Advertise on podcast: Stageworthy

About This Episode: This week, Phil sits down with Ron Kennell, Canadian actor, emerging playwright, and former George Brown College classmate, for a wide-ranging conversation that spans decades of theatre-making, international adventure, and the stubborn will it takes to keep going in this industry. Ron has spent nearly a decade at the Stratford Festival, made his Shaw Festival debut, appeared on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and voiced characters in video games. He's also a writer, with a commissioned play about local Ontario psychic Vera McNicol and several screenplays on the go. Guest: 🎭 Ron Kennell From CBS’s Star Trek to CBC’s Sort Of. From the Stratford Festival to the Fadjr Theatre Festival in Iran. From touring - kids show in Quebec’s Arctic Circle, to playing a drag queen in the legend of George McBride at the Arts Centre in Vancouver. From voice acting in Far Cry (Primal) to writing feature film Dr Cabbie. Ron had had a varied career developed and sustained through his roots in the theatre. Connect with Ron 📸 Instagram: @resident_artisan Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve, Makambe Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About This Episode: Annie Luján and Veronica Hortigüela are the creators and performers behind Monks, a two-person clown show about a pair of medieval Spanish monks who invite a wagon full of strangers to spend a day at their monastery; and chaos ensues. What started as a self-funded, unscripted experiment at the Toronto Fringe in 2024 became one of the hottest tickets in the city, spawning multiple remounts and a triumphant run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before returning home to Toronto for a full production at Tarragon Theatre. Guests: 🎭 Annie Luján & Veronica Hortigüela Annie Luján (she/her) is a Dora Award-winning Costa Rican-Canadian actor and clown. She is a graduate of the 2022 Soulpepper Academy and Concordia University. As a clown, Annie has trained/worked internationally in Italy, the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. Her credits include: Laura Secord’s Thing (Crow’s - Upcoming), Dance Nation (Coal Mine), The Welkin, King Lear (Soulpepper), A Little Closer (The Vault) Last Landscape (Bad New Days), Comedy of Errors (The Grove) and Storybook Search (Bad Hats). Veronica Hortigüela (she/her) is a Dora-Award winning Spanish-Canadian actor, clown, and playwright, born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. She is one half of the creative/performance team behind MONKS (Tarragon, Edinburgh Fringe, Theatre Centre, Crow’s, County Stage, Toronto Fringe). She's passionate about seeing theatre through various phases of development and has had the pleasure of working with Canadian Stage, Crow’s, Buddies in Bad Times, Stratford, Tarragon, Factory, Shakespeare in the Ruff, and YPT on the development of new plays. Performance credits include: The Shoplifters [Upcoming], Bremen Town, Feast (Tarragon Theatre), The Bidding War, Prodigal (Crow’s Theatre), Casimir and Caroline (Howland Co., Dora Award - Best Ensemble), Little Women, Every Little Nookie (Stratford Festival) and Dry Land (Cue6). Connect with Annie & Veronica: 📸 Instagram: @monksonstage Get Tickets to Monks @ Tarragon Theatre October 20-November 8: https://tarragontheatre.com/plays/tarragon-season-26-27/monks/ Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve, Makambe Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About This Episode: Kelly Taylor is the kind of artist who doesn't wait for permission. When the roles aren't coming, she writes them. When she doesn't get into fringe, she books her own theatre. When she needs a director, she calls a friend she trusts, Hools Kay. That spirit is exactly what Un (Capital F) Famous is built on: a show about an actress who loses everything and has to find her way back to the art that made her fall in love with performing in the first place. In this conversation, Kelly and Hools talk about how the show came together, what it was like growing up in a clown family, Fringe touring and much more! Guests: 🎭 Kelly Taylor and Hools Kay Kelly Taylor is a jill-of-all-trades who has extensive experience wearing many different creative hats. Hailing from a family of literal- clowns, comedy runs through the this purple haired millennial veins. Kelly is a voice actor specializing in animation, a writer, a producer and an actor. Kelly creates comedy inspired by her zany life and engages her audiences through her personal flare and eternal optimism. A neurodivergent, queer, creative, Hools Kay