Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, ON – June 19, 2013: Albert Schultz, Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company today announced the newest Soulpepper Academy class, 16 young artists from across the country who will train with Soulpepper for the next two years. The Academy is composed of actors, designers, directors, playwrights, and producers, a new and unprecedented expansion demonstrating Soulpepper's continued dedication to training the next generation of theatre artists. The Academy curriculum aims to develop theatre artists who will, upon graduation, be ready to create, contribute to, and work with Soulpepper and other professional performing arts companies. This full-time, paid program was launched in 2006, and graduates have gone on to produce new works, direct their own companies, and work on major productions at leading Canadian theatres and beyond.
The 2013-15 Soulpepper Academy is: Mikaela Davies, Peter Fernandes, Katherine Gauthier, Hailey Gillis, Gordon Hecht, Richard Lam, Oyin Oladejo, Colin Christopher Palangio (Acting); Erin Brandenburg, Frank Cox-O'Connell (Directing); Anahita Debonehie, Shannon Lea Doyle (Design); Anthony MacMahon, Thomas McKechnie (Playwriting); and Kelly Read and Jordana Weiss (Producing).
Members of the Soulpepper Academy will undergo an intensive program of speech, text, improvisation, music, movement, performance preparation and collective creation. A large part of their training will be project based, concentrating on specific plays and approaches to acting under the close guidance and mentorship of some of the country's best instructors and practitioners. Mentorship is an important aspect of the Soulpepper Academy, with each participant carefully paired with a mentor from Soulpepper's artistic company for the duration of the program. Academy members will also receive hands-on experience with Soulpepper's arts education and youth outreach programs. The Academy will spend the next weeks in Foundation training with esteemed director László Marton, before working with Academy instructors on their respective disciplines. The Actors will work closely with other disciplines in the Academy to extend the boundaries of traditional training and will be involved with design projects or devised collaborations in writing and creation.
The core of the Academy faculty is comprised of senior Soulpepper artists: Daniel Brooks, Leah Cherniak, László Marton, Diego Matamoros, Nancy Palk, Mike Ross*, Lorenzo Savoini*, Albert Schultz, Guillermo Verdecchia and Joseph Ziegler.
*Past graduates of the Soulpepper Academy
THE 2013-15 SOULPEPPER ACADEMY
Erin Brandenburg: Originally from Leamington, Ontario, Erin went to school at The University of Waterloo and has worked as a theatre creator, playwright, actor, director and artist educator in Toronto for the last 12 years. She is the Artistic Director of the independent theatre company Kitchenband, which creates original multi-disciplinary productions and their last show, BOBLO, was recently nominated for five Dora Awards. Erin recently received the Enbridge Emerging Playwright Award.
Frank Cox-O'Connell: Frank grew up at Vaughn Road and Oakwood, went to high school at Etobicoke School of the Arts and studied at the National Theatre School in Montreal. As a theatre director and performer, he has an ongoing collaboration with writer/performer Evan Webber. Their double bill Ajax & Little Iliad premiered last year at Harbourfront's World Stage, and is currently touring (Vancouver, Montreal, Banff, Ottawa, Kingston, Ireland, Japan, Australia). He was a founding member of One Reed Theatre, and regularly works with indie performance companies Small Wooden Shoe (Dedicated to the Revolutions) and Public Recordings (300 Tapes, What We Are Saying).
Mikaela Davies: Mikaela is an actor, writer, director, actively engaged in the Montreal theatre scene. She recently performed in the smash hit Nothing Never Happens In Norway at the Centaur Theatre Wildside Festival (nominated for the Cirque Du Soleil Award for Best Original Creation). She has directed two plays, written one, and is currently developing a TV series.
Anahita Debonehie: Born in Tehran, Iran and raised in Toronto, Anahita attended the Concordia University-Norwegian Theater Academy and the California Institute of the Arts. Professional credits include Possible Worlds (Talk is Free Theatre), Blue/Orange (Kingston Players Theatre), and The Lesson (Modern Times Theatre Company) for which she received an Outstanding Theatre Design Dora Award nomination.
Shannon Lea Doyle: Shannon was born in east Toronto and raised in a racing kayak. She is a graduate and medal winner from OCAD University's Sculpture and Installation program with minors in Wearable Technology and Social Science. Over the past few years she has designed sets for several local theatre companies and collectives. Shannon's sculptural practice often considers oppositions such as merger and distance. Her art work has most recently been included in exhibits at Area Gallery, Edward Day Gallery, and the Sculpture Society of Canada.
Peter Fernandes: Peter was born in Awali, Bahrain and grew up in Edmonton, Alberta where he established himself as an actor and improviser. A graduate of the University of Alberta's BFA Acting Program, he was recently seen in Are We There Yet? (Concrete), Workplays (AWHC), Hamlet (Media Room), Hit and Myth's Evil Dead: The Musical and touring Manitoba as Bezi in the world premiere of Vern Theissen's The Last Tree of Rapa Nui (Manitoba Theatre for Young People). As an improviser, Peter was involved with Die Nasty: An Improvised Soap Opera, and was one of the original members of The 11 O'Clock Number: An Improvised Musical.
Katherine Gauthier: A graduate from Trinity Western University in British Columbia, but raised in Ontario, Katherine is glad to be "back home" after eight years in Vancouver. A founding member of The Honest Fishmongers, Katherine feels lucky to have found kindred artists with a common penchant for bold and truthful story-telling. Another artistic home for Katherine in BC has been Pacific Theatre. Her most recent endeavours include teaching Voice and Movement at her alma mater and exploring her French Canadian roots at the Théâtre La Seizième.
Hailey Gillis: Hailey was born in Hamilton, raised in the small town of Grimsby, Ontario, and recently graduated from the Theatre and Drama Studies Program at the University of Toronto/Sheridan Institute of Technology. She is reminded by her family that she was born with an ear-piercing scream which is why they decided to put her in singing lessons at age seven. Her love of music quickly transformed into passion for theatre as a whole. When she is not busy on stage or in training, Hailey writes and composes her own music which has been recorded and produced by acclaimed Toronto producers and featured within her current Folk'n'B band We're Sorry We're So Famous.
Gordon Hecht: Gordon was born in New York, and moved to Toronto when he was seven. He attended every elementary school in Bloor West Village. After graduating from the University of Windsor Acting Program, he got his first professional gig at the Montgomery Theatre Company in P.E.I. where he played George Gibbs in Our Town, Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility and an Irish Wolfhound in Travels With My Aunt.
Richard Lam: Richard is a Vancouver-raised, Edmonton-trained actor, improviser, writer, composer, and sound designer. Recent acting credits include Are We There Yet? and Paper Song with Concrete Theatre, Surreal SoReal Theatre's The Genius Code, and the Alberta Workers' Health Centre's Work Plays. Richard is an alumnus of Rapid Fire Theatre in Edmonton, and of !nstant Theatre and the Pump Trolley Comedy Collective in Vancouver. He is the co-creator of the improvised Greek Epic Olymprov (2011 and 2012 Chicago Improv Festivals; 2012 Improvaganza Festival, Edmonton; 2012 Edmonton Fringe); which will be presented in Toronto in August 2013. He holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta, and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Anthony MacMahon: Anthony is a theatre artist from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and he graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a BFA in Drama. His play The Frenzy of Queen Maeve won the 2012 Ottawa Little Theatre One-Act Playwriting Competition. It was first produced at SummerWorks, and went on to be produced in Saskatoon, Ottawa, and Winnipeg. He was accepted to the Banff Centre for the Arts with his play Wild Dogs on the Moscow Trains which will have its premiere in Toronto this summer at SummerWorks. He has been proud to perform as an actor in Saskatoon with Live Five theatre and most recently in Toronto with Cart/Horse Theatre.
Thomas McKechnie: Thomas is a director, curator, and playwright. He has studied playwriting and dramaturgy with Conni Masing, Brian Dooley, and Brian Quirt at Tarragon. Under his banner Living Room Theatre, co-run with Jesse Byiers and Alexi Peneault, he has curated and showcased work from some of Toronto's most promising young writers and performers. He also writes short movies and plays bass in the folk-punk band We're From Out West.
Oyin Oladejo: Oyin recently appeared in Roseneath Theatre's production of In This World, for which she is nominated for a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance. Born in Nigeria, she began her journey to become a performer at Humber College's Theatre Performance Program. While a student, she was awarded the Edna Khubyar Award. Other credits include The Power of Harriet T (YPT) and Da Kink in My Hair (Trey Anthony Production: Harbourfront Centre).
Colin Christopher Palangio: Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Colin is a graduate of Toronto's George Brown Theatre School. His professional credits include Chess, Miss Saigon and Grease (Theatre Aquarius Summer Programme).
Kelly Read: Kelly was born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. She attended Ryerson University, and has a BFA in Performance Production. She started working for Soulpepper in 2007, most recently for two-and-a-half years as Associate Technical Director. A freelance Production Manager, Technical Director, and carpenter, Kelly is also a contributing member of the Red One Theatre Collective and helps manage and run The StoreFront Theatre.
Jordana Weiss: Jordana is a stage manager born and raised in Thornhill, Ontario. After receiving her BA from McGill University, and working in Montreal for the last six years, she is happy to be returning home. Recent productions include work on Le Nozze di Figaro, Godspell, The Alchemist, Measure for Measure and Titus Andronicus. She is also proud to have worked at Players' Theatre for three years, serving as both McGill Drama Festival Coordinator and Executive Director.
Photo: Nicola Buscema and Adam Pellerine. ©2013 Jacqueline Andrade.
2013-06-19
Toronto: Soulpepper 2013-15 Academy announced