history of hapax
hapax theatre is a not-for-profit organization based in Victoria, BC. The company was formed in 2014 by Heather Jarvie and Chad Laidlaw and opened its first show, A Beautiful View by Daniel MacIvor, in March of that year. Dedicated to the principles of “good work with good people” and “artists before art,” hapax strives to build community and lift up independent voices and art.
Heather Jarvie
Artistic Director / Co-Founder
Heather (she/her) has an extensive background in music, theatre, and dance and has been an avid contributor to the Victoria Theatre scene for many years. Selected highlights of her performance experiences include Hello, Dolly!, La Traviata, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Nevermore, Children of Eden, The Crucible, Woyzeck, A Beautiful View, The Magic Flute, and Dog Sees God. Heather’s directing highlights include Harvey, Company, Nevermore (2019 Pick Of The Fringe Winner), The Boy In The Chrysalis (2018 Pick Of The Fringe Winner), A Beautiful View, In On It, Be Still, and the world-premiere of new Canadian play Castle On The Farm.
Heather was the Guest Producer of the 29th annual Victoria Fringe Festival and then immediately moved into the Artist-In-Residence position with Pacific Opera Victoria where she was the Assistant Director on Otello, Mary’s Wedding, The Barber of Seville, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and La Voix Humaine. Leaving her residency at Pacific Opera Victoria, Heather became the Artist-In-Residence for the Icelandic Opera where she was the Assistant Director on the award-winning production of Eugene Onegin.
Chad Laidlaw
Production Manager / Co-Founder
Chad (he/him) has been working in theatre and the performing arts since he was a child, first playing violin and trumpet before moving on to theatre as his primary artistic outlet, primarily as a stage manager, lighting designer, and sound designer. Selected design credits include 1959 Pink Thunderbird Convertible, A Party to Murder, Harvey, A Beautiful View, Escape From Happiness, 84, Charing Cross Road, Constellations, Company, Be Still.
While Chad’s theatre interests range from nonlinear narratives to creeping horror to modern myth-making, his heart lies in the stories of the Medieval North. Chad is drawn to the tales of feuds, farmers, and fey that are found in the ancient sagas, and how strands from their tales echo in the stories and letters of his ancestors when they left Sweden in the mass exodus of the early 20th century.
Chad holds a BA in Linguistics (University of Victoria) and MA in Medieval Icelandic Studies (University of Iceland).
Melissa Taylor
Associate Artist
Melissa (she/her) was born and raised in Lekwungen Territory (Victoria, B.C), where she currently resides and works as a playwright, actor and director. In Victoria, her work has been produced by Theatre SKAM’s SKAMpede, Impulse Theatre and hapax theatre. In Toronto, she has worked as an actor and a playwright with various professional and independent theatres, such as Hart House Theatre, New Market National Play Festival, Driftwood Theatre, and the False Claims Collective. She completed her MFA in Playwriting at the University of Victoria, with her thesis project being a one-woman show based off of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, told through a subverted and empowered female narrative.
Ricki Healey
Associate Artist
Ricki (she/her) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist based in Victoria, B.C. She has had a passion for the arts since early childhood, and has expressed that passion through playwriting, dance, music, and performance. More recently, she has turned her focus toward directing.
Directing highlights include Consumption and Radius. Selected assistant directing credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Blind Portrait, and hapax theatre’s Lay Down All Dogs and The Incredible Glowing Woman.
Ricki acquired a BFA in theatre from the University of Victoria in 2018, and has been an associate artist with hapax theatre since 2022.
Hannah Mariko Bell
Associate Artist
Hannah (she/her) is a proud fourth generation Japanese Canadian raised on Treaty 7 Territory within Blackfoot Confederacy lands (Calgary, Alberta). She is a neurodivergent artist and a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community who identifies as pansexual. These identities, as well as her Japanese Canadian heritage, inform her artistic practice and place equity and accessibility at the centre. Through her work, Hannah seeks to engage audiences with positive representations of Japanese culture, as well as challenge them through a variety of theatrical practices. Hannah is a member of UNIMA West.
Hannah is a director, creator, and puppeteer, as well as a graduate of UVic’s Theatre program (2019); she directed her first devised play, Kansha, as part of Intrepid Theatre’s YOU Show (2018) with support from the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society and the National Association of Japanese Canadians Young Leader Fund. Hannah is committed to helping improve representation for underrepresented communities in Victoria.
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