has been around the block for all things art making. After spending the last 7 years working on creating their own series and having that bubble burst abruptly this past summer, Hools is super stoked to be in the director's chair for their Toronto directorial debut. As an actor, Hools can be found doing interactive performances with companies across the city like The Dinner Detective and EscapeShow. They have always found brilliance in collective creation with passionate artists, and working alongside Kelly Taylor fits that description perfectly. Connect with Kelly & Hools Kelly's Instagram: @itskellytaylor Hools' Instagram: @hookslaybae Get tickets to Un (Capital F) Famous: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/kelly-taylor-121616969983 Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve, Makambe Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

In this episode: Jay Northcott is a director, educator, and multidisciplinary artist whose work is rooted in joy, specificity, and a deep commitment to centring the full humanity of Black and queer artists. In this conversation, Jay joins Stageworthy host, Phil Rickaby to talk about Bootycandy, Robert O'Hara's wildly funny and emotionally complex play running at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in association with Obsidian Theatre; and why a play written by an American offers a powerful opportunity to interrogate what it means to make distinctly Canadian art. Guest: 🎭 Jay Northcott Jay (They/Them) is a multidisciplinary Creator, Director, Producer, and former  Big Brother Canada contestant. Central to Jay’s creative and artistic practice is their advocacy for marginalized communities including Palestinians, Indigenous, Black, Racialized, Queer, Trans folks and beyond. The art they create is a window into their world, soul, values, and imagination. Art is freedom and freedom breathes life.  Credits include: 7 METHODS OF KILLING KYLIE JENNER (Obsidian Theatre), KING LEAR (Stratford Festival), COTTAGERS AND INDIANS (Watermark Theatre, PEI), CONCORD FLORAL (Randolph College), 21 BLACK FUTURES (Obsidian Theatre, CBC), THE PARASITE (Theatre Outrè), PREMIUM CONTENT (Major Matt Mason). Connect with Jay: 📸 Instagram: @jaythemcott Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve, Makambe Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About This Episode: Playwright Erin Shields joins Phil for a wide-ranging conversation about To a Flame, her loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, a production fifteen years in the making that features both deaf and hearing performers and is performed in spoken English and American Sign Language. Erin also reflects on a remarkable year of productions, from Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary to Medusa to You Always, and how the pandemic, gave her the space to experiment with form in ways she hadn't before, and much more! Guest: ✍️ Erin Shields Erin Shields is a Canadian playwright, actor and educator based in Toronto. Most of her work highlights the negation or misrepresentation of women in classical texts by adapting these stories through a feminist lens for a contemporary audience. She likes making large plays for large stages. Her work has played across Canada and beyond. Connect with Erin 🌐 Website: www.erinshields.ca 📸 Instagram: @shieldserin1 Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

Jacklyn Francis has been making theatre in Canada for more than three decades, and in this conversation she brings the kind of hard-won perspective that only comes from years of navigating the industry's rhythms, disappointments, and genuine joys. In this episode, they talk about what it really feels like to work at a major festival like Stratford, the art of understudying, the strange grief that follows closing night, and much more! Guest: 🎭 Jacklyn Francis Jacklyn Francis is a proud Canadian stage and screen actor whose career spans more than three decades across theatre, film and television. She most recently starred as Alice in Sexy Laundry, at the Drayton Festival Theatre. A longtime member of the Stratford Festival company, her Stratford credits include Forgiveness, As You Like It, 1939, Hamlet-911, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Changeling, Pride and Prejudice and Richard III. She has also performed leading roles at theatres across Canada, including the Citadel Theatre, Canadian Stage, Blyth Festival, Thousand Islands Playhouse, The Sudbury Theatre Centre, The Globe Theatre, Equity Showcase, Shakespeare in The Ruff,  Buddies in Bad Times, Theatre Northwest, Resurgence, Shakespeare by the Bay and appearances at The Toronto Fringe. On screen, Jacklyn’s recent credits include HBO’s Welcome to Derry, NBC’s Brilliant Minds and Ruby and the Well, alongside appearances in Murdoch Mysteries, Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Missing and Our Hero. A graduate of George Brown Theatre School with additional professional development at the Banff Centre/Citadel Theatre, Jacklyn is a recipient of the Jean A. Chalmers Apprentice Award and the Tanya Award in recognition of excellence at the Stratford Festival (in 2018, Jacklyn was the first actor ever to win this award) Connect with Jacklyn 📸 Instagram: @jacklynjax Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

In this episode Curtis Campbell joins host Phil Rickaby to talk about AI in the theatre. In the lead up to this summer's Toronto Fringe, it was noticed that a number of shows were using AI generated posters, which sparked a discourse on social media about whether Generative AI should be used in the Fringe and beyond. This conversation spread to the Edinburgh Fringe, where AI generated posters were also seen. In this episode Curtis and Phil talk about AI, its use in the arts, and whether AI should be embraced or avoided. Note: in this episode, Curtis mentions a video that Phil published about his poster creation process. That video can be found here. Guest: 🎭 Curtis Campbell Curtis Campbell is a writer and theatre artist. Some previous credits as a writer and director include Katherine Is Not A Communist, Imp, BETR With Bevan and Color Me Pablo. His novel Dragging Mason County was be published by Annick Press in 2023. His plays Gay For Pay with Blake & Clay and Blake & Clay's Gay Agenda were Fringe hits. Connect with Curtis 🌐 website: campwrites.weebly.com 📸 Instagram: @curtisdangcampbell Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About this episode Sara Farb is a veteran of the Canadian theatre stage, having made her debut at the age of 9. Now she's bringing the role of Fanny Brice to life in Shaw Festival's Funny Girl. In this conversation, Sara joins host Phil Rickaby to reflect on the show, writing for the theatre, and what keeps her going. This episode explores What it takes to perform a show like Funny Girl Joining the Shaw Festival for the first time Performing on Broadway in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child That time she almost gave up the theatre to become a copywriter. And much more! Guest: 🎭 Sara Farb Sara is an actor and writer. She wrote the book for the musical Kelly v. Kelly with Britta Johnson (music and lyrics) which premiered at Canadian Stage and Musical Stage Company in 2023; the show is a recipient of the Tom Hendry award and multiple Dora nominations. With Britta, she also co-wrote the Dora-nominated short musical He Is Coming. She wrote the book for the new musical Way Out There with Anton Lipovetsky (music and lyrics) which makes its premiere at YES! Theatre/Theatre Sudbury in spring of 2026. Her play, R-E-B-E-C-C-A, which she wrote and starred in, premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille. She is currently working on a new musical with Aaron Jensen (music and lyrics) about the forgotten female creator of the creature from Creature from the Black Lagoon. As an actor, Sara has performed on Broadway, in seven seasons at the Stratford Festival, and all over Canada. She is currently starring as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Shaw Festival. Connect with Sara 📸 Instagram: @farb.sara Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About This Episode: What happens when a self-described field mouse - someone who jumps at a cat's sneeze - decides to write a horror play? You get Passed Down, a one-person horror show about a woman who inherits her great aunt's house and discovers she may have inherited a little more than just the property. Performer, producer, director, and grant writer Madelaine Rose joins Phil to talk about bringing this solo horror play to the Halifax Fringe Festival, and why choosing the kitchen as the setting for a haunted house story was a deliberate and unsettling choice. This episode explores: The origins of Passed Down - from a 24-hour Toronto Fringe playwriting contest to a full 60-minute solo horror show The challenge of producing, acting, and writing your own Fringe show - and how Madelaine learned to compartmentalize and set a hard deadline on revisions Emotional safety in the rehearsal room - why the theatre industry has historically been better at getting actors into emotional scenes than getting them out again The biggest mistake artists make when writing grant applications (hint: they forget the boring stuff) And much more! Guest: 👻 Madelaine Rose Madelaine Rose (she/they) is a performer, producer and all-around creative. They are the current co-chair of outACTRAto, and the inaugural chair of the ACTRA National Progress Pride Committee. As a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community her mandate as a producer is to create the type of art she wishes to see in the world, art which creates space for more leading, and diverse roles for women, gender non-conforming, and queer artists. Their work as a theatre creator and filmmaker has been showcased and recognized from coast to coast, and around the globe. They are co-founder of Sigh No More Productions, and the Solo’d Out Theatre festival, and they can be seen acting in such award-winning works as The Perfect Bite (Secret City Adventures/ Netflix), My Best Friend’s Date (Sigh No More Productions), and The Heist… Almost (Sigh No More Productions). Connect with Madelaine 🌐 Website: www.madelaine-rose.com 📸 Instagram: @rose.madelaine 🎥 TikTok: @rose.madelaine Get Tickets: Passed Down at Halifax Fringe Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About This Episode: Sharry Flett has spent 34 seasons at the Shaw Festival - long enough to have watched the company evolve through three artistic directors, raise a daughter who appeared on its stages, and welcome back former students she once coached as the people now directing her. In this conversation with host Phil Rickaby, Sharry reflects on what keeps drawing her back to Niagara-on-the-Lake, and what it felt like to walk into rehearsals for Wind in the Willows and find Fiona Sauder, André Morin, and fight director Jack Davidson Rennie - all artists she had mentored at George Brown College, now in positions of leadership. This episode explores: What it was like for Sharry to be directed by three former students she had coached at George Brown College; and how she navigated that full-circle moment Playing Rat in Wind in the Willows: how the original Kenneth Grahame book shaped her approach to the character Why performing for children demands complete honesty and commitment; and how that discipline serves actors in any room The Shaw Festival under three artistic directors: Christopher Newton, Jackie Maxwell, and Tim Carroll, and how the ensemble ethos has remained constant through each Sharry's path from medicine to music to theatre, including the moment picking up a flute sent electricity through her arm The importance of teaching; and what Sharry gains from students when she brings Shaw's language alive in the room And much more! Guest: Sharry Flett SHAW 2026: Funny Girl, The Wind in the Willows; 34th season. FOR THE SHAW: Anything Goes, May I Have The Pleasure?, My Fair Lady, The Secret Garden, The Apple Cart, The Clearing, The Doctor’s Dilemma, Everybody, Cyrano de Bergerac, Man and Superman, Me and My Girl, Uncle Vanya, The Philadelphia Story, Enchanted April, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Come Back Little Sheba, Maria Severa, Age of Arousal, Sunday in the Park with George, The Little Foxes, Getting Married, The Magic Fire, Major Barbara, The Autumn Garden, Floyd Collins, Misalliance, Rebecca, Joy, The Seagull, Hedda Gabler, Berkeley Square. (Selected Credits) ELSEWHERE: leading roles in theatres across Canada, including Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, Miranda in The Tempest, Stratford Festival. FILM/TELEVISION: Grey Gardens, Shades of Black, Full House with Sharry Flett, Jane of Lantern Hill. AWARDS: Gemini nominations (best actress), War Brides and Suicide Murders, CBC; Paul Reynolds award, Shaw Festival; Tyrone Guthrie award, Stratford Festival. TEACHING: Shaw Festival, National Theatre School, George Brown Theatre School, Queen’s University, University of Toronto, Brock University. Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About This Episode: Christopher Gaze is the founder and artistic director of Bard on the Beach, Vancouver's beloved outdoor Shakespeare festival now in its 37th season. In this conversation, Christopher talks with Phil about how a $35,000 co-op startup in 1990 grew into one of Canada's largest theatre companies, drawing 80,000 people a season to a pair of tented stages in Vanier Park overlooking English Bay and the mountains beyond. This episode explores: How Bard on the Beach began in 1990 with $35,000, a Canada Council Explorations Grant, and a company of 27 co-op members The influence of mentor Douglas Campbell: his force field in the audition room, his wilderness years, and why his name is on Bard's second stage Programming a season: from Douglas casually suggesting Twelfth Night over the phone to today's collaborative circle of senior theatre practitioners Goblin Oedipus, Antigone, and how Christopher was famously wrong about Goblin Macbeth (it sold out before opening night) And much more! Guest: 🎭 Christopher Gaze Christopher Gaze is best known as the Founder and Artistic Director of Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, which celebrates its thirty-seventh season in 2026. He hosts the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s popular Tea & Trumpets series and also their annual Traditional Christmas concerts. Connect with Christopher Gaze: 📸 Instagram: @gazechristopher 📖 Buy The Road to Bard (Harbour Publishing) 🌐 Website: bardonthebeach.org 📸 Instagram: @bardonthebeach Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Can't commit to monthly support? Leave a one-time tip here: ko-fi.com/stageworthy Read transcript

About This Episode: Director Ming Hudson joins Phil Rickaby to talk about bringing Antigone to Bard on the Beach in Vancouver - a production seven years in the making, created collaboratively with playwright Kate Besworth. It's a minimalist, intimate reimagining of a 2,500-year-old story about a woman who does the right thing even when told not to, and Ming shares how it came together from a literal bonfire in rural Nova Scotia to the thrust stage at Bard. This episode explores: How a seven-year collaboration with playwright Kate Besworth shaped this bold, minimal production of Antigone The "arrow" model of non-hierarchical directing and why Ming loves saying "I don't know" Making her Bard on the Beach directing debut after years as a performer with the company The Edmonton Fringe, the Edinburgh Fringe, and why fringe festivals are essential to Canadian theatre ecology What D&D has taught Ming about vulnerability, play, and building stronger creative relationships And much more! Guest: 🎭 Ming Hudson Ming (she/her) is a Vancouver based artist who pays rent on the lands stolen from the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. For over 20 years, she has worked as a freelance performer, collaborative director, devised theatre creator, independent producer, and teaching artist on the West Coast, across Canada, and abroad. Her specializations are in physical theatre and the creation of new work as a collective ensemble. A graduate of the Creating Theatre and Performance program at LISPA (now arthaus.berlin), Ming also holds a MA in Ensemble Theatre (Rose Bruford), and a BFA in Acting (UVic). Ming has worked for: Bard on the Beach, Zee Zee Theatre, 25th Street Theatre, The Arts Club, Studio 58, SFU, UBC, Dell'Arte International, UVic, vAct, Two Planks and a Passion, TheatreOne, Chemainus Theatre Festival, CCPA, Gwaandak Theatre, Green Thumb Theatre, Theatre Replacement, Atomic Vaudeville, Firehall Arts Centre, Boca del Lupo, Concrete Theatre, and Kaleidoscope Theatre. She has also created eleven new shows, which have been performed in five different countries. Connect with Ming 🌐 website: www.minghudson.com 📸 Instagram: @hudsonfx Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

About This Episode: Tim Carroll has been the artistic director of the Shaw Festival for a decade, and in that time he's reshaped the festival's mandate, expanded its reach into the community, and built a company culture grounded in playfulness, humility, and genuine artistic ambition. This episode explores: How Tim balances directing two major productions, Heartbreak House and Amadeus, in a single season, and why Tom Rooney is at the centre of both The economics of theatre: why even one of Canada's largest festivals relies on donations for half its income, and how a small-audience show can be as valuable as a sellout musical Why Tim abolished the Shaw Festival's mandate and replaced it with a mission; and what that difference actually means in practice How working at Shakespeare's Globe with Mark Rylance shaped every aspect of Tim's directing philosophy, from shared light to trusting the unexpected And much more! Guest: 🎭 Tim Carroll im Carroll currently serves as Artistic Director of The Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake, a position he's held since 2017. Carroll may be best known for his years as Associate Director at London’s Globe Theatre, in particular for his productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night, starring Mark Rylance, for whose Broadway run in the 2013-14 season he was Tony-nominated and Mark Rylance won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor. Carroll worked with the English Shakespeare Company before serving as the artistic director of the Northcott Theatre in Exeter. Carroll also served as the artistic director for the Kent Opera, and he is a founding member of the experimental theatre group the Factory in London. Carroll’s directing work has spanned not only the Globe but the globe, from theatres in Hungary, Norway, Portugal, Romania, and Canada! Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

About This Episode: Ryan McCollom is a Toronto-based theatre content creator behind the popular TikTok and Instagram account Plates and Playbills, and he's on a mission to get more people through the doors of indie and smaller professional theatres across the city. What started as personal documentation of his own growing love of theatre has evolved into a platform dedicated to closing the gap between the big Mirvish productions most people know and the rich, underserved world of indie and community theatre that most audiences don't even know exists. This episode explores: How Ryan went from cooking videos during COVID to becoming one of Toronto's most visible theatre content creators The difference between being a theatre critic and a theatre commentator and why Ryan is careful about that line Why the Stratford Festival was the wake-up call that made Ryan realize theatre needed younger audiences now What indie theatres could be doing on social media to reach new audiences without spending a dime Canadian cultural cringe in the performing arts: why audiences wait for American or British validation before embracing homegrown work And much more! Guest: 🎭 Ryan McCollom Ryan is a Toronto-based content creator dedicated to making theatre more accessible and approachable for new audiences while also encouraging seasoned theatre-goers to explore smaller professional companies and indie productions. While his coverage primarily focuses on the Toronto theatre scene, Ryan also documents his travels and the productions he experiences around the world, sharing an honest perspective as an everyday theatre fan. Connect with Ryan: 📸 Instagram: @platesandplaybills_ 🎥 TikTok: @platesandplaybills_ Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

About This Episode: Peter Fernandes is many things at once: an award-winning actor, a magic and illusions designer, and now a first-time director at one of Canada's most celebrated theatre festivals. In this conversation, Peter joins Phil to talk about what it's like to make your directing debut with Sleuth at the Shaw Festival, a mystery that demands the same sleight-of-hand thinking Peter has honed as a magic practitioner. The terror of stepping into a new role, the joy of being trusted with it, and the surprise of discovering how much his illusion work shaped his directorial instincts. This episode explores: Directing Sleuth at the Shaw Festival as a debut; and why pure excitement quickly turned to terror How magic and illusions design shaped Peter's approach to staging a mystery Hosting the Dora Awards while being nominated for one (and which one was scarier) The case for taking comedy - and musical theatre - as seriously as any other art form And much more! Guest: 🎭 Peter Fernandes Peter Fernandes is an award-winning theatre creator based out of Toronto. As a performer, select credits include One For the Pot, One Man Two Guvnors, The Importance of Being Earnest, Damn Yankees, Charley’s Aunt, Christmas Carol, The Russian Play, Brigadoon (Shaw); Fat Ham (Canadian Stage) Bidding War, The Master Plan, Fifteen Dogs (Crow’s); Almost a Full Moon, Peter and the Starcatcher (Citadel); Rose, Father Comes Home From the Wars, Alligator Pie, Incident at Vichy, The Just, Marat/Sade, The Dybbuk, Spoon River, Tartuffe, The Crucible, Idiot’s Delight (Soulpepper); Vietgone (RMTC); Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Love & Information, Twelfth Night, King Lear (Canadian Stage); Jerusalem (Outside the March/Company); You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown! (MTYP); Onegin (NAC/Musical Stage); Passing Strange (Musical Stage/Obsidian). Creative credits include: Director, Sleuth (SHAW) Associate Director - Wights, Octet, A Strange Loop (Crow’s), Assistant Director - Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the Human Heart, Witness for the Prosecution (Shaw) Magic Consultant - Bremen Town (Tarragon) Trident Moon (Crow’s), Snow in Midsummer (Shaw), Illusions Assistant - Fat Ham (Broadway), The Witches - workshop (UK) Connect with Peter: 🌐 Website: peterfernandes.ca 📸 Instagram: @pjrfernandes Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript