Stageworthy

joey o'dael is a Dora award-nominated trans nonbinary artist, performer, director, and comedian. A UWinnipeg/Randolph College alum, joey has cultivated a career focused on social equity, accessibility, and challenging oppressive paradigms. Raised in a remote Northern Manitoban community, they are deeply invested in bringing art and training opportunities to underserved communities across Turtle Island. In 2017, joey served as co-writer, dramaturg, producer, and performer for the award-winning, breakout hit ‘NASTY’ at the Toronto Fringe. They are a co-founder of both Maelstrom Art Collective; a collective dedicated to creating diverse protest pieces, and horror theatre company Aberrant Theatre. instagram: @ratkingcole.jpg tiktok: @ratkingcole twitter: @deathsparkle Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/287-joey-odael/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Caroline Toal is an award winning actor and a graduate of George Brown Theatre School. Theatrically, Caroline has performed in Seattle, Montreal, Toronto, all across southern Ontario, and has originated roles for multiple new Canadian productions. Caroline has been nominated for six awards, winning Dora Mavor Moore awards for ‘Outstanding Ensemble’ in both Casimir and Caroline produced by The Howland Company in 2020 and for the world premiere of Selfie by Christine Quintana at Young People’s Theatre in 2018. Caroline co-wrote Single Thread Theatre Company’s immersive production of Ambrose in 2015 and she is currently writing her first play, Survivors, supported by Studio 180 and Workman Arts. She is passionate about mental health awareness and the environment. www.carolinetoal.com Instagram: @toalbooth Twitter: @caretoal Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/286-caroline-toal/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Siobhan Richardson is an internationally-recognized Fight Director, an Intimacy Director (a pioneer voice in this specialty across Canada), and an award-winning actor/fighter/singer/dancer. Her teaching career has spanned Canada, USA and Europe, including international events such as the Paddy Crean International Art of the Sword Workshop, Fight Directors Canada's National Workshops, and the Nordic Stage Fight Society's Summer Workshops, and four separate teaching tours including Sweden, Norway, Estonia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Finland, Germany and France. She’s been both a student and a teacher online for over a decade. Siobhan’s work has been seen on some of Canada’s most well-recognized stages (The Canadian Opera Company, National Arts Centre, The Shaw Festival, The Stratford Festival, Factory Theatre and Soulpepper, to name a few), as well as around the world through online performance and education. In all her work, Siobhan is dedicated to the growth and development of the art form, the artists and our workplaces in order to support a vibrant and healthy artistic community. Passionately curious, Siobhan continues to pursue her own training, and is continually experimenting, drawing from arts and science for the betterment of our performances, rehearsal practices and the spaces we work in. Practices that foster joyful workspaces for vulnerable and creative work has been a particular focus of the last several years. www.SiobhanRichardson.com Instagram: @fighteractress YouTube: www.youtube.com/actorsr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiobhanRichardsonFighterActress/ Nicole Winchester is a storyteller, a narrative designer for live-action and tabletop roleplaying, and an ‘international larper of mystery.’ A co-founder of Fair Escape Studios where she produced two sold-out immersive evenings of vampire intrigue, she has written for Green Ronin Publishing, Pseudonym Productions, John Wick Presents, the Toronto Star, and more. Currently studying Social Work at York University, Nicole’s latest work is “Heather was right: The real curse in The Blair Witch Project is the mediocre white dude,” an essay in Transgressive Horror launching today, April 27th, on Kickstarter. www.nicolewinchester.com Twitter: @noizangel Instagram: @noizangel Fair Escape Studios: fairescapestudios.com Transgressive Horror by Ghost Show Press https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ghostshowpress/transgressive-horror Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/285-emotional-bleed-in-theatre-a-conversation-with-siobhan-richardson-nicole-winchester/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Daniel Fong is an actor, singer and mostly coordinated mover bringing light and laughter from his hometown of Calgary, Alberta in Treaty 7 territory. With his mixed-race background, Daniel’s work centers around the breathing of life into new works, and reimagining treasured stories in contemporary ways. Daniel received his training at Grant MacEwan University (Class of 2012) and was the recipient of the Stephen Hair Emerging Artist Award for 2019. Using his music, heart and energy he hopes to help lead his local theatre community into the next chapter of its journey. Selected Acting Credits include: The Paper Bag Princess (StoryBook Theatre); Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Twelfth Night, DiVerseCity (The Shakespeare Company); Gutenberg the Musical! (Lunchbox); A Christmas Carol (Theatre Calgary); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Skin of Our Teeth (Rosebud); US (The Globe Theatre);The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, Fortune Falls, The Circle (ATP); [Title of Show] (Birnton Theatricals); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare by the Bow); Journey of a Lifetime (Quest Theatre); Spring Awakening (ACT) Film/TV: Fargo, Wynonna Earp, Mutant World, The Dorm, Forsaken, Klondike. Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/284-daniel-fong/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Jenna is a mixed-race Director and Dramaturg based on Treaty 7 Territory. She is the founding Artistic Director of Chromatic Theatre – a company dedicated to producing and developing work by and for artists of colour. Jenna is also the Dramaturg for the Playwrights Lab at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. A passionate arts equity advocate, she is a graduate of the NTS Artistic Leadership Residency, the Banff Centre’s Cultural Leadership program, and the artEquity National Facilitator Training cohort. She was shortlisted for the 2021 Gina’s Prize and is a recipient of a 2018 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Emerging Artists. She holds an MA in International Performance Research from the universities of Amsterdam and Tampere. Recent Directing credits include Mary’s Wedding _at the Citadel Theatre, _Actually _at Alberta Theatre Projects, and Sherlock Holmes and the Raven’s Curse at Vertigo Theatre; For Chromatic Theatre (我的名是张欣恩 (Gimme Chance Leh), Winners and Losers, Cowboy Versus Samurai); fu-GEN Theatre (Mixie and the Halfbreeds); Workshop West Theatre (Beyond the Darkness); Pape and Taper Theatre (Timmy, Tommy, and the Haunted Hotel); and Lunchbox Theatre (Let the Light of Day Through). _She was selected as part of the 2020 Michael Langham Directors Conservatory at the Stratford Festival. chromatictheatre.ca Instagram: @chromatictheatre Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chromatictheatre Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/283-jenna-rodgers/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Caleigh Crow is a queer Métis writer, musician, and performer from Calgary. Her work tends towards themes of metaphysics, class struggle, magic, and joy. Previous topics include: a