Stageworthy

This week on the podcast, host Phil Rickaby talks to writer, actor, and friend of the podcast, Ryan M. Sero. We're taking an in-depth look into his upcoming production, Best Bard Bits, and peeling back the curtain on his one-man show. Listen in as we navigate the challenges of writing for theatre, from staging combat scenes to making a silent character intriguing, and the pressure of creating an unforgettable experience for the audience. Immerse yourself in the artistry of live theatre as we explore the relationship between the performer and the audience, and how breaking the fourth wall transforms the viewer's journey. Ryan reveals his knack for creating scenes of chaos through the smallest of moments and how Best Bard Bits is the embodiment of this talent. We'll also dive into the importance of supporting independent creators, and the crucial role experts play when firearms are used onstage. In this enlightening episode, we’ll also address the creative and logistical challenges Ryan faced when producing his one-man show. Hear about his unique concept of being buried alive on stage and the suspense it created for the audience. We'll also discuss the magic of live theatre, the power of theatre experiences, and how to market them effectively. Bio Primarily a writer and actor, Ryan M. Sero is always seeking ways to be creative and to help others create, too. Since graduating from Redeemer University in 2008, he has worked in the arts primarily in Hamilton, but has found his way almost across Canada, and a little bit into the US. He co-founded Make Art Theatre in 2010 and became the sole artistic director in 2014, using his position to further the voices of Hamilton's theatre community. One of his most satisfying achievements has been to bring live theatre to the Supercrawl Festival. Ryan is a member of the Mohawk tribe, as well as having Scottish ancestry. makearttheatre.weebly.com Best Bard Bits Sept. 22 & 7PM Gage Park, NW corner, Hamilton, ON Tickets are Pay What Its Worth at the park. Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

On this episode, we bring you playwright and performer, Deborah Shaw, and director and dramaturg, David Agro. Together, they are the dynamic duo behind the production of her, shedding light on how they navigated the choppy waters of the pandemic to bring their creative vision to life. From a casual chat about their first experiences in theatre to a captivating discussion about how audience feedback and critical reviews helped shape their production, this talk is a rollercoaster ride. Deborah heartwarmingly recounts her return to the stage after a long hiatus, crediting an encouraging Grade 8 teacher for sparking her public speaking confidence which eventually led her to craft her own play. On the other side, David speaks passionately about his vision for the show and how his knee-jerk reaction to the script was instrumental in shaping the final production. Finally, we pull back the curtain on the making of her, scheduled to run at the Red Sand Castle Theatre from September 6th to 10th. Discover how Deborah's personal inspirations breathed life into the script, and how David finessed his directorial magic to bring Her to the stage. Be prepared to be swept off your feet as we navigate through the meticulous and iterative process of creating a play. So take a seat, get comfortable, and prepare to be captivated by these brilliant minds of the Canadian theatre scene. It's a performance you won't want to miss! Deborah Shaw Since graduating from Theatre Humber, Deborah has been involved in many productions in Toronto as an actor, stage manager and costumier. Creating and performing in her own work has been a particular joy. She was a founding member of Carpe Dinero (commedia dell’arte), as co-director, co-writer and performer. Deborah has also been the Entertainment Director for the Pirate Festival, and she debuted the role of Susan in the world premiere of the Samuel French Inc. Canadian Play Contest winner, A Year In The Death Of Eddie Jester, by T. Gregory Argall. Always expanding her performing interests, Deborah launched into bellydancing with Arabesque Academy, where she regularly performed as one of the Arabesque Earthshakers. She was also the costumier and backstage manager for Arabesque Canada under Artistic Director Yasmina Ramzy. Deborah recently created her own unique style of dance fusion in her show Raqs Macabre, for which she is the producer, writer, choreographer, costumier and dance artist. The Fringe Festival made it possible for her.—Deborah’s second completed playscript—to receive a full staging while other works and ideas have impatiently waited their turn. zippysaidproductions.com Instagram: hertheplay David Agro David and one-person plays have a history together. His professional debut performance, for Heresy 3 Productions at Brock Centre for the Arts, was as Andrei Vukhov in Judgement— the first Canadian production of Barry Collins’ harrowing full-length solo drama. David continued to develop his acting and directing skills at the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, where he had the immense good fortune of learning from many of his theatre heroes. A diverse range of experiences in the Toronto area eventually led to his most recent projects— adapting, directing and performing condensed solo versions of plays which have made a lasting impression on him, including Judgement, The Dresser, Bent, Hosanna and The Elephant Man. Exploring the possibilities in solo pieces has become a consuming interest. When presented with the opportunity to make his first foray into The Toronto Fringe Festival as dramaturg and director of Deborah Shaw’s original one-actor drama, David felt right at home being part of the company of two that breathed life into her. He recently presented a newly-revised version of his own one-person show, Bedrooms of the Nation. Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

In this episode, theatre reviewer Janine Marley from A View From the Box opens up about her transformation from an avid theatre-goer to a well-respected theatre reviewer. Listen in as we explore the intricate elements of theatre reviewing, the magic of fringe festivals, and the extraordinary process of planning for such events. She also sheds light on the difference between merely chattering about a show and scrutinizing it, revealing the mental fortitude required for the latter. In this inspiring dialogue, we dig deep into the revolution of theatre writing in the era of social media. Janine provides a unique perspective on how she uses TikTok for her reviews. We also discuss the shifts in theatre writing's landscape and the hurdles encountered while promoting shows. Rounding off our discourse, Janine uncovers her future plans, her commitment to propelling the theatre industry, and her passionate love affair with theatre. In this enthralling discussion, Janine and I venture through her journey into directing and writing in the theatre world. We also dive into the vibrant and electrifying experience of attending fringe festivals around the globe. Janine shares her strategies for tackling the challenge of fitting meals into the busy schedule of a theatre reviewer and her delightful experiences of connecting with internet friends in-person at these festivals. Bio Janine Marley is an independent theatre reviewer born in Kingsville, Ontario and has been a Torontonian since November 2020. She holds Honours BA and MA Degrees from the University of Windsor in English Language and Literature with her studies primarily focused on theatre. She began acting at a young age and continued acting in productions until 2018. After graduating, she became a theatre practitioner co-founding Paper-Knife Theatre Company in Windsor, Ontario, as well as working for The Edge Productions in Windsor and Groundling Theatre Company in Toronto. She started her blog, A View from the Box, as a personal project to share her passion for theatre. Now that she lives in Toronto, she is turning that passion into becoming a reliable resource for all things live performance including theatre, dance, opera, and music. aviewfromthebox.net Twitter: @AVuefromtheBox Instagram: @avuefromthebox Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AViewfromtheBox Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Renowned theatre critic Glenn Sumi lets us behind the curtain, sharing stories of his journey from a university paper writer to a respected voice in Toronto's dynamic theatre scene. With a career spanning from Extra Magazine to Now Magazine, Sumi's candid conversation allows a rare glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of breaking into the theatre writing industry. Throughout this fascinating discussion, we delve into the art of theatre criticism, with Sumi sharing his unique approach to crafting reviews that respect the artist's intent and captivate the reader without revealing too much. He also opens up about the particular challenges of reviewing shows that don't immediately ignite a strong reaction, and how his attendance at thousands of performances has shaped his writing skills. As he navigates the new landscape of theatre criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Glenn discusses how he has had to lean on the opinions of trusted colleagues when personal attendance isn't possible. Looking to the future, this episode explores how the pandemic has impacted the arts and the struggle to find reviewers, along with the potential of filmed stage shows and the necessity for accessibility and financial support in theatre. As Sumi reflects on his role in Toronto's diverse theatre milieu that encompasses remarkable artistic leadership, comedy and music collaborations, you'll gain invaluable insights into the world of theatre criticism. Join us for an enlightening conversation on the future of theatre, and an exploration of the vibrant theatre scene in Toronto. Bio Glenn Sumi is a Toronto-based freelance writer and editor who recently launched the theatre website So Sumi. Until December 2022, he was a writer and editor at NOW Magazine for 25 years, where he wrote about theatre, comedy and film. www.goaheadsumi.com Twitter: @glennsumi Instagram: @sosumiig Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

