Festival Theatre

May 6 – October 26 |

Opens June 1

Shakespeare

ROMEO AND JULIET

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Sam White

“DID MY HEART LOVE TILL NOW?”

When two young star-crossed lovers lock eyes across a crowded dance floor, their fate-and the fate of two rival families, the Capulets and Montagues-is sealed. The most celebrated romance of all time, Romeo and Juliet is a cautionary tale, timeless in its warning against insatiable revenge, blind hatred and familial pride.

MEIGHEN FORUM EVENTS

CAST & CREATIVE

Birmingham Conservatory 2020/21

2024: Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and appears in Twelfth Night and London Assurance. Fifth season. Stratford: Shrimp Man in Wedding Band, Much Ado About Nothing, Lord in All's Well That Ends Well, Little Women, Demetrius, Quince, Mustardseed in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Valentine in Two Gentlemen of Verona (Birmingham Conservatory). Elsewhere: Paul Bratter in Barefoot in the Park, Paul Verral in Born Yesterday (Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre); Henry Baskerville in Hound of the Baskervilles (Royal Canadian Theatre Co.); Young Sherlock in Sherlock Holmes (Chemainus Theatre Festival). Film/TV: Fragile Seeds (feature), The Flash, Far Cry 4, Monkey Up, Cascadia, Ollie and Emma. Training: Birmingham Conservatory, LAMDA (Masters with Distinction, Classical Acting). Et cetera: Thanks to my family and the cast and crew. Jonathan dedicates this season to his late father Gregory Mason.

(she/her)

2024: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Olivia in Twelfth Night and understudy in London Assurance. Fourth season. Stratford: Little Shop of Horrors, Billy Elliot, Why We Tell the Story, Up Close and Musical. Elsewhere: New York, New York (Broadway); Alice in Wonderland (Bad Hats/Soulpepper); Queen Goneril, King Lear (Soulpepper); Is God Is (Obsidian/CanStage/Necessary Angel); Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz (YPT); An Octoroon, Grand Hotel, The Magician's Nephew, Holiday Inn (Shaw Festival); Passing Strange, Caroline or Change (Musical Stage Co/Obsidian); Kinky Boots (Mirvish). Film: Sappy Holiday, 14 Love Letters, Suits, Sex/Life, Y: The Last Man. Voice Acting: My Little Pony, The Downloaded. Awards: Multiple Dora Award and TTCA Award wins, BroadwayWorld Award, Critic's Pick Award. Online: Instagram: @Vanessa_Sears. Et cetera: Vanessa is an educator, an emerging director, and Vice Chair of the CGA board. Love to Richard and the whole team.

2024: Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and Mark Meddle in London Assurance. 25th season.

Birmingham Conservatory, 2014/15

2024: Viola in Twelfth Night and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. Eighth season. Stratford: Helen in All's Well That Ends Well, Lady Anne in Richard III, Emily Brontë in Brontë: The World Without, Bess in Mother's Daughter, Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors. Playwright: The Dark Lady (Shakespeare in the Ruins/Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan), Pandora (Prairie Theatre Exchange) - both are available in the Stratford Festival Shop. Film/TV: Five Days at Memorial, The Boys, Kings of Napa, Hero: The Life and Times of Ulric Cross, 30 vies. Voice/Mocap: Assassin's Creed: Origins, Unannounced Ubisoft project. Training: Dawson College, McGill University, Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Awards: Bernard Amyot Teaching Award - National Theatre School, Mary Savidge Award - Stratford Festival. Online: Instagram: @jessicabhill. Et cetera: To the people who bring us home.

Birmingham Conservatory, 2017/18

2024: Valentine in Twelfth Night, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and appears in London Assurance. Seventh season. Stratford: Duke of Burgundy in King Lear, Jeremy in Hamlet-911, The Boy in Three Tall Women, Sir Henry Guildford in Henry VIII, Eribo, A Bully in The Neverending Story, Harold in An Ideal Husband, appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird and understudied in Julius Caesar and Much Ado About Nothing. Elsewhere: Atreyu in The Neverending Story (National Arts Centre). Film/TV: Guest star on What We Do in the Shadows season four finale (FX), Reign (CW) and Murder U (Discovery ID). Training: BFA, University of Windsor; Birmingham Conservatory. Instagram: @iles4miles.

2024: Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, appears in Twelfth Night and London Assurance. Sixth season. Stratford: Much Ado About Nothing, HMS Pinafore, The Sound of Music, The Mikado, The Gondoliers. Shaw: Mack & Mabel, Tristan, Floyd Collins, The Constant Wife, Happy End, The Coronation Voyage, She Loves Me, Easy Virtue. Elsewhere: Into the Woods [New Zealand], The Other Place, Sweeney Todd [Toronto & UK - Dora Award], Sunday in the Park with George (Talk Is Free Theatre); London Road, Passion, The House of Martin Guerre (Canadian Stage Company); Anything That Moves (Tarragon Theatre - Dora Award); Falsettos (Musical Stage Company); Annie, The Drowsy Chaperone (Drayton Entertainment); Side by Side by Sondheim (Grand Theatre); A Streetcar Named Desire (Atlantic Theatre Festival); The Glass Menagerie (Prairie Theatre Exchange); My Fair Lady (Neptune Theatre, Centaur Theatre, PTE, ATP). Et cetera: Glynis lives with her husband, Mike Nadajewski, and their son in Stratford.

2024: Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet and Constable Solomon Isaacs in London Assurance. 28th season. A Tony and Olivier Award nominee, Scott has worked on and off Broadway, in London's West End and in theatres across the US and Canada. Stratford credits include Macbeth, Iago, Shylock, the title role in John Gabriel Borkman, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night. His directing credits here include both parts of Henry IV, Pericles, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and All's Well That Ends Well. Film and TV work includes Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, Law & Order and Orphan Black. Fans may remember him as Kermit in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Last season he played King Lear for Shakespeare BASH'd, and Henry in the first American production of The Lehman Trilogy.

(she/her) Birmingham Conservatory, 2024

2024: Pert in London Assurance, appears in Twelfth Night and understudy in Romeo and Juliet. Third season. Stratford: Grand Magic, Love's Labour's Lost, The Miser, Hamlet. Elsewhere: Schoolhouse, Macbeth, The Ruins, Frankenstein, In This Light, As You Like It, Iliad by Fire (Two Planks); A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It (Shakespeare BASH'd); As You Like It, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare by the Sea). Film/TV: Compulsus, King & Pawn (BellTV). Recordings: Ophelia, Sending Love (Spotify, Apple Music) Composer: WOLF, Flimsy (Hurricane Productions); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare BASH'd). Awards: Merritt Award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role (Schoolhouse). Training: Dalhousie University. Online: @hilary_adamss.Et cetera: This season is dedicated to Gordon Bowlby, who took me to my first Stratford show where I fell in love with Theatre…I made it Grandad!

2024: Captain in Twelfth Night, Max Harkaway in London Assurance and appears in Romeo and Juliet. 16th season. Stratford: Richard II, Grand Magic, Richard III, The Miser, Merry Wives of Windsor, The Front Page, Coriolanus, Napoli Milionaria!, The Changeling, Macbeth, As You Like It, Pericles, King Lear, Titus Andronicus, The Tempest, Caesar and Cleopatra. Elsewhere: Shakuntala (Premiere Dance Theatre); The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God (Mirvish); Twelfth Night, Donut City (Canadian Stage); Pusha Man, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Passe Muraille); Top Gun the Musical (Factory Theatre/ NYC); Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare in Action); Founding Member of Obsidian Theatre Company. Film/TV/Video Games: Sex/Life, Frankie Drake, Diggstown, The Coroner, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Killjoys, Watch Dogs 2, Saving Hope, Murdoch Mysteries, Nikita, Owning Mahowny, The Incredible Hulk, Nurse.Fighter.Boy. Training: MFA, York University. Awards: Tyrone Guthrie Award. Dora nominations: Twilight Café, The America Play.

(he/him)

2024: Gregory in Romeo and Juliet and Ding, Policeman in Salesman in China. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Swing in Forgiveness (Arts Club and Theatre Calgary); Banger in The Five Vengeances (Affair of Honor); Passenger Seat (Library Performance Co.); New Societies (Re:Current Theatre); Collider (Single Thread Theatre). Assistant Directing: Forgiveness; East Van Panto 2023 (Theatre Replacement). Training: BFA in Theatre Performance (SFU). Online: www.howarddai.com; @howardai. Et cetera: 2022 digital-artist-in-residence with PuSh Festival and Royal Court Theatre with his play 菠蘿麵包Pineapple Bun; Associate Artist with rice & beans theatre. His performances and creations have existed in theatre, films, public spaces, Zoom screens, Google Sheets, automated phone calls, interactive websites and virtual reality. Much love to mom and every mentor/teacher/friend that's been in his life. Proud to be Taiwanese.

2024: Escalus in Romeo and Juliet and appears in Twelfth Night and London Assurance. Fourth season. Stratford: Gordon in Rent, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Elsewhere: The Louder We Get (Theatre Calgary); Killing Time (Mixtape Projects); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Driftwood Theatre); Once (Theatre St. John's); Written in Blood (Talk is Free Theatre). Film/TV: Partum, recurring principal on Locke & Key, Red Iron Road. Training: BFA, Toronto Metropolitan University. Et cetera: Nick wishes special thanks and love to his partner Sara, and family Sean, John & Jen. He is thrilled to return to the Festival this year.

Birmingham Conservatory, 2024

2024: Peter in Romeo and Juliet and appears in Twelfth Night and London Assurance. Second season. Stratford: Harry Percy in Richard II, Waiter in Grand Magic and understudy in Love's Labour's Lost. Elsewhere: A Few Good Men, Twelve Angry Men, The Miracle Worker, The Birds and the Bees, Death of a Salesman, Brighton Beach Memoirs (Drayton); The Cider House Rules reading (Talk is Free); Suitcases/Provenance workshop (Canadian Stage). Film/TV: Jump, Darling (opposite Cloris Leachman), In The Dark, Murdoch Mysteries, Man Seeking Woman, Heroes Reborn, Bitten, Reign. Radio/Recordings: Strange Loops (audiobook). Training: The Randolph College for the Performing Arts. Online: Instagram: @tomsdup. Et cetera: Thomas dedicates this season to his teachers past and present.

2024: Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Paris in Romeo and Juliet and Charles Courtly in London Assurance. Third season. Stratford: Claudio (Much Ado About Nothing), Albany (King Lear), Laertes (Hamlet). Elsewhere: The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Being Here: The Refugee Project, Taking Shakespeare, Spring Awakening (Belfry Theatre); As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare Theater) Beauty and the Beast (Arts Club Theatre); Miss Understood (PuSh Festival); The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Shakespeare in Love, Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter's Tale (Bard on the Beach); Mamma Mia! (WCT); HAIR (Mayfield Theatre); As You Like It (Citadel Theatre/MTC). Film/TV: Supernatural, Batwoman, The Flash (CW); Colony (USA); The Magicians (SyFy); Narcoleap (CBC/Telus). Training: The Canadian College of Performing Arts. Awards: Sterling Awards (The Royale), Leo Awards (Narcoleap). Online: @austineckert.

(he/him)

2024: Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet and Li Shilong in Salesman in China. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Canadian Stage); Pirithous/Wooer in The Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare Bash'd); Scott The Rat Man/Mr.Rumpelstiltskin in Storybook Search (Bad Hats Theatre); Cockroach in Cockroach (Tarragon Theatre); Duke of Burgundy/Gentleman in King Lear (Shakespeare Bash'd); Dionysus/Zeus in Trojan Girls & Outhouse of Atreus (Outside the March/Factory Theatre). Director: A Perfect Bowl of Pho (Kick & Push Festival/Toronto Fringe Festival); Death to Prometheans (Studio 180); Ordinary Days (Shifting Ground Collective). Training: Toronto Metropolitan University, RBC Emerging Artist Program with Musical Stage Company. Awards: Toronto Workshop Productions (George Luscombe Award); Harold Awards (House of Daniel MacIvor); RBC Emerging Director's Prize (Studio 180). Online: @steven_haoby. Et cetera: Steven is approachable, he rarely bites, please say hi!

(she/her)

2024: Appears in Romeo and Juliet, London Assurance, and understudy in Twelfth Night. Second season.

2024: Priest in Twelfth Night, Balthasar, Friar John in Romeo and Juliet and appears in London Assurance. 10th season.

Birmingham Conservatory, 2024

2024: Grace Harkaway in London Assurance, appears in Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet. Second season. Stratford: Les Belles-Soeurs and King Lear. Elsewhere: Nina in Lucky by Marie Barlizo (rEvolver); Hermia in A (Musical) Midsummer Night's Dream (Driftwood Theatre); Lucky in FEARLESS by David Yee (fu-GEN Theatre); Olivia in Twelfth Night (Theatre Erindale). Film/TV: Eli Roth's Be Mine, 13: The Musical, Titans season 4, Daughter Dearest, ReGenesis. Audio/Voiceover: Anne of Green Gables. Playwriting: twice blessed (fu-GEN Theatre). Training: Birmingham Conservatory; Theatre & Drama Studies with Sheridan College; University of Toronto (MA). Online: www.marissaorjalo.com @MarissaOrjalo.

(she/her)

2024: Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet and appears in Twelfth Night and London Assurance. Fourth season. Stratford: Julia Augustine in Wedding Band, understudy in Les Belles-Soeurs, Chorus in Hamlet-911, understudy in Every Little Nookie, Angela in Here's What It Takes (workshop), Swing in Little Shop of Horrors. Elsewhere (selected): Princess Buttercup in Jack and the Beanstalk: The Panto, Lorraine in All Shook Up (Drayton Festival); Soul Sistas (Mayfield); Mamma Mia! (Theatre Aquarius/WCT); Chiffon in Little Shop of Horrors (Thousand Islands Playhouse). Film/TV: In The Dark, Take Note, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Hot Zone: Anthrax, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, People of Earth, Surviving Evil. Training: St. Lawrence College Musical Theatre. Online: @Toni_Rudd.

2024: Fabian in Twelfth Night, Montague in Romeo and Juliet, Adolphus Spanker in London Assurance. 12th season. Stratford: Richard II, Love's Labour's Lost, Hamlet, The Miser, The Front Page, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Paradise Lost, Timon of Athens, The Changeling, Shakespeare in Love, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Aeneid, Taming of the Shrew, Possible Worlds, The Beaux' Stratagem, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, Julius Caesar, Bartholomew Fair, Shakespeare's Universe. Elsewhere: Dock Spider (Magnus Theatre); The 4th Graders Present An Unnamed Love Suicide (Tiny Room); Jerusalem (OTM/Company Theatre); Silence, Art (Grand Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Western Canada Theatre); Hound of the Baskervilles, Robin Hood (Globe Theatre); Pitmen Painters, Boeing Boeing (Theatre Aquarius); Vigil, Lawrence and Holloman (Prairie Theatre Exchange); Having Hope at Home (Neptune); Twelfth Night, The Tempest (Hartford Stage); The Lonely Diner (Blyth Festival); Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth (NAC).

(he/him) Birmingham Conservatory, 2015/16

2024: Antonio in Twelfth Night, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet and Richard Dazzle in London Assurance. Seventh season. Stratford Festival credits include: Richard II, Grand Magic, Love's Labour's Lost, Richard III, The Miser, The Tempest, Coriolanus, Napoli Milionaria!, Twelfth Night, A School for Scandal, Tartuffe, Macbeth, All My Sons, Bunny. Elsewhere: The Three Musketeers (RMTC); february: a love story (Globus Theatre); Two Noble Kinsmen and Cymbeline (Shakespeare BASH'd); Towards Youth: a play on Radical Hope (Crow's Theatre); Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare in High Park); Tartuffe (Canadian Stage); Coriolanus (Dartmouth, New Hampshire). Emilio trained under the direction of Martha Henry and Stephen Ouimette in the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Thank you for supporting live theatre. Instagram: @emiliovieira.

(he/him)

2024: Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, Cool in London Assurance and appears in Romeo and Juliet. Ninth season. Stratford: Cornwall in King Lear, Balthasar in Much Ado…, Parolles in All's Well…, Reverend Hale in The Crucible, Professor Bhaer in Little Women, Lucullus in Timon…, Wessex in Shakespeare in Love, Karl Gustav in Christina, The Girl King, White Knight in Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Elsewhere: La Bête (Talk is Free); Lion in Winter (Grand); East of Berlin, The December Man, Shakespeare's Dog (ATP); Am I Not King? (Zone 41); Enron (Theatre Calgary); Beyond the Farm Show (Blyth); The Story (Common Boots); Macbeth, Mother Courage (Caravan Farm); A Doll's House (Globe). Film/TV: Murdoch Mysteries, Wilfrid, Charity, Blue Smoke, The Secret of the Nutcracker, See This Movie. Training: National Theatre School. Awards: John Hirsch Award; Betty Award for Vincent in Brixton; Dora, Montreal Critics' Circle and Evie Award nominations. Instagram: @wilkierylan.

(he/him)

2024: Mi Tiezeng in Salesman in China and appears in Romeo and Juliet. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Greg in Peace Country (rice & beans theatre); Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables (Gateway Theatre); Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet (Bard on the Beach); Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show (Studio 58); Chorus in East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland (Theatre Replacement). TV: Appears in Lucky Hank (AMC). Training: Langara College, Studio 58. Online: @anguzyam. Et cetera: Angus is a Hong Konger-Canadian artist based in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded traditional Indigenous territories. Shout-out to Mamei, hater sister, and friends. Glory to God.

(she/her)

2024: Director of Romeo and Juliet. Third season. Stratford: Director, Wedding Band; Assistant Director, The Tempest.Elsewhere: Founding Artistic & Executive Director at Shakespeare in Detroit. Training: Wayne State University, B.A.; Michael Langham Directors' Workshop, Stratford; 2019 Directors' Workshop, Yale University; Paul Nicholson Arts Management Fellow, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Et cetera: Sam dedicates her work to her mother who gave her The Complete Works of William Shakespeare at eight years old. Miss you, mommy!