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

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://ti

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:

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

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

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 Yo

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 R

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 a

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.

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. Show

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 el

Rebecca Perry is a Toronto-based playwright, performer and producer. She has written three solo shows which she tours around the English-speaking world. Her most well-known show, Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl has earned her awards and critical acclaim, has sold out in more than 30 cities worldwide, and was taped in front of a live studio audience for Bell Fibe TV’s On Stage On Demand. Her most recent show, From Judy to Bette: The Stars of Old Hollywood recently featured in the Sudbury Theatre Centre’s 19/20 season, debuting all-new scenography, and the grandest production Rebecca has yet put on. Following a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, a two-month tour of the UK was booked (currently being rescheduled), and the show is in talks with presenters in Australia and New Zealand. Her work has even had celebrity attendees, including Anthony Rapp and Neil Patrick Harris. She also works in film and TV, and her work can be seen on Amazon Prime (Best Friend from Heaven, For

Carly Heffernan is an award winning writer, director, actor, show runner and Capricorn. She is an alumna of the Second City Toronto where she wrote and performed in four main stage revues. She became the youngest resident director in Second City Toronto history when she directed the critically acclaimed, main stage hit, Come What Mayhem! She co-wrote, Second City’s Guide to the Symphony, which played such historic venues as Roy Thomson Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center. She also directed the critically acclaimed Second City main stage revue, “The Best is Yet to Come Undone” which was named one of NOW Magazine’s TOP 5 Comedy shows of 2018 and the smash-hit, first ever, all-female Second City sketch revue, SHE THE PEOPLE which has played for three years in Second City Chicago’s UP Theatre as well as enjoyed runs in Boston, Nebraska, Washington D.C. and Toronto. www.carlyheffernan.ca Twitter: @carlyheffernan Instagram: carly.heffernan

Lucy Eveleigh is the Executive Director of the Toronto Fringe Festival, and the President of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals. She has been the Managing Director of the Toronto Fringe, the General Manager for the SummerWorks Performance Festival, and the General Manager of the Pleasance Theatre in London, England. Twitter: @eveleigh_lucy Toronto Fringe https://fringetoronto.com/ Twitter: @Toronto_Fringe

Franny is an actor and playwright based in the GTA. She has performed her award-winning original work in Toronto, Hamilton, Oakville, Stratford, Winnipeg MB, Saint John NB and New York City. Franny is also Associate Producer at the Hamilton Fringe, www.frannymcb.com Twitter: @franny_mcb Instagram: franny_mcb

Recorded via live stream: April 7 2020. Michael Ross Albert Michael is the author of several plays including Miss (FringeNYC; Unit 102 Actors Company); The Farmers Lit the Fields on Fire (Edinburgh Fringe Festival); The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome (FringeNYC, published by Applause in Best American Short Plays 2014-2015); and Karenin’s Anna (Toronto Fringe Festival, “Outstanding New Play,” — NOW Magazine), as well as the 2018 Toronto Fringe hit, Anywhere and the 2019 Fringe hit The Huns, which was to travel to the Brighton Fringe, until that festival was postponed. http://michaelrossalbert.com/ Twitter: @michaelralbert Instagram: michaelralbert Cass Van Wyck Cass is an actor and producer, one of the co-creators of the new works series, Open Open Open, and one of the forces behind Toronto’s Assembly Theatre. Cass was part of the cast of The Huns. Twitter: @classvanwyck Instagram: classvanwyck Please consider supporting The Assembly Theatre. Due to the current mandated closure and the multiple can

Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/them) is a queer, gender non-binary multidisciplinary performer/creator, and first-generation Nikkei-Canadian of Japanese and German roots. Recently heralded as “a force of a nature” (Toronto Star) Teiya comes from a background of over 12 years of singing operatic roles across North America and Europe and has recently begun a career in multi-disciplinary theatre creation, acting and artistic leadership. Equally comfortable on the operatic, concert hall or cabaret stage, you can find them singing and making music with or without a microphone, sometimes even with a taiko drum or looping machine. www.teiyakasahara.com Twitter: @teiyakasahara Instagram: teiyakasahara