Stuff Happens

09 10 Season

Stuff Happens Poster

By David Hare
Directed by Joel Greenberg

David Mirvish presents the Studio 180 production

November 14 – December 23, 2009

The Royal Alexandra Theatre

Beginning in the first days of the Bush administration and following its march to war, Stuff Happens is a dramatic speculation, authenticated from multiple real-life sources, on the behind-closed-doors proceedings that have shaped world events. Renowned playwright David Hare blends documented public-record information and theatrical invention to create a riveting drama that centres on still-living history.

Stuff Happens premiered in September 2004 at the National Theatre in London, England. New York’s Public Theater production ran from March through June 2006, and received a Drama Desk Award for best ensemble, as well as nominations for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Director of a Play.

The Canadian premiere, presented by Studio 180 in 2008, played to tremendous critical acclaim and sold-out houses. In their year-end highlights, seven prominent writers from the Toronto StarGlobe and MailNOW Magazine and National Post listed Stuff Happens among the top theatre productions of 2008.

As part of Mirvish Productions’ 2009/10 season, Studio 180 brought together an outstanding ensemble of Canada’s most celebrated actors for an encore presentation, this time at the prestigious Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Written by David Hare
Directed by Joel Greenberg
Featuring Guy Bannerman, Anthony Bekenn, Richard Binsley, Ian D. Clark, Paul Essiembre, David Fox, Andrew Gillies, Deborah Grover, Michael Healey, Sam Khalilieh, Hardee T. Lineham, Mark McGrinder, Sarah Orenstein, Karen Robinson, and Nigel Shawn Williams
Stage Managed by Robert Harding
Assistant Stage Managed by Liz Campbell and Emma Laird
Set and Costume Designed by Michael Gianfrancesco
Associate Costume Designed by Katherine Lubienski
Lighting Designed by Kimberly Purtell
Associate Lighting Designed by Daniel McIlmoyl
Sound Designed by Michael Laird
Associate Sound Designed by Derek Bruce
Production Managed by Nathaniel Kennedy

Company

David Hare

David Hare

Playwright

David Hare is one of Great Britain’s most prolific playwrights, having written close to 40 plays. In 2015, a longtime theatre critic for The Washington Post called him “the premiere political dramatist writing in English.” Slag, his first play, was produced in 1970, and his impressive body of work includes KnuckleThe Great ExhibitionBrassneck (with Howard Brenton), FanshenTeeth ’n’ SmilesPlentyA Map of the WorldPravda (with Brenton), Wrecked EggsThe Bay at NiceThe Secret RaptureRacing DemonMurmuring JudgesThe Absence of WarAmy’s ViewThe Blue Room (adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde), The Judas KissVia DolorosaMy Zinc BedThe Breath of LifeThe Permanent WayStuff HappensThe Vertical HourGethsemaneBerlin/WallThe Power of YesSouth DownsBehind the Beautiful ForeversThe Red Barn, and I’m Not Running. As a screenwriter, Hare has received Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Hours and The Reader, and has also adapted several of his plays for film and television. Other screenplays include Paris by NightStraplessDamage, and Denial. Hare has also directed for stage, film, and television. He is the author of a memoir, The Blue Touch Paper, and was knighted in 1998.


Joel Greenberg

Joel Greenberg

Director

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008), Blackbird, The Arab-Israeli Cookbook, The Passion of the Chris & The Laramie Project. A co-founder of Studio 180, Joel is a Chalmers and Dora award–winning playwright and director who has directed productions across Canada. Elsewhere: Ain’t Misbevain‘, What the Butler Saw, Taking Sides, Vanities, Bells Are Ringing, Second City (Toronto and Chicago), Dames at Sea (too many times), Tonight at 8:00…8:30 in Newfoundland (all three editions), The Foreigner, Alice, Drink the Mercury and The Nuclear Power Play. Joel taught at Humber College Theatre School from 1984 to 1989 and the Drama Department at the University of Waterloo from 1991 to 2014, also serving as the Chair of each department.