talking crow with magical powers who transforms a grocery store clerk into the agent of her own freedom, the Antifa Supersoldier, the intersection between 12th century Franciscan nuns and Britney Spears, witch revenge, and a landlord musical. Playwriting credits include HEXEN, The Order of the Poor Ladies, Kill Time Before Time Kills You, and There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death; or The Born Again Crow, most recently performed in partnership with Gwaandak Theatre in Whitehorse. Her latest play, Hucksterland: The Musical, is in development with the support of Chromatic Theatre’s inaugural BIPOC Playwrights Unit. She wrote and performed in Betch-A-Sketch at the St Ambroise Montreal FRINGE Festival, and was the assistant director for Gender? I Hardly Know Them’s HTTPEEPEE this summer, marking her entry into sketch comedy. She has performed in the Revolution They Wrote: Feminist Short Works Theatre Festival, the Montreal Anarchist Theatre Festival, and Sage Theatre’s Ignite! Festival. You can hear her in the Alberta Queer Calendar Project’s Without You by Elena Belyea, in the role of Andrea, wherever you get your podcasts. She also plays bass guitar in the band Pope Joan. Her work tends towards themes of metaphysics, class struggle, magic, and joy. www.thumbsupgoodwork.com Instagram: @thumbsupgoodwork Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/282-caleigh-crow/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Chelsea Haraburda Chelsea Haraburda (she/they) is a performer, producer, director, designer, and creator for stage and screen. Chelsea is proudly queer and passionate about featuring voices of socio-economic diversity, queerness, and their works seem to continuously feature their hometown, Hamilton ON. Over the past 6 years, Chelsea has performed as both a solo and collaborative artist at a number of festivals including Hamilton Fringe, Toronto Fringe, and FKN Make Film Festival. While studying a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies, Chelsea produced their first solo show, entitled “For Eden” hosted by the Array Space and York University. Chelsea has gone on to produce and perform deeply personal and original interactive installations, such as “Full Disclosure: A Story for Eden” (2018) in association with mentorship programs such as The Junction/Theatre Aquarius and Crapshoot/Tarragon Theatre. This summer, Chelsea is returning to the Hamilton Fringe with a new play “Vagabond” in collaboration with Ryan Percival and ADD Productions where they will be featuring whimsical shadow art projections while exploring gender expression, and the idea of home. www.chelseaharaburda.com Twitter: @ChelseaHarabur1 Instagram: @chelseaharaburda Ryan Percival Ryan Percival is a Toronto-based creator who specializes in back projection shadow and stencil art, as well as site specific show creation. After graduating the York University Devised Theatre program, he jumped right into show creation and film work, directing 2 shows at the Toronto Fringe Festival, featuring a guerrilla marching band in a bar setting combined with solo storytelling, as well as it’s Hamilton Fringe Festival grandfather, The Teeny Tiny Music Show (R.I.P Baltimore House). Ryan also Stage managed Phil Rickaby’s solo prophecy The Commandment at The Toronto Fringe Festival, and served as Dramaturg for Glass Wall Theatre’s Hamilton Fringe Debut, For Eden, an intimate site specific installation piece about youth homelessness in Hamilton. Ryan and his company, Attention Deficit Drama, are delighted to be collaborating with Chelsea Haraburda and Glass Wall once again for our new show, Vagabond, premiering at this year’s Hamilton Fringe Festival Digital showcase. Ryan also loves cooking, bad movies, and adorable animal videos on Youtube. Instagram: @obi.ryan.kenobe Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Conor Wylie is a performer, writer, and director creating experimental theatre. He lives and works on the unceded, ancestral, and occupied lands of the Coast Salish peoples, including the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) nations. Alongside Nancy Tam and Daniel O’Shea, he runs A Wake of Vultures, a performance collective working across sonic, visual, and theatrical disciplines, who recently released an online miniseries called K BODY AND MIND, a mash-up of 90s cyberpunk anime aesthetics and minimalist theatre. Conor's work has increasingly incorporated explorations of science-fiction and videogame aesthetics, and he frequently collaborates with a variety of independent companies, including Theatre Replacement, Hong Kong Exile, and members of the Progress Lab consortium. In 2019, he was named Siminovitch Prize Protégé by Maiko Yamamoto and James Long. In 2021, he joins the writing team of a new video game studio, sunset visitor 斜陽過客. conorwylie.ca Instagram: @awakeofvultures Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Yvonne Addai is an Ghanaian- Canadian Actor/ Artist Educator. She is a graduate from the University of Saskatchewan BFA acting program. She has had the opportunity to work on stages in Saskatchewan and now calls Toronto home. She was also part of the 2019.2020 Factory Theatre’s Mechanicals program under the Leadership of Nina lee Aquino and Natasha Mumba. Along with acting, Yvonne is passionate about the importance of art education and creation with children. She works with Young People's Theatre as an artist educator. Her selected theatre credits include The Tempest ( Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan) An Atlas and Other Concerns (Toronto Fringe) Monday Night (Highway 55 Production/Live 5 ), Overhear ( Nutrien Fringe Saskatoon), Pride & Prejudice (Persephone Theatre) ,The Shorts Cuts festival (Hardly Art Theatre) ,The Woodcutter and the Lion ( Sum Theatre) and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Theatre Naught/ Live Five). Instagram: @Yvonneaddai Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Joella Crichton Joella Crichton is an actor for stage and screen. She holds a BFA in Acting from York University. Joella is passionate about her Caribbean heritage and is the nine time Queen of Carnival here in Toronto. She has been nominated for her work on stage and loves the theatre! Alongside her many years experience in theatre, film and television, Joella also works to develop equality, diversity and inclusivity in these fields. She has created and worked on initiatives such as the Bechdel Bill and Share The Screen. Twitter: @joellacrichton Instagram: @joellacrichton Sedina Fiati Sedina Fiati is a Toronto based performer, producer, director, creator and activist for stage and screen. Proudly Black and queer, Sedina is deeply invested in artistic work that explores the intersection between art and activism, either in form or structure or ideally both. Upcoming projects: Switching Queen(s) (devised street performance), Last Dance (a web series). Sedina is also a Principal with BIPOC Executive Search, working on equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives and the current Artist-Activist at Nightwood Theatre. Sedina was the co-chair of ACTRA Toronto’s Diversity Committee and 2nd VP of council for Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Twitter: @bwheelsheels Instagram: @bwheelsheels The Black Pledge The Black Pledge is an open call for positive, lasting change in live arts spaces across Canada, so that they truly reflect the beautiful mosaic tapestry of our nation. Our mission is to foster greater inclusion and awareness surrounding the needs of underserved communities in the Arts, especially the Black community. We stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and