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&

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 W

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

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, Lions

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

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.pinecas

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 Abductio

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 we

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

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 laun

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.pineca

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 pr