Stageworthy

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

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

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

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

Bronwyn Steinberg is a theatre director and community builder; she’s passionate about making theatre an inclusive gathering space where stories are shared that celebrate the diversity of human experience. Based in Calgary/Mohkinstsis in Treaty 7 territory, she is the Artistic Director of Lunchbox Theatre, and she recently directed The Importance of Being Earnest for Theatre Calgary. She loves working with the classics as well as new plays, and since coming to Lunchbox in 2020, she has directed both Home for the Holidays, a new musical by Cayley Wreggitt and Alixandra Cowman, and Rebecca Northan’s All I Want for Christmas. She has also directed 6 new play development workshops as part of the Lunchbox Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work and Stage Two, in addition to multiple workshops and premieres with other companies. She was based in Ottawa for 12 years, where she was the founding Artistic Director of the indie series TACTICS. Credits as an award-winning freelance director include The Drowning Girls and

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

Rob Kempson is a theatre artist and educator, working primarily as a director and playwright, and the Artistic Director of the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope. Selected Writer/Director: Trigonometry (timeshare/Factory); Mockingbird (Next Stage Theatre Festival); SHANNON 10:40 (timeshare/Videofag); explicit (Rhubarb Festival); #legacy (Harbourfront Centre); The HV Project (Community). Selected Director: Box 4901 (timeshare/Buddies), The Places We Are (Theatre Erindale), The Snow Queen (Canadian Children’s Opera Company), Electric Messiah (Soundstreams), The Little Mermaid (St. Lawrence College), 9 to 5: The Musical (Randolph College), The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Box 4901 (SummerWorks, foldA Festival); The Canadian, Maggie and Pierre, Million Dollar Quartet, Daisy Amazed Me, Violet’s the Pilot, Rose’s Clothes (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Robert (co-directed with Briana Brown, Toronto Fringe); Songs for a New World (Claude Watson). Writer/Composer/Performer: The Way Back To Thursday (Theat

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

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

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

Matthew Romantini is a multi-disciplinary artist, the artistic director of Omnivore Performance, and works in dance, theatre, and with orchestral ensembles across the continent. He is also teaches and coaches performance, directs and choreographs as part of his performance work. He has been lucky to direct Unity (1918) and Gogol's The Government Inspector at Randolph College, and is gearing up to direct another production at the college in January. He has been nominated for 5 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the CTC Award (winning best production for The Boys In The Band), the KM Hunter Award, the Total Theatre Award, and has received two Chalmers Professional Development Grants. Notable credits include Kokoro Dance’s epic Sunyata, Gorey Story (as performer and Artistic Director, nominated for 5 Dora Awards), Theatre Rusticle’s signature April 14, 1912, PNME’s Just Out of Reach (which toured to the Edinburgh Fringe), co-creating Tomoe Arts’ Weaver Woman, and PNME’s “heart-rending” Psappho’s Sparrows/In The Wake conce