A graduate of the Canadian Dance Company and the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, becoming an artist has been a lifelong journey. She has had the privilege of working with many international entertainment companies, performing in a variety of theatrical productions all across the globe. At the age of 32, she has been to 33 countries and through her travels has made an effort to better understand the world and its inequities. Alongside her artistic endeavours, her passion for climate justice and environmentalism has been ongoing. Over the past two years she was able to complete two courses: "Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities" from Lund University in Sweden and "Political and Moral Foundations" from Yale University. She has participated and volunteered for many climate change and social justice organizations with Friday's For Future, 350 Canada, Not Another Black Life, Stop Highway 413, Every Child Matters, Black Lives Matter, Juneteenth, Banking on a Better Future and Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction. She completed a 6 month mentorship with the City of Toronto, Women4Climate, in which The Fourth R was mentored by climate experts across Canada. Currently, she is in presentation of her theatrical multimedia dance piece called THE FOURTH R: reduce, reuse, recycle, Revolutionize. Since the launch, The Fourth R has been shown 40 times; a cross Canada tour (PEI, Halifax, Edmonton), events (Lion's Club Int., Esperanto Gallery, Swansea studio showing), and a southern Ontario school tour (15 schools, reaching over 5000 students). Previous work and credits: She has choreographed musical theatre (Shrek, Dora the Explorer, Hair, Seussical the Musical, The Little Mermaid, Fame, Little Women LOT/FirstActProd) and children's touring theatre (Little Red Theatre). She has choreographed music videos for Juno award winning Splash n' Boots and with production company Yeah! Films for Canadian bands Seaway and Pin Up. Her work has been shown at festivals like Fever After Dark with Jerome Bobb and Bazaar. She has taught dance, musical theatre and scene study with several different Toronto based companies including York University and Ryerson School of Performance Summer Intensives. Her work with the bold indie theatre company, Echo Productions, has given her the chance to choreograph stories like, Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dog Sees God and Charles Manson: Son of Man. She has performed contracts in Newfoundland, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Yukon Territory and has toured across the United States (Hair National Tour-Starvox Ent.), Europe (Hair European Tour), Maritimes Canada (The Great Big Boo) and South America (Norwegian Cruise Line). In 2018, she launched her independent dance company, Dance Fachin with their premiere work, Worldly Women. Worldly Women is a story about the different kinds of oppression women face around the globe. The show won the prestigious Jury's Choice Award (Ottawa Fringe) and Patron's Pick Award (Island Fringe). In early 2019, she performed in the first regional production (since it's run on Broadway) of An American in Paris with Arizona Broadway Theatre. There she was in the female ensemble, singing, dancing and en pointe. She has been dancing in various music videos with MMEntertainment including Jassa Dhillion's video PYAR HOGYA which has over 17 million views. www.dancefachin.com Instagram: @dancefachin Tickets to The Fourth R at Edinburgh Fringe: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-fourth-r-tickets-665219107257 Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Lindsey Middleton is a Canadian Screen Award nominee. Lindsey is best known for playing Vanessa and co-producing the internationally award-winning web series, Out With Dad, where she won two Indie Series Awards for Best Supporting Actress, and a IAWTV Award for Best Female Performance in a Drama. Lindsey has toured theatre across Canada and Europe and performed in over 50 productions.As a writer, Lindsey is one of the co-creators of the Roku Channel show Just Hysterics, a collective of female-forward comedy sketches, that has been recognized at both Stareable Fest and TO WebFest. Lindsey also co-wrote Unmute and I Love You and It Hurts with Theatre of the Beat; both pieces were commissioned by Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region and her first play Session which premiered at the Paprika Festival. Lindsey is currently writing a new TV show all about her days showing cows at local fairs as well as writing her first novel about her travels to over 30 countries before turning 30. Lindsey is a 2023 Halls Island Artist Residency Recipient.As a director, Lindsey has Associate Directed the sold out run of Legally Blonde: The Musical for Hart House Theatre, and Pippin for Theatre Sheridan. Lindsey produced and directed Best Kept Secret, the 400 person immersive event that marked the grand opening for the Anndore Hotel in downtown Toronto. lindseymiddleton.ca Instagram: @lalalindseym Kathleen Welch is a director, performer, and writer based here in Toronto. She is thrilled to be working with such an incredible team to bring this strange and beautiful play to life. Recently, Kathleen has been working on SAMCA, a play which she co-wrote, composed the music for, and acts in. This project is ongoing and she is looking forward to bringing it to Toronto audiences soon. Kathleen's favourite past directing credits include The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine and 12 Angry Jurors. She is also currently writing a new play, Bluebeard's Wives. Instagram: @kathleen.welch Suddenly Last Summer Riot King is back with another exciting, site-specific production! Don’t miss the limited run of ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ by Tennessee Williams presented at Sorry Studios. Named one of Williams’ most poetic plays, ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ is a strange and unnerving Southern Gothic play that explores mental health, repressed desires, and the lengths a dysfunctional family will go to keep dark secrets hidden. Williams’ play uncovers the frightening and disturbing realities that can hide behind what is seemingly beautiful. Tickets and Info: www.riotking.com/suddenly-last-summer Twitter: @riotkingto Instagram: @riotkingto Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Cassie is an experienced artist with credits in theatre, voice over, film and television. She is currently writing her first musical, "God Catcher", which will premiere this summer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. In addition to performing, Cassie has experience as a director, choreographer, and teacher. Select credits include: Nickie in "Sweet Charity", Tina Denmark in "Ruthless", Wednesday Addams in "The Addams Family", and the award winning short film, "T-Minus". Twitter: @cassiemuise God Catcher re-imagines the myth of Arachne. Arguably the most talented weaver of all time, Arachne was vengefully turned into the first spider for beating the goddess Athena at a weaving contest. godcatcher.com Twitter: @godcatchermt Instagram: @godcatchermusical Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

SummerWorks Performance Festival is a curated festival of theatre, dance, music, live art and interdisciplinary forms, widely recognized as one of the most important platforms for launching new work in Canada. summerworks.ca Twitter: @SummerWorksTO Instagram: @summerworksto Michael Caldwell (he/him) is a choreographer, performer, curator, artistic director, producer, and arts advocate, based in Tkaronto, Canada. Garnering critical acclaim, his choreography has been commissioned/presented throughout Canada at major festivals, in traditional venues and in site-responsive and community-engaged contexts. Michael’s most recent choreographic work responds to the 'site' in as many ways as can be conceived, and subverts traditional modes of viewing. He recently premiered ‘Two x 30’ - a large-scale performance/sound work as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto's Year of Public Art, and is currently working on two collaborative multidisciplinary performance projects. Caldwell is a two-time K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation Artist Award finalist. Michael has performed/collaborated with over 55 of Canada's esteemed performance creators/companies, working internationally and performing across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. His performances have earned him two (2) Dora Mavor Moore Awards for outstanding performance in dance. Currently, Michael serves as Artistic Director at SummerWorks in Tkaronto, and as Programming Advisor for Festival of Dance Annapolis Royal, in Nova Scotia. Most recently, as Creative Director: Programming at Generator, he led the reimagination of the overall governance structure of the organization, moving towards a co-leadership framework. Previously, Michael played a pivotal role in the growth and development of Fall for Dance North, serving as Executive Producer for eight years. He has also previously guided projects with CanAsian Dance, Dusk Dances, Older & Reckless, and Kaeja d’Dance’s ‘Porch View Dances’. In addition, he acts as a consultant with various arts organizations and as a mentor to many emerging artists/curators in the Tkaronto arts community. With a bachelor’s degree in film/art history from Syracuse University in upstate New York, and professional dance training at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Michael now serves as President of the Board of Directors at The CanDance Network Instagram: @mahkemahke Born and raised in Tkaronto, Morgan Norwich (she/her) is an arts administrator, creator and producer, who brings to SummerWorks over ten years of experience in non-profit theatre, with a specific focus on performing arts festivals and partnership building. For four years, Norwich served as Operations & Partnerships Coordinator at Theatre Alberta, where she managed membership data and ongoing partnerships. During this time, she also participated in a multi-phase adaptive change and capacity-building program led by EmcArts in the U.S. to help address complex challenges and transform their practices. In addition to her most recent role as Development Manager at Toronto Fringe, Morgan has worked with The Rhubarb Festival and SummerWorks in a variety of roles over the years. For ten years, she and playwright Johnnie Walker created and produced new works as Nobody’s Business Theatre. Their most notable project, Redheaded Stepchild, appeared at SummerWorks Festival in 2010. Written and performed by Johnnie and directed by Morgan, the show toured festivals across North America, and was published in 2016 by Playwrights Canada Press. Morgan continues to perform as a founding member of BoylesqueTO, Canada’s premiere “Boylesque” troupe, where she emcees under the stage name Balonia Wry. Instagram: @morgannorwich Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Reba Terlson is a multidisciplinary artist, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s Theatre Program and the PTE @ PTE program. Recent credits include L’armoire with Cercle Moliere, and One Trunk Theatre’s Stage Frights. Reba also produces, writes and acts in her theatre company It’s All Relative Productions. Her 2018 show, One Date City, received glowing reviews and four stars from the Winnipeg Free Press. Her Winnipeg Fringe play, Filter This, landed her on Virgin Radio’s Top 100 Fascinating Manitobans of 2017. She has also studied at the Moving Voice Institute, previously known as Canada’s national voice intensive. Her latest show Isolation Journals won the Audience Pick Award at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival in 2021. Twitter: @rebajesse Instagram: @rebajesse Keeping The Moon Meet Luna, named after the Roman Goddess of the moon. She’s a Scorpio, who loves The Baby-Sitters Club, Taylor Swift and moon pies. This is her story. But it could also be her mother’s. As she transitions through the phases of the moon, Luna journeys to discover herself, her complicated relationship with her mother, and what she keeps hidden from others. There will be one ASL performance of this show. Tickets are 12$- There is one show that is 2 or 12$ ( so 6$ per ticket ) We open July 20 at 6:15pm. Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

The Élan Collective is a tenacious band of newly-minted theatre artists figuring out how to make art in a post-pandemic world, where the wobbly uncertainties of isolation and virtual distancing now have direct impact on their identities as artists in a live-performance medium. The collective lives to create theatre with momentum. Art that drives change and affects hearts and minds. Élan is the going, launch, setting in motion, or momentum. It's that moment when you finally DO launch yourself off the dock and into the cold lake. Jeannette Lambermont-Morey has directed for theatres across Canada and the United States, from the Stratford Festival (8 seasons), to the Virginia Stage Company (twice); including such theatres as The Citadel (Edmonton), The Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa), Atlantic Theatre Festival (Nova Scotia), Manitoba Theatre Centre (Winnipeg), Festival Players (Prince Edward County), Theatre Aquarius (Hamilton), the Thousand Islands Playhouse (Gananoque), Talk is Free Theatre and Theatre by the Bay (Barrie), Theatre on the Ridge (Port Perry), the New World Theatre Project/Perchance Theatre (St. John’s, NFLD), YES Theatre (Sudbury); and Toronto area theatres, Factory Theatre, Canadian Stage, Harbourfront Centre, The Guild Festival Theatre, and The Toronto International Fringe Festival, etc. She has worked extensively in college and university theatre programs as a director and instructor. Jeannette was Artistic Director of the New World Theatre Project in Newfoundland 2012/13 and served as Executive Director of the Shakespeare Globe Centre of Canada from 1999 to 2015. As a director/dramaturge, Jeannette has developed a number of works by up-and-coming Canadian and American writers in various stages of development -- most recently The Beloved by Wesley Colford, at the Highland Arts Theatre in Cape Breton. Jeannette is currently Artistic & Managing Director of Xchange Theatre Works in St. John’s, NL. Michael Manning is a Toronto based actor, director, choreographer, and writer who is incredibly excited to debut his first play in the Toronto Fringe! He is currently studying Theatre Performance at the George Brown Theatre School located out of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts and will be returning in September for his third year. Prior to George Brown, Michael attended the University of Toronto and contributed to multiple award-winning student productions. Misha Sharivker is a Toronto-based actor and producer who is currently training at the renowned George Brown Theatre School. At any given moment, Misha can be found scrolling through an extremely niche TikTok feed or complaining that he’s hungry. Instagram: @the.elan.collective Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Keith Brown is a World-Class Magician, Speaker, and VIP Entertainer that has inspired wonder in over 22 countries and counting! Most recently performing for the President and First Lady of Iceland. He was chosen Toronto’s BEST magician… and he’s not even from Toronto! When not touring his show publicly in the summer, Keith can be found entertaining at private and corporate events or helping MBA students and business executives hone their effective communication and presentation skills. www.absolutemagic.ca Twitter: @keithhbrown Instagram: @keithhbrown Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Described by the Toronto Star as “one of Toronto’s most exciting playwrights,” Michael Ross Albert is a Dora Award-nominated writer and indie theatre producer whose work has been staged across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. His plays have been produced in professional theatres, international festivals, black boxes, basements, bars, Zoom meetings, conference rooms, and tents in both small towns and big cities. He has an MFA in Playwriting from the Actors Studio Drama School and has taught new play development at the University of Waterloo. www.michaelrossalbert.com Twitter: @michaelralbert Instagram: @michaelralbert Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Adam Francis Proulx is a Canadian theatre maker and puppeteer originally from Northern Ontario. Outside of his own creations, Adam has worked onstage with such companies as Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Sudbury Theatre Centre, Drayton Entertainment, the Victoria Playhouse Petrolia, and Walt Disney World Entertainment. Currently he can be seen on Family Jr. in The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy, and on CBC Gem on Lido TV. www.adamfrancisproulx.com Twitter: @AdamFProulx Instagram: @adamfproulx Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Jacob Willis and Kendelle Parks are the creators of Parlous Theatre, a collective that seeks to create new and experimental theatre that centre the voices of and provide opportunities to new-generation artists. Jacob Willis (he/him) is a Toronto-based actor, theatre creator, and filmmaker, originally hailing from the cold depths of Edmonton, AB. He is a recent graduate from the BFA acting program at Toronto Metropolitan University and is the Executive Producer for Parlous Theatre. Jacob strives to create unique and innovative theatre experiences, with much of his work often merging different performance disciplines and theatrical genres. The last thing he created was INSERT CLOWN HERE, a play he created alongside collaborator Kendelle Parks and will be presenting at the Toronto Fringe (July 2023). Before that, you can catch him in "A Midsummer Nights Dream" and "Clowns Doing Shakespeare" with Panoply Collective at Kew Gardens (June 2023) In his limited spare time, Jacob enjoys: watching movies, playing D&D, eating bread, and petting dogs. Kendelle Parks is a Black Canadian actor and theatre artist based in Toronto, Ontario. She is a recent graduate from the BFA acting program at Toronto Metropolitan University. As an actor, she aims to bring her personal intersectional worldview into flawed characters in complex environment. As a writer, she is interested in the use of language to shape stories and create worlds. She is deeply interested in works that expand what theatre can and ought to be, including dismantling and re-envisioning classical works and common story tropes. Recent Acting credits include The First Stone (Great Canadian Theatre Company/ New Harlem Productions), A Midsummer Nights Dream (Tottering Biped theatre), Hookman (TMU/Soulpepper), and Untamed (TMU/ Tarragon)Bio, and socials go here linktr.ee/parlous.theatre Instagram: @parlous.theatre Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Nicholas Eddie is a performer and theatre creator based in Toronto, Ontario. Productions that Nicholas has been a part of have been nominated for a total of 12 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and have won 5 including Best Production and Best New Play in the Indie Theatre Category. Selected theatre credits include, Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Rusticle), Clown (Italian Mime Suicide, Bad New Days), Storyteller (The Monkey Queen, Red Snow Collective), Timothy (Freda and Jem’s Best of the Week, Summerworks Festival). Nicholas has worked with Bad Hats Theatre in their new play development program to develop a new musical, Amelia, exploring the life of Amelia Earhart. linktr.ee/duhdumduhdum Instagram: @duhdumduhdumproductions Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Sam Chaulk is an actor, singer, playwright, improviser, dramaturg, creator and clown originally from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. She's been working in theatre and comedy across eastern Canada since 2009, and got her Masters in Performance Creation for Theatre from York University in 2021. During her time at York, she took to bouffon clowning to satisfy her desire to play inside the dark, uncomfortable and undesirable parts of humanity. Thanks to Canada Council for the Arts, she studied the form with Philippe Gaulier. She's using what she learned there to build and perform her new show, Influenced, which will play at The One Night Only Festival on June 9th and at the Montreal and Winnipeg Fringes. www.samchaulk.com Instagram: @sammchaulk Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

For Studio 180: Parade. For Mirvish: Piaf/Dietrich. For Musical Stage Company: Life After (Dora Award), Parade (Lucille), The Light in the Piazza (Franca, at both Theatre Calgary, and Musical Stage Company). During Covid times: Into the Woods (Witch, Talk is Free Theatre, Dora nomination), Divine Interventions (Corpus Theatre). Just before the world shifted, Tracy played Aurora in Eclipse Theatre’s inaugural production of Kiss of the Spider Woman at the Don Jail, for which she received a Dora nomination, and she spent the Spring touring Europe with Theaturtle’s production of Charlotte: A Tri-Colored Play. She has spent seasons at the Shaw (Mystery of Edwin Drood), Stratford (Fiddler on the Roof, Three Musketeers, The Fellini Radio Plays), and Charlottetown Festival (Anne in Anne of Green Gables, Emily in Emily: A New Musical), and the Atlantic Theatre Festival (Cinderella, Into the Woods, Natasha in Chekhov's Three Sisters). Favorite roles include Sarah Brown at the Segal Centre in Guys and Dolls, Harper in WJT's Angels in America, Jenny in Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (Outside the March), and Bella in Lost in Yonkers (Theatre Northwest). A proud graduate of Queen’s University, Tracy is also a teaching artist who runs her own private studio and is on the faculty for both The Performing Arts Project and MTCA in New York City. Recently: directed The Other Place for Talk is Free Theatre. Played Mrs. Lovett in Talk is Free's Sweeney Todd in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Was part of Musical Stage Company/Yonge Street Theatrical's RETOLD at the Toronto Reference Library. www.tracymichailidis.com Instagram: @tracymichailidis Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Carolyn Fe is a late-blooming Filipino-Canadian, award winning tri-lingual Actress (English/French/Tagalog), an award winning Singer-Songwriter-Lyricist and a former contemporary Dancer-Choreographer. Carolyn’s continuous pursuit of artistic evolution adds new instruments to her creative portfolio as a published Writer and emerging Playwright. Her short stories have been published in magazines and a poem is part of the Toronto Catholic School Commission’s curriculum teaching grade 10 and 11 students on the importance of intergenerational relationships. A budding playwright, she wrote her first plays while simultaneously participating in two different 2022 residencies: Montreal’s Teesri Duniya Theatre’s 2022 Fireworks Playwrights’ Programme where she developed “Go Fish!”, a play that was conceived in Tarragon Theatre’s Playwright Course with Paula Wing and, Factory Theatre’s 2022 The Foundry New Work Creation Group where she adapted her published short story into a play entitled “Still Life in Death”. Carolyn has also translated “Cross Sea” by Kyungseo Min from English/Korean to French/Korean. The play telling the story of two women’s experiences as comfort women during the Japanese occupation of Korea. As an actor, some TV/streaming credits include Lola (Grandma) in the Nickelodeon reboot of the children’s show “Blue’s Clues & You!”, Madame Z in the award winning French series “Meilleur Avant”, “ABROAD” a bilingual Tagalog-English sketch comedy series and, voices on various animated series such as DreamWorks’ “Pinecone & Pony” and PBS Kids’ “Work It Out Wombats”. Some Theatre credits include: Uncle Vanya (Crow’s Theatre), Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon Theatre), Calpurnia (Nightwood/Sulong), Through the Bamboo (Uwi Collective) and Miss Orient(ed) (Teesri Duniya Theatre). When Carolyn is not on the theatre’s stage or front of the camera, she is most likely performing her original songs from her four albums or doing song writing collaborations with musicians around the globe. Carolyn is the assistant director for Tarragon Theatre's Paint Me This House of Love. Instagram: @thecarolynfe Twitter: @TheCarolynFe Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Kylie Thompson (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary performer, creator and educator residing in Toronto, Ontario. She considers herself an ally to the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities and is committed to ongoing education, conversation and action towards equality and de-colonization of Western Dance practices. She holds an honours degree in Kinesiology from McMaster University, and has trained in classical, contemporary and street dance styles and has also developed a practice in photography. After having served on the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists-East board of Directors for 5 years, she is passionate about arts advocacy and independent production. She has produced numerous works both in the theatre and on the screen; some of which include “Versus”, “33/33”, “Oh, Yes” and "Femmillennial"; and she is honoured to have been part of such festivals as New Blue, Dance: Made in Canada, Toronto Fringe, Choreographer’s Ball, and more. Her commercial credits include Barenaked Ladies, Kiesza, TIFF, Finger Eleven, Lionsgate Films and more. A passionate educator; her teaching practice has spanned various disciplines but is currently focused on release-based floor work; having trained with and drawn inspiration from Alias Dance Project, Vim Vigor Dance, Elke Schroeder and many other influential dance theatre companies. This year she will take her self-produced production "Femmillennial" on the road to Orlando and Vancouver Fringe Festivals. kyliethompsoncreative.com Twitter: @itskyliethomps1 Instagram: @kyliethompsoncreative Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Cass Van Wyck (she/her) is double Dora-nominated actor/producer who splits her time between her positions as Co-Artistic of the Assembly Theatre and Artistic Director of One Four One Collective. Throughout her 10+ year acting career, she has performed in the UK and all throughout Canada working with many notable directors including Daniel MacIvor, Soheil Parsa, and Marie Farsi. Select credits include Tracy in Two Minutes to Midnight (The Assembly Theatre, 2022 Dora Nomination – Outstanding Performance by an Individual), Shelley in The Huns (One Four One Collective, 2022 Dora Nomination – Outstanding Performance by an Individual) and Moira in Therac 25 (Unit 102 Actors Co., 2019 My Entertainment World Critics’ Pick Award Nomination - Outstanding Leading Performance). Cass is excited to be making her directorial debut this coming May 2023 with Bone Cage by Catherine Banks at The Assembly Theatre. Originally from the small town of Fenwick, Ontario, Cass currently lives in Toronto and can normally be found baking chocolate chip cookies and cheering on the Blue Jays. www.cassvanwyck.com Twitter: @classvanwyck Instagram: @classvanwyck Bone Cage Tickets: https://www.theassemblytheatre.com/bonecagebycatherinebanks Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Vishesh Abeyratne is a Sri Lankan-Canadian playwright and dramaturg who divides his time between Ottawa and Montreal. He is currently the Artistic Facilitator at Teesri Duniya Theatre where he also coordinates the Fireworks Playwrights Mentorship Program. Before this he served as playwright-in-residence at the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC). His plays typically use dark political satire to interrogate and critique the destructive effects of white supremacy and capitalism upon the humanity of individuals. Tickets to Blood Offering: https://plainstage.com/events/blood-offering Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Christine is an Edmonton / amiskwacîwâskahikan-based theatre artist, teacher, director, and artistic director of Small Matters Productions. She holds a BSc in Physics, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Drama. She is co-creator of and performer in Small Matters’ eight full-length shows, including the interactive comedy hit, "For Science!" (2018-23), she has just premiered her new show "The Space Between Stars", a radical adaption of "The Little Prince". Watch for the forthcoming western inter-provincial collaboration, "The Spinsters" (premièring 2023/24). She is a frequent collaborator with the Edmonton-based companies Catch the Keys Productions, artistic associate with Toy Guns Dance Theatre, and director of the Play the Fool Festival of clown-theatre and physical comedy. She specializes in integrated & collaborative creation, audience experience design, interactive comedy, and physical storytelling. www.smallmatters.ca www.christinelesiak.com Instagram: @smallmattersp Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Margo MacDonald(she/they)From Ottawa but currently based in Toronto, Margo is a multi-award winning playwright and performer who primarily creates work highlighting lost bits of queer women’s history. Her solo show, The Elephant Girls, (which she wrote and performs) has been touring nationally and internationally since it premiered in 2015, including runs in London, England, the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival in Ireland, and the renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. To date, the show has won eleven awards.Her other plays include: Shadows (about out lesbian theatre maverick, Eva Le Gallienne, and her partner Josephine Hutchinson), Rap Once for Yes (about Radclyffe Hall and Noel Coward holding a seance), Maupin (about a cross-dressing, bisexual, swordfighter, opera singer, and duellist in 17th century France), and, together with Geoff McBride, The Persistent Stain (about an aging Canadian punk band).Other recent performance credits include: Dressed as People – a Triptych of Uncanny Abduction (undercurrents festival), Heartlines, and Albumen (TACTICS Mainstage); Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), and Fly Me to the Moon, (Great Canadian Theatre Company); Henry V, and Much Ado About Nothing (A Company of Fools); and The Penelopiad (Citadel Theatre). www.parryriposte.ca Twitter: @PRPtheatre Instagram: @margo_thespian Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Rachel Matumbo and Natasha Mumba are the playwright and director of Vierge at Factory Theatre, April 8-30. Rachel Mutombo is an award-winning actor and writer. She is an acting graduate of John Abbott College’s Professional Theatre program as well as the National Theatre School of Canada. As a freelance writer, Rachel has had essays and articles published by CBC, Intermission Magazine and ByBlacks.com. Her first full length play, Vierge, was awarded the first place prize in Infinitheatre's annual playwriting competition. Vierge is premiering at Factory Theatre in Toronto in April 2023. www.rachelmutombo.com Twitter: @rachel_mutombo_ Natasha Mumba is a Zambian born, Toronto based multi-disciplined artist. She is a graduate of the Acting program at The National Theatre School of Canada as well as the previous Apprentice Artistic Director at Factory Theatre through the generous support of the Metcalf Foundation. She recently had the pleasure of being a Directing Fellow at Why Not Theatre’s ThisGen program, as well having the pleasure of developing her skills in dramaturgy at The Pan-African Dramaturgical Lab hosted by South African company Vrystraat. Her directing credits include; Driftwood Trafalgar: Balance; Factory Theatre: Lady Sunrise (Assistant Director); YPT: The Water Gun Song and Cassius; Studio 180: Gone to see a Man about a dog. Instagram: @tashamum Tickets to Vierge: https://www.factorytheatre.ca/shows/vierge/ Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Matthew MacKenzie is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta and proud father of Ivan (Eevan, Vanya, Vanichka). Artistic Director of Punctuate! Theatre, Matthew is also the founder and an Artistic Associate with Pyretic Productions, a founding member of the Pemmican Collective, as well as Canadian Liaison of the Liberian Dance Troupe. Matt’s plays include First Métis Man of Odesa, Bears, After the Fire and The Particulars. www.punctuatetheatre.com Twitter: @PunctuateTheatr Instagram: @punctuatetheatre Details and Tickets for First Métis Man of Odesa: http://www.punctuatetheatre.com/first-mtis-man-of-odesa-202223 Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Genevieve Adam is a graduate of the George Brown Theatre School in Toronto and holds an MFA from the East15 Acting School in the UK.Selected acting credits include Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (CBS), The Big Cigar (AppleTV), Mrs. America (FX), The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu), Stag&Doe (Capitol Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Theatre By the Bay), Annabel (BBC4), Measure for Measure (Thought for Food) and Recall (Toronto Fringe) - for which she was nominated as Outstanding Actress in the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards. Her first play Deceitful Above All Things premiered at SummerWorks in 2015 and won several accolades including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production, and Best Emerging Artist. It was remounted at the Factory in association with The Storefront Theatre in February 2017.Subsequent plays include Bedsport (Newmarket National Play Festival), New World (Future Theatre Festival), Anatomy of A Dancer (Next Stage 2019), The Boat Show (Lost Souls’ Collective), and If The Shoe Fits, which won second place in the Toronto Fringe 2019 New Writing Contest.Her most recent play Dark Heart was named one of the top theatrical productions of 2018 by the Toronto Star.Genevieve is part of the 2023 Creator’s Units at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope and the Guild Festival Theatre in Toronto.She is also the poet behind the whimsical #haikusofthepandemic series. www.genevieveadam.com Twitter: @FavourZeeBrave Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Kimberly Beaune is an accomplished event industry professional with nearly years experience. After receiving her Hospitality training at Red Deer College, she began her career in hotel sales. It didn’t take long for Kimberly to fall in love with the magic of event design and go on to explore that passion through senior roles in off-site catering, destination management, décor & design and entertainment. While building her foundation in events in Toronto, she also began to create, produce, direct and design theatre projects for the award-winning theatre company Keystone Theatre. As her worlds of events and theatre began to blend, a passion for telling stories through design and event animation grew. Kimberly continued to hone her design aesthetic and established her approach to event storytelling by leading the concept, creation and design of hundreds of unique projects across Canada. She has served as an industry mentor and leader and spoken internationally regarding event design and logistics. Since launching her boutique event firm Creative Twist Inc. in 2014, she has twice been named one of Canada’s “Most Influential Event Professionals” by Bizbash Magazine and won three Canadian Event Industry Awards for her work. In 2021 family brought her back home to Red Deer. Since moving her headquarters to Alberta, she continued to work with key event clients in both Ontario and Alberta. Never far from theatre, she sits on the board of directors for Prime Stock Theatre in Red Deer and is their acting General Manager. Recently, she took over the day to day management of The Scott Block, a vintage black box theatre and cabaret space in Red Deer. This new venture brings both of her worlds together under one roof; a venue for unique and engaging events, and a creative space for theatre and performance. What stories can she help you tell? www.creativetwist.ca Instagram: @creative.twist Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Claren Grosz is a Toronto based writer, theatre and visual artist and Artistic Director of Pencil Kit Productions. She recently published her first illustrated chapbook of poetry, starting with the roof of my mouth (Gap Riot Press, 2022). Some of her favourite theatre projects included directing CHICHO (Pencil Kit Productions/Theatre Passe Muraille, 2019) and co-creating and directing Shadow Girls (Pencil Kit Productions, 2018). She is the recipient of the 2018 Ken MacDougall Emerging Director Award and the 2015 My Entertainment World Outstanding Direction (Small Theatre) Award. When she isn’t making art, Claren teaches children and teenagers math on zoom. www.pencilkitproductions.com Twitter: @PencilKitProd Instagram: @pencilkitproductions Buy tickets to I Love the Smell of Gasoline: https://ots.sumacpages.com/sumac/sumac_start_new_session.php?package=ticketing4&userfolder=..%2FORG%2Fnativeearth Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Rena Polley is an actor, writer, producer and teacher. She performed in The Chekhov Collective's The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, A Midsummer Night's Dream and I Take Your Hand In Mine which toured Washington D.C. Rena has been involved for over 20 years with the acting techniques of Michael Chekhov (Anton’s nephew) and is a founding member of Michael Chekhov Canada as well as The Chekhov Collective. She sits on the board of The Michael Chekhov Association in NYC and is part of the Michael Chekhov Studio Co-op of independent studio from around the world. She also acted in Don Shebib's new film "Night Talk" which premiered at TIFF this year. www.thechekhovcollective.com Twitter: @chekhovcollect Instagram: @thechekhovcollective Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

There has been a topic that has dominated the theatre scene in Canada for several years, and that’s the question of whether audiences are disappearing. This week, host Phil Rickaby convenes a roundtable discussion with indie theatre artists to discuss that very question. Stephen Near is a writer and educator, as well the co-founder and playwright-in-residence of Hamilton’s Same Boat Theatre. Stephen was last on the podcast in June, 2022. Emily Dix is a theatre artist and photographer and the Artistic Executive Director of Bygone Theatre. Emily was on the podcast in August, 2019. Laura Piccinin is a playwright and performer, as well as a dancer and aerialist. Laura's most recent appearance on the podcast was in June, 2022. Adrianna Prosser the artistic producer at Eldritch Theatre, and general manager at the Red Sandcastle theatre, as well as a storyteller and social media maven. Adrianna was last on the podcast as part of the indie theatre roundtable in February, 2022. Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Amy Lee Lavoie is an award-winning playwright and a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s Playwriting Program. Her first play, Rabbit Rabbit, received its premiere production with Infinitheatre, earning Amy Lee two MECCA’s for Best Text and the Revelation Award. Rabbit Rabbit has since been produced across Canada and in the US. Other plays include Me Happy (co-written with Matthew Mackenzie/Summerworks Festival), Stopheart (Factory Theatre) Genetic Drift (Pi Theatre/Boca del Lupo) My Tom (Railtown Lab Series), Scout’s Honour (Radio Play/Imago Theatre) and C’mon, Angie! (Touchstone Theatre/Leroy Street Theatre) which was hailed as “visceral, important, life-changing theatre.” Amy Lee was also the Head Digital Writer for the CBC drama Strange Empire, which won a Gracie Award (Women’s Alliance Media) for Best Website in recognition of its interactive Storytelling. Amy Lee is currently developing an original play, Women Do Not Go on Strike, with Odd Stumble Theatre, as well as co-writing multiple projects with her husband/fellow writer Omari Newton. They include: Blackfly, an adaptation of Titus Andronicus, originally commissioned by Repercussion Theatre and recently supported by CCA’s Digital Now, as well as an adaptation of Dante’s Inferno for re:Naissance Opera. Amy Lee & Omari’s audio drama Doubletree, commissioned by Factory Theatre, was recently presented on iTunes and Spotify as part of their You Can’t Get There from Here, Vol. 2 series. Twitter: @amyleelavoie Omari Newton is an award-winning professional actor, writer, director and producer. As a writer, his original Hip Hop Theater piece Sal Capone has received critical acclaim and multiple productions, including a run at Canada’s National Arts Center. Omari and his wife, fellow professional playwright Amy Lee Lavoie, received a Silver Commission from The Arts Club Theatre to co-write a new play: Redbone Coonhound. A bold and innovative satirical comedy that confronts instances of systemic racism in the past, present and future. Omari co-directed the first in a series of rolling world premieres at The Arts Club Theatre in October of 2022. The play is set to open at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, followed by a run at Imago Theatre in Montreal. The husband and wife duo have also just completed "Black Fly," a satirical adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus that centers on Aaron and Lavinia. Newton’s work in Speakeasy Theatre's production of Young Jean Lee's The Shipment earned him a 2017-2018 Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor, as well as a nomination for Best Direction. He has recently completed directing critically acclaimed productions of "The Mountaintop" by Katori Hall, and "Pass Over" by Antoinette Nwandu. Notable film & TV credits include: Lucas Ingram on Showcase’s Continuum, Larry Summers on Blue Mountain State and lending his voice to the Black Panther in multiple animated projects (Marvel). Most recently, Omari has a recurring role as Nate on Corner Gas (the animated series) and a recurring role as Corvus of Netflix’s hit new animated series The Dragon Prince. Twitter: @omariakilnewton Instagram: @omariakilnewton Redbone Coonhound Out for a walk in their West End neighbourhood, Mike and Marissa—an interracial couple—meet a dog with an unfortunate breed name: Redbone Coonhound. This small detail unleashes a cascading debate between them about race and their relationship that manifests as a series of micro-plays, each satirizing contemporary perspectives on modern culture. Through its hard-hitting comedic elements, Redbone Coonhound explores the intricacies of subtle and overt polemics of race, systemic power and privilege in remarkable, surprising and hilarious ways. A wild and subversive journey back through history and into the future. Redbone Coonhound reveals deep fears, rage, insecurities and, ultimately, hope. Tickets and Info: https://www.tarragontheatre.com/redbone-coonhound/ Twitter: @tarragontheatre Instagram: @tarragontheatreto Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Andrew G. Cooper is a Canadian playwright, director, and puppeteer. As an artist, Andrew’s focus is on the creation of new works with a particular emphasis on storytelling through physical mediums such as puppetry, movement, mask, and stage combat. They hold their Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from Thompson Rivers University and are the recipient of the Kamloops Mayor’s Emerging Artist Award as well as a nominee of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award. They won multiple awards for Outstanding Choreography for their work in Musical Theatre with the Academy of Dance and are the founding Artistic Managing Director of Chimera Theatre in Kamloops, BC and the founding and current Artistic Producer of Jupiter Theatre in Calgary, AB. Andrew debuted on television as a puppeteer on Apple TV+ with The Jim Henson Company’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. Andrew is a lover of astronomy and animals and currently lives in Calgary, AB. www.andrewgcooper.com Twitter: @AndrewGCooper22 Instagram: @andrewgcooper22 Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Amanda Lin 林美智 (she/her) is a friend, playwright, daughter, arts administrator, crochet enthusiast, performer, and director. She is a graduate of Queen’s University, where she studied social psychology, theatre, and business, with her area of research centring on attitudes and social influence. She is interested in using art and storytelling to cultivate compassionate and dynamic communities. Amanda currently works at Nightwood Theatre, where she spends her time fundraising and co-leading emerging artist programs such as the Nightwood Innovators and Rising Moon. Her first full-length play, Between a Wok and a Hot Pot (Asian Canadian Dinner Theatre), is premiering in Toronto with Cahoots Theatre in January 2023. amandamlin.wordpress.com Twitter: @mandamlin Instagram: @amandaalin Tickets to Between a Wok and a Hot Pot: https://www.cahoots.ca/production/between-a-wok-and-a-hot-pot Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Bronwyn Steinberg is a theatre director and community builder; she’s passionate about making theatre an inclusive gathering space where stories are shared that celebrate the diversity of human experience. Based in Calgary/Mohkinstsis in Treaty 7 territory, she is the Artistic Director of Lunchbox Theatre, and she recently directed The Importance of Being Earnest for Theatre Calgary. She loves working with the classics as well as new plays, and since coming to Lunchbox in 2020, she has directed both Home for the Holidays, a new musical by Cayley Wreggitt and Alixandra Cowman, and Rebecca Northan’s All I Want for Christmas. She has also directed 6 new play development workshops as part of the Lunchbox Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work and Stage Two, in addition to multiple workshops and premieres with other companies. She was based in Ottawa for 12 years, where she was the founding Artistic Director of the indie series TACTICS. Credits as an award-winning freelance director include The Drowning Girls and Bang Bang (Great Canadian Theatre Company), The Revolutionists and Miss Shakespeare (Three Sisters Theatre), Twelfth Night (A Company of Fools) and Raising Stanley / Life with Tulia—an accessible multimedia storytelling collaboration with Kim Kilpatrick and Karen Bailey. She has worked as an assistant director at the Stratford Festival, the Shaw Festival and GCTC and is a member of both the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab (2018 & 2019) and Directors Lab North (2020). www.lunchboxtheatre.com Instagram: @bronwynsteinberg Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Stevie Baker is a producer, director and costume designer based in Severn, Ontario. A prolific theatre creator and artist, she has been a part of over 30 productions in Toronto’s vibrant theatre community over the past 15 years. Stevie has been the Head of Production at Dauntless City Theatre since its inception in 2007 (originally Urban Bard). Her work with Dauntless is rooted in queering, subverting and modernizing Shakespeare to better reflect the dynamic people of Ontario. She is a director on the boards of both Arts Orillia and Mariposa Arts Theatre. She centers queer joy, anti-racism and anti-poverty in her work, life and the raising of her two children. Stevie has worked internationally with Kansas City’s MET and served as Artistic Director of The Daegu Theatre Troupe in Daegu, South Korea. She orchestrated the DTT’s first touring show and directed South Korea’s first English language production of A Streetcar Named Desire in 2011. Stevie is dedicated to the art of theatre and expression and is enjoying bringing her expertise, experience and methods back home to Severn since relocating in late 2020. www.dauntlesscitytheatre.com Instagram: @tristevietops Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Rob Kempson is a theatre artist and educator, working primarily as a director and playwright, and the Artistic Director of the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope. Selected Writer/Director: Trigonometry (timeshare/Factory); Mockingbird (Next Stage Theatre Festival); SHANNON 10:40 (timeshare/Videofag); explicit (Rhubarb Festival); #legacy (Harbourfront Centre); The HV Project (Community). Selected Director: Box 4901 (timeshare/Buddies), The Places We Are (Theatre Erindale), The Snow Queen (Canadian Children’s Opera Company), Electric Messiah (Soundstreams), The Little Mermaid (St. Lawrence College), 9 to 5: The Musical (Randolph College), The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Box 4901 (SummerWorks, foldA Festival); The Canadian, Maggie and Pierre, Million Dollar Quartet, Daisy Amazed Me, Violet’s the Pilot, Rose’s Clothes (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Robert (co-directed with Briana Brown, Toronto Fringe); Songs for a New World (Claude Watson). Writer/Composer/Performer: The Way Back To Thursday (Theatre Passe Muraille/Touchstone Theatre – Dora Nomination: Outstanding New Musical). Rob has been a member of the Stratford Festival Playwrights’ Retreat, a Resident Artist Educator at Young People’s Theatre, and the RBC Intern Director for The Musical Stage Co. He is the past Artistic Producer of the Paprika Festival, the past Associate Artistic Producer at Theatre Passe Muraille, and the past Associate Artistic Director at the Thousand Islands Playhouse. Rob is also the Co-Artistic Director of ARC, a Toronto-based company. www.robkempson.com Twitter: @rob_kempson Instagram: @rob_kempson Tickets to ARC's Martyr: https://www.nativeearth.ca/shows/martyr/ Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Yulissa Campos (she/her) is an Ecuadorian theatre artist and founding artistic director of Ay, Caramba! Theatre, the first Latin American theatre in Saskatchewan. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Saskatchewan and works with the Newcomer and Indigenous community when she is not writing, acting, or producing. Yulissa has been invited to be part of the CBC’s Q with Tom Power to talk about diversity in the prairies. She celebrates her Latin American heritage in her plays and her work has been presented internationally such as at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival and across Canada. Yulissa is now debuting in the biggest role in her life: motherhood. aycarambatheatre.com Instagram: @yuliecampos Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Kendall savage is the former artistic Director and co creator of the Montreal Clown festival. Future apprentice of Mike Kennard from MUMP and SMOOT , she finds herself located in Toronto Ontario where she is finishing the Second City Conservatory and taking the improv scene by storm. Instagram: @pretty_funny_kendall_savage_ Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles are better known as James and Jamesy. The James & Jamesy Performance Society creates multi-award winning theatrical performances typified by extended characters, rich emotion, and fantastical trips of the imagination. Their shows are investigations in participatory theatre that merge physical comedy, clown, and dance to create theatrical environments where audiences feel invited and compelled to participate. Since 2012, James & Jamesy shows have sold over 80,000 tickets and been performed over 750 times across Canada, the United States, and the UK. Their accessibility and wide appeal is evident by numerous 5-Star reviews and 20 Best-of-Fest awards. Regarded as “Fringe legends” (Montreal Gazette), “Fringe stalwarts” (Winnipeg Free Press) and “One of the most popular fringe duos ever” (CBC), James & Jamesy have firmly claimed a place in the ranks of contemporary Canadian theatre. www.jamesandjamesy.com Twitter: @jamesandjamesy Instagram: @jamesandjamesy O Christmas Tea tickets and more at ochristmastea.com Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Matthew Romantini is a multi-disciplinary artist, the artistic director of Omnivore Performance, and works in dance, theatre, and with orchestral ensembles across the continent. He is also teaches and coaches performance, directs and choreographs as part of his performance work. He has been lucky to direct Unity (1918) and Gogol's The Government Inspector at Randolph College, and is gearing up to direct another production at the college in January. He has been nominated for 5 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the CTC Award (winning best production for The Boys In The Band), the KM Hunter Award, the Total Theatre Award, and has received two Chalmers Professional Development Grants. Notable credits include Kokoro Dance’s epic Sunyata, Gorey Story (as performer and Artistic Director, nominated for 5 Dora Awards), Theatre Rusticle’s signature April 14, 1912, PNME’s Just Out of Reach (which toured to the Edinburgh Fringe), co-creating Tomoe Arts’ Weaver Woman, and PNME’s “heart-rending” Psappho’s Sparrows/In The Wake concert cycle. As a creator and artist, I work in dance, theatre, and with orchestral ensembles across the continent. I have been nominated for and won several awards, endowments and grants, and more importantly, I have been fortunate to collaborate with notable artists and audiences across the globe, from Toronto, Vancouver, New York, LA, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Edinburgh Sydney, and Tokyo, and continue to bring together the influences of my wellness and artistic practices to positively affect both. www.matthewromantini.com Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Born in Albania, Indrit has made Tkarón:to his home since 2000. He is the Founding Artistic Producer for lemonTree creations and Artistic Producer for Theatre Passe Muraille. lemonTree creations focuses on queer works, and Indrit has produced, acted in, choreographed and directed several critically acclaimed and award winning productions, including a national tour for MSM [men seeking men]. As the Artistic Producer of Canada’s original alternative theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Indrit continues to develop exciting new theatrical voices while also focusing on national and international touring for the company. As a performer, Indrit has had the privilege to work with many talented writers, directors, designers and companies in a myriad of projects that more often than not are interdisciplinary in nature making use of both his ability with movement and text. Most notably he is a company member of the award winning dance theatre company CORPUS. Through Corpus he has helped develop and premiere two new works (Machina Nuptialis, House Guests) and continued touring other repertoire to North America, Europe and Asia. He’s an Acting graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, a 2018 Harold Award Winner and a 2020 Dora Nominated performer. Twitter: @indritk Instagram: @indritk Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Joseph Zita (he/him) is a Toronto based actor, singer, and theatre artist. He was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and grew up in Mississauga, ON. Select Theatre Credits include: The Antipodes (Coal Mine Theatre), Peter Pan (Neptune Theatre, Halifax), Lilies; Or, the Revival of a Romantic Drama (lemonTree Creations/Why Not Theatre/Buddies in Bad Times), Picture This (Soulpepper), Richard III (Shakespeare BASH'd), Kitsault: A New Canadian Musical (Staged Reading - Al Green Theatre), In the Heights: In Concert (We Are Here Productions), Beauty and the Beast: In Concert (Angelwalk Theatre), and several new works for the Toronto and Hamilton Fringe Festivals. Film/Television: Locke and Key, Firehouse Dog, Mayday. When not on stage, Joseph is quite active behind the scenes, and is currently serving his fifth term on the Board of Directors for Shakespeare in the Ruff. He holds BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor, and has also studied at the Stella Adler Studio in New York City. Twitter: @josephzita Instagram: @josephzita Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Curtis Campbell is a writer and theatre artist. Some previous credits as a writer and director include Katherine Is Not A Communist, Imp, BETR With Bevan and Color Me Pablo. His novel Dragging Mason County will be published by Annick Press in the fall of 2023. Check out Gay for Pay, co-written by Curtis and Daniel Krolik at Streetcar Crowsnest, Nov. 16-27. Twitter: @Alanis_Percocet Instagram: @gayforpayproductions Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

On this episode of Stageworthy, joining host Phil Rickaby, are Kate Werneburg, Suchiththa Wickremesooriya, Eric Benson and Chi-Chi Onuah from Dauntless City Theatre. Dauntless City Theatre is dedicated to bringing site-specific performances to non-traditional spaces. This summer, Dauntless presents This Earth of Majesty an adaptation of Richard II by William Shakespeare, directed by Kate Werneburg. www.dauntlesscitytheatre.com Instagram: @dauntlessto Kate Werneburg is originally from Ottawa, ON, which is on the unceded and traditional territory of the Algonquin Nation. Niagara-based, she is a queer settler. She brings social justice work along with artistic and administrative experience to her work with Dauntless. Highlights in theatre: Carousel Players, Dauntless City Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, The Nearly-World Famous Dufflebag Theatre (bilingual troupe), Ergo Arts Theatre, A Company of Fools, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, Elizabeth - Darcy. Journalism: She Does The City, Intermission Magazine. Poetry: The Quilliad. Twitter: @KateWburg Instagram: @katewburg Suchiththa Wickremesooriya is a multi-disciplinary Sri Lankan actor and educator who has recently been drawn to multi-sensory theatre as well as physical theatre. As an educator, he holds a M.A in Musical Theatre Performance and is the Associate Producer, Education for Shakespeare in Action. He was most recently seen in Bend it Like Beckham in its North American premiere in Toronto and in a Summerworks presentation of Deaf-integrated Theatre techniques. Other Select Credits include Ariel in The Tempest (Citadel Theatre), Fakir in The Secret Garden (Theatre Calgary) and Ifty in Pocket Rocket (Lost and Found Theatre). Since Covid19 hit, he's been involved in several Workshops both on and off Zoom including Sweeter, Sister Warriors, Leopards and Peacocks, Off the Beaten Path, and many other new works in progress. Twitter: @SuchiththaW Instagram: @SuchiththaW Eric Benson is a Toronto-based actor. He was a core member of Halifax's DaPoPo Theatre from 2005 - 2013, and was part of the Stratford Festival's director mentorship programme in 2011 and 2012. Chi-Chi Onuah is a Canadian-Nigerian actor, mover, and singer. She studied Devised Theatre (B.A.) at York University in Toronto. Some of Chi-Chi’s notable credits include: Bianca (Othello) and the Ensemble (Coriolanus) for the 2x OnComm and special OneOff award-winning web series, The Show Must Go Online (Rob Myles). Most recently, Chi-Chi Onuah was featured in CBC Arts about Netflix & Shondaland’s “The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience” in Montréal. chichionuah.com Twitter: @chichionuah Instagram: @chichi.onuah Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

This week's guest is theatre & cabaret performer, astronomy enthusiast, and 2022 Neil Munro Directing Intern at the Shaw Festival, Ryan G. Hinds. A Toronto-based theatre artist and cabaret performer, Ryan has performed #KanderAndEbb at the Stratford Festival (with digital appearances from John Kander and Chita Rivera); We Will Rock You for Magnus Theatre; Starry Notions for Toronto Fringe; Hedwig in Hedwig & the Angry Inch at the Capitol Theatre; and Piragua Guy in In The Heights for We Are Here. An Artist-in-Residence at Buddies in Bad Times from 2014 to 2016, Ryan is also an Associate Artist at lemonTree Creations, where the work has included Lydie-Anne in Lilies; Or, The Revival of a Romantic Drama; the development, premiere, remount and national tour of dance-theatre hybrid MSM [men seeking men]; and the world premiere of Private Eyes (in association with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario). Currently one of the two 2022 Neil Munro Directing Interns at the Shaw Festival and Assistant Director for Damn Yankees, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Gem of the Ocean, Ryan’s work as a director includes Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley for Theatre New Brunswick; 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Vanier College Productions at York University; Cock-Tales with Maria for Tapestry Opera; MacArthur Park Suite: A Disco Ballet for Summerworks; and Little Pretty & the Exceptional for Factory Theatre (asst to Brendan Healy). An alumnus of Randolph Academy’s Triple Threat program, Ryan is a graduate of Generator’s Artistic Producer Training program, a member of the 2019 co-hort of Director’s Lab North, the 2017 Factory Theatre “Factory Foremen” intensive program, and the 2016 Obsidian Theatre Mentor/Apprentice Program. Ryan is proudly serving a second term on the national council of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, and has shared stages and screens with artists such as Taylor Mac, Todrick Hall, Liza Minnelli, Billy Stritch, Debbie Reynolds and more. ryanghinds.com Twitter: @ryanghinds Instagram: @ryanghinds Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Drew Murdock (he/him) is a theatre maker based in Saint John, NB. He is the director of the Fundy Fringe Festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer. Drew also works year round at The Saint John Theatre Company and regularly works with the Atlantic Repertory Company, Theatre Six, Improvisation Corporation, Loylist City Shakespeare, and other fine theatre makers in Saint John as a stage manager, lighting and projection designer, production manager, video director, and more. fundyfringefestival.com Twitter: @FundyFringeFest Instagram: @fundyfringefest Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Andrew Kushnir is an actor, playwright, director, as well as artistic director of the socially-engaged theatre company Project: Humanity (PH) in Toronto. Since 2021, he has steered PH’s Proximity Lab, an incubator for new approaches to verbatim theatre -- a form he has been working in for 15 years. He has collaborated on two books coming out in 2022: Moving the Centre: Two Plays: Small Axe and Freedom Singer (Talon Books, with Khari Wendell McClelland) and Hope in a Collapsing World (U of T Press, with Kathleen Gallagher). Andrew is the creator and host of _This Is Something Else – _an investigative theatre history podcast for the Arts Club. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta, a Loran Scholar and alumnist of the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction at the Stratford Festival. Andrew is the inaugural recipient of the Shevchenko Foundation REACH residency prize. A proudly queer Ukrainian-Canadian, he founded the We Support LGBTQ Ukraine Fund with the Veritas Foundation in April 2022. Dr. Kathleen Gallagher: A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Distinguished Professor, and Director of the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto, Dr. Kathleen Gallagher studies theatre as a powerful medium for expression by young people of their experiences and understandings. She has published numerous books and articles at the intersection of youth, theatre, and the social world. Her most recent works include the 2020 edited collection, _Global Youth Citizenry and Radical Hope: Enacting Community-Engaged Research through Performative Methodologies _and the 2022 monograph Hope in a Collapsing World: Youth, Theatre, and Listening as a Political Alternative Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Georgia Findlay (she/her) is a Toronto-based actor, playwright, producer and younger sister. This summer she made her Fringe debut with her first original script "Joan & Olivia: A Hollywood Ghost Story," which explores themes of sibling rivalry through the ghosts of real life Old Hollywood movie star-sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland. Selected credits include: several roles in the 2019 Newmarket National 10-Minute Play Festival; Mrs. Clandon, "You Never Can Tell" (2019, George Brown Theatre School, Susan Ferley); Arsen Kazbeki/The Fat Prince, "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" (2019, GBTS, Richard Greenblatt); Josie Hogan, "A Moon for the Misbegotten" (2017, GBTS Scene Study, Elizabeth Saunders). Georgia learned so much in her whirlwind Fringe experience, and can't wait to continue following her passions and expanding her career. Instagram: @georgiagfindlay Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Natalia Bushnik (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and Dora Mavor Moore-nominated playwright. She is fascinated by immersive experiences that examine morally grey territories and unnerve audience members in their complicity. Select theatre: 'SAMCA' (Spindle Collective); 'The Bathtub Girls' (Kairos Theatre); 'PING!' (Workshop-Aaron Jan/Urjo Kareda Residency). Select film: 'Revenge of the Black Best Friend', 'peopleWatching' (CBC Gem). Her radio play, 'Just Across the Causeway', was produced through the National Theatre School’s #ArtApart Program, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council, and a live version was performed as a staged reading in the UK through Little Lion Theatre Company this past November. Her favourite pastimes include having no visible eyebrows and watching c-level horror movies. https://natbushnik0.wixsite.com/spindlecollective Twitter: @spindletheatre Instagram: @spindlecollective Kathleen Welch is a writer, performer, and composer from Toronto. She is passionate about new works and loves creating projects with people she cares about. She previously wrote the music for Just Across the Causeway by Natalia Bushnik with whom she later co-created the play Samca. Some favourite past roles include Catherine in Widow's Wedding Dress, Mrs. Forthright in False Claims, and Clara in Fermata. Kathleen is currently in an original children's musical of The Three Little Pigs and is working on her first album, Greasy Girl. When not not performing she can be found drinking wine, eating pasta, and cuddling her cat Athena. Brendan Kinnon is a Toronto based actor and director who is passionate about contemporary theatre and producing new Canadian plays. They are the Founder and Creative Director of Riot King: Art Market - an artist hub producing experimental theatre and arts-community events. They are also the Communications Manager for Theatre of the Beat - a touring social justice theatre company starting conversation to inspire change. Brendan has worked internationally and across the country as an actor, but has focused much of their work on building the arts community in southern Ontario. When not on stage or sending emails you can find Brendan working away in their garden or strolling around the many wonderful parks of Toronto! www.riotking.com Twitter: @riotkingto Instagram: @riotkingto SAMCA Winner of the 2022 Hamilton Fringe New Play Contest, Spindle Collective and Riot King present 'SAMCA', a contemporary, horror folktale by Natalia Bushnik ('The Bathtub Girls - Critic's Choice 2017 Hamilton Fringe') and Kathleen Welch. Combining original music written by Welch, movement theatre, and design, 'SAMCA' shares the story of two sisters, Miha and Prava, and the horrors that happen in the woods at night. Tread lightly...for the woods can hear you. Tickets: https://boxoffice.hftco.ca/event/866:609/ Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Aaron Jan is a Hamilton-born playwright, director, dramaturg. and educator. He has worked as a creator with Factory Theatre, UpintheAir Theatre, Soulpepper, York University, Boca Del Lupo, fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, the Musical Stage Company, Canadian Stage, Theatre Erindale, Sheridan College and most recently as a guest director at the Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. A member of the critically acclaimed Silk Bath Collective, Aaron is the 2019 winner of the Ken McDougall directing award, the 2021 inaugural co-winner of Highland Arts Theatre’s Rita Joe playwriting award, a 2021 Johanna Protege Award, the 2022 winner of the Urjo Kareda Award and a co-recipient of The Musical Stage Company's Aubrey and Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals. Alongside Karen Ancheta, Aaron is a co-founder of Porch Light Theatre (currently a company in residence at Theatre Aquarius), and is dedicated to making his hometown a place where professional theatre artists can make new work and be compensated fairly for it. http://aaronchihojan.wixsite.com/home Twitter: @afatchineseboy Instagram: @afatchineseboy Porch Light Theatre https://www.industrypresents.com/porchlight-theatre Tickets to House Key Project: https://boxoffice.hamiltonfringe.ca/event/866:605/ Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy