Monday March 7th
Courtney Brown
Courtney is a director, actor and dramaturge from Musgravetown, NL. She is also a resident artist and Artistic Associate with Terra Bruce Productions. Courtney has worked with the Women’s Work Festival, Mindless Theatrics, the National Arts Centre, Soulpepper, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, New World Theatre Project, c2c theatre, Rabbittown Theatre Company, Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre Company, newfoundlandartistx, Rising Tide Theatre, Groundwater Productions, Red Sky Performance and Project Humanity. She is also an Artistic Associate with Mindless Theatrics. Courtney holds a BFA (Honours) in Theatre (Acting) from York University.
Courtney is a director, actor and dramaturge from Musgravetown, NL. She is also a resident artist and Artistic Associate with Terra Bruce Productions. Courtney has worked with the Women’s Work Festival, Mindless Theatrics, the National Arts Centre, Soulpepper, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, New World Theatre Project, c2c theatre, Rabbittown Theatre Company, Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre Company, newfoundlandartistx, Rising Tide Theatre, Groundwater Productions, Red Sky Performance and Project Humanity. She is also an Artistic Associate with Mindless Theatrics. Courtney holds a BFA (Honours) in Theatre (Acting) from York University.
Stacy Gardner
Stacy Gardner is thrilled to facilitate her third writing workshop for Women’s Works Festival, where Stacy promises that in only 90 minutes, you will leave both surprised and encouraged by how much you will put pen to paper. Stacy was one of the festivals’ playwrights in 2019 and contributed to its International Women’s Day Performance Walk in 2015. Stacy’s play, After the Sirens, premiered at the St. John’s Short Play Festival in 2018, and in 2019, of same festival, produced and directed, Tell, her first TYP. A published poet, Stacy is also a reader for ROOM, Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal. Stacy will be part of ROOM’s editorial team for their upcoming ‘Open Issue’, whose deadline, April 30. More info here: Guidelines to Submit. Follow Stacy via Quills on the Edge on Fb + IG. “Don’t write like a girl. Don’t write like a boy. Write like a motherf#cker” – Cheryl Strayed
Stacy Gardner is thrilled to facilitate her third writing workshop for Women’s Works Festival, where Stacy promises that in only 90 minutes, you will leave both surprised and encouraged by how much you will put pen to paper. Stacy was one of the festivals’ playwrights in 2019 and contributed to its International Women’s Day Performance Walk in 2015. Stacy’s play, After the Sirens, premiered at the St. John’s Short Play Festival in 2018, and in 2019, of same festival, produced and directed, Tell, her first TYP. A published poet, Stacy is also a reader for ROOM, Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal. Stacy will be part of ROOM’s editorial team for their upcoming ‘Open Issue’, whose deadline, April 30. More info here: Guidelines to Submit. Follow Stacy via Quills on the Edge on Fb + IG. “Don’t write like a girl. Don’t write like a boy. Write like a motherf#cker” – Cheryl Strayed
Bernie Stapleton
Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton has been a professional theatre artist for forty years. She is the Artistic Director of Girl Power Inc. She is co-artistic director of the Kitchen Party Theatre Festival based in Grand Falls-Windsor. She is the Program Animateur for APTNL’s Thriving Together project. She’s had almost forty plays professionally produced in Canada, including the iconic Offensive to Some, also Woman in a Monkey Cage, Brazil Square, Our Frances, and, a new musical, co-written with Nicole Smith/Tim Matson/Kiersten Noel Girls from Away. Her two latest books were just released. Love, Life is available from www.breakwaterbooks.com. Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands is available now from www.problematicpress.com. Bernardine was writer-in-residence at Memorial University in 2019 and is teaching an introductory course in playwrighting for their winter session. For more about Bernardine visit www.bernardinestapleton.com.
Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton has been a professional theatre artist for forty years. She is the Artistic Director of Girl Power Inc. She is co-artistic director of the Kitchen Party Theatre Festival based in Grand Falls-Windsor. She is the Program Animateur for APTNL’s Thriving Together project. She’s had almost forty plays professionally produced in Canada, including the iconic Offensive to Some, also Woman in a Monkey Cage, Brazil Square, Our Frances, and, a new musical, co-written with Nicole Smith/Tim Matson/Kiersten Noel Girls from Away. Her two latest books were just released. Love, Life is available from www.breakwaterbooks.com. Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands is available now from www.problematicpress.com. Bernardine was writer-in-residence at Memorial University in 2019 and is teaching an introductory course in playwrighting for their winter session. For more about Bernardine visit www.bernardinestapleton.com.
Natalie Meisner
Natalie Meisner is a playwright, an award-winning multi-genre author who grew up on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and got her start in the indie theatre and spoken word scene of Halifax, NS. Since then she has worked across the country in theatre and the literary arts and currently serves as the 5th Poet Laureate of Calgary. Her work often deploys the power of comedy for social change. BADDIE ONE SHOE (Frontenac) is a collection of odes to renegade women who fight the powers that be with laughter. LEGISLATING LOVE: THE EVERETT KLIPPERT STORY (University of Calgary Press) illuminates the life of a beloved Calgary bus driver and the last Canadian to be jailed for homosexuality. Her play BOOM BABY won both the Canadian National & the Alberta Playwriting Award. SPEED DATING FOR SPERM DONORS (Playwright’s Canada Press) was a hit at Lunchbox & Neptune. Double Pregnant: Two Lesbians Make a Family (Fernwood) topped non-fiction lists and her first book for kids My Mommy, My Mama My Brother & Me (Nimbus) is about a two-mom biracial family finding community. Meisner is a wife and mom to two great boys and a Professor in the Department of English at Mount Royal University where she works in the areas of creative writing, drama and gender/ sexuality studies. www.nataliemeisner.com
Natalie Meisner is a playwright, an award-winning multi-genre author who grew up on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and got her start in the indie theatre and spoken word scene of Halifax, NS. Since then she has worked across the country in theatre and the literary arts and currently serves as the 5th Poet Laureate of Calgary. Her work often deploys the power of comedy for social change. BADDIE ONE SHOE (Frontenac) is a collection of odes to renegade women who fight the powers that be with laughter. LEGISLATING LOVE: THE EVERETT KLIPPERT STORY (University of Calgary Press) illuminates the life of a beloved Calgary bus driver and the last Canadian to be jailed for homosexuality. Her play BOOM BABY won both the Canadian National & the Alberta Playwriting Award. SPEED DATING FOR SPERM DONORS (Playwright’s Canada Press) was a hit at Lunchbox & Neptune. Double Pregnant: Two Lesbians Make a Family (Fernwood) topped non-fiction lists and her first book for kids My Mommy, My Mama My Brother & Me (Nimbus) is about a two-mom biracial family finding community. Meisner is a wife and mom to two great boys and a Professor in the Department of English at Mount Royal University where she works in the areas of creative writing, drama and gender/ sexuality studies. www.nataliemeisner.com
Nicole Smith
Nicole Leona Smith is a writer, theatre creator, director, and producer who splits her time between her homes in Cambridge, Ontario, and St. John's, Newfoundland. Her work as a playwright has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Shaw Festival, and Canadian Stage. Nicole's most recent play-in-progress, Girls From Away, is a co-creation with Bernardine Stapleton about the hundreds of women who were recruited from central Newfoundland to Cambridge during WWII and was the subject of a national CBC Documentary by Heather Barrett.
She is co-Artistic Director of the Kitchen Party Theatre Festival (KPTF) in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, and founding Artistic Producer of Sonderlust, a theatre collective dedicated to the creation of original work and the staging of women's stories. She's held artistic residencies with the Arts and Culture Centres of Newfoundland and Spark Box Studio, and was recipient of a Metcalf Foundation Performing Arts Internship in Artistic Production in 2017.
Nicole has a BA in Theatre Studies and Psychology from the University of Guelph and is a recent graduate of Humber School for Writers, where she had the honour of studying under Camilla Gibb. Her writing has been published in a handful of literary journals, and she is the 2021 recipient of the New Quarterly's Peter Hinchcliffe Award for Short Fiction for her story Something Really Unbelievable. Nicole is currently at work on her first novel.
She is a member of the Playwright's Guild of Canada, the Writer's Union of Canada, and Playwright's Atlantic Resource Centre, and she's directed or assistant directed for Sonderlust, KPTF, Persistence Theatre Company, and the St. John's Shorts. Nicole has served on juries for the Ontario Arts Council, the New Quarterly, and Pat the Dog Theatre Creation, and she sits on the Board of Directors of the Women's Work Festival in St. John’s.
Nicole Leona Smith is a writer, theatre creator, director, and producer who splits her time between her homes in Cambridge, Ontario, and St. John's, Newfoundland. Her work as a playwright has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Shaw Festival, and Canadian Stage. Nicole's most recent play-in-progress, Girls From Away, is a co-creation with Bernardine Stapleton about the hundreds of women who were recruited from central Newfoundland to Cambridge during WWII and was the subject of a national CBC Documentary by Heather Barrett.
She is co-Artistic Director of the Kitchen Party Theatre Festival (KPTF) in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, and founding Artistic Producer of Sonderlust, a theatre collective dedicated to the creation of original work and the staging of women's stories. She's held artistic residencies with the Arts and Culture Centres of Newfoundland and Spark Box Studio, and was recipient of a Metcalf Foundation Performing Arts Internship in Artistic Production in 2017.
Nicole has a BA in Theatre Studies and Psychology from the University of Guelph and is a recent graduate of Humber School for Writers, where she had the honour of studying under Camilla Gibb. Her writing has been published in a handful of literary journals, and she is the 2021 recipient of the New Quarterly's Peter Hinchcliffe Award for Short Fiction for her story Something Really Unbelievable. Nicole is currently at work on her first novel.
She is a member of the Playwright's Guild of Canada, the Writer's Union of Canada, and Playwright's Atlantic Resource Centre, and she's directed or assistant directed for Sonderlust, KPTF, Persistence Theatre Company, and the St. John's Shorts. Nicole has served on juries for the Ontario Arts Council, the New Quarterly, and Pat the Dog Theatre Creation, and she sits on the Board of Directors of the Women's Work Festival in St. John’s.
Andrea Dunne
Andrea Dunne is an up-and-coming theatre and film creator living and working in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Her first 3 short plays have premiered at the St. John’s Shorts Festival, most recently First Date, co-written with Cole Hayley in 2018. She has for 5 years been a part of the team behind the Women’s Work Festival. Her most recent play, What is she Wearing? was commissioned by PerSIStence Theatre as a part of their Votes for Women 100 project. When not working in theatre Andrea works as an Assistant Director in television and film (Little Dog, Hudson & Rex), and her short films Makeover and Malignant have played at film festivals across Canada.
Andrea Dunne is an up-and-coming theatre and film creator living and working in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Her first 3 short plays have premiered at the St. John’s Shorts Festival, most recently First Date, co-written with Cole Hayley in 2018. She has for 5 years been a part of the team behind the Women’s Work Festival. Her most recent play, What is she Wearing? was commissioned by PerSIStence Theatre as a part of their Votes for Women 100 project. When not working in theatre Andrea works as an Assistant Director in television and film (Little Dog, Hudson & Rex), and her short films Makeover and Malignant have played at film festivals across Canada.
Sara Tilley
Sara Tilley (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, living and working on Ktaqmkuk, the unceded, traditional territory of the Beothuk and Mi'kmaq. Sara's artistic work bridges writing, theatre, and Pochinko Clown Through Mask technique. After graduating with a BFA in Acting from York University, Sara founded a feminist theatre company, She Said Yes!, which she ran as Artistic Director, 2002-2016. She received the Rhonda Payne Theatre Award in 2006, which acknowledges the contribution of a woman working in theatre in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Sara's writing spans the genres of playwriting, prose and poetry. She has written, co-written or co-created eleven plays to date. Skin Room, her first novel (Pedlar Press, 2008), won both the Percy Janes First Novel Award and the inaugural Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, and was shortlisted for the Winterset Award and the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize. Her second novel, Duke (Pedlar Press, 2015), won the BMO Winterset Award and the NL Heritage and History Award.
Sara trained in Pochinko Clown through Mask with Ian Wallace and Sue Morrison, mentoring with Wallace to become a teacher of this specialized Canadian clown method. She offers Clown through Mask and Neutral Mask training both in St. John's and elsewhere. Her interest in puppetry has led her to pursue training with the Old Trout Puppet Theatre and mentorship with puppet designer Darka Erdelji in Slovenia.
Sara is also a director, and a designer of puppets, masks and props. She has worked as a dramaturg for new plays since 2006, collaborating with playwrights across Canada and internationally.
Sara Tilley (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, living and working on Ktaqmkuk, the unceded, traditional territory of the Beothuk and Mi'kmaq. Sara's artistic work bridges writing, theatre, and Pochinko Clown Through Mask technique. After graduating with a BFA in Acting from York University, Sara founded a feminist theatre company, She Said Yes!, which she ran as Artistic Director, 2002-2016. She received the Rhonda Payne Theatre Award in 2006, which acknowledges the contribution of a woman working in theatre in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Sara's writing spans the genres of playwriting, prose and poetry. She has written, co-written or co-created eleven plays to date. Skin Room, her first novel (Pedlar Press, 2008), won both the Percy Janes First Novel Award and the inaugural Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, and was shortlisted for the Winterset Award and the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize. Her second novel, Duke (Pedlar Press, 2015), won the BMO Winterset Award and the NL Heritage and History Award.
Sara trained in Pochinko Clown through Mask with Ian Wallace and Sue Morrison, mentoring with Wallace to become a teacher of this specialized Canadian clown method. She offers Clown through Mask and Neutral Mask training both in St. John's and elsewhere. Her interest in puppetry has led her to pursue training with the Old Trout Puppet Theatre and mentorship with puppet designer Darka Erdelji in Slovenia.
Sara is also a director, and a designer of puppets, masks and props. She has worked as a dramaturg for new plays since 2006, collaborating with playwrights across Canada and internationally.
Heather Phillipps
Heather is thrilled to be involved with the Women's Work Festival for the first time. Her recent credits include the role of Naomi in Astrid and Lilly Save the World and Jamie in Hudson and Rex. Heather's first solo stage performance took place last year in the Votes For Women 100 celebration with PerSIStence Theatre, and she describes it as a life-changing experience. She is grateful for the mentorship and direction from friends Natalia Hennelly and Fabian O'Keefe, and she is very excited to help showcase the wonderful work of Andrea Dunne.
Heather is thrilled to be involved with the Women's Work Festival for the first time. Her recent credits include the role of Naomi in Astrid and Lilly Save the World and Jamie in Hudson and Rex. Heather's first solo stage performance took place last year in the Votes For Women 100 celebration with PerSIStence Theatre, and she describes it as a life-changing experience. She is grateful for the mentorship and direction from friends Natalia Hennelly and Fabian O'Keefe, and she is very excited to help showcase the wonderful work of Andrea Dunne.
Fionn Shea
Fionn Shea (he/they) is an actor and writer from New Hampshire, and a Newfoundlander-by-choice. He holds a B.A. from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and is currently pursuing an M.A. in English; in conjunction with MUN's Honours program, his solo show Invictus primered at the St. John's Short Play Festival in September of 2019. Selected stage credits include TransVersing, Private Eyes, The Jack Tales, and The Stars Are Always Brighter When The Lights Go Out, and his writing has appeared through Breakwater Books Publishing, on New Hampshire Public Radio and CBC-NL, and in the Concord Monitor.
Fionn Shea (he/they) is an actor and writer from New Hampshire, and a Newfoundlander-by-choice. He holds a B.A. from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and is currently pursuing an M.A. in English; in conjunction with MUN's Honours program, his solo show Invictus primered at the St. John's Short Play Festival in September of 2019. Selected stage credits include TransVersing, Private Eyes, The Jack Tales, and The Stars Are Always Brighter When The Lights Go Out, and his writing has appeared through Breakwater Books Publishing, on New Hampshire Public Radio and CBC-NL, and in the Concord Monitor.
Allie Duff
Allie Duff is a poet & performer from St. John's, NL who calls Ottawa her second home. In 2021 she was cast in her first on-screen speaking role in Astrid and Lilly Save the World. Other acting credits include Claire in Happy Birthday, Claire! (Ottawa Fringe Festival). She is very much looking forward to being a part of the Women's Work Festival!
Allie Duff is a poet & performer from St. John's, NL who calls Ottawa her second home. In 2021 she was cast in her first on-screen speaking role in Astrid and Lilly Save the World. Other acting credits include Claire in Happy Birthday, Claire! (Ottawa Fringe Festival). She is very much looking forward to being a part of the Women's Work Festival!
Tuesday March 8th
Jeremy Nolan
Jeremy Nolan is a theatre artist from St. John’s, NL. Jeremy is a graduate of the Communications and Performance Media diploma at MUNL and is currently finishing his BA in Communications and English. In 2019, he was privileged to receive the Dick Buehler Award for Theatre from MUNL. His most recent play “End-Stage” was a part of the 6th Annual St. John’s Short Play Festival that he wrote and performed in. Jeremy is also the Outreach Director/Publicist for St. John's Shorts.
Jeremy Nolan is a theatre artist from St. John’s, NL. Jeremy is a graduate of the Communications and Performance Media diploma at MUNL and is currently finishing his BA in Communications and English. In 2019, he was privileged to receive the Dick Buehler Award for Theatre from MUNL. His most recent play “End-Stage” was a part of the 6th Annual St. John’s Short Play Festival that he wrote and performed in. Jeremy is also the Outreach Director/Publicist for St. John's Shorts.
Nora Barker
Nora Barker is a mixed L'nu (Mi'kmaw) and Settler artist and arts administrator from Grand Falls - Windsor, Ktaqmkuk. Nora has a Bachelor of Arts from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, and is currently training at the National Theatre School of Canada for acting. Nora is happy to be reading for the 2022 Women's Work Festival!
Nora Barker is a mixed L'nu (Mi'kmaw) and Settler artist and arts administrator from Grand Falls - Windsor, Ktaqmkuk. Nora has a Bachelor of Arts from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, and is currently training at the National Theatre School of Canada for acting. Nora is happy to be reading for the 2022 Women's Work Festival!
Mallory Fisher
Mallory Fisher is a playwright, director, actor, producer, and arts educator based in St. John’s. Mallory holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from the Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Theatre Performance Creation from York University. Their play motherskin was selected for the 2020 Women’s Work Festival, runner-up in the 2020 Wildfire National Playwriting Competition, and winner of the 2020 Arts and Letters Competition Senior Drama Category. It is scheduled for production by White Rooster Theatre in June 2022. They have taught acting at Memorial University on both the St. John’s and Grenfell campuses. They are the current Artistic Director of Shakespeare by the Sea.
Mallory Fisher is a playwright, director, actor, producer, and arts educator based in St. John’s. Mallory holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from the Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Theatre Performance Creation from York University. Their play motherskin was selected for the 2020 Women’s Work Festival, runner-up in the 2020 Wildfire National Playwriting Competition, and winner of the 2020 Arts and Letters Competition Senior Drama Category. It is scheduled for production by White Rooster Theatre in June 2022. They have taught acting at Memorial University on both the St. John’s and Grenfell campuses. They are the current Artistic Director of Shakespeare by the Sea.
Kiersten Noel
Kiersten is thrilled to be a part of the Women’s Work Festival again this year. Some favourite performing credits include Hope Cladwell in Urinetown (Best Kind Productions), Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof (QVRRDF), Fantine in Les Miserables (Atlantic Light Theatre), Betty Haynes in White Christmas (Tada Events), Meg March in Little Women (Theatre St. John’s), Sister Mary Robert in Sister Act (Atlantic Light Theatre), and The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods (Opera on the Avalon). Kiersten is a voice teacher and composer and is currently collaborating with her husband Timothy Matson on writing Second Shot - The Curling Musical and Girls From Away, along with Berni Stapleton and Nicole Smith.
Kiersten is thrilled to be a part of the Women’s Work Festival again this year. Some favourite performing credits include Hope Cladwell in Urinetown (Best Kind Productions), Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof (QVRRDF), Fantine in Les Miserables (Atlantic Light Theatre), Betty Haynes in White Christmas (Tada Events), Meg March in Little Women (Theatre St. John’s), Sister Mary Robert in Sister Act (Atlantic Light Theatre), and The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods (Opera on the Avalon). Kiersten is a voice teacher and composer and is currently collaborating with her husband Timothy Matson on writing Second Shot - The Curling Musical and Girls From Away, along with Berni Stapleton and Nicole Smith.
Matthew Robertson
Matthew is a singer, songwriter, and actor born and raised in Oakville Ontario, currently living in St.
John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. Over the years, he has performed at various concerts, including
as a guest soloist with the Brantford Symphony Orchestra and the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus.
He took part in Summer Opera Lyric Theatre’s 2018 season, playing Somnus and the High Priest in
Semele, and Le Comte des Grieux and the Innkeeper in Manon. He was a member of Voicebox:
Opera in Concert’s chorus for Comedy Unbound! and Fierabras during their 2018/2019 season. As a
songwriter, he has explored the world of film scoring, writing original music for the 2021 short film
The Winner Is.
Matthew is very excited to take part in Stef Curran’s A Hero’s Shade of Blue as part of this year’s
Women’s Work Festival!
Matthew is a singer, songwriter, and actor born and raised in Oakville Ontario, currently living in St.
John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. Over the years, he has performed at various concerts, including
as a guest soloist with the Brantford Symphony Orchestra and the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus.
He took part in Summer Opera Lyric Theatre’s 2018 season, playing Somnus and the High Priest in
Semele, and Le Comte des Grieux and the Innkeeper in Manon. He was a member of Voicebox:
Opera in Concert’s chorus for Comedy Unbound! and Fierabras during their 2018/2019 season. As a
songwriter, he has explored the world of film scoring, writing original music for the 2021 short film
The Winner Is.
Matthew is very excited to take part in Stef Curran’s A Hero’s Shade of Blue as part of this year’s
Women’s Work Festival!
Wednesday March 9th
Nicole Rousseau
Nicole Rousseau is a Theatre Director and Creator from St. John's NL. She holds a BFA from Memorial University of NL (Grenfell Campus) and is currently pursuing an MA in Performance and Dramaturgical Theory from the University of Ottawa. Previously for RCAT: Supper Club, Seal Slippers, Men of Misfortune, Tangly, The Ogre's Purse; Krapp’s Last Tape(Indie); Centurions (workshop) and Art (c2c); MacBeth, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Troilus and Cressida (SBTS); Eli and The Death Curse (Bare Boards) and artistic collaborations with The Ora Ensemble (m'habiller encore, Rites). Nicole is the current Artistic Animateur for RCA Theatre Company (a founding Company of The Women's Work Festival) and a past recipient of the Rhonda Payne Award from Arts NL.
Nicole Rousseau is a Theatre Director and Creator from St. John's NL. She holds a BFA from Memorial University of NL (Grenfell Campus) and is currently pursuing an MA in Performance and Dramaturgical Theory from the University of Ottawa. Previously for RCAT: Supper Club, Seal Slippers, Men of Misfortune, Tangly, The Ogre's Purse; Krapp’s Last Tape(Indie); Centurions (workshop) and Art (c2c); MacBeth, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Troilus and Cressida (SBTS); Eli and The Death Curse (Bare Boards) and artistic collaborations with The Ora Ensemble (m'habiller encore, Rites). Nicole is the current Artistic Animateur for RCA Theatre Company (a founding Company of The Women's Work Festival) and a past recipient of the Rhonda Payne Award from Arts NL.
Prajwala Dixit
Prajwala Dixit is an award winning storyteller working as a playwright, journalist, documentary filmmaker and author. Her work has been produced by Artistic Fraud, Resource Centre For The Arts, Arts and Culture Centre, White Rooster Theatre, PerSIStence and Eastern Front Theatre. Currently, she awaits the release of her children's book called The Tales of Dwipa with Breakwater Books and is finishing a short documentary called Love, Amma with The National Film Board of Canada while juggling writing for The Globe and Mail, The Independent, POV, Newfoundland Quarterly and Riddle Fence. An avid story gobbler through films and books, she calls Bengaluru and St. John's home where she lives with her husband and daughter.
Prajwala Dixit is an award winning storyteller working as a playwright, journalist, documentary filmmaker and author. Her work has been produced by Artistic Fraud, Resource Centre For The Arts, Arts and Culture Centre, White Rooster Theatre, PerSIStence and Eastern Front Theatre. Currently, she awaits the release of her children's book called The Tales of Dwipa with Breakwater Books and is finishing a short documentary called Love, Amma with The National Film Board of Canada while juggling writing for The Globe and Mail, The Independent, POV, Newfoundland Quarterly and Riddle Fence. An avid story gobbler through films and books, she calls Bengaluru and St. John's home where she lives with her husband and daughter.
Elizabeth Hicks
Elizabeth Hicks is an actor, writer, and filmmaker based in St. John’s, NL. She has worked with many theatre companies in NL including Perchance Theatre, Stephenville Theatre Festival, Artistic Fraud, Resource Centre for the Arts, Rising Tide Theatre, Persistence Theatre, Power Productions, Mindless Theatrics, and 30for60. Elizabeth writes and performs regularly with sketch comedy troupes Mom’s Girls and Halfhandsome. She is currently an Artistic Associate/Playwright-in-Residence for Poverty Cove Theatre Company.
Elizabeth Hicks is an actor, writer, and filmmaker based in St. John’s, NL. She has worked with many theatre companies in NL including Perchance Theatre, Stephenville Theatre Festival, Artistic Fraud, Resource Centre for the Arts, Rising Tide Theatre, Persistence Theatre, Power Productions, Mindless Theatrics, and 30for60. Elizabeth writes and performs regularly with sketch comedy troupes Mom’s Girls and Halfhandsome. She is currently an Artistic Associate/Playwright-in-Residence for Poverty Cove Theatre Company.
Amelia Manuel
Amelia Manuel is an actor/singer/writer from Clarenville, NL. Past roles include Dorine- Tartuffe
(National Arts Centre), Helena – A Midsummer Night's Dream & Velma Kelly – Chicago (Stephenville Theatre Festival), Myra Bennett - Tempting Providence (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador), Revue ’10,’11, ’12, ’16, ’17, ’19, as well as feature films Sweetland, Black Conflux, and Hunting Pignut.
Amelia Manuel is an actor/singer/writer from Clarenville, NL. Past roles include Dorine- Tartuffe
(National Arts Centre), Helena – A Midsummer Night's Dream & Velma Kelly – Chicago (Stephenville Theatre Festival), Myra Bennett - Tempting Providence (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador), Revue ’10,’11, ’12, ’16, ’17, ’19, as well as feature films Sweetland, Black Conflux, and Hunting Pignut.
Thursday March 10th
Jana Gillis
Jana’s an actor, writer, director, improviser and filmmaker from Cape Breton, NS. She’s a graduate of MUN’s Grenfell Campus BFA Acting program and The Second City Training Centre’s Toronto Sketch Conservatory. Selected performance credits include: Hudson & Rex (CityTV), Astrid & Lilly Save the World (SYFY), A Haroldmark Christmas (Night Out Productions), No Cast, No Script, No Problem (St. John’s Shorts), Welcome to Skit Row (Second City Training Centre), Dear Uncle Wish (Theatre Enthused/Toronto Fringe), Almost Baymous (HalfHandsome Comedy) and the lead role in Andrea Dunne’s NIFCO PictureStart short film Malignant.
Jana’s an actor, writer, director, improviser and filmmaker from Cape Breton, NS. She’s a graduate of MUN’s Grenfell Campus BFA Acting program and The Second City Training Centre’s Toronto Sketch Conservatory. Selected performance credits include: Hudson & Rex (CityTV), Astrid & Lilly Save the World (SYFY), A Haroldmark Christmas (Night Out Productions), No Cast, No Script, No Problem (St. John’s Shorts), Welcome to Skit Row (Second City Training Centre), Dear Uncle Wish (Theatre Enthused/Toronto Fringe), Almost Baymous (HalfHandsome Comedy) and the lead role in Andrea Dunne’s NIFCO PictureStart short film Malignant.
Lauren Upshall
Lauren Upshall is a 22-year-old who moved to Newfoundland this past summer from the United States, where she lived for ten years. She is so thrilled to be in St. John’s, and even more thrilled to be involved in theatre here! During her time in the US, she worked as a theatre teacher at Christian Youth Theatre, and has performed in several productions including, “Heathers the Musical” (Veronica Sawyer), and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Olive Ostrovsky). She currently works as a full-time nanny for a wonderful family, and spends her free time dancing or exploring the city.
Lauren Upshall is a 22-year-old who moved to Newfoundland this past summer from the United States, where she lived for ten years. She is so thrilled to be in St. John’s, and even more thrilled to be involved in theatre here! During her time in the US, she worked as a theatre teacher at Christian Youth Theatre, and has performed in several productions including, “Heathers the Musical” (Veronica Sawyer), and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Olive Ostrovsky). She currently works as a full-time nanny for a wonderful family, and spends her free time dancing or exploring the city.
Willow Kean
Willow Kean is an actor and writer from Labrador West who now resides in St. John’s, NL.
She holds a BFA in theatre from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College and has spent over twenty
years working for several theatre companies across the province. Most recently, she was
seen at The LSPU Hall playing Anne in The Father, long before Olivia Colman made it cool.
She can also be seen in the award-winning National Film Board docudrama Hard Light, the
feature Milm Away From Everywhere, and in the short Milm The Death of Winter. She started
writing collaboratively for the theatre over ten years ago, co-writing RCAT’s iFrancophone
and c2c Theatre’s Robert Munsch adaptation Love You Forever and More Stories by Robert
Munsch, both of which toured provincially. Her Mive-woman comedy Supper Club premiered
at the LSPU Hall in November with RCAT. In 2014 Willow was shortlisted for The Cuffer
Prize. She is the winner of the 2016 Rhonda Payne Theatre Award and the 2018 Percy Janes
First Novel Award. Willow gets angry, cooks, and writes about it at thelittleredchicken.com.
Willow Kean is an actor and writer from Labrador West who now resides in St. John’s, NL.
She holds a BFA in theatre from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College and has spent over twenty
years working for several theatre companies across the province. Most recently, she was
seen at The LSPU Hall playing Anne in The Father, long before Olivia Colman made it cool.
She can also be seen in the award-winning National Film Board docudrama Hard Light, the
feature Milm Away From Everywhere, and in the short Milm The Death of Winter. She started
writing collaboratively for the theatre over ten years ago, co-writing RCAT’s iFrancophone
and c2c Theatre’s Robert Munsch adaptation Love You Forever and More Stories by Robert
Munsch, both of which toured provincially. Her Mive-woman comedy Supper Club premiered
at the LSPU Hall in November with RCAT. In 2014 Willow was shortlisted for The Cuffer
Prize. She is the winner of the 2016 Rhonda Payne Theatre Award and the 2018 Percy Janes
First Novel Award. Willow gets angry, cooks, and writes about it at thelittleredchicken.com.
Friday March 11th
Robyn Vivian
Robyn Vivian is a theatre artist and writer currently based in St. John's, NL. She holds a BFA from Memorial University. Select performance credits include: “Other Worlds” (Geordie Theatre), "Sideshow Absurdica" (Under The Bridge Productions), "The Kraken" (Under The Bridge Productions/Salt Teeth Theatre Co./RCAT), "The Tales of Dwipa" (White Rooster Theatre/RCAT), "I want that free mind!" and "Cross Stitch" (Power Productions/lemonTree creations), and "Drinking Again" (RCAT). Playwriting credits include: "Equinox" (in development), "Lights Out" (Theatre Perimetric), "Deeper" (workshopped with TODOS Productions and again soon with Page 1 Theatre/OutFest), and "SNATCH" (Theatre Perimetric). Her digital short "BURROW," produced by Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax, was released under their Micro Digital Creation Project series, and was presented again at CB Nuit. Robyn has also written columns for The Tempest and Riddle Fence.
Robyn Vivian is a theatre artist and writer currently based in St. John's, NL. She holds a BFA from Memorial University. Select performance credits include: “Other Worlds” (Geordie Theatre), "Sideshow Absurdica" (Under The Bridge Productions), "The Kraken" (Under The Bridge Productions/Salt Teeth Theatre Co./RCAT), "The Tales of Dwipa" (White Rooster Theatre/RCAT), "I want that free mind!" and "Cross Stitch" (Power Productions/lemonTree creations), and "Drinking Again" (RCAT). Playwriting credits include: "Equinox" (in development), "Lights Out" (Theatre Perimetric), "Deeper" (workshopped with TODOS Productions and again soon with Page 1 Theatre/OutFest), and "SNATCH" (Theatre Perimetric). Her digital short "BURROW," produced by Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax, was released under their Micro Digital Creation Project series, and was presented again at CB Nuit. Robyn has also written columns for The Tempest and Riddle Fence.
Juliana McCarthy
Julianna is a multidisciplinary artist and moon bather currently based in St. John's, where she lives with her Maine Coon kitty sidekick, Eddi. She holds a BFA in Acting from Grenfell Campus (MUN) and is certified to teach yoga (300-hour CYT) but firmly believes they shouldn't let her. Julianna has worked on such television series as Murdoch Mysteries, Star Trek: Discovery, The Handmaid's Tale, What We Do in the Shadows, Saving Hope, American Gods, Orphan Black, and In Contempt. She has appeared in such films as A Simple Favor, Downsizing, Spotlight, and How to Be Deadly. Some of her past theatre roles have included Alice in Vinegar Tom, Mrs. Lynch in Coram Boy, Mina in Dracula, Indra's Daughter in A Dream Play, and Robin Starveling (Moonshine) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A play she co-wrote in 2021 (This Side of the Pines) just received its first grant, and she is ecstatic to continue working on it. Julianna creates mixed media collage dreamscapes which she shares on Instagram as @surrealdeepcuts. Her collages have served as album artwork for multiple musicians, and have also been commissioned for posters and promotional materials for local shows. She will be exhibiting and selling some of her work on March 26th at Velvet Club & Lounge for Dancetantric.
Julianna is a multidisciplinary artist and moon bather currently based in St. John's, where she lives with her Maine Coon kitty sidekick, Eddi. She holds a BFA in Acting from Grenfell Campus (MUN) and is certified to teach yoga (300-hour CYT) but firmly believes they shouldn't let her. Julianna has worked on such television series as Murdoch Mysteries, Star Trek: Discovery, The Handmaid's Tale, What We Do in the Shadows, Saving Hope, American Gods, Orphan Black, and In Contempt. She has appeared in such films as A Simple Favor, Downsizing, Spotlight, and How to Be Deadly. Some of her past theatre roles have included Alice in Vinegar Tom, Mrs. Lynch in Coram Boy, Mina in Dracula, Indra's Daughter in A Dream Play, and Robin Starveling (Moonshine) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A play she co-wrote in 2021 (This Side of the Pines) just received its first grant, and she is ecstatic to continue working on it. Julianna creates mixed media collage dreamscapes which she shares on Instagram as @surrealdeepcuts. Her collages have served as album artwork for multiple musicians, and have also been commissioned for posters and promotional materials for local shows. She will be exhibiting and selling some of her work on March 26th at Velvet Club & Lounge for Dancetantric.
George Robertson
George Robertson is an actor, musician, and sound designer who has worked with many theatre companies in Newfoundland and Labrador, including Perchance Theatre, RCA Theatre Company, PerSIStence Theatre, Rising Tide Theatre Company, New Curtain Theatre, Shakespeare By The Sea, and others. He has also appeared in several locally produced film and television projects.
George Robertson is an actor, musician, and sound designer who has worked with many theatre companies in Newfoundland and Labrador, including Perchance Theatre, RCA Theatre Company, PerSIStence Theatre, Rising Tide Theatre Company, New Curtain Theatre, Shakespeare By The Sea, and others. He has also appeared in several locally produced film and television projects.
Zac Cross
Zachary Cross is St. John's based performer and creator. He has performed with Perchance Theatre in Cupids, and Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity for multiple years, but is mostly known for goofin' around /working with his sketch comedy group Halfhandsome.
Zachary can also be seen in localy filmed T.V. shows like Frontier, Hudson and Rex and Maroni.
Zachary Cross is St. John's based performer and creator. He has performed with Perchance Theatre in Cupids, and Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity for multiple years, but is mostly known for goofin' around /working with his sketch comedy group Halfhandsome.
Zachary can also be seen in localy filmed T.V. shows like Frontier, Hudson and Rex and Maroni.