Guy Bannerman

Guy Bannerman

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Guy was a child actor in Toronto before joining the Stratford Festival in 1964 (Guthrie Award, 1969). Guy then worked at theatres across Canada, joining the Shaw Festival in 1986 and appearing in over 4000 performances during 29 seasons there (Newton Award, 2003). After earning his MA (Drama) at the University of Essex (UK) in 1988, Guy served as artist-in- residence and/or teacher at universities including Guelph, Dalhousie, Queen’s and Brock. In 2010 Guy received the Paul Reynolds Award to expand Manners of the Mandate, a program with actress Sharry Flett that introduces actors to the costumes and customs of the Victorian Age. They have since presented this work for theatre groups, universities and theatre schools across Canada. On television, Guy has appeared on Warehouse 13The Firm and Murdoch Mysteries, and is still heard as the voice of Mr. Bear on Rupert the Bear.


Anthony Bekenn

Anthony Bekenn

Actor

For Studio 180: debut. Toronto theatre credits include Kindertransport (Harold Green Jewish Theatre); One for the Pot (Royal Alex Theatre); The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs (Toronto Workshop Productions); The Common Pursuit, The Real Inspector Hound (Theatre Plus); Hunting Cockroaches, The Dresser, Toad of Toad Hall (Canadian Stage). Sixteen years with the Shaw Festival include Born Yesterday, Devil’s Disciple, Hotel Peccadillo, The Crucible, Gypsy, Journey’s End, Pygmalion, Blood Relations, The Royal Family, The Return of the Prodigal, _His Majesty, Peter Pan, The Apple Cart, The Matchmaker, Getting Married, Rebecca, Waste, Eden End and Saint Joan. Television and film credits include Murdoch Mysteries, The Two Mr. Kissels, Doc, Tracker, Comics, Wind at My Back, Street Legal, ENG, Counterstrike, Top Cops, Secret Service, Danger Bay, The Greening of Ian Elliot, The Private Capital, Hot Paint and Atom Spies. Anthony lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake with his wife Sharry Flett and their daughter, Michaela.


Richard Binsley

Richard Binsley

Actor

For Studio 180: debut. Recent stage credits include Democracy, It’s All True (Necessary Angel, Tarragon); Amadeus (Theatre Aquarius); Bunnicula, Hana’s Suitcase (LKTYP); Mamma Mia! (Toronto and Broadway). Richard was a member of the Shaw Festival Ensemble for eight seasons and Theatre Plus Toronto’s rep company. Richard’s voices are heard on many cartoons including Angela Anaconda (Fox) and Redwall (Teletoon), as well as several CBC Radio dramas.


Ian D Clark

Ian D. Clark

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Selected theatre includes CymbelineMatchmakerGrapes of Wrath (Stratford Festival); The Foreigner (Royal Alex – title role); An Ideal Husband at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, where he is privileged to have been invited eight times; and, most recently, The Importance of Being Earnest (Thousand Islands Playhouse). Ian’s US appearances include productions at both the Annenberg and Arden Theatres (Philadelphia); The Constant Wife (Coconut Grove, Miami – Best Actor Award); and his own A Collection of British Rubbish comedy (Bradford Centre, Boston – Broadway-optioned). Ian is a Shaw Festival veteran and has also appeared at Canadian Stage, Tarragon Theatre and all major theatres in the country. Film and TV: 14 features, including EquusLilies32 Short Films about Glenn Gould and The Arrow; five major series, including Road to Avonlea and The Associates; starring role in the pilot for SOLD; and most recently FlashpointRookie BlueMurdoch MysteriesSaving Hope and Reign. Ian holds an MA from McGill and has served as a jury member for the Canadian Academy during the awards season. Ian was proud to receive a Toronto Theatre Critics Award in 2013.


