Studio Series

Andrew Stein

Playwright

Andrew Stein is a New York City–based playwright and a two-time semifinalist at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference with Cringe (2019) and Disruption (2020). Disruption received its world premiere at London’s Park Theatre in 2023, earning four- and five-star reviews. Metro called it “rare that a hot-topic play turns out to be so good,” and the Evening Standard praised it as “witty, incisive… and could hardly be more timely.”

Other recent works include Way Out East, an exploration of a racially charged microaggression in the Hamptons, and A Quick Trip to Switzerland, which grapples with the ethics and emotional impact of assisted suicide.

Stein began his career as an actor after graduating from Brown University, completing a two-year training program with Bill Esper, protégé of Sanford Meisner. That work continues to shape his approach to storytelling, emphasizing listening, truthfulness, and presence. He later founded, ran, and sold a New York commercial real estate firm, a chapter that informs the themes of power, risk, and the contradictions of human behavior in his plays.

Mark McGrinder

Director

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.

Mairi Babb

Jill

Mairi is a Toronto-based actor and director. Favourite experiences include: In Seven Days (Grand Theatre/HGJT), The Great Divide (HGJT), King Lear, Cymbeline (Shakespeare Bash’d), War Horse (Toronto, North America/Tokyo), Spider’s Web (Aquarius), Requiem for a Gumshoe (Eldritch Theatre), Guys and Dolls (RMTC/Citadel, TC), Brief Encounter (Vancouver Playhouse/RMTC), Our Town (RMTC), Educating Rita (RMTC). Mairi is also an actor/ director for Audible, including: Mistletoe Murders, Middlebridge Mysteries, and Anne of Green Gables. On screen credits include: Ruby and the Well, Run the Burbs, Alice, Darling, Jersey Boy, and the upcoming Netflix show Finding Her Edge.

Peter N. Bailey

Barry

Theatre Credits: A World Without Shadows, The Wilberforce Hotel, Jumbo, The Real McCoy (The Blyth Festival), Other Side of the Game (Cahoots Theatre Co. and Obsidian Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird, An Ideal Husband, Richard III, All’s Well That Ends Well (Stratford Festival), Fences (The Grand Theatre), Here Are the Fragments (The Theatre Centre), Romeo and Juliet, Fairview (Canadian Stage Company), Sweat (Canadian Stage and Studio 180 Theatre) and A Few Good Men (Drayton Entertainment).

Peter’s voice and dialect coaching credits include: The Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage Company, Nightwood Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, The National Theatre School of Canada, Canadian Film Centre, and Sheridan College. Peter is a graduate of the Patsy Rodenburg Associate Programme.

Peter is also an award winning playwright, with his first play Tyson’s Song, winning a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play in the Independent Theatre Division in 2024.

Zoé Doyle

Suzie

Favourite screen credits include The Mayor of Kingstown (Paramount); Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (CBS); Saint-Pierre; Murdoch Mysteries; Workin’ Moms and Cavendish (CBC); Law and Order: Toronto (CityTV). Favourite theatre credits include The Fixing Girl (YPT, Dora nominated); Lady Sunrise (Factory Theatre); Hang (Obsidian); Mixie and the Half-Breeds, and Ching Chong Chinaman (fu-GEN). Zoé was a resident in the inaugural Actors’ Conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre. Recently, Zoé narrated Souvanhkam Thammavongsa’s novel Pick A Colour, a bestseller and currently longlisted for The Giller Prize. Zoé is a proud wife and mother of three.

Matthew Edison

Nick

Matthew Edison: is a multi-award winning actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and television. He has appeared on stages across Canada, the US, and Europe. He has written for the theatre, the big, and small screens, and radio. Recently notable, Matthew played Cameron Coleman in hit series The Boys for Amazon and was nominated for an Emmy Award for the studio’s off-shoot YouTube show: Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman.

Jessica Greenberg

Mia

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, an instructor at Centennial College’s Theatre Performance program, Artistic Producer of In Her Voice: The Vivian Silver Legacy Event, an NTS Drama Festival adjudicator, and is the Director of Child & Youth Engagement for CHILD-ISH at Tarragon Theatre. Jessica 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.

Qasim Khan

Ben

Qasim is an award-winning actor who most recently starred in The Inheritance, Hamlet (Canadian Stage); Hedda Gabler (Coal Mine); and Gnit (Shaw Festival). Other highlights have included: The Miser, Paradise Lost, The Comedy of Errors, The Changeling, and others (Stratford Festival); The Playboy of the Western World (Shaw Festival); Anne of Green Gables, Alice Through the Looking-Glass (Charlottetown Festival); Acha Bacha (TPM/Buddies); The Crucible, The Home Project, Alligator Pie (Soulpepper); and A Craigslist Cantata (National Tour). He has played roles on Nikita, Saving Hope, Dan For Mayor, Little Mosque, and Sneakerella. Qasim can be seen in the upcoming series The Borderline (Crave) and Dying Seconds (JFL).

Jadyn Nasato

Raven

Jadyn graduated from the Acting Conservatory in 2022 and has been grateful to explore a range of stories on both stage and screen since. She appeared as Maria in Billy and The Dreamerz at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and as Hermia in Canadian Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (dir. Jamie Robinson) as part of Dream in High Park. Her film work includes Desync (dir. Minerva Navasca), which premiered at the 2023 Reelworld Film Festival and is now streaming on CBC Gem. Her performance in the film earned her the Best Lead Performance Award at the 2024 FascinAsian Film Festival. In 2024, she played Cara in Studio 180’s production of Four Minutes Twelve Seconds (dir. Mark McGrinder) at Tarragon Theatre, and was recognized with a 2024 Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Supporting Performance. Jadyn is thankful for the people, lessons, and characters that continue to shape her journey as an artist and is thrilled to be part of Disruption at Studio 180 READS.

Courtenay Stevens

Paul

Courtenay’s worked as an actor, educator and physical theatre performer for over 25 years. His work has taken him around the world touring for 4 years as a clown with Cirque du Soleil (Dralion). He also toured frequently to Europe and Asia with the wordless, solo, clown show – The Pianist. He’s worked across the country with stops including Canadian Stage, Bard on the Beach, Axis Mime, The Stratford Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille and the Grand, Caravan Farm and Common Boots Theatres. Recent credits include: La Bete (TIFT), Sanctuary Song (Tapestry Opera), Liars at a Funeral (Thousand Islands), The 39 Steps (County Stage). He’s been shot at, lied to and insulted in performances on: Suits, The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Frankie Drake and Designated Survivor.