Hannah Moscovitch’s sex-positive play Bunny gets a remount at the Anvil Theatre, February 8 to 18
Directed by Mindy Parfitt of The Search Party, production follows an intelligent woman engaging in intimacy without shame
Emma Slipp in Hannah Moscovitch’s Bunny. Photo by Emily Cooper
Anvil Theatre presents Bunny from February 8 to 18, with performances at 2 pm and 7:30 pm; opening night is February 9 at 7:30 pm
IT’S NOT EVERY day you see a sex scene in a theatre show—never mind several, and good luck finding one that’s orchestrated by a woman.
And yet, Hannah Moscovitch’s play Bunny exists. Perfectly poised to provide the theatre scene with the female sexual agency it often lacks, the production delivers intelligence and emotional honesty with a side of humour. Director Mindy Parfitt leads Bunny’s remount at the Anvil Theatre.
Vancouver-based actor Emma Slipp plays Sorrel in the production, a Victorian literature professor who reflects on her plentiful collection of past relationships. A nerd at heart, Sorrel’s life changes at 17 when she blossoms into her beauty and begins attracting a steady onslaught of male attention. From a fling with a football player as a teen, to an affair with her university professor as a young adult, to a marriage with her best friend Maggie’s brother later in life, Sorrel’s entire love life is laid bare in Bunny.
As it turns out, the heroine is nicknamed “Bunny” by Maggie due to her often-scared nature—something Sorrel must learn to face later on. Intimacy director Phay Moores with Principal Intimacy Professionals helps Slipp navigate the torrent of wild, unashamed sex Sorrel indulges in. The production, which debuted in 2016 at the Stratford Festival, is erotic without veering towards exploitative.
Parfitt first produced Bunny at The Cultch in 2022 with her company The Search Party. Speaking to Stir before the 10-day run, Moscovitch noted that “it’s been important to me that we don’t portray Sorrel as uber-aggressive, or uber-passive. It’s more like finding a place where she's emboldened, but still struggling, so we don’t fall into that trap that she’s being the aggressor or she’s being coerced.”
Bunny went on to receive eight Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominations, and secured the win on four of those, including Best Production and Best Performance by a Leading Actor. The show lands at the Anvil Theatre on February 8, and continues till February 18.
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