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 out

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 F

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

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 Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/stageworthy/49a99839-c022-409f-864e-c55471aff065

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 Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/stageworthy/6c1afab6-1c57-45c8-bf5e-d297c6867db0

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 Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/stageworthy/f4c75dc4-da9f-498b-ac85-d9e473b39fca

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

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 Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/stageworthy/c2d82076-154b-451e-a6c7-ee51999359a2

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 Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/stageworthy/9624c812-3ff3-4eba-9846-d85e83b85d45

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

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 201

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/Ap