The show must go on: Cast, crew scramble to put on Montreal play after costumes stolen

Crew members for Mizushobai (The Water Trade) work tirelessly to create new costumes after the originals were stolen a few days before opening night on Oct. 11, 2023. Costumes were designed by Mayumi Ide-Bergeron. (Tableau D'Hote Theatre / Mathieu Murphy-Perron)

A few days before opening night, the cast and crew of Mizushōbai (The Water Trade) received news that no theatre production wants to hear: the play's costumes had been stolen.

A collection of meticulously handcrafted garments, gone. Vanished. Disappeared without a trace.

And with showtime right around the corner.

"I was obviously very sad and upset that somebody had taken something that wasn't theirs," actor Katelyn Morishita told CTV News on Wednesday, just a few hours before the production's opening show in Montreal. "And I was so sad for our costume designer [Mayumi Ide-Bergeron], because they were handmade, hand dyed, hand constructed, just so much thought and care put into it."

But the folks behind Mizushōbai -- created by Montreal playwright Julie Tamiko Manning -- didn't wallow.

With community members rallying behind them, they took swift action, recreating a month's work of theatrical costumes in just a few days.

Anyone and everyone involved in the production "kicked it into high gear," said Mathieu Murphy-Perron, artistic director of Tableau D'Hôte Theatre, the theatre company producing the show.

The set and lighting designers, both experienced in costume-making, helped create the new ensembles, while cast members scoured Montreal's thrift and vintage stores for replacement garments.

Meanwhile, following a callout by Murphy-Perron on social media, locals searched high and low for the stolen goods.

The hope was that whoever nicked the bag of costumes -- taken during a "point of transfer" between people working on them -- had ditched it somewhere after realizing what was inside.

"We had people who were digging through trash cans in the Plateau, we had people who were looking through alleys, people going to thrift stores to see if they were dropped off there," he said.

"There was just such a tremendous outpouring of support, it gave us the lift that we needed to make it through."

A STORY SPANNING DECADES

Morishita recounted visiting La Petite Boutique, a vintage shop in Park Extension, to find some costume pieces.

"The owner was so wonderful to us. We explained what had happened, they dropped everything and were pulling things, and gave me a little private dressing room," she said.

"And they were very helpful about the time, because it has to be a certain period, right?"

Mizushōbai follows the life of Kiyoko Tanaka-Goto, an entrepreneurial Japanese internment camp survivor who first came to Canada as a "picture bride" in the 1910s.

The production is the first in Canada to have a cast of entirely Japanese-Canadian women. Different actors portray Tanaka-Goto at various stages of her life (Morishita, for one, plays her when she's in her 50s and 60s).

This means the costuming is complex, covering multiple decades and contexts.

Despite this obstacle, the cast and crew pulled it off.

"The way that the community rallied, and the way that the company rallied, and the way that the cast came together and the creative team still took care of their actors and still took care of the team, is honestly so beautiful," Morishita said. "And even though it was a crummy situation, it really did bring us all closer together."

Nevertheless, Murphy-Perron said he'd welcome the return of the costumes "without judgment," should the thief have a change of heart.

"If ever those costumes pop up, we'll still take them," he said. "And I hope that whoever did it gets the help and support they need."

For those interested in helping the show recover costs, the best way to do it is by buying a ticket, he added.

"That'll easily cover our extra costs, if we people who hadn't heard of the show before suddenly come."

Julie Tamiko Manning's Mizushōbai, directed by Yvette Nolan, runs at the Segal Centre from Oct. 11 to Oct. 22.