By William Shakespeare
Directed by Esther Jun
“BOLDNESS BE MY FRIEND: ARM ME AUDACITY FROM HEAD TO FOOT!”
Forbidden love. Familial strife. Political intrigue. In Cymbeline, the final play from Shakespeare’s First Folio, the playwright fuses romance, comedy and tragedy to create a unique fantasia brimming with mistaken identities and gender-swapping disguises. Set in an ancient British kingdom, the story introduces Imogen, one of Shakespeare’s most beloved heroines, as well as the dastardly Iachimo, a worthy contender for all-time greatest villain.
Production support is generously provided by The Westaway Charitable Foundation.
Birmingham Conservatory, 1999
2024: Belarius in Cymbeline and Christie in The Diviners. 17th season.
Birmingham Conservatory, 2017/18
2024: Posthumus in Cymbeline and understudy in Hedda Gabler. Sixth season. Stratford: Richard II, Love's Labour's Lost, Grand Magic, All's Well That Ends Well, Richard III, Henry VIII, The Crucible, The Neverending Story, An Ideal Husband, Julius Caesar, To Kill a Mockingbird. Elsewhere (selected): Montague/Steve in Serving Elizabeth (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Eribo in The Neverending Story (NAC); Othello in Othello (Driftwood Theatre); Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost, Leontes in The Winter's Tale (Dauntless City Theatre); Aaron in Titus Andronicus (Seven Siblings Theatre); Lysander and Robin Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Humber River Shakespeare). Film/TV: The Kings of Napa (OWN); The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu); Mayday (Discovery); See No Evil (Discovery ID). Training: Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre; Brock University (Performance Concentration). Et cetera: Love, peace, and SOULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TRAIN.
Birmingham Conservatory, 2010/2011
2024: Iachimo in Cymbeline, Gus in The Diviners and understudy in Hedda Gabler. Ninth season. Stratford: Love's Labour's Lost, Grand Magic, Richard II, Hamlet, Death and the King's Horseman, School for Scandal, Timon of Athens, Merchant of Venice, She Stoops to Conquer, Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Anne Frank, Oedipus Rex, Hay Fever, Three Musketeers, Much Ado, Henry V, Grapes of Wrath. Elsewhere:15 Dogs (Crow's Theatre); A Few Good Men (Drayton); The Matchmaker (Arts Club); Sleuth (Mayfield); Stag and Doe (Neptune); The Gamblers (Talk Is Free); Chasse-Galerie (Storefront/Soulpepper). Film/TV/Video Games: Caillou, Immortals: Fenyx Rising, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Redwall, Wind at My Back. Training: Circle in the Square, Birmingham Conservatory, UofT. Et cetera: Tyrone dedicates this season to his parents Booth and Janet-Laine. With love beyond measure.
(she/her)
2024: Wendy in Wendy and Peter Pan and Philarmonus in Cymbeline. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Broadway and San Francisco Companies); Play That Goes Wrong (Neptune); A Christmas Carol, The Party, The Candidate (Citadel); Girls Like That (Tarragon); This London Life (Grand); Boys, Girls and Other Mythological Creatures (Carousel Players). Film/TV: From (MGM), Barbelle (Boss&Co), Marry F Kill (Incendo), Law & Order (Citytv), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Hudson & Rex (Citytv), Love's Match (Champlain Spring Prod), In the Dark (CW). Training: National Theatre School. Online: www.cynthiajimenezhicks.com, @cynthia.jimenez.hicks. Et cetera: Thank you Emma and my family for their endless support. I'd like to dedicate this season to all the shooting stars we have lost since 2020. And to Cameron, for teaching me how to fly.
Birmingham Conservatory, 2022/23
2024: Cornelius in Cymbeline and Tootles in Wendy and Peter Pan. Fourth season. Stratford: Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, Angel in Richard II, Becky in Hamlet-911 and Evelyne Rice in 1939. Elsewhere: Stella in Celestial Bodies (Geordie Theatre); Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre School of Canada); Ensemble in Aqsarniit (Confederation Centre of the Arts, two seasons); Speck in Mistatim (Red Sky Productions - Prologue Showcase). Film/TV: Caitlin in Mohawk Girls (voiceover, four seasons). Training: Dawson College Professional Theatre Program; National Theatre School of Canada. Et cetera: Kanien'kehà:ka from Kahnawá:ke Mohawk Territory. Wahsontí:io dedicates this season to their family and friends. Tsi nèn:we enkonnoronhkhwá:ke.
(he/him) Birmingham Conservatory, 2012/13
2024: Philario, Gaoler in Cymbeline, Lazarus in The Diviners and understudy in Hedda Gabler. 11th season. Josue is a Métis actor, teaching artist and mask maker from the traditional territory of the Dane-zaa, Treaty 8, Fort St. John, BC. Stratford: Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, Hamlet, Death and the King's Horseman, Merry Wives of Windsor, Front Page, Comedy of Errors, Napoli Milionaria!, Tempest, Timon of Athens, Madwoman of Chaillot, The Changeling, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Aeneid, Taming of the Shrew, Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Beaux' Stratagem, Mary Stuart, Measure for Measure, Othello. Vancouver: 4 seasons at Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival; The Exquisite Hour (Relephant); Wizard of Oz, Seussical (Carousel); The Emperor's New Threads (Axis). Training: Birmingham Conservatory, Director Martha Henry; Studio 58; Canadian National Voice Intensive. Twitter: @josuelaboucane. Instagram: @laboucanej.
2024: Helen, Mother in Cymbeline and Pique, Scots Morag in The Diviners. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Louise in Gypsy, Bella in Gaslight, On The Razzle, A Christmas Carol, Everybody, Flush, Brigadoon (Shaw Festival); Marianne in Sense and Sensibility, Sarah Ballenden (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Timon of Athens (Shakespeare In The Ruins); Charlie Brown, James and the Giant Peach (MTYP); Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth (Magnus Theatre); Les Flats (Le Cercle Moliére); Les Misérables, The Little Mermaid (Rainbow Stage). Opera: Mother in Amahl and The Night Visitors (Edmonton Opera); Rose/Marguerite in Li Keur (Manitoba Opera); Peer Gynt (Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra); MESSIAH/COMPLEX (Against The Grain/The Banff Centre). Voiceover: Those Pink Mountain Nights and The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson (Harper Collins). Training: Bachelor of Music (Voice Performance), University of Manitoba. Online: www.julielumsden.com. Et cetera: "Onward and upward!" For Uncle Darin, always.
Birmingham Conservatory, 2024
2024: Lord 2, Brother in Cymbeline and appears in The Diviners. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Truffaldino in A Servant of Two Masters, The Flying Doctor, Orlando in As You Like It, Our Eliza (Perchance); John Dodge in Middletown (NTS); Squawk (RCAT); Falling Trees (Poverty Cove); The Beauty Queen of Leenane (TNL); Salt-water Moon (Rising Tide); Almost Baymous (HalfHandsome). Film/TV: Son of a Critch (CBC); Hudson and Rex (CityTV); Little Dog (CBC); Frontier (Discovery/Netflix); Riverhead (Riverhead Prod.); Body and Bones (Scattered and Small Inc.). Et cetera: I am grateful and delighted to be making my debut on the Stratford stage. Thanks to you, the audience, for making what we do possible.
2024: Billy in The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? and Lord 1, Brother in Cymbeline. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Admetus in Alcestis, Orgon in Tartuffe, Frank Thorney in The Witch of Edmonton (Theatre Erindale); She, Men, and the Giant Snake (Soulpepper Theatre); Retrograde (Toronto Fringe); Julius Caesar, Bare: A Pop Opera, Ghost Quartet, Essay (University of Toronto). Film/TV: Workin' Moms Seasons 6 and 7 (CBC/Netflix); Macy Murdoch (CBC/Shaftesbury); Pie Boy (Ace Entertainment Inc). Writer/Composer: The Gray: A Wilde Musical (Hart House Theatre); One Song Glory (Musical Stage Company); Mythic Women (University of Toronto). Training: Theatre and Drama Studies - University of Toronto/Sheridan College. Online: www.anthony-palermo.com, @anthxnypalermo. Et cetera: Grateful to be making my Stratford debut this season and for the endless support of my family and friends.
2024: Soldier in Cymbeline and understudy in Hedda Gabler and The Diviners. 14th season. Stratford: 13 seasons including Lady of the Lake in Monty Python's Spamalot, Velma Kelly in Chicago, Janet in The Rocky Horror Show, Maggie in A Chorus Line, Sally Simpson in Tommy, Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street. Elsewhere: In 2019 Jennifer revived the role of Sally Simpson in The Who's Tommy In Concert, performing alongside Pete Townshend at The La Jolla Playhouse. She has also performed on stages across Canada: The Shaw Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Charlottetown Festival, Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Drayton Entertainment, Ross Petty Productions and YES Theatre. Training: Music Theatre Performance (Sheridan), Acting (Red Deer College). Awards: Recipient of the 2022 William Needles award. Et cetera: All my love to Robert, Josephine, Mom and Dad. Thanks as always to Bruce and TH.
2024: Duke in Cymbeline and Martin in The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? Third season. Stratford: Capulet in R+J, Zastrozzi in Zastrozzi. Elsewhere: Copenhagen (NAC); Prodigal (Howland/Crow's Theatre); Prince Hamlet (Why Not Theatre); Animal Farm, Waiting for Godot and Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Soulpepper); Enemy of the People, Within the Glass, The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs, Molière, John and Beatrice and Rune Arlidge (Tarragon Theatre); Proud (Belfry Theatre); Julius Caesar (Citadel Theatre). Film/TV: Transplant (CTV/NBC); Jack, Fortunate Son, This Life, Coroner (CBC); Still Mine, North of Albany, FarCry 6 (Ubisoft). Director: Miss Caledonia, Person of Interest, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Soulpepper). Playwright: Orestes, Fish/Wife, Kite, co-wrote the musical Mimi with Melody Johnson and Allan Cole (Tarragon Theatre). Awards: ACTRA and CSA award. Training: National Theatre School of Canada.
(she/her) Birmingham Conservatory, 2018
2024: Peter Pan in Wendy and Peter Pan and Lady in Waiting in Cymbeline. Second season. Stratford: The Neverending Story, Henry VIII, The Crucible. Elsewhere: I and You (Outlook Theatre), The Secret Garden (Young People's Theatre), The Nails (SummerWorks), Animal Nature (Clay and Paper Theatre). Film/TV: Impulse. Training: George Brown Theatre School, Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Online: @jakeruneckles.
(they/she)
2024: Queen Soldier in Cymbeline and Tiger Lily in Wendy and Peter Pan. Fourth season. Stratford: Cordelia in King Lear, Ginette Ménard in Les Belles-Soeurs and Beth Summers in 1939. Elsewhere: Christine in Where the Blood Mixes (Soulpepper); Ensemble in Reasonable Doubt (Persephone Theatre); Celeste in Think of the Children, Ensemble in Serious Money, Joan and Jennifer in 7 Stories, Ensemble in We came from dust, Banquo and Lady Macduff in Macbeth (NTS); Young Grete in Holy Mothers (SummerWorks); Angel in Nativity (NAC). Film/TV: Delivery, The River You Step In, Ruby Sky P.I. Training: National Theatre School of Canada, Etobicoke School of the Arts. Instagram: @tara.kitty.sky, @taraskybeads. Et cetera: Thank you, ʼanálhzaqʷ, to the trailblazers who paved the way for me to be on stages like this one.
(she/her) Langham Directors' Workshop, 2016
2024: Director of Cymbeline. Artistic Associate, Planning, and Director of the Langham Directors' Workshop for the Stratford Festival. Sixth season. Stratford: Director: Les Belles-Soeurs, Little Women, I Am William. Assistant director: John Gabriel Borkman, Richard III (2020). Elsewhere: Director: Between a Wok and a Hotpot (Cahoots); The Great Leap (Cleveland Playhouse); Kim's Convenience (TIP); Planet Munsch (George Brown); Pal Joey, The Gamblers, Amadeus (Talk Is Free); The Promised Land (Soulpepper); The Omnibus Bill (Counterpoint Players); Theory, Girls Like That (Tarragon); The Private LifeCabaret (Theatre ARTaud); The Last Wife (Belfry, GCTC); Rococo (Shaw); Bremen Rock City (Song Trolley Productions); Cowboy Mouth, Trout Stanley (Heart In Hand); Yellow Face (Hart House); Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (DeusXM). Training: B.A. Directing, Drama Centre London. Et cetera: Assistant Artistic Director at Tarragon (2016-2018); Co-Founder of Directors Lab North. Love & gratitude to Mike, Lola, the kitties and Frida. www.theestherjun.com.
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