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Avon Theatre
April 22 – October 10 |
Opens May 28
Drama

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
Adapted by Wendy Kesselman
Directed by Jillian Keiley
Audience Advisory »

The inspirational true story of a Jewish girl and her family hiding from the Nazis in a secret annex in Amsterdam. Innovative staging brings new life to this timeless drama of courage, compassion and the indomitable human spirit.

Support for the 2015 season of the Avon Theatre is generously provided by the Birmingham family.

MEIGHEN FORUM EVENTS

CAST & CREATIVE

CAST

    Portrait of Sara Farb
    Sara Farb
    Anne Frank
    2015: Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Constance Neville in She Stoops to Conquer and Mary in The Last Wife. Third season. Stratford: King Lear (Cordelia), The Beaux' Stratagem (Cherry), A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice (Jessica), Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers. Elsewhere: Writer and star of her one-woman play R-E-B-E-C-C-A (Theatre Passe Muraille); Natalie in Next to Normal (Citadel Theatre/Theatre Calgary co-production; Tarragon Theatre); Adele in The Passion of Adele Hugo (Eastern Front Theatre); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Canadian Stage); The Sisters Rosensweig (Harold Green Jewish Theatre); Edges, The UnCovered concert series (Acting Up Stage); The Wizard of Oz (YPT); Jane Eyre, Oliver! (Mirvish). Film/TV: The Firm, The Listener, Covert Affairs, Celine. Awards: Mary Savidge Award; 2013 Calgary Theatre Critics Award winner, Sterling Award nominee (both for Next to Normal ); Robert Merritt Award nominee for Adele Hugo. Training: Birmingham Conservatory, 2013-2014. Et cetera: "Thank you, NLM, my family and James."
    Portrait of Lucy Peacock
    Lucy Peacock
    Mrs. Frank

    2015: Mrs. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank and Mrs. Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer. 28th season. Stratford: Highlights: Mary Stuart, Judith Bliss (Hay Fever), Mrs. Sullen (The Beaux' Stratagem), Elora (The Thrill), Late Night with Lucy, Masha (Three Sisters), Dolly (Hello, Dolly!), Anna (The King and I), Nana (For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again), The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead, Ursla the Pigwoman (Bartholomew Fair), Regan (King Lear - a Tony-nominated production), Rosalind, Viola, Portia, Lady Macbeth, Beatrice, Desdemona, the Duchess of Malfi. Elsewhere: Arkadina in The Seagull (Segal Centre), Queen Lear at the University of Northern Colorado and author of Limericks by Lucy Peacock as the Duchess of Malfi: Written as She Lay Dead on the Stage. Et cetera: "Celebrating my wondrous family and our beautiful farm. This season is dedicated to Bernard Hopkins and Jay Klassen. Keep a song in your heart and a smile behind your eyes."

    Portrait of Joseph Ziegler
    Joseph Ziegler
    Mr. Frank

    2015: Mr. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Mr. Richard Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer and Henry in The Last Wife. Eighth season. Stratford: Joseph Ziegler was part of the Stratford company from 1983 to 1987, acting in Love's Labour's Lost, Henry IV, Part 1, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline, Pericles, Measure for Measure and many others. In 2000 he directed Paul Gross as Hamlet, and in 2009 he appeared in Morris Panych's play The Trespassers. Elsewhere: Founding member of Soulpepper, where he has directed and acted in many plays, including Our Town, Death of a Salesman and A Christmas Carol. He has had a long association with the Shaw Festival, as an actor and as director of plays such as When We Are Married, Harvey, Major Barbara and Widowers' Houses