other communities of colour seeking equity, while retaining our Black-centric advocacy. www.theblackpledge.ca Twitter: @BlackPledgeCa Instagram: @BlackPledgeCanada Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlackPledge/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Kendra Jones A director, creator, and dramaturg, Kendra Jones graduated with Distinction from the MA Text & Performance at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London, and holds a BA(Hons) in Theatre Performance from the University of Winnipeg where she has also been guest faculty. Favourite directing credits include Simon Stephens’ Sea Wall, Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis (Theatre By the River), a site-specific interpretation of Tim Crouch’s I, Malvolio (impel theatre), Watching Glory Die (Love2 Theatre), Drunk Enough To Say I Love You, Seagulls (selardi theatre), Clever Little Lies (Assistant director to Steven Schipper, RMTC,) and Richard II (workshop Assistant Director to Christopher Brauer, Zone41). Kendra is also a creator of original work, including Dear Mama, Tonight at Eight, Autel, and her adaptation of Marlowe’s Edward II. She writes about contemporary performance from an academic perspective on her blog; this writing focuses on the performer-audience relationship and the ethics of performance, and has been published by CBC Manitoba, Common Ground Publishing, Brunel University, and the Humanities Education Research Association. In 2020, Kendra’s site-specific production of Tim Crouch’s I, Malvolio toured to ShakespeareFest in Winnipeg to critical acclaim, and her direction of Love2 Theatre’s production of Judith Thompson’s Watching Glory Die ran in February 2020 at the Grand Canyon in Toronto, receiving accolades from audiences and critics alike for its inventive staging and visceral interpretation of the script. www.kendrajones.net Twitter: @impeltheatre Instagram: @impeltheatre Blythe Haynes BLYTHE HAYNES (she/her) has had a varied career with many stops along the way. From her first gig at ten months old in a LOTTO 64 commercial, she went on to obtain her BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta. Blythe has called Toronto home for some time, where she is an actor, award winning voice artist and producer. She is a co-founder and co-artistic director of Gangway! Theatre Co., a Toronto-based collective focused on exploring feminism, Canadian history, and mental health through an intersectional lens. She is also a co-founder of the History Actor Department at Black Creek Pioneer Village, where her interest in site-specific theatre was born. Blythe regularly lends her voice to podcasts, including the award winning Six Stories, Told At Night and Campfire Radio Theatre’s Woods Ferry, and has received two PARSEC awards for her voice work. She was recently on the producing team of the Judith Thompson lead Watching Glory Die at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she created and hosted a podcast to accompany the production. Twitter: @**HaynesBlythe Instagram:** @blythe_haynes An Acorn: Instagram: @forest_acorn Tickets: http://www.kendrajones.net/impel-theatre?fbclid=IwAR3cudc3vLPauwMfmxRjSfbFl5sZlduS8gZJDERN5gu_Arjv75fgvMK8zrU Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Cassie Davidson is an emerging actor, indie producer, playwright, and theatre educator from the beautiful small town of Walkerton, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from The University of Guelph and is a graduate from George Brown Theatre School’s acting conservatory. Cassie is also a certified basic actor combatant with FDC, and will be continuing to advance her certifications when restrictions are lifted. Recently, Cassie has begun teaching youth acting classes with Stagecoach Oakville and on Outschool. She comes from a long line of teachers in her family, and is not at all surprised that she ended up in the world of education. As a founding member of Theatre Foolscap (a new Toronto-based indie theatre company), she is very passionate about helping other emerging theatre artists showcase their work and find opportunities to further their craft. Cassie is passionate about heart racing, heightened, highly physical theatre that features powerful women in powerful positions. Currently, she is producing a series of horror, radio plays called “The Chilling Anthologies of Theatre Foolscap” alongside her partner Ryan Maxwell and collaborator Duncan Gibson-Lockhart. Instagram: @theatrefoolscap Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theatrefoolscap Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Keith Tomasek is an award-winning arts marketing consultant whose Facebook campaign for the Grand Theatre won the International Association of Business Communicators' Virtuoso Award. Recently, Keith's campaigns have sold over $400,000 worth of tickets to virtual events. He's also the leader of the Arts Marketing Mastermind group. Keith studied theatre in Montreal and is the founder of the website Stratford Festival Reviews and The Performers Podcast. Twitter: @FestivalReviews Instagram: @keithtomasek Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KeithTomasek Arts Marketing Mastermind Group: https://keithtomasek.com/arts-marketing-mastermind/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Lauren Allen is a theatre artist originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Since graduating from Grant MacEwan University in 2013, she has worked across Canada and Europe as an actor, producer, burlesque instructor, stage manager, and director. She has settled in Toronto, for the moment. Most recently she has taken courses to become a script supervisor and will soon be seen again in Saskatchewan for Burn Rubber, Dolly at The Lyric Theatre in Swift Current. Lauren is also a social media marketer, and the creator of Social Media the L.A. Way. lauren-allen.net socialthelaway.com Twitter: @lesmis456 Instagram: lesmis456 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socialthelaway/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Lili Robinson (she/they) is a playwright, poet, actor and community organizer based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Lili is passionate about centring voices at the intersections of queerness, Black diaspora, socio-economic diversity and femme identity in her work. Having completed a year as the Artistic Producing Intern at Theatre Replacement in 2019, Lili is currently the Emerging Playwright in Residence at Rumble Theatre, and recently completed the Emerging Playwrights’ Unit at the Arts Club. Beyond playwriting, their most recent projects include: the role of Alejandra in Rumble’s online production of B by Guillermo Calderón; writing for Theatre Replacement’s sound installation project Speaker A; and co-organizing Rest and Resilience, a series of events creating space for the Black Queer community to connect this past summer. Mx, Lili’s debut play, was the recipient of the Fringe New Play Prize in 2019. Mx went on to win the Cultchivating the Fringe Award, earning the show a spot in the Cultch’s upcoming 2021 spring season. Instagram: @lilrobmakesthings Mx at the Cultch: https://thecultch.com/event/mx/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

