Free Theatre), Forget About Tomorrow (Here for Now Theatre), Sequence (Thousand Islands Playhouse), The Bear and the Proposal (Caravan Farm Theatre), Cock (Talk is Free Theatre), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Ed Mirvish Theatre), Never Not Once (Theatre Aquarius), The Candidate/The Party (Citadel Theatre); The Wars, Chariots of Fire (Grand Theatre). He has participated in seven seasons at The Shaw Festival, five seasons at Stratford and over 20 productions with the Soulpepper Theatre Company. Kevin also performed as the Narrator in Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s Western Canadian tour of Circle of Creation. Some of Kevin’s recent TV & Film credits include The Princess and the Bodyguard, Nurses, Grand Army, Kim’s Convenience, Saving Hope, Designated Survivor, and the feature film Through Black Spruce. Kevin can also be seen in Murdoch Mysteries and the film The Unrestricted War.
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Jasmine is a Jamaican-Canadian actor born and raised in Toronto where she currently lives and works! She is a recent 2-time Dora Award winner for her work on productions; Truth at Young People’s Theatre and FLEX at Crow’s and Obsidian Theatre! She’s really excited to be joining this amazing season at Here For Now and can’t wait to share this story with audiences!
Other Theatre; Leticia in Clyde’s; Canadian Stage, Young Woman in A Profoundly…; Tarragon and Obsidian Theatre, Sidney in FLEX; Crow’s and Obsidian Theatre, Kara in Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner; Obsidian and Crow’s Theatre, Phoebe in Truth at Young People’s Theatre, and Lucy in The Fiancée; Chemainus Theatre Festival .
Education/Training: National Theatre School of Canada 2023, Brock University 2020.
Thank you to my family and friends for the unconditional love and support through it all! And a special thank you to Sara for trusting me, and Sabryn for always seeing something special in me! <3
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Zara is an actor and performer and is absolutely thrilled to be making her Here For Now debut! She is a graduate of the Actors’ Conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre, the Stratford Birmingham Conservatory, George Brown Theatre School, Etobicoke School of the Arts, and McGill University. Favourite theatre credits include An Ideal Husband, Julius Caesar (Stratford Festival), Children of the Bear (Native Earth/Outside the March), Small Mouth Sounds (Segal Centre) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare BASH’d). She currently stars in suspense thriller miniseries Phantom Line, currently available on Bell Fibe TV.
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Shannon is looking forward to joining the Love Us Most team this summer! She has spent seven seasons at the Stratford Festival: King Lear (Goneril), Les Belles-Soeurs (Marie-Ange), I Am William (Mary, Queen Elizabeth I), Mother’s Daughter (Mary), The Crucible (Elizabeth Proctor), Twelfth Night (Olivia), The School for Scandal (Lady Teazle), Shakespeare in Love (Viola), The Hypochondriac (Angélique). Other selected theatre credits include: Paul and Linda Plan a Threesome (Here For Now); Uncle Vanya (Crow’s Theatre & Mirvish); ROOM (Grand Theatre & Mirvish); A Doll’s House (RMTC); King Charles III (Studio 180 & Mirvish); The Road to Mecca (Soulpepper); Pride and Prejudice (NAC & Theatre Calgary); The Jones Boy (Surface/Underground); Little Women: The Musical (Citadel Theatre). Film and TV: The Terminal List, Don’t Hang Up, Private Eyes, MayDay. Training: Birmingham Conservatory; TMU Theatre School (BFA).
Meet the Creative Team
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Sara is an actor and writer. She wrote the book for the musical Kelly v. Kelly with Britta Johnson (music and lyrics) which premiered at Canadian Stage and Musical Stage Company in 2023; the show is a recipient of the Tom Hendry award and multiple Dora nominations. With Britta, she also co-wrote the Dora-nominated short musical He Is Coming. She wrote the book for the new musical Way Out There with Anton Lipovetsky (music and lyrics) which makes its premiere at YES! Theatre/Theatre Sudbury in spring of 2026. Her play, R-E-B-E-C-C-A, which she wrote and starred in, premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille. She is currently working on a new musical with Aaron Jensen (music and lyrics) about the forgotten female creator of the creature from Creature from the Black Lagoon. As an actor, Sara has performed on Broadway, in seven seasons at the Stratford Festival, and all over Canada. She makes her Shaw Festival debut as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl in the 2026 season.