    Portrait of Kevin Bundy
    Kevin Bundy
    Mr. van Daan
    2015: Mr. van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank, Jack Slang in She Stoops to Conquer and Messenger in Oedipus Rex. Fifth season. Stratford: Alice Through the Looking-Glass (Mad Hatter), Hay Fever (David Bliss), Christina, The Girl King (Chanut), Hamlet (Rosencrantz), As You Like It (Touchstone), The Comedy of Errors (Dromio of Syracuse), Sweet Bird of Youth (Scotty). Elsewhere: The Millionairess, His Girl Friday, Three Men on a Horse, Harlequinade, The Plow and the Stars, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Easy Virtue, Heartbreak House (Shaw Festival); Parfumerie, A Christmas Carol, The Time of Your Life, The Importance of Being Earnest, King Lear, Glengarry Glen Ross, Jitters, Our Town, The Odd Couple, The Chairs (Soulpepper); Boy Gets Girl, How I Learned to Drive, Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), Angels in America (Joe Pitt) (Canadian Stage); The Constant Wife, August: Osage County (Citadel); Holiday, All My Sons (Theatre Calgary); The Clockmaker (Tarragon). Awards: Dora Award. Training: National Theatre School.
    Portrait of Yanna McIntosh
    Yanna McIntosh
    Mrs. van Daan
    2015: Mrs. van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank and Jocasta in Oedipus Rex. 10th season. Stratford: Cleopatra, Elektra, Cymbeline (Queen), Richard III, The Little Years, The Winter's Tale, Dangerous Liaisons, Lady Macbeth, Dream (Titania), The Trojan Women (Helen), Palmer Park, The Illusion. Elsewhere: The Seagull (Crow's Theatre); Remedy (Global); Speaking in Tongues (Company Theatre); This, Syringa Tree, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew (Canadian Stage); Ruined (Obsidian/Nightwood - Dora Award); Cloud 9 (Mirvish); Stuff Happens (Studio 180); Mary Stuart, Phèdre (Soulpepper); The Monument (Obsidian); Hedda Gabler (Volcano); Belle (Factory/NAC); Generous, Skylight (Tarragon - Dora); Valley Song (New Globe - Dora); Love's Labour's Lost, The Bear (NAC); Lambton Kent (Volcano/Edinburgh Festival); Tartuffe (ART); Trace (co-writer/performer); guest teacher/director (NTS; Humber College). Film/TV: Working the Engels, This Is Wonderland, Riverdale (CBC); Hemlock Grove (Netflix); Suits (USA); Listener, Doomstown - Gemini Award (CTV); The Line (TMN); The Sentinel, Finn's Girl, A Raisin in the Sun.
    Portrait of André Morin
    André Morin
    Peter van Daan

    2015: Peter van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank, Diggory, Little Aminadab in She Stoops to Conquer and appears in Oedipus Rex. Third season. Stratford: Motel in Fiddler on the Roof, Young Son in Mother Courage and Her Children, French Herald in King John, Petruchio in Romeo and Juliet. Elsewhere: Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Anselmo in Man of La Mancha (Theatre by the Bay); Henry in Next to Normal (Clearwater Theatre); Malcolm in The Full Monty (Moonpath Productions). Training: George Brown Theatre School, Birmingham Conservatory. Et cetera: "Much love to all my friends and family, and many thanks to Mom, Dad, Alex, Daniel, Grandma, Caroline, Frank and Shari."

    Portrait of Maev Beaty
    Maev Beaty
    Miep Gies
    2015: Miep Gies in The Diary of Anne Frank, Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer and Kate in The Last Wife. Second season. Stratford: Goneril (King Lear), Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night's Dream). Elsewhere: Maev Beaty is a theatre-maker, actor, writer, voice artist and mother. Maev's recent stage credits, apart from her debut season last year here at the Stratford Festival, include The De Chardin Project (Theatre Passe Muraille); Passion Play (Sheep No Wool, Outside the March, Convergence); La Ronde, Parfumerie (Soulpepper); Proud by Michael Healey; Civility (Necessary Angel); and Terminus (Outside the March), winner of the SummerWorks Jury Prize and part of the inaugural "Off-Mirvish" season at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Maev's "coming-out party" in Toronto was Canadian Stage's 2008 season, in which she played Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream and premièred Judith Thompson's Palace of the End. Titania, Katerina and Antigone followed and she has since performed in 22 Canadian premières and been a proud member of huge theatre endeavours such as Theatrefront's The Mill series, Volcano Theatre's Another Africa (Luminato/Canadian Stage) and The Penelopiad (Nightwood). Awards: Maev is a multi-Dora Award winner (The Penelopiad, Passion Play) and has gathered eight Dora nominations, for performance in Proud, Terminus, Dance of the Red Skirts (Theatre Columbus) and The Happy Woman (Nightwood), and for performance and writing of Montparnasse, which she co-created with Erin Shields and Andrea Donaldson. Montparnasse also won the Enbridge playRites Award. Online: maevbeaty.com. Twitter: @sheepnowool. Et cetera: Maev is Co-Artistic Director of Sheep No Wool with her husband, director Alan Dilworth, and an Artistic Associate of both Groundwater Productions and Outside the March. Projects created with these companies include the Edward Bond Festival; Passion Play by Sarah Ruhl; ma jolie and The Unforgetting (winner, SummerWorks Jury Prize), both by Alan Dilworth; Montparnasse and Goblin Market. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Toronto's Theatre Centre, co-creating a new show about the secret lives of mothers.
    Portrait of Nigel Bennett
    Nigel Bennett
    Understudy
    2015: Sir Charles Marlow in She Stoops to Conquer, Teiresias, Shepherd in Oedipus Rex and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank. Fifth season. Stratford: Mary Stuart, Measure for Measure, The Thrill, Richard III, Cymbeline, The Merry Wives of Windsor, King of Thieves, Peter Pan. Elsewhere (selected): Grand, London: Calendar Girls, Kingfisher Days. Grand, Kingston: Blue/Orange. MTC/Mirvish: Medea. Neptune: Scrooge, Art, Closer, Hamlet, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Retreat from Moscow, A Few Good Men, The Price, The Goat, The Sound of Music, Betrayal. Wyndham's (London, England): The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. World tour of The Last Confession. Film/TV (selected): Saving Hope, The Border, Lexx, Murdoch Mysteries, Forever Knight, Hotel Metropolitan, Psi Factor, Strike!, Murder at 1600, The Skulls, Narrow Margin, The Kennedys, Counterstrike, Sea Wolf. Awards: Gemini, Best Supporting Actor, 1996; ACTRA Maritimes Award, Best Actor, 2008 and 2009. Other: Co-author, Keeper of the King, His Father's Son, Siege Perilous. Online: www.blackhatstation.com.
    Portrait of Daniel Briere
    Daniel Briere
    2015: Dick Muggins, Jeremy in She Stoops to Conquer and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank and Oedipus Rex. Third season. Stratford: Eros in Antony and Cleopatra, Robert Faulconbridge in King John, Ensign in Mother Courage, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Bicarat in The Three Musketeers, Leonardo in The Merchant of Venice. Elsewhere: Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Red One/Storefront Theatre), Ashley in Gone with the Wind (Manitoba Theatre Centre), Dorante in The Game of Love and Chance (Odyssey Theatre), Todd in Courageous (New Stages), Art in The Mail Order Bride (Blyth Festival), Borachio/Friar Francis in Much Ado About Nothing (Driftwood Theatre). Film/TV: Guest appearances on Rookie Blue, The Bridge and Murdoch Mysteries. Training: Mount Royal College Performance Program, National Theatre School of Canada. Online: Twitter: @DanielJackB. Et cetera: Daniel would like to thank Katie, Debra and Denis for all of their love and support!
    Portrait of Ryan Field
    Ryan Field
    Mr. Kraler

    2015: Mr. Kraler in The Diary of Anne Frank, Tom Twist, Oliver in She Stoops to Conquer and appears in Oedipus Rex. Fourth season. Stratford: King John (James Gurney), Mother Courage, Antony and Cleopatra, Henry V, Wanderlust, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Peter Simple), Twelfth Night (Valentine). Birmingham Conservatory: The Winter's Tale (Camillo), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Puck). Elsewhere: The Postman Walks (artistic contributor) (Appledore Productions); Oil and Water (Artistic Fraud); (re)Birth: E.E. Cummings in Song, Oh What a Lovely War, Window on Toronto, A Chorus of Disapproval, She Stoops to Conquer (Soulpepper); Hair (Canadian Stage); The Taming of the Shrew (ShakespeareWorks). Film/TV (favourites): Hannibal (Roland Umber) (NBC); The Space (TVOKids host/producer); The Ladies' Man (Young Leon Phelps) (Paramount); System Crash (YTV). Radio/Recordings: Steam Whistle; Tommy Zoom, TVOKids. Training: Claude Watson School for the Arts, RCM Canada, George Brown Theatre School, Birmingham Conservatory. Online: @RyanFieldActor. Et cetera: Ryan is a recipient of a Tyrone Guthrie Award. His music is on iTunes.

    Portrait of Deidre Gillard-Rowlings
    Deidre Gillard-Rowlings
    2015: Landlady Noll Stingo in She Stoops to Conquer, Chorus Leader in Oedipus Rex and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank. Second season. Stratford: Yvette in Mother Courage and appeared in King John and Antony and Cleopatra. Elsewhere: Myra Bennett (Tempting Providence, Theatre Newfoundland Labrador); Gnat (Alice Through the Looking-Glass, NAC); Katherine (The Taming of the Shrew), Nurse (Romeo and Juliet) (New Curtain); Minnie (Salvage, Artistic Fraud); Beatrice (The Servant of Two Masters, Wonderbolt); Christine (How it Works, PTE); Mary (Rocking the Cradle, Tarragon); Holly (Kiss the Sun, