The Team
ANNOUNCING MARK MCGRINDER AS sTUDIO 180’S NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Mark McGrinder (he/him)
Artistic Director
Mark’s (he/him) 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.
Laura Pomeroy (she/her)
Managing Director
Laura has held the position of Managing Director at Studio 180 since 2015, and has over fifteen years experience as a theatre producer. She has an Honours Bachelor in English and Theatre and Film Studies from McMaster University, and a post-graduate certificate in Arts Administration and Cultural Management from Humber College. She has worked for Young Associates, Nightwood Theatre, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, STAF, Playwrights Canada Press and Jeffrey Latimer Entertainment. Laura is passionate about supporting arts administrators early in their careers, and has worked with both Humber College and Theatre Ontario to mentor and train those looking to enter the arts admin community.
Joel Greenberg (he/him)
Founding Artistic Director
A co-founder of Studio 180, Joel is a Chalmers and Dora award–winning playwright and director who has directed productions across Canada. For Studio 180 he has directed The Laramie Project, The Passion of the Chris, The Arab-Israeli Cookbook, Stuff Happens, Blackbird, The Overwhelming, Parade, Our Class, The Normal Heart, Clybourne Park, Cock, NSFW, You Will Remember Me, My Night with Reg, God of Carnage, King Charles III and Oslo. 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.
Jessica Greenberg (she/her)
Director of Youth & Community Engagement
Jessica (she/her) is Studio 180’s Director of Youth and Community Engagement, a co-creator of the IN CLASS program, and a core member of the company since 2004. She is a Dora-nominated actor and a leader in drama education with a passion for promoting youth empowerment and building community through theatre. As an actor she has performed on stages across Canada and the US, including Studio 180, Canadian Stage, Crow’s Theatre, Mirvish Productions, Project: Humanity, Magnus Theatre, YPT, The Citadel, MTYP, Passe Muraille, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Theatre New Brunswick, Willow Cabin Theatre and Theatreworks/USA. She has appeared on The Handmaid’s Tale, Murdoch Mysteries and Being Erica as well as the animated series Fish ‘n Chips. At Studio 180 Jessica oversees all education and Beyond the Stage programming including the creation of study guide resources and the curation of lobby exhibits, chats, panels, talkbacks and other special events. She worked as Education Coordinator for ARCfest: Toronto’s Human Rights Arts Festival, and is the Director of Child Engagement for the Child-ish Collective. She holds an Honours BA in political science and women’s studies from McGill University and completed her classical acting training at Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York and as an apprentice at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Kentucky.
Byron Abalos (he/him)
Director of Development
Byron Abalos is an actor, writer, producer, fundraiser and theatre administrator from Toronto. A graduate of Ryerson University’s Acting Program, he has been nominated for multiple Dora Mavor Moore awards for acting and producing. Byron was Company Producer and Community Developer for fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company and was Carlos Bulosan Theatre’s inaugural playwright-in-residence. He has performed on stage in the US and across Canada and also acts in film and television. He co-wrote the play Through the Bamboo with his partner Andrea Mapili, which was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2021. His play Remember Lolo won the NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award (SummerWorks 2005) and fu-GEN produced the world premiere of his play Brown Balls in 2011. He also co-created Monday Nights as part of the 6th Man Collective, which was remounted four times across Canada.
Bryn Kennedy (she/her)
Marketing & Community Engagement Coordinator
Bryn Kennedy is an actor, director and arts administrator who loves to be a part of making theatre happen in any way that she can. She is a past member of Nightwood Theatre’s Young Innovators Program, Paprika Festival’s Directors Lab, Director’s Lab North, Stratford’s Langham Directors’ Workshop, and is currently an Artistic Associate with Director’s Lab North. Her recent directing credits include Reasons to be Pretty (RTBP Collective), Vitals (Theatre Born Between, nominated for Best Solo Performance at the My Entertainment Awards), A Bear Awake in Winter (Assistant Director/Assistant Producer, Next Stage Theatre Festival), Beneath the Bed (Theatre Born Between/Toronto Fringe) and Hamlet (Assistant Director, Stratford Festival). As an arts administrator, she has worked with companies such as Binocular Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, Nightwood Theatre and Crow’s Theatre. She is the proud Co-Founder of Theatre Born Between.
Derrick Chua (he/him)
Consulting Producer
A co-founder of Studio 180, Derrick is an entertainment lawyer and award-winning theatre producer. Recent productions include I’m Doing This For You (Edinburgh, Amsterdam, London, Tampere, Piotrowice Nyskie, Halifax, Toronto), Counting Sheep (Edinburgh), Confessions and Adventures of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl (Edinburgh, Brighton), Dance Animal (Toronto Fringe), Obeah Opera (PANAMANIA), The God That Comes & When It Rains (Edinburgh Fringe), Oh My Irma (International Tour: Edinburgh Fringe, Berlin, London, Kosovo, Ulaanbaatar, Brighton, Amsterdam, Kiel, New York, Victoria), Fortune and Men’s Eyes (Dancemakers), Gruesome Playground Injuries (The Theatre Centre). Derrick is past-President of the Toronto Fringe Festival, and sits on the boards of The AFC, Theatre Museum Canada, fu-Gen Asian Canadian Theatre Company and Groundling Theatre. He is the recipient of a Dora Award, a Harold Award, a NOW Magazine Award as Toronto’s Best Indie Producer, and a Canadian Actors’ Equity Association Honorary Membership for Outstanding Contribution to the Performing Arts.