A multifaceted artist currently based in Toronto. A South African Transgender man born in the midst of apartheid and witnessed the fall of an era while assimilating to life in Canada. The last born in a Methodist house hold, growing up on the westernmost prairie provinces of Canada where he began his lifelong pursuit of learning the art of theatre and film. An Actor, director and a self-taught film editor/ photographer, his art practices aims to enhance the Black and Transgender voice(s) showing the many different diverse intersectionality of blackness. www.tsholovisions.com Twitter: @tsholovisions Instagram: @tsholovisions Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Kyungseo Min is a storyteller, no matter the medium. Her journey began in theatre, riveted by the power of live performances. With her stories and performances, she challenge her audience to re-think Western standards of storytelling, and strives for experiences that weave Oriental and Occidental philosophies, breaking linear structure and finding drama not only in action, but stillness as well. Kyungseo writes and performs stories that remove her audience from reality, transporting them into a realm where a single word or gesture can slow down the heartbeat, making the audience stop in their seat and feel what is underneath the banalities of the everyday. www.kyungseomin.com Twitter: @kminminpow Instagram: @minminpow Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Jasmine Chen is a Chinese-Canadian multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto and Vancouver. Jasmine was born in T’karonto (the place in the water where the trees are standing), where from an early age she was immersed in arts based education. An alumni of the Claude Watson Arts Program, Jasmine studied Music, Art, Dance and Theatre for nine years. She majored as a dancer for four years, training and competing in ballet, jazz and modern. In high school she majored in Theatre, where she was president of the Arts Council. Her time spent in extracurricular shows and performances led her to continue her post-secondary training in the Theatre Performance: Acting Program at Ryerson University, graduating with a BFA. Jasmine has worked extensively as a performer in Theatre and Film/TV. She is a director, performer, educator, movement coach, community facilitator, and producer. Jasmine has engaged with audiences across Canada in repertory festivals, independent theatres, site-specific spaces, regional theatres and outdoor venues. She has worked with leaders in film, opera, music, theatre, and media, such as: Atom Egoyan, Aria Umezawa, Lido Pimienta, Hawksley Workman, Ins Choi, and Amanda Parris. She has taught at Studio 58 Langara College, McGill Schulich School of Music, the Paprika Festival, Festival Players Academy, Canadian Stage, Cahoots Theatre, and the Children’s Peace Theatre. Jasmine is the recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Award for Female Directors, the Stratford Festival Jean Gascon Award, a Toronto Harold Award, and is a Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee. www.msjasminechen.com Instagram: @hausofchen Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Brenda Kamino is an actor, artist, teacher, and cultural activist. Brenda has been seen as a performer on many of Canada's best known stages for over 40 years. A veteran performer of the Shaw Festival, she has created many roles in new plays at such theatres as Theatre Passe Muraille, Factory Theatre and Young Peoples' Theatre in Toronto as well as the Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg and Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary. Her theatrical career has taken her from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa to the Citadel in Edmonton in shows as varied as the Dora Award Nominated "Naomi's Road" to "M. Butterfly", working with such directors as Canadians Douglas Campbell, Peter Hinton, Jackie Maxwell, Neil Munro, Dennis Foon, Sue Miner, Ed Roy, Sally Han, Vinetta Strombergs, Ron Jenkins, Nina Aquino and Guillermo Verdecchia, as well as British Director Tudor Davies and American Directors Lane Nishikawa, David Levine and Raul Aranas. Her performance in "suicide notes" by Kenneth Williams for Toronto's Summerworks Festival, garnered her recognition for Outstanding Performance by Now Magazine. Her television and film career includes over 100 guest and lead performances and many years as host, narrator, radio artist and improviser. www.brendakamino.com Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Alia Ettienne is a theatre writer, actor, performer and facilitator who was born and raised in Toronto, ON. Ettienne is of Afro Caribbean descent which often influences her performances and writing. She graduated from the Sheridan College Performance Program and since then has gone on to study Creative Writing as well as Arts and Entertainment Marketing. Ettienne aims to create art for social change. Her first solo piece, YellowZoned premiered in The 2016 Toronto Fringe Festival and then remounted as a part of Hamilton's premiere Mental Health Theatre Festival MindPlay. Ettienne is now focused on her mental health workshop series Chill N Do Art, The Creative Coping Kits Initiative and writing her second full length piece Allow For Release: The Xiety Complex. Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Polly Esther is an award-winning writer, storyteller, and performance artist from Toronto. Since 2018, she has been touring her one-woman show _Dammit, Jim! I'm a Comedienne, Not a Doctor! _about how Star Trek has helped her in her journey as a recovering alcoholic. She has performed in several cities including Chicago's Funny Women Comedy Festival, SOLOCOM in New York City, the Yard Theatre in Los Angeles, (un)Told Storytelling in Ottawa, and at Fringes across North America. Polly’s Dammit, Jim! was an award-winner at three different fringe festivals over three years running, picking up the "Low Tech" award at the Orlando Fringe in 2018, the "Spirit of the Fringe” award at the Ottawa Fringe in 2019. and “Best of the Fringe” at the 2020 Hartford Fringe. Polly was also invited to present Dammit, Jim! as a featured event for Algonquin College’s National Addictions Awareness Week in 2019. The Orlando Fringe was also the site for the World Premiere of Polly’s newest show last year (about her “Weird Al” Yankovic fandom), POLLYWOOD. . Here at home, Polly has participated in the Toronto Storytelling Festival at the Drake Hotel, BRAVE: The Festival of Risk and Failure at the Harbourfront Centre, and several other monthly storytelling events around the city (But That's Another Story, DARE Storytelling, Witty Women). Twitter: @pollyesthergems Instagram: @pollywoodproductions FB: facebook.com/DammitJimPollyEsther Patreon: patreon.com/pollyesther Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Laura was born to tell stories. Whether as a dancer with Tokyo Disney, a writer for Alumnae Theatre’s Gay Play Day, a teacher at the Toronto District School Board, or as a comédienne with Just for Laughs, Laura’s unstoppable passion in life lies in telling people all sorts of eccentric stories, whether they want to hear them or not. www.laurapiccinin.com Instagram: @lpiccinin Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Danny Harvey has been a performing arts professional for the past 19 years. Currently functioning as the Artistic Programming Coordinator for the Rose Theatre Brampton, Danny curates the theatre’s presenting series. The Rose Theatre is a multidisciplinary venue providing Theatre, Music, Dance, and Comedy to the people of Brampton. Prior to this Danny was an artistic director of the Shakespeare in the Square festival as well as the producing wing of the Rose Theatre Brampton. Danny has been a performer and artistic director on amateur and professional stages for the past 19 years having directed some 30 plays and musicals. A Graduate of Humber College – Comedy Writing and Performance program, Central Peel Secondary School in Brampton. Recently Danny had the honour of adjudicating the National Theatre School festival. Instagram: @dannydontdance Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Sadie Berlin is a published fiction author, a writer of post-dramatic texts, and a performance artist. In previous incarnations, she has been a legal anthropologist and ethnographer, an offshore finance journalist, and a literary buyer for a bookshop chain in London, U.K. Last year, Sadie was the dramaturge and performance curator-in-training at the Stratford Festival Lab. As a recent recipient of the Metcalf Foundation grant, Sadie will be working as the Dramaturgy Intern at the Stratford Festival under the mentorship of ted witzel. Sadie is also an educator, an activist and an anti-racism consultant. Twitter: @artysadie Instagram: @sadiediamorphine Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

“I am the son of two tribes. I am the daughter of one birth. I am the spirit of many nations. I am a child of mother earth.” B’atz’ Recinos was born and raised on Turtle Island with mixed Maya roots from Iximulew (Guatemala). A creator, performer, advocate, and Harold Award recipient for the performing arts of Tkaronto. Their commitment to equitable and diverse practices within the arts has led them to speak at YouthREX and several other panels and publish articles with NOW, Intermission Magazine, and contribute to The Director’s Lab book published by Playwright Canada Press. A trained facilitator, B’atz’ has delivered various workshops on diversity, inclusion, art and self-care with youth, artists, and communities across Ontario. Their extensive experience in the performing arts led them to found Creative Mafia. Instagram: @chwenkan Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Sukhpreet Sangha is a theatremaker, lawyer, poet, and barfly. After studying theatre and English at the University of Waterloo, she studied law at Osgoode Hall, and has since questioned that decision regularly. She spends her days working in legal education at a non-profit dedicated to youth and her nights, well, wouldn’t you like to know. Sukhpreet is co-Artistic Director of Informal Upright Theatre Collective. You can also read some things she writes here and see some things she tweets here. Sukhpreet invites you to find out more about “Yellow Bellies” (and perhaps even buy it!) here: http://theatreofthebeat.ca/yellow-bellies. Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Kitoko (Kit for Short) is a Black, Non-binary, disabled emerging multidisciplinary performance artist, media artist, and community artist. They’re a graduate of the Theatre/ Film studies and Multimedia studies at McMaster University (which they both love and regret) and the APT program at Generator (currently no regrets). Kit’s primarily interested in creating performance-based work that challenges the notion of binaries, and explores lateral violence and power dynamics within marginalized communities. Their work is rooted in social justice, anti-oppression, accessibility, #femmeaesthetics, and the pursuit of messiness. It’s best described as a chaotic poetic collage. www.kitoko.ca Instagram: @kitokomai Twitter: @Kitokomai Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

HAUI is a multi-disciplinary entrepreneur of many artistic trades including performance, directing, design & visual arts. He was born in the United Kingdom to mixed Caribbean, Taino/Arawak and European heritage. Howard is a graduate of Ryerson Theatre School. To date has worked at the Stratford Festival as an assistant director as part of the inaugural bud’s program (part of the Michael Langham Director’s Workshop Presentation) He has worked at Canada’s Shaw Festival as an actor and designer, National Arts Centre as an assistant director, directing/design intern at the Grand Theatre; Montreal’s Black Theatre Workshop, Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company and Neptune Theatre as a designer, and performed with Native Earth Performing Arts, Cahoots Theatre, Paper Canoe Projects, and Factory Theatre. His work as a filmmaker emphasizes history and how it can inform our current sociopolitical climate. He hopes to continue building a practice in telling stories of his heritage, marginalized cultures not at the forefront of history and modern original works with an emphasis on bridging classical, theatrical and historical context to contemporary cinema and stage. www.howardjdavis.com Twitter: @hauidavis Instagram: @hauidavis Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/260-haui-aka-howard-j-davis/ Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Camille is a graduate of Sheridan’s College’s Musical Theatre program. Theatre highlights include RENT, High School Musical, Hairspray, and The Book of Mormon. Twitter: @camilove90 Instagram: @camilove90 Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Emerjade Simms is a Jamaican-Canadian actor and storyteller. She is a graduate of the Acting program at the University of Windsor and holds a BFA degree. Emerjade is also a 2016/17 graduate of the Mechanicals program at Factory Theatre. In her career as an actor so far, she has worked with many wonderful people and companies. Select theatre credits include Peter Pan (Bad Hats/Soulpepper), School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Obsidian/Nightwood), Wounded Soldiers (4th Line), The Bird Killer (Let Me In). Television credits include Forbidden, Fear They Neighbor, See No Evil and Paranormal 911. Emerjade enjoys napping in her down time and thanks her family for inspiring her daily. Twitter: @emerbabe Instagram: @em.er.jade Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Laura Caswell is Neptune Theatre’s Director of Education, and has been a part of Neptune for over a decade playing various roles on stage (including 5 witches!) as well as a director and choreographer. Laura trained in Musical Theatre in New York City and London, England earning a Masters in Performance through the University of East Anglia. She has also trained extensively in improv, puppetry, voice work, singing, dance, acting, and film and television. Laura has worked as an artist and educator at theatres all over the country. Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

As a triple-carded professional actor (ACTRA, UdA, CAEA), Carolyn has been gracing the stage and camera in various theatrical productions, TV and movie spots. Altera Vitae Productions is her own theatre production company, a non-profit organization where each theatrical presentation is partnered with a community organization whose mandate is similar to the theme of the play. Altera Vitae Productions aims to assist the community organization with its public awareness program. As a singer, Carolyn fronted the band DD Swank and, for four years, sang under the pseudonym of Mama B, singing in French, English and Spanish. As an actor, Carolyn Fe has been gracing the stage and camera in various theatrical productions, TV and movie spots since 2005! Her theatrical appearance was in Dora Award Winner’s, Audrey Dwyer, play called “Calpurnia” in 2018. With sold out shows and thrilling reviews on Carolyn Fe’s, she was awarded for 2018 Best Supporting Actress by the esteemed Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award for her role as Precy, in Calpurnia. This brought on the opportunity for Carolyn Fe to take on a recurring role as Lola (Grandmother) to Josh De La Cruz in Nickelodeon’s “Blues Clues and You”. carolyn-fe.com Twitter: @TheCarolynFe Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Sarah Rankin is an actor educator, and the director of the Fundy Fringe. This year, the Fundy Fringe proceeded with their festival to produce an exciting digital/in person hybrid festival. Twitter: @sarahrankin03 www.fundyfringefestival.com Twitter: @fundyfringefest Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Monica Ogden (she/they) is an award-winning disabled Filipina, Polynesian, British storyteller, actor and comedian. Her Lilang migrated from Illocos Sur, Philippines in 1966, and she is now an uninvited visitor in the unceded territories of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. Her solo show Monica vs. The Internet: Tales of a Social Justice Warrior ( ★★★★★ Winnipeg Free Press, ★★★★★ Saskatoon Star Phoenix) directed by K.P. Dennis toured 6 cities across Canada in the summer of 2019, toured to Second City Toronto, and was recently featured on CBC Arts with the National Theatre School #ArtApart series. Their next show 100 YT GUYS IN AN HOUR is currently in residency with the Belfry Theatre, and the Tremors Festival with Rumble Theatre Twitter: @monicaogden12 Instagram: @monicaogden12 K.P. DENNIS is a black, non-binary, multi-disciplinary artist, producer, director, and activist. They were the 2016 Youth Poet Laureate of Victoria and are currently the artistic director of COLORQODED, QTI2POC arts collective. In 2017 they were the recipient of the VACCS Community recognition Award and just finished a cross Canada tour with their critically acclaimed shows, Monica vs the Internet & LUBDUB. In February 2020 they released a chapbook entitled Growing Pains, available for purchase on their Instagram @wild.womxn, and are currently working on two new plays, The Cowboy Church & the Arena of Life in residency with the Belfry Theatre, and 100 YT GUYS IN AN HOUR in residency with Tremors Festival (Rumble Theatre) and the Belfry Theatre Incubator Program. Instagram: @starboi.dennis Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Ken Hall is a Canadian Comedy Award Winner (Best Breakout Artist) and multiple CCA nominee. He is also one half of the award winning sketch/improv/clown duo 2-MAN NO-SHOW along with his comedic soulmate Isaac Kessler. Ken has appeared on Conan and has had the pleasure of working for Cirque Du Soleil. Ken teaches improv, clown and public speaking at The Second City. You can catch Ken on TBS’s People of Earth as Jeff The Grey, and on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy as Herb. www.thekenhall.com Twitter: @thekenhall Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Mumbi is an acclaimed theatre creator and director raised in Kenya and Victoria, BC and based in Toronto. She recently won a Dora Award for her Outstanding Direction of The Brothers Size, which also won for Outstanding Production. Mumbi is the Artistic Director of Obsidian Theatre. She is the Founder/Artistic Director of the experimental theatre company IFT (It’s A Freedom Thing Theatre) Theatre and also recently directed the critically acclaimed plays: Trout Stanley (Factory Theatre), Here are the Fragments (The Theatre Centre/The ECT Collective), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Soulpepper) and Oraltorio: A Theatrical Mixtape (Obsidian/Soulpepper). Mumbi is also the recipient of a Toronto Theatre Critics Award, an Artistic Director’s Award (Soulpepper), a Pauline McGibbon Award , a Mallory Gilbert Protege Award, a Harold Award, and has been twice nominated for the John Hirsch Directing Award. She is a graduate of Soulpepper Academy, York University and University of Toronto as well as Obsidian Theatre’s Mentor/Apprenticeship Program. Twitter: @mumbitindyebwa Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Aaron Jan is a Hamilton born and Toronto-based director, playwright, dramaturg and community builder. Aaron has worked as a creator with the Stratford Festival, Factory Theatre, Tarragon, Native Earth Performing Arts, Fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre, Canadian Stage, Theatre Aquarius and Hart House. With his company, SILK BATH COLLECTIVE, Aaron has sold out critically acclaimed tri-lingual plays at the Next Stage Theatre Festival and Soulpepper. Aaron is the 2019 winner of the Ken MacDougall Directing Award and is a co-founder of Porch Light Theatre, a company dedicated to paying and training the next generation of Hamiltonian theatre artists. A highly sought after teaching artist and collaborator, Aaron is a graduate of Generator's Artist Producer Training Program and is dedicated to making his hometown a place where professional artists can make new work and be compensated fairly for it. https://aaronchihojan.wixsite.com/home Twitter: @afatchineseboy Instagram: @afatchineseboy Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Natasha Strilchuk was born in Malaysia, was raised in King’s Lynn, England and Regina, Sk and is now a Toronto based artist. She is a proud graduate Randolph College of the Performing Arts and is an accomplished, multi versatile artist. She was recently chosen as a 2019/2020 participant for Neptune Theatre’s, RBC Chrysalis Project, in the director’s unit. Natasha is being mentored by AD Jeremy Webb in his production of Calendar Girls in early 2020. On top of her acting endeavors, she is very excited to learn about the art of directing and will continue to develop her own choreography as well. Some her favourite credits include: The North American Premiere of Bend it like Beckham (Bluma Appel Theatre), Chicago (Globe Theatre), Mamma Mia (Neptune Theatre), Guys & Dolls, Romeo & Juliet (Stratford Festival), Romeo & Juliet (CBC/Stratford HD), Motives and Murder (Cineflex Productions). Represented by daCosta Talent. Twitter: @tashastrilchuk Instagram: @natashakstrilchuk Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Reba Terlson is a multidisciplinary artist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance and the PTE@ PTE program. Recent credits include L’armoire with Cercle Moliere, Theatre By The River’s Wine and Words, One Trunk Theatre’s Stage Frights. She produces, writes and acts in her theatre company, It’s All Relative Productions which has mounted three Winnipeg Fringe 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. In 2018, she mentored under Mel Marginet, artistic director of Theatre By the River. She is a member of an Emerging Creators Unit that specializes in devised theatre for Manitoba Theatre for Young People under the guide of Andraea Sartison and Rick Chafe. Reba is a strong advocate for more inclusion and diversity in theatre. Twitter: @rebajesse Instagram: @rebajesse Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Spencer Streichert is an actor (of stage and screen), producer, stunt man, and comedian, of Metis, German and Nordic descent, living in Calgary, AB. Growing up performing in community theatre and rodeoing, he began his film career in 2012 shadowing stunt coordinator Daniel Skene on the sci-fi thriller "Stranded". After moving to Calgary in 2014, he began to learn various filmmaking techniques through NUTV, and studied acting & creative writing at the University of Calgary. Spencer has independently recorded and released 3 stand-up comedy albums, was a Canadian Comedy Award nominee in 2018, and is a 6x Best of Calgary nominee (Best Comedian 2018/2019, Best Actor & Best Filmmaker 2019/2020 ). He has been a team member on 2 Telus Storyhive funded digital shorts "Lust in the Time of Heartache"(2014) and "Red Water Valley"(2018). In 2019 Spencer produced "A Goog Night Sleeps" which just began its festival run at the Varese International Film Festival, and directed an experimental short "Emote" Which began its festival run with the Lift-Off First Time Filmmakers Sessions. Spencer is also a festival director and co-founder of the Quarantine International Film Festival (QIFF) which was started on March 13th, 2020 as a way for filmmakers from around the globe to stay creative in self Isolation, and has quickly grown to be a favourite among filmmakers world-wide. Instagram: @spencerstreichert Spencer Streichert on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0xexfIK2DDtWEQBWQ9XVN6 Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Velvet Wells is a Black, velvet voiced autistic queer entertainer from Toronto. He is a stand-up comedian, actor, and musical improviser. He is lauded for his authenticity, originality, and quick wit. In 2014, Velvet graduated from the Second City Toronto’s inaugural Musical Improvisation Conservatory. Velvet is the co-founder of two successful troupes: The Dandies and OverDude. For the last 8 years, The Dandies have created fandom themed improv shows across Canada, including opening for William Shatner. Improv-drag-rock n’ roll duo OverDude just released Hell Toupee, their greatest hits EP on Bandcamp. In 2019, he touring his critically acclaimed solo Fringe production Personal Demon Hunter; the sequel is being launched in 2020 as part of Fringelivestream. Twitter: @VelvetDuke Instagram: @thevelvetduke Personal Demon Hunter: Divine & Conquer Velvet Wells (he/him) returns as motivational guru Velvet Duke to be your Personal Demon Hunter. Through personal stories of Black Joy, conversations and improvised songs, Velvet is a master at working through the things that haunt us in a funny, accessible, interactive way. Date: Thursday, July 30 @ 9pm EDT/ 6pm PDT Instagram: @pdhdivineconqur Tickets (by donation): https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/personal-demon-hunter-conquer-divine-tickets-110577235488 Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Landon Walliser is a director, producer, and publicist from Regina, Saskatchewan. Past credits include Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Producer, Co-Director, Publicist | The Women’s Company), Philistines (Assistant Director | University of Regina & Rose Bruford College), Small Boy Dreams (Publicity, Curtain Razors & International Tour), Terry Pratchett’s Mort (Director & Publicity | The Blue Room Company), and Young Frankenstein: The Musical (Assistant Director | Prairie Skies Musical Theatre). He is the recipient of two BroadwayWorld awards for his work on Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Best Play & Best Touring Show) at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. He currently works as the producer and store manager for The Women’s Company. Twitter: @LandonWalliser Instagram: @LandonWalliser The Women’s Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/womenscompanyregina/ Instagram: WomensCompanyRegina Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/TheWomensCompany

Joylyn Secunda is a Vancouver based actor, dancer, singer, and puppeteer. She is a BFA Acting graduate from University of British-Columbia and has studied clown at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance. She has performed her solo physical comedy, The Moaning Yoni, 50 times in cities across Canada. Highlights from her recent tour include performing for audiences of 600 people at the Vancouver Island MusicFest, receiving a 5-star review in the Edmonton Journal, and having a sold-out run at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. When she isn’t performing, Joylyn leads community engaged theatre projects for seniors (Theatre Terrific and Arts & Health), teaches puppetry, physical theatre, and storytelling to school groups at the Evergreen Cultural Centre, and instructs yoga classes at various studios. Since 2017 she has been a puppeteer in the Cassie & Friends educational puppet show. Twitter: @JoylynSecunda Instagram: @joylynsecunda Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joylynsecundaproductions Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNLqd2m6tM9JvXcTGAgTAbw/

Kelly Wolf is a Theatre Maker, a Set and Costume designer and an Artist Educator who is interested in exploring ways that design can augment the theatrical experience. She has created designs for many theatres across Canada ranging from small independent companies to the major festivals. Most recently designing Berlin Blues at the Blyth Festival and A Christmas Carol at the Grand Theatre. Upcoming: Hook Up a new opera with Tapestry Music Theatre and Hare and Tortoise with Carousel Players. Recent work has taken her into the realm of site specific theatre creation. Kelly has worked in collaboration to create One Small Drop, inspired by the textile workers of the Imperial Cotton Company and In Sight investigating the effects of a stroke and perception at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Her most recent site-specific collaboration, HERE, took Kelly to Barton St in Hamilton to explore gentrification and change in that neighbourhood. Recent designs include: Pantalone’s Palace and Top Girls (Brock University) Waiting Room (Tarragon Theatre), Quiver (Nightwood, Theatre Aquarius Studio), Rukmini’s Gold (Toronto and Hamilton Fringe), Commercials for Hamilton (Hammer Theatre/Staircase), Sanctuary Song (Theatre Direct – NAC), The Incredible Speediness of Jamie Cavanaugh (Roseneath)The Old Man and the River (Theatre Direct) Queen for a Day – set (Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts), Midsummer Night’s Dream –costume (Citadel Theatre),Sound of Music – set (Drayton) and Between the Sheets (Nightwood). www.kellywolf.ca

E.B. has over twenty years of experience as a director, performer, coach, producer, and teaching artist in the worlds of theatre, print, film, television, and voice-over, with a mission to inspire and encourage passionate storytelling. His goal is to empower as many diverse voices as possible so that we may all learn from one another just how vast the spectrum of identity can be. As an artist of colour, he brings a special recognition of the power of experiencing one’s own history and world view manifest on stage as well as furthering connections to the stories of others. It is his mission, therefore, to facilitate the cultivation and cooperation of artists from every cross section of our society, and across artistic styles and traditions. He received his training in the BFA Performance program at Ohio University, as well as two years at the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre at the Stratford Festival where he served for six years a text and acting coach and is currently in his tenth season as an actor. Twitter: @starringeb Instagram: @storyforge www.ghostlight.ca Twitter: @GhostLightca Instagram: @ghostlightca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ghostlightcanada/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwRcAAaXC8de2u9wQ5NkWjQ

Holly Brinkman has been creating storytelling and theatre pieces since 2011 when she began working for the Montreal St.-Ambroise Fringe Festival. She has performed with Confabulation! in both Victoria and Montreal and The Flame, Vancouver. Storytelling has also taken her to Smut Slam in Montreal and Vancouver, and Monobrow in Victoria. Holly is extremely active in the Victoria Theatre community serving on the board of Impulse Theatre and working for Intrepid Theatre and the Victoria International Fringe Festival since 2015. Holly’s first long form theatre piece, A Woman’s Guide to Peeing Outside premiered at the Montreal Fringe in June 2017. The piece has since been performed all over North America. In 2017, Holly Brinkman started collaborating with S.E. Grummett, a talented playwright, puppeteer, clown, and digital arts creator. Their idea to create a show that discusses gender, dating, and the patriarchy through the framework of girl guides and cub scouts became the wild vaudeville-esque show Pack Animals. Pack Animals premiered at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival August 2nd, 2018 to critical praise and resounding success. It reached further success on a North American tour in 2019 (Orlando, FL; London, ON; Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton). Holly Brinkman and S.E. Grummett (aka Brinks and Grumms) continue to create together and are constantly adding to the Pack Animals world with a Christmas special and an upcoming sequel, Pack Animals to the Rescue. Instagram: @packanimalscomedy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/packanimalscomedy/ https://www.facebook.com/peeingoutsideadventures/

Kate Smith is Artistic Director of Skeleton Key Theatre. She originally trained as an actor and singer (Dalhousie University), and has performed on stages across the country. She is also an award-winning theatre creator. Her work with Skeleton Key Theatre has been presented at the Ottawa International Children’s Festival, the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, the Shenkman Arts Centre (Petrie Island), the In The Soil Festival, the undercurrents festival, the Fresh Meat Festival, and all iterations of site-specific theatrical event subDevision. In 2017, the company was awarded a New Chapter grant through the Canada Council for the Arts for its innovative outdoor multi-disciplinary ambulatory piece Swan River, and the show was later nominated for a Prix Rideau Award for Best New Creation. Kate is a freelance director and performer, and also serves as Artistic Manager of Ottawa StoryTellers. She is a Member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. www.skeletonkeytheatre.com Twitter: @skeletonkate

Siobhan is an actor/fighter/singer/dancer, currently based in Toronto, but originally from Kitchener-Waterloo, and trained at the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria. Tours and travelling are one of the perks of the job! Acting credits include Lucy Debrie (And Then The Lights Went Out, Stage West Calgary), Mo (Mo and Jess Kill Susie, Harley Dog Productions), Lady Capulet (Romeo and (her) Juliet Headstrong Collective/Urban Bard), Solange (The Maids, Whirligig Productions), the twins Jessica and Julia (The Last Resort, Stirling Festival Theatre), and the world premiere productions of The Madness of the Square (Cahoots Theatre Projects) and The Forbidden Phoenix (Citadel Theatre and LKTYP). www.siobhanrichardson.com Twitter: @fighteractress Instagram: @fighteractress

Jon Paterson has been working in the theatre industry for the past 30 years and is the current Technical and Artistic Director of the Astor Theatre in Liverpool, NS. Jon is also one of the founders of FringeLiveStream. Jon studied theatre at Grant Macewan University in Edmonton, where he began his association with director Kenneth Brown. Jon has co-produced, performed in, designed and/or directed dozens of shows with his theatre company, RibbitRePublic. Jon has performed in various theatre and festivals across North America including The Centaur Wildside Festival, Canoe Theatre Festival, Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, Mayfield Dinner Theatre, Vertigo Mystery Theatre, Zero Gravity Circus, Orlando Fringe Festival, Fresno Rouge Festival and, most recently, Off-Broadway’s Soho Playhouse. Jon is also a stilt-walker, stage manager, poster designer, and Winnipeg Jets fan. Instagram: @jon.paterson Fringe Live Stream FringeLiveStream is a group of artists dedicated to providing a platform for live performances. Showcasing live, FringeLiveStream, and unjuried content, with artists receiving 100% of donations. FLS also provides a voice for underrepresented artists through their AUC Performance Series. http://www.fringelivestream.com/ Twitter: @Fringelive2020 Instagram: @fringelivestream Transcript at https://stageworthypodcast.com/239-jon-paterson/

Chris Tolley is a writer, director and producer, and the Co-Artistic Director of Expect Theatre. After graduating from York University he teamed up with Laura Mullin, and together they have created award-winning multi-disciplinary productions that have toured across Canada and the US. Chris’ work has been nominated for five Dora Awards in the General Theatre category, and has been shortlisted twice for the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. In 2006 both Chis and Laura won Harbourfront Centre’s inaugural FreshGround commissioning award. His most notable works include Romeo/Juliet REMIXED (Toronto and Philadelphia), STATIC (World Stage Festival) and AWAKE (Next Stage Festival). Other work with Mullin include the CBC Radio drama, The Tunnel Runners, and the short film, AWAKE. He sits on the Board of the Playwrights Guild of Canada and serves as the Contracts Chair. He is also on a number of other theatre boards. Outside of theatre, Chris is also very active in national politics. In 2015, Chris ran in the federal election as the Green Party’s candidate in Toronto-Danforth, advocating for the cultural issues he is passionate about. His campaign resulted in the best showing for the Green Party in the GTA and surrounding area, and was recognized as one of the strongest campaigns run nationally. Twitter: @christolley Laura Mullin is a playwright, director and producer, and the Co-Artistic Director of Expect Theatre and The Spark Collective. She graduated from York University with a bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre before forming Expect and Spark with Chris Tolley. She has created and produced several highly acclaimed productions with Tolley that have toured nationally and internationally. Selected writing and directing credits: Romeo/Juliet Remixed (5 Dora award nominations, winner of Outstanding Choreography), EXPECT/ Spark; Tunnel Runners, CBC Radio; STATIC, Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Festival; AWAKE, Next Stage Festival; AWAKE The Short Film; Rapid Eye Movement & To The Kid That I was, Nuit Blanche; One Sleepless Night, International Festival of Authors; Allowance (in development); Burusera, Watermark Theatre (national 21 city tour & to be published in the Playwright’s Guild Short Play Anthology); History of Visual Sources (short story). Awards & Commissions: Toronto Arts Foundation Award (short listed 2009 & 2013); Harbourfront Centre’s inaugural Fresh Ground Commissioning Award; Dora Award nomination for Outstanding Production for Romeo / Juliet Remixed (General Theatre category), Ontario Arts Council’s Creator’s Reserve from Nightwood Theatre (2013) and Crow’s Theatre (2015) for Allowance, Watermark Theatre Commission of Burusera for Canada 300’s national tour (2015). Twitter: @expectlaura PlayME Expect Theatre has created an exciting new initiative that celebrates the best of Canadian Indie Theatre on a national and international scale. The project helps raise the profile of Canadian playwrights by highlighting new works through a series of podcasts, making it accessible to audiences worldwide. PlayME is transforming the way we experience Canadian theatre, by taking a bold and innovative approach to disseminating plays. The podcast features distinguished actors, and focuses on current and relevant scripts geared to the growing “on-demand” audience. Expect’s Artistic Directors, Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley are spearheading this project, in partnership with organizations such as The Toronto Fringe Festival and the Playwrights Guild of Canada. http://www.playmepodcast.com/ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/playme/ http://expect.org/ Twitter: @expecttheatre