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Sabryn Rock is an award-winning actor and director who has worked across the country on both screens and stage. Most recently she is directing Moonlight Schooner at Canadian Stage. Previously she directed Shaniqua in Abstraction (Crow’s Theatre), Truth (Young People’s Theatre), Sympathy for the Devil (Soulpepper Theatre), Our Place (Cahoots/Theatre Pass Muraille), Contractions and Eureka Day (Studio 180 Theatre). She is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre and the Actors' Conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre.
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Darren is thrilled to be back for the whole summer season at HFN! Previous Design work: Apples in Winter [Set, Lighting and Costume], Dinner with the Duchess [Set in a co-pro with Crows Theatre], 12 Dinners [Set], Life Without [Set and Costume], The Fox [Set] (Here For Now), Legally Blonde [Set] (Metro Theatre), Wizard of Oz [Set] (Pulse Productions), Something Rotten, Seussical The Musical [Set], Mamma Mia! [Set and Lighting] (Secondary Characters), and multiple set and lighting designs for dance and theatre schools in Vancouver. As an actor, he has worked across the globe. Many thanks to the whole HFN team for the unwavering trust in me, and his family, friends and especially Hunter for their never ending love and support!
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Thomas Ryder Payne is a composer and sound designer for theatre, dance and film. Selected past theatre work includes designs for Stratford, Shaw, Mirvish, Soulpepper, CanStage, Tarragon, Factory, TPM, YPT, Crows, Modern Times, Aluna, BIBT, Theatre Gargantua, Nightwood, Toronto Dance Theatre, NAC, Centaur, Theatre Calgary, GCTC, RMTC, Grand Theatre and many others. Thomas has received 6 Dora awards.
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Ariel Slack is a multidisciplinary artist who writes, performs, and designs, and is currently Props Buyer at the Stratford Festival. Some theatre companies they have worked for as a set designer include Carousel Theatre, Geekenders, Tumbleweeds Theatre, Ensemble Theatre Company, the frank theatre, and now… Here For Now! Ariel has also been an assistant designer at the Stratford Festival on 5 shows, and was the winner of the 2022 Cultchivating the Fringe Award (Vancouver Fringe Festival) for their one person show How to Believe in Anything. They are a Jessie Award nominee, an Ovation Award winner, and completed their first international tour with Tumbleweeds Theatre's show A Little Green Leaf last fall. Proud associate member of ADC and Studio 58 grad. See more at: https://arielslack.squarespace.com/
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Sam is an emerging theatre artist from Mitchell, Ontario, glad to be back for his third season at Here For Now. Previously at HFN, Sam stage-managed Apples in Winter, Humour Me, Stick Around, The Saviour, and Paul and Linda Plan a Threesome, and sound-designed The Rules of Playing Risk. No stranger to the Rose McQueen Stage, Sam also played Aaron in last year's Forget About Tomorrow. Other acting credits include Boris Trigorin in The Seagull (Strands of the Night), Pierre in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (AUTS McGill), Jason in Medea (Player's Theatre) and Moe in Pomona (Moyse Hall). Sam recently graduated from McGill University with a BA in English: Drama & Theatre. Thank you, always, to his family and friends for their constant support.
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Jennie has enjoyed a two-decade theatre career as a costume cutter and tailor, designer and professor. As a theatre professional that takes joy in the success of her peers, Jennie recently made the switch to a career in art administration to assist in facilitating what artists do best! Select design credits include 12 Angry Men and Steel Magnolias(Drayton Entertainment), and The Magic Flute (UWO). Jennie has surpassed 24 seasons at the Stratford Festival in wardrobe production. She is the 2016 recipient of the Pauline McGibbon award, and recently completed an MA is Arts Leadership from Queens University.
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“Love Us Most received development support from Here For Now Theatre Company in 2025, and had its world premiere production at Here For Now Theatre in 2026.”