Prairie Nurse

KRYSLYNE-MAI ANCHETA - PENNY

For the Capitol:  Debut.

Selected credits: Productions at the Toronto Fringe Festival; Amy in A Perfect Bowl of Pho; Deirdre in Be Kind Rewind;  Jaime in One Small Step; Alon in Noche Buena (Soulpepper Co); Violet in Guildwood; Hannah in Summerland. 

Other: Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta is a Filipina-Canadian interdisciplinary artist who is excited to make her debut at Capitol Theatre as Penny in Prairie Nurse. She studied at York University for Classical Voice Performance graduating with honors under Norma Burrowes. Outside of theatre, you can find Kryslyne in a traveling show with the band Songs of Hope playing guitar and singing original music across Toronto. She would like to thank her friends and family for their continuous support and love. 

YUNIKE SOEDARMASTO - PURING

For the Capitol:  Debut.

Selected credits: Bright Star (Garner Productions); Heading in All Directions (Doors Open London).

Other: Yunike is an NYC born, Canadian-raised artist. She’s also a singer, musician, dancer, and choreographer. Yunike and her partner also happily spend their days fostering dogs! She is avidly obsessed with her own pup, Mochi, and also gives every ounce of love to her dad, big sis, and Brandon. 

DEBORAH DRAKEFORD - MARIE ANNE

For the Capitol:  Shirley Valentine, I’ll Be Back Before Midnight (Blyth Festival tour, 1992!)

Selected credits: A Kind of Alaska, The City, Bea, Moment, Pomona, Human Animals, Oil, Gloria, Martyr (ARC); The Penelopiad (Grand Theatre); Shirley Valentine (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Portia’s Julius Caesar (Shakespeare in the Ruff); Innocence Lost, A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper); Hedda Noir (Theatre Northwest); Same Time Next Year, Rabbit Hole (Sudbury Theatre Centre). Deb is also a voice actor and recently narrated the audiobook for The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields.

Other: Deb is a proud member of ARC, a Toronto based indie theatre company, for the past 18 years. Deb assumed the role of Co-Artistic Producer of ARC in July 2020, with Capitol Theatre’s own Rob Kempson joining her as Co-AP in March of 2021. She has also done film and tv, most recently appearing in HBO’s “Station Eleven”. Deb has been Dora nominated 9 times (individual and ensemble), and was chosen as one of Toronto theatre’s Top Ten Artists for 2022 by Glenn Sumi. She also holds a BEd and teaches for YPT, Soulpepper and for the TDSB.

ELLIE ELLWAND - PATSY

For the Capitol:  Debut.

Selected credits: The Seagull (Soulpepper); Calpurnia (NAC); What I Call Her (Crow's Theatre); The Nails (Summerworks); Film/TV: Accused (FOX); Murdoch Mysteries (CBC);  A Higher Loyalty (CBS); Homeschooled (CBC Gem); Busytown Mysteries, Super Why (CBC Kids); Repo Men (Universal).

Other: Ellie is a graduate of the National Theatre School.

AARON MACPHERSON - WILF

For the Capitol:  Aaron fell in love with Port Hope and Capitol Theatre last summer performing in the 10 minute play festival and is super ecstatic to be taking part in his first production with The Capitol Theatre.

Selected credits: Launcelot Gobbot, The Merchant of Venice (Real Canaan Theatre); Scott, I’s Only a Shadow (Theatre Orangeville); Avery, Treeboy (Theatre Orangeville); Cuddy Banks, The Witch of Edmonton (George Brown Theatre School); Uriel/Mammon, Paradise Lost (George Brown Theatre School).

Other: With minor roles on a few docudramas, Aaron has begun to explore the world of TV and Film and even got to work alongside an NBA player on a commercial shoot. Being a level nine pastry wizard, Aaron spends much of his free time baking and his two greatest aspirations are to be the “cool uncle” and to one day hold a lego minifigure of himself. 

IAIN STEWART - DR. MILES

For the Capitol:  Debut.

Selected credits:  Murder for Two (Bruce County Playhouse); Bed and Breakfast and Of Human Bondage (Magnus Theatre); Stag and Doe (Lighthouse Theatre); Mending Fences and Mary Poppins (Neptune Theatre). Film/TV: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Ruby and the Well, Reign and The Laundromat

Other: Iain is a Toronto-based actor, writer and filmmaker. A graduate of George Brown for Feature Screenwriting and Sheridan for Acting, Iain has acted in Theatres across Canada. His short film Starry Eyed which he wrote, produced and starred in is currently in post production. He is dramaturing the new play The Sex Show with Rosalie Tremblay-Johnson and Adam Lazarus and a workshop of his play Guy of the Year was co-commissioned by Talk is Free Theatre and Port Stanley Theatre. Thanks for coming and enjoy the show!

DAVID FERRY - CHARLIE

For the Capitol:  Debut.

Selected credits: Ray in Blackbird (Toronto Critics Best Actor award); Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bluebridge Theatre..Victoria Critics Best Actor Award); Lars in A Life (Morosco Theatre, BroadwayNYC); The Man The River (Coalmine, Toronto); Gordius Carbuncle in Eternal Hydra (Crows, Toronto, DORA best actor nomination); Ian in Blasted (Buddies in Bad Times, Toronto, DORA best actor nomination. Toronto Critics Award, Best Actor); Michael in Someone to Watch Over Me (DORA best actor award winner); Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (Bluebridge , Victoria Critics Best Actor Award); Dr. Kissinger in Legion (continuing role), Marvel/FX Network); Harry Baker in The Detail (series regular, CTV); Detective Dolly in Boondock Saints and in All Saints Day (Feature Films).

Other: David is also an award winning theatre director who has worked in Canada and abroad. He has directed twenty five audio books for Penguin/Random house and other publishers and has voiced others. David is a published writer, currently working on two plays and some short stories. He has created site specific radio-phonic performance pieces for the last eleven years for his program Short Waves, Short Stories at the Writers Festival of Woody Point in Newfoundland. He loves cooking, bicycling, his Flatcoat Retriever Jude and David Blackwood paintings. He is married to amazing actor Kyra Harper.

CREATIVE TEAM

MARIE BEATH BADIAN - PLAYWRIGHT

For the Capitol:  Debut.

Selected credits: The Waltz, Prairie Nurse, The Best Friend Blanket Fort Show, The Making of St. Jerome, Mind Over Matter, and Novena. 

Other:Prairie Nurse and The Waltz are part of a multi-generational trilogy spanning fifty-years, set in rural Saskatchewan. The third play, The Cottage Guest, is in development. All three are commissioned by The Blyth Festival. www.mariebeath.com 

MEGAN WATSON - DIRECTOR

For the Capitol:  Debut.

Selected credits: Re:Opening Festival, Juno’s Reward, Mary Poppins, A Christmas Carol, The Glass Menagerie, Shakespeare:The Mixtape, Julius Caesar (Grand Theatre); Craving, Holiday Window Walk 1&2 (Curveball Creative); Dial M for Murder (Watermark Theatre); A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Shakespeare in the Ruff); Agency (Yell Rebel); Extremophiles (Summerworks); When the Rain Stops Falling and Much Ado About Nothing (University of Alberta).

Other: She is the mother of Wyn and forever grateful to the people in her life who have always supported her wildest dreams.

CHARLENE SAROYAN - STAGE MANAGER

For the Capitol:  Stag & Doe, Sleeping Beauty: A Panto Awkening, Cinderella the Panto, Million Dollar Quartet, Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, Jonas and Berry in the Home, Crazy for You, My Fair Lady, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Singing in the Rain.

Selected credits: A few of her favourite theatre credits include: Team on the Hill, Medopositiv (Theatre Orangeville); The Nutcracker, Othello, Dangerous Liaisons, Mozart Requiem, Carman, Tubular Bells (Alberta Ballet); Our Town, Waiting for Godot, The 39 Steps,  Moonlight and Magnolias and Vagal (STC); Forever Plaid, You’ll Get Used To It the War Show, Blood Brothers, Nunsense, Two Pianos Four Hands, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, Run For Your Wife, Funny Money (Drayton Entertainment).

Other: This one is for you mom, the best Prairie Nurse ever. Love you to the moon and back! 

ARIELLE VOGHT - ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

For the Capitol:   Head of Wardrobe: Sleeping Beauty, A Panto Awakening

Selected credits: Assistant Stage Manager: I Forgive You (Artistic Fraud/National Arts Center); Jersey Boys (Thousand Island Playhouse); Music Man (Thousand Island Playhouse);  The Sting (Lawyer plays, Great Canadian Theater Company); Persistent Stain (Ottawa Undercurrents Festival); Heartlines (GCTC/Calalou); Blissful State of Surrender (GCTC/Tactics). Assistant Artistic Director:  playGround festival (Theater@York).

Other: Arielle Voght is a young emerging theatre artist working in Ontario. She graduated from York University's Theatre Production and Design Program with a focus on Stage Management and Costuming.

JEFF NEWBERRY - SOUND DESIGNER

For the Capitol:  2023 Resident Music Director; A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline (Music Director); Billboard in Concert (Arranger/Music Director); Little Shop of Horrors (Music Director). 

Selected credits: Music Director of Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (Stratford Festival); Summerland (Toronto Fringe Festival); Blood Ties (Next Stage Theatre Festival; Edinburgh Fringe Festival) 

Other: Outside of theatre, Jeff’s choral music is performed by a growing number of choirs across North America. More at jeffreynewberry.com and on Instagram @jeffnewberrymusic 

JACKIE CHAU - SET & COSTUME DESIGNER

For the Capitol:  Stag & Doe, Shirley Valentine.

Selected credits: Sexy Laundry, The Hours That Remain, Serving Elizabeth, The Gig (Theatre Aquarius); Annie Mae’s Movement, Almighty Voice and His Wife, Tombs of the Vanishing Indian, From Thine Eyes, HUFF (NEPA); Gas Girls, The First Stone (New Harlem Productions); Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer’s Night Dream (TD Dream in High Park/Can Stage); Zadie's Shoes, Lady Sunrise, Wildfire, The Waltz (Factory Theatre); Twist Your Dickens (Second City Chicago/Toronto); Mini Me Makeover – Designer and Co-host (CBC Kids/Expect Theatre); Moment, Dissidents, Oil, Gloria, Martyr (ARC Theatre); Cowboy Versus Samurai, 39 Steps, Oraltorio (Soulpepper); and The Komagata Maru Incident (Stratford Festival). 

Other: NOW magazine's Top 10 Theatre Artists of 2009; nominated for the Virginia and 3 Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design;  nominated for a Saskatoon Area Theatre (SAT) award; 2 Broadway World awards and has received 9 Dora nominations for outstanding set and costume design. Jackie has been a resident artist with ARC since 2013.  She currently teaches Theatrical Design at the University of Toronto.

JARETH LI - LX DESIGNER

For the Capitol:  Crazy for You. 

Selected credits: Prince Caspian (Shaw Festival); Jersey Boys, Ring of Fire (Citadel Theatre); Controlled Damage (Grand Theatre); Every Little Nookie (Stratford Festival); Peter’s Final Flight (Ross Petty Productions); The Hours That Remain (Theatre Aquarius); Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon Theatre); The Home Project, The Wolves, Casimir and Caroline, Punk Rock, (The Howland Company); Iphigenia and the Furies, Black Boys (Saga Collectif). 

Other: Born in Singapore, Jareth is a stage designer based in Toronto by way of Calgary. He has a love for new work that examines identity politics, culture, and heritage. In addition to his artistic practice, he is a member of The Howland Company, as well as a stagecraft instructor at York University. He believes strongly in mentorship and creating opportunities for upcoming generations of theatre practitioners.

HANNA DONATO - DIALECT COACH/CULTURAL CONSULTANT

For the Capitol:  Debut. 

Selected credits: In the Mood for Kilig (Carlos Bulosan Theatre - Associate Producer); The Waltz (Factory Theatre - Subtitle Translator); Film and TV: Abroad (Longhope Media - Script Supervisor & Cultural Consultant);  You Can Live Forever (Prospector Films - Script Supervisor); So Much Tenderness (Rayon Verde - Script Supervisor). 

Other: Hanna Donato is a Filipino-Canadian writer and director based in Toronto, Canada. In 2020, she directed the experimental short film Daybreak,  which premiered at Workman Arts’ Rendezvous With Madness film festival under the “If You Ask Me” filmmaking program. Hanna has also specialized in working as a script supervisor for bilingual films and TV series, using her multicultural and multilingual background to help bring stories to life with authenticity. In 2022, Hanna was part of a Director Mentorship program and is a recipient of a Professional Development grant under the Canadian Council of the Arts

SIOBHAN RICHARDSON - FIGHT DIRECTOR

For the Capitol:  Stag & Doe.

Selected credits: Fight Direction: Controlled Damage (The Grand Theatre-London, Ontario); Red Velvet (Crow’s Theatre); Indecent (Studio 180 Theatre and Mirvish Productions);  Room (co-production of The Grand Theatre, Covent Garden Productions (London, England) and Mirvish Productions, now transferring to Broadway), Carmen (Canadian Opera Company)

Acting credits: Clown 2 in The 39 Steps (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); 

Katharina in Untamed workshop and stage presentation (Tarragon Theatre); MacBeth (Canadian Opera Company) and Christie Pits Riot (Hogtown Collective). Film/TV Credits: You’re Never Alone (Thought for Food Productions, series). Intimacy Direction: Salome (Canadian Opera Company); Beautiful Renegades (Peggy Baker Dance); Detroit (Coal Mine Theatre); This is How We Got Here (Green Light Arts, Kitchener).