A woman's exes come back to haunt her in Studio 58's Baggage, October 3 to 13

In Sarah Segal-Lazar’s play directed by Jessie Liang, main character Jill is plagued by her failed relationships as she tries to start a new one

By emily lyth

Michelle Avila Navarro as Jill in Baggage. Photo by Emily Cooper

Studio 58 presents Baggage from October 3 to 13 at Langara College

THE EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE of a woman in her late ’20s becomes a beast unto itself in Baggage, Sarah Segal-Lazar’s comedically cynical play coming to Studio 58, the professional theatre training program at snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ Langara College.

Opening the program’s 2024-25 season from October 3 to 13, Baggage stars Michelle Avila Navarro as unabashed main character Jill, who is in the early stages of a new relationship with her partner Ben (played by Filip Fufezan). But Jill has an extensive dating history—one that ranges from burnouts to fuckboys and back again—and it comes back to haunt her big-time in the form of the bags around her apartment, which transform into personified renditions of her exes.

Taiwanese-Brazilian theatre artist Jessie Liang, who’s a graduate of Studio 58, returns to direct this rollercoaster of a play that artfully touches on true-to-life themes like dealing with the heartbreak of failed relationships and processing unresolved trauma.

Audiences may recognize Navarro from Studio 58’s revamped production of Federico García Lorca’s tragedy Blood Wedding directed by director Carmen Aguirre last fall, in which she starred as the Girl. Stir praised her for the “restrained strength and concealed desire” she emanated in her passionate performance as a rebellious bride-to-be who gives in to forbidden love.

Baggage was created with support from Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal, and translated into French with the help of Théâtre Aux Écuries and Le Festival du Jamais Lu.

The play runs at Studio 58 at 2 pm and 7:30 pm; special runs include a Talkback Tuesday with the artists on October 8, and a Relaxed Performance—which involves softened lighting, reduced sound, and a half-capacity theatre, among other accommodations—on October 9. The show’s official opening night is on October 5. 

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