Paul Essiembre

Paul Essiembre

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Other theatre credits include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Odyssey, The Duchess of Malfi, Don Juan, Macbeth (Stratford Festival); Don Juan (Théâtre du Nouveau Monde); Le Dîner de Cons, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Art (Théâtre Français de Toronto); Tillsonburg (Canadian Stage); Zadie’s Shoes, Oui (Factory Theatre); Sleuth (Saidye Bronfman); Othello (Atlantic Theatre Festival); Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Centaur Theatre); Taming of the Shrew (World Stage Festival); and Goodnight Desdemona/Good Morning Juliet (Great Canadian Theatre Company). Some film and TV: Good Dog (HBO Canada); Covert Affairs (USA Network); Warehouse 13 (SyFy); ReGenesis, Blue Murder (Global); Flashpoint, Degrassi TNG, Plague City, Sue Thomas F.B. Eye (CTV); At the Hotel, The Newsroom, Freedom of the Air, A People’s History of Canada (CBC); Kevin Hill (UPN); Queer as Folk, Coast to Coast (Showtime). Extensive work as a voice artist includes documentary narration, notably on Journey to the Edge of the Universe and Earth: The Making of a Planet for Discovery Canada; animated series, including Silver Surfer (FOX), My Dad the Rock Star (Nelvana) and Rescue Heroes (WB); and countless commercial voice-overs. Upcoming: L’Emmerdeur (Théâtre Français de Toronto).


David Fox

David Fox

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008) & The Arab-Israeli Cookbook. David has received numerous accolades for his stage performances across the country, including a Toronto Dora Mavor Moore Award for Michael Healey’s The Drawer Boy, a Maritime Merritt Award for Michael Cook’s Jacob’s Wake and an Edmonton Sterling Award for Paul Quarrington’s The Invention of Poetry, as well as six other theatre nominations. In the early 1970s, he was part of the vital collective theatre movement at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto, creating The Farm Show and 1837: The Farmers’ Revolt among other works. His focus on new Canadian work continues to this day. Over the years, David has worked with such filmmakers as Guy Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World), Peter Mettler (The Top of His Head), Sir Richard Attenborough (Grey Owl), Patricia Rozema (When Night is Falling – Genie Nomination, Supporting Role), Chris Grismer (Clutch), Fabrizzio Filippo (The Human Kazoo), Charles Binamé (H2O II: Trojan Horse) and Jeremy Podeswa (Fugitive Pieces). He has worked with such actors as William H. Macy in the TV film Reversible Errors and Lou Gossett Jr. in For Love of Olivia. On television, David played the title role in Shakespeare’s King Lear and, for five seasons, played teacher Clive Pettibone on Road to Avonlea. He has appeared in such series as Due South, The Eleventh Hour, Poltergeist, This is Wonderland, Puppets Who Kill, the CBC/ Sienna Films pilot The Altar Boy Gang, CBC’s six-part series Northern Town, directed by Gary Burns, and the CBC series Heartland. Recent credits include the series lead in Across the River to Motor City, created by Bob Wetheimer, directed by Michael de Carlo and produced by Chum/City and David Devine, a recurring role on the CBC/Temple Street Series Being Erica and a Guest Star role in the new Showcase series Crash Burn.


Andrew Gillies

Andrew Gillies

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Andrew’s credits include The Devil’s Disciple (Neptune Theatre – 2009 Merritt Award for Best Supporting Actor) and Missing (Factory Theatre). Other credits include Hamlet in Hamlet (Vancouver Playhouse); Cyrano in Cyrano (Royal Alexandra Theatre); 14 seasons at The Shaw Festival with Christopher Newton as Artistic Director; 2 seasons at The Stratford Festival with John Hirsch as Artistic Director; 11 productions at The Manitoba Theatre Centre; and appearances for Vancouver Playhouse, Theatre Calgary, Citadel Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects playRites 97/98, Theatre Aquarius, National Arts Centre, Toronto Free, Canadian Stage, Tarragon and Necessary Angel. Film and television (selected): The Virgin Suicides, How to Deal, That Touch of Pink, The Associates, Code Name Eternity, Mutant X, Paradise Falls, Monk, Angela’s Eyes, Missing, Degrassi: The Next Generation and The Wild Girl. Andrew is a graduate of the Simon Fraser University Theatre Program. He has been nominated for a Best Actor Dora Award and the Andrew Allen Award in radio for The Christmas Adventures of Fatty Nicholson (CBC).


Deborah Grover

Deborah Grover

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Deborah has worked in various theatres across the country for over 30 years. Selected performances include Corinne in Beaux Gestes and Beautiful Deeds, the Writer in Sylvia Fraser’s My Father’s House, Marc Antony in the all-female Julius Caesar and Simone in Marat Sade. She recently returned to The Blyth Festival to perform Innocence Lost – a play about Steven Truscott. Deborah’s selected film credits include the short film Mordu, Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies, Six Figures, The Shipping News, James Allodi’s The Uncles and Norman Jewison’s Agnes of God. Most recently, Deborah has been working in television, in episodes of Being Erica, Warehouse 13 and as a recurring character in the new YTV series How To Be Indie and the ABC series Happy Town. Deborah is proud to be serving as a Board member for The Actors’ Fund and is blessed with the love and support of Beech, Kyle, Tess, Chris, Andrea and Elisabeth.


Michael Healey

Michael Healey

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Most recent acting credits: Proud (Proud Productions), Are You Okay (Peggy Baker Dance Projects/Necessary Angel), Radio Play (Peggy Baker Dance Projects), Them and Us (Theatre Passe Muraille), Frost/Nixon (Canadian Stage/Vancouver Playhouse), and The Pessimist and The Optimists (Tarragon Theatre). Other acting credits include The End of Civilization (Factory Theatre), Marie and Bruce (SummerWorks Festival), Ballad for a Rumrunner’s Daughter (Blyth Festival) and Kicked (Toronto Fringe). Since 1996, Michael has also had a career as a playwright.


Sam Khalilieh

Sam Khalilieh

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Elsewhere: Lo (or Dear Mr. Wells) (Nightwood Theatre/Crow’s Theatre), ART (The Grand Theatre), The Enchanted Loom (Cahoots/Factory), Age of Arousal (Factory Theatre), Passion Play (Crow’s Theatre/Various), Facts (GCTC).


Hardee T. Lineham

Hardee T. Lineham

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008) & Blackbird. Hardee’s recent stage credits include Dying To Be Sick (Pleiades Theatre); Crave (Nightwood Theatre); Omnium Gatherum, Proof, Richard III (Dora Winner), Henry VI, Edward VI, Tempest, Spring Awakening, Summerfolk, Plenty (Canadian Stage); Streetcar Named Desire, Macbeth, School for Wives (Playhouse Theatre, Vancouver); Scary Stories, Madboy Chronicles, Six Degrees (Alberta Theatre Projects); Love and Anger, White Biting Dog, As You Like It (Stratford Festival). He also received Dora Nominations for Crackwalker, Lie of the Mind and Science Fiction. Hardee’s film & TV credits include Cary in The Jane Show, Loving Loretta, Santa Baby, Shoemaker (Genie Nomination), Top of the Food Chain, The Big Hit, The Italian Machine, Dead Zone, Puppets Who Kill, Traders, P.S.I. Factor, Twice in a Lifetime, Little Mosque on the Prairie and Murdoch Mysteries.


Mark McGrinder

Mark McGrinder

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008), Offensive Shadows, The Arab-Israeli Cookbook, The Passion of the Chris & The Laramie Project. Mark is the Artistic Director of Studio 180 Theatre. His Studio 180 performing credits include Oslo, The Nether, You Will Remember Me, Clybourne Park and Stuff Happens. He has been a director and/or dramaturg(e) for many of Studio 180’s IN DEVELOPMENT projects and, as the program’s coordinator, has worked to connect creators with the appropriate collaborators required to bring their visions to the stage. He adapted and directed Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish for PANAMANIA, directed Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays and worked as Associate Director for Blackbird, God of Carnage and Studio 180’s 10th Anniversary reading of The Laramie Project. Mark was a member of the acting ensemble at the Shaw Festival for five seasons and he performed in several reviews with The Second City’s National touring company. He has been head or co-writer on several collective creations (Single and Sexy, That Artz Show and The Berlin Show) and his play MacHamlet was presented as part of the Alumnae Theatre’s New Ideas Festival. As an artist educator he has worked with high school, college and university students in and beyond the GTA and is continually inspired by the passion and vision of the young artists he has had the good fortune to connect with.


Sarah Orenstein

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Sarah has appeared on stages across Canada, from her hometown of Halifax to the Queen Charlotte Islands, winning multiple awards in her career. Some of her many Film and T.V. credits include the film Albatross and the series Station Eleven and Less than Kosher. Selected theatre credits: 13 seasons at Shaw Festival, including Millionairess, Blithe Spirit , Councillor at Law and Heartbreak House, Tarragon Theatre including Patience, Collected Works of Billy The Kid, Scorched (Canadian tour) and The Message, 5 seasons at Stratford Festival, including Shakespeare in Love, Birds of a Kind and Nathan the Wise. She Is strongly committed to new play development and mentoring the next generation of actors and directors.


Karen Robinson

Karen Robinson

Actor

For Studio 180: debut. Karen’s stage credits include If We Were Birds (Tarragon), The Africa Trilogy (Volcano), The Tempest (Canadian Stage), Eternal Hydra (Crow’s – Dora Nomination), Doubt (Citadel – Sterling Award for best performance), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Canadian Stage) and four seasons at the Stratford Festival including performances in Shakespeare’s Universe, Harlem Duet, The Duchess of Malfi, The Swanne, Electra, Agamemnon, Shadows and an earlier version of Eternal Hydra. Additional credits include da KINK in my Hair (Hackney Empire Theatre, London, and San Diego Repertory Theatre), Two Can Play (Obsidian Theatre – Dora Award nomination), The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God (Mirvish Productions), Angelique (Alberta Theatre Projects – Betty Mitchell Award nomination), three plays in George F. Walker’s Suburban Motel series (Factory Theatre), two seasons with Soulpepper, and Factory Theatre’s production of Riot, for which she received a Dora Award. Karen also numerous film and television credits including Lars and the Real Girl, Killshot, H20 (CBC), Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, The Line (TMN), Slings and Arrows (Showcase) and My Louisiana Sky (Showtime).


Nigel Shawn Williams

Nigel Shawn Williams

Actor

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Nigel’s selected theatre credits as an actor include Palmer Park, Fuente Ovejuna, Odyssey, Harlem Duet, Our Town, Twelfth Night, Treasure Island (Stratford Festival); The Ventriloquist (Factory Theatre); Salieri in Amadeus (Alberta Theatre Projects – Betty Mitchell Award Nomination); Hedda Gabler, Varieté (Dora Nomination), Two Words For Snow (Dora Award for Best Actor) (Volcano); Wade in the Water (Centaur Theatre); Love’s Labour’s Lost (National Arts Centre); Girl in the Goldfish Bowl (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Consecrated Ground (Obsidian Theatre); Belle (Factory Theatre); Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Millionairess, Rashomon, Simpleton of the Unexpected Isle, Petrified Forest (Shaw Festival); Harlem Duet (world premiere – Nightwood/Canadian Stage); Angels in America (Canadian premiere – Manitoba Theatre Centre); Othello (Ford Centre for the Performing Arts); Six Degrees of Separation (Canadian premiere – Alberta Theatre Projects/Canadian Stage – Dora Award for Best Actor); Omnium Gatherum, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III (Canadian Stage). Directing credits include Shakespeare’s Dog (Alberta Theatre Projects), The Bewitched (York University), Home (playRites Festival ATP), Laius: City of Wine (Nightswimming/York University), Falling in Time (CrossCurrents Festival/Factory Theatre), Blacks Don’t Bowl (Black Theatre Workshop – Mecca and Masque Nominations), The Monument (Obsidian Theatre – Dora Award for Best Director) and Simple, Celibate, Sober (Toronto Fringe). Film & TV credits include XIII, Phantom Punch, Odyssey V, John Q, Vendetta, Down in the Delta, series regular for The Jane Show (Global), The City (CTV) and The Famous Jett Jackson (Disney Channel).


Robert Harding

Robert Harding

Stage Manager

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008), Blackbird. Credits elsewhere include Divisidero: A PerformanceThis Is What Happens Next (Necessary Angel); Side by Side by Sondheim (The Grand Theatre); “Master Harold”…and the boys (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Happy Days (Theatre Columbus); Another Home InvasionCommunionA Beautiful ViewHow It WorksPast Perfect (Tarragon Theatre); FestenMarion BridgeA Whistle in the Dark (Company Theatre); British Invasion!British Invasion 2: America Strikes Back! (Charlottetown Festival); Seussical (YPT); Carmela’s Table (Centaur Theatre); and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Resurgence Theatre).


Liz Campbell

Liz Campbell

Assistant Stage Manager

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008). Other credits include Wife Begins at FortyHotbed HotelNot Now DarlingThe Sensuous SenatorThe Odd Couple and The Long Weekend (Upper Canada Playhouse). As Apprentice Stage Manager, The 39 Steps (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Another Home InvasionThe Black RiderAlias Godot (Tarragon Theatre); Cash on DeliveryWrong for Each OtherPerfect WeddingOut of OrderThe Affections of MayWally’s CaféA Gift to Last (Upper Canada Playhouse); Suessical (SilverMist Productions); and Mambo Italiano (Bellweather Productions at The Sudbury Theatre Centre). As Company Manager, High School Musical 2 (SilverMist Productions at The Niagara Centre for the Arts).


Emma Laird

Emma Laird

Assistant Stage Manager

For Studio 180: debut. Most recently Emma completed her fourth season with The Stratford Shakespeare Festival (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cabaret, COMPANY in Concert and Pentecost). Previous credits include Another Home Invasion (Tarragon Theatre/Alberta Theatre Projects), bedbound (MacKenzieRo), Upstaging Cancer (Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation), A Dickens of a Christmas (Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus), COMPANY in Concert (PAL Fundraiser), Everyone Jump (Children’s Hour Productions, National tour), Queen of Hearts (Les Saints Productions) and The Unfortunate Misadventures of Masha Galinski (Groundwater Productions). Emma is a graduate of York University and is the recipient of two Tyrone Guthrie Awards, the Kenneth Ford Award and the Lieutenant Governor’s Community Volunteer Award.


Michael Gianfrancesco

Michael Gianfrancesco

Set and Costumer Designer

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008), The Arab-Israeli Cookbook & The Laramie Project. Michael’s set & costume design credits for theatre, opera and dance include A Few Good Men (Citadel/MTC); Trouble in TahitiIn Good King Charles’s Golden Days (costumes), One Touch of Venus (costumes) (Shaw Festival); Caroline or Change (set, Acting Up Stage/Obsidian); Jack and the Giant BeanstalkThe Wizard of OzSeussical (set) (YPT); Romeo and JulietThe 39 StepsWhite Christmas (set), Fiddler on the Roof (costumes) (MTC); The Drowsy Chaperone (set, MTC/Theatre Calgary); Rodin/ClaudelKaleidoscope (set) (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens); SvadbaBeauty Dissolves in a Brief HourThe Midnight Court – presented at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden (Queen of Puddings Music Theatre); In Colour (National Ballet of Canada); A View from the Bridge (set, Segal Theatre); Rock ‘n’ RollIt’s a Wonderful LifeLittle Shop of Horrors (set) (Canadian Stage). Michael has spent nine seasons at the Stratford Festival and most recently designed the scenery for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He was the 2008 recipient of the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design from the Ontario Arts Foundation, and received the Brian Jackson Award from the Stratford Festival.


Katherine Lubienski

Katherine Lubienski

Associate Costume Designer

For Studio 180: debut. Design credits include Ever Yours, Oscar (Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford 2009), Palmer Park (Costumes, Studio Theatre, Stratford 2008), The Odyssey (Costumes, Studio Theatre, Stratford 2007) and The Honest Whore (Costumes, Monument National 2006) and Angels in America Part 2 (Set, Monument National 2006). Assistant design credits include The Importance of Being Earnest with Desmond Heeley and Brian Bedford (Avon Theatre, Stratford 2009), Cabaret (Avon Theatre, Stratford 2008) and others. Katherine is a graduate of The National Theatre School and was the Ian and Molly Lindsay Young Design Fellow at the Stratford Festival in 2007.


Kimberly Purtell

Kimberly Purtell

Lighting Designer

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008) & Blackbird. Kimberly is a Toronto based lighting designer for theatre, opera and dance and is thrilled to be working with Studio 180 once again. Her designs have been critically acclaimed across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Prague, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Moscow and Mongolia. She has designed for the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage Company, Soulpepper Theatre, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Philadelphia, Arena Stage in Washington DC, Tapestry Opera, Hamilton Opera, Edmonton Opera, Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Place des Arts, among many others. She has also designed productions for the Pan Am Games and the Vancouver and Beijing Cultural Olympiads. Kimberly has received three Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Pauline McGibbon Award, a Sterling Award, and a Montreal English Theatre Award. She is the Vice President of the Associated Designers of Canada and IATSE ADC659.


Daniel McIlmoyl

Daniel McIlmoyl

Associate Lighting Designer

For Studio 180: debut. Daniel’s design credits include Harvest (New Stages, Peterborough), The Changeling (National Arts Centre) and Bella Donna (Burning Passions). Daniel has been an assistant lighting designer at the Stratford Festival for the past three seasons, most recently working on West Side Story. He has also assisted on the Theatre Aquarius production of The Diary of Anne Frank, and the Tarragon/ATP production of Another Home Invasion. Daniel lives in Hamilton with his wife Stefanie.


Michael Laird

Michael Laird

Sound Designer

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008), Blackbird & Offensive Shadows. Selected Sound Design credits: AnnieCinderellaA Year with Frog and ToadThe Princess and the HandmaidenYou’re a Good Man, Charlie BrownThe Wizard of Oz (YPT); Seussical (YPT/Citadel Theatre); Spamalot!Sound of MusicLittle Women (Citadel Theatre); Great ExpectationsBarber of Seville (Soulpepper); 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Legally Blonde (Neptune Theatre); Speaking in TonguesThrough the LeavesFestenMarion Bridge (Company Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Canadian Stage); A Synonym for Love (Volcano Theatre); Evil Dead: The Musical (Off B’way); and A Beautiful View (da da kamera).


Derek Bruce

Derek Bruce

Associate Sound Designer

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008), Blackbird & Offensive Shadows. Derek has been working in the theatre industry in Canada for the past 20 years as a Production Manager, Sound Designer and Technician. He was the Production Manager for the Toronto Fringe Festival and George Brown College Theatre School. He has been nominated twice for Dora Mavor Moore Awards and won the Victoria Critics Choice Award for his Sound Design on Earshot. He was also the recipient of the 2001 Pauline McGibbon Production Craftsperson Award. Derek is currently the Production Coordinator at the Meaford Hall Opera House.


Nathaniel Kennedy

Nathaniel Kennedy

Production Manager

For Studio 180: Stuff Happens (2008), Blackbird & Offensive Shadows. Nathaniel has worked in theatre production across Canada and internationally. Most recently he has worked with Tarragon Theatre, Necessary Angel and Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People. Nathaniel is currently a Special Events Supervisor for the City of Toronto.


Gallery

View photos from our 2008 production of Stuff Happens here.

Reviews

Studio 180’s production of Stuff Happens survives transfer to the big house with impact intact, force and lucidity undiminished.

National Post

Joel Greenberg’s fast-paced production […] is even tighter this time around and its 15-person ensemble even more impressive.

Globe and Mail

Frighteningly good Studio 180 production! Slashingly funny and unexpectedly touching! A company of 15 amazing actors, led with skill by director Joel Greenberg, offer[s] us a compelling story whose ending has not yet been written. You can’t afford to miss it.

Toronto Star ★★★★

A thrilling peek behind the closed doors of the White House.

680 News

Pretty powerful stuff! A compelling piece of theatre that charts the confrontation between men and women of conscience in the face of global crisis in a world where might has too long been mistaken for right.

Toronto Sun ★★★★

The 15-member cast is superb, as is Joel Greenberg’s taut direction. This is a don’t-miss production.

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