By William Shakespeare
Directed by Seana McKenna
“O TIME, THOU MUST UNTANGLE THIS, NOT I. IT IS TOO HARD A KNOT FOR ME T'UNTIE.”
In Shakespeare's celebrated romantic comedy, Viola finds herself shipwrecked on the island of Illyria. For protection, she disguises herself as a young man, Cesario, and enters the service of Duke Orsino to deliver love letters to Countess Olivia. Drama arises in a tangle of mistaken identities and passions, with Olivia falling for Cesario, whose heart belongs to Orsino, who is still smitten with Olivia. When Viola's twin brother appears, complications peak!
Production support is generously provided by Priscilla Costello, by Dr. Desta Leavine in memory of Pauline Leavine, by Peggy Ptasznik, by Laurie J. Scott, by The Whiteside Foundation and by Catherine Wilkes in memory of David.
(she/her) Birmingham Conservatory, 2004/2005
2024: Malvolio in Twelfth Night and Hook in Wendy and Peter Pan. 16th season. Stratford (selected): Pauline (Casey and Diana), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein Revived), Emelia (Othello), Irene Malloy (Matchmaker), Mistress Page (Merry Wives of Windsor), Mrs. Darling (Peter Pan), Ashley (Virgin Trial), Chrysothemis (Elektra), Helena (Midsummer Night's Dream), Audrey (As You Like It), Chorus Leader (Bakkhai). Elsewhere (selected): 15 Dogs (Crow's); goldfish (Here For Now); Fun Home (Mirvish/Musical Stage Company); A Delicate Balance, Idomeneus, The Heidi Chronicles, Of Human Bondage, The Crucible, The Norman Conquests (Soulpepper); An Enemy of the People, Sextet (Tarragon); Chimerica (Canadian Stage/MTC); THIS, Beckett: Feck It! (Canadian Stage); Top Girls (Segal Centre); 4:48 Psychosis (Necessary Angel). Awards: Dora nominee/winner, two-time Toronto Theatre Critics award winner. Film/TV: The Players (dir. Sarah Galea-Davis), Wilfred (dir. Samuel Davey), The Lake (Amazon), Nurses (Global), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC). Et cetera: For Jnr, thank you.
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, 1999
2024: Feste in Twelfth Night and Lady Gay Spanker in London Assurance. Seventh season. Stratford (selected): Katerina, Taming of the Shrew; Marina and Thaisa, Pericles; Emilia, Othello; Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing. Shaw Festival (selected): Madame Arcati, Blithe Spirit; Roxane, Cyrano de Bergerac; God, Everybody; Grushinskaya, Grand Hotel; Sally Bowles, Cabaret; Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady; Billie Dawn, Born Yesterday. Elsewhere: Fall On Your Knees (World Première/Canadian Tour); As You Like It, The School for Lies (Chicago Shakespeare); Caroline, or Change (Musical Stage); Lear (Groundling); Mary Poppins (Grand Theatre); A Doll's House, Part 2 (RMTC/Mirvish); London Road (Canadian Stage). Film/ Television: Catherine Cardinal in Cardinal (CTV); Good Sam; Five Days at Memorial; Murdoch Mysteries; Acts of Crime; Four in the Morning; Saving Hope; Remedy; The Anniversary.
(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.
Birmingham Conservatory, 2005
2024: Orsino in Twelfth Night and director of Get That Hope. 10th season. Stratford: King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, All's Well That Ends Well, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coriolanus, The Tempest, etc. Elsewhere: Director: The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Gloria (ARC/Crow's). Acting: Glass Menagerie, Sex, An Octoroon, "Master Harold"...and the Boys (Shaw Festival); Julius Caesar (Crow's Theatre). Film/TV: Revenge of the Black Best Friend, Kim's Convenience (CBC); Slumberland (Netflix); Private Idiots (YouTube). Voiceover: Tiny Louis in Summer Memories (Family); Fins in Sago Mini Friends (Apple TV). Training: George Brown Theatre School. Awards: Sterling Award for Direction, The Royale; Toronto Theatre Critics Award and Dora Award - Best Actor, "Master Harold"...and the Boys; MyEntWorld Critics' Pick Award - Best Actor, An Octoroon. Online: Instagram: @dre373. Et cetera: Love you NARI.
(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.
(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!
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: Appears in Romeo and Juliet, London Assurance, and understudy in Twelfth Night. Second season.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(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.
2024: Director of Twelfth Night. 31st season. Ms. McKenna was last seen at the Festival as Rose in Les Belles-Soeurs, and was recently at Crow's Theatre in Bad Roads. Her directorial credits include King Lear (The Shakespeare Company/Hit and Myth Productions), the premières of The Wonder of it All and Spit (Here For Now Theatre) and "Valley Song" (New Globe), which received five Dora Awards in the Independent Theatre Division, including Outstanding Production and Outstanding Direction. Among the more than 150 roles she has played are Juliet, Richard III, Lady Macbeth, Lear, Blanche Dubois, Hedda Gabler, Mother Courage, Saint Joan, Eliza Doolittle and Medea. She has taught extensively across North America, and has received three Doras, one Jessie, one Genie, three Honorary Doctorates, and is a member of The Order of Canada.
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