Fairlith Harvey (she/her) is a writer, director, producer and dreamer whose theatrical odyssey has taken her from the historical mining town of Barkerville to the heady rush of The Big Apple.
Starting off her career in dance, Fairlith received a scholarship to attend the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. It was there that she first discovered the allure of immersive theatre when she attended her first performance of Punchdrunk’s “Sleep No More” (she would go on to see it nine more times.) Upon returning to Vancouver after graduation, Fairlith founded Geekenders and spent over a decade writing, producing and directing over sixty productions, including multiple forays into immersive theatre such as the Fringe favourite “The Neverland Night Circus”, the Shakespearean “Slumber Here”, and the 1960’s-tinged sold-out spectacular “Alice in Glitterland”.
Her latest venture, Dreamqueen Collective, debuted “The Last Resort” in November – an immersive adventure into the afterlife inspired by her work in the funeral industry, a fascination with cruise ships, and the sounds of the 1970s.
-Written by Andy Garland
I have a collection of vintage pajamas and try to work on my art while dressed like I live in a bohemian loft in Soho in 1963 and was friends with Andy Warhol. Dress for the job you want, right? I also have some chronic illness issues, fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalomyelitis, and putting a little glamour into the amount of rest I need helps me stay cheerful.Hand-placing approximately 35,000 rhinestones on a death’s head moth leotard, one of Death’s four costumes in my new immersive show about the afterlife as a tropical vacation, “The Last Resort”. Giving Hazel attention simultaneously; she told me she’s never been fed, nor petted.Reacting to a number in the Abyss Bar at the Last Resort at one of our final run-throughs before test audiences come in. The show is set within four interconnected nightclubs and a hotel in Purgatory, and audience members are welcome to explore freely, sandbox-style, as sixteen hours’ worth of content packed into eighty minutes unfolds around them. In this number, an entitled playboy asks the bartender, The Page of Cups, for anything to slake his thirst, but is rewarded only with glasses of sand poured from a rack of wine bottles labeled ‘Ennui’, ‘Revenge’, and ‘Schadenfreude’.Watching actors performing with the Waldorf’s work lights on, at a run-through of “The Last Resort”. The set and lights will transform the space from ‘tiki kitsch’ to ‘magical tropical island’, glittering tinsel curtains, disco balls, and mid-century touches scattered everywhere… and bottles of formaldehyde behind the bar. The lighting designer assured me rainbows will drip from every surface. My inner child is certainly grateful to have a group project go so smashingly.My fiancé, Andy Garland, explains to me how he fixed the sound system so the music will play in every space simultaneously. The playlist lets the actors measure the time, so they know when to travel within the Last Resort without checking a watch, and guests can follow them or stay in one place and watch them come and go. Andy is a brilliant writer and director, and I’m so grateful to have a partner who plunges himself into art with bohemian abandon and hard, sweaty work. Art as a team sport is the most satisfying, joyful way I can think to spend time.Reacting to The Page of Cups giving me a glass of ‘The Concept of Love’ in a nook that we’re going to turn into a blacklight garden.A joyful cast meeting in The Last Resort’s Brimstone Bar after the run-through. Laughing and giving notes with Andy. I really want to make Vancouver a more magical place with affordable options for experimental, immersive theatre like you’d find in Los Angeles in New York. I love my city and want to give back to my community. Making high-quality, local, original art at an accessible price point is important. We need art, and we need an escape from the world once in a while, whether it’s through dance, video games, gamified theatre (!), or a hike up the Grouse Grind.Settling in to watch reruns of “Frasier” at the end of a long, long, amazing, exhausting day putting this gigantic art project together a bit at a time.
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Which ‘hood are you in?
I’m very grateful to live in East Vancouver, finally. Feels right.
What do you do?
I do everything! I’m a kid playing imagination games with her friends. For “The Last Resort”, I came up with the idea and title, co-wrote, co-directed, co-choreographed, co-costume designed (and every rhinestone in the show is placed by me, so it’s been months of detail work), created quite a few props, and stayed confident about the 4-D map I had in my head. I’m also the designated plate-catcher, co-production manager, co-marketing person, last-minute idea-haver, and one of many problem-solvers. When I have to describe myself, I usually say ‘theatre creator’, but I like to think of myself more as a friendly person who invites professionals to collaborate and make art with her. I give them a theme and general idea, from the photographer to the lighting designer to the choreographers to the circus performers to the customers to the graphic designer, and let them create, and then we connect it all together to make an enormous living collage. So, whatever single word means all of that, that’s what I do.
What are you currently working on?
My ‘Day in the Life’ today was centred around my new immersive show, “The Last Resort”, but I am also currently working on the screenplay for my first feature film, an adaptation of one of my other plays, ‘Kill the Ripper’. That story revolves around three Victorian working women who teach themselves self-defense and hunt down Jack the Ripper. That’s a wild opportunity that will take all of my attention now that “The Last Resort” has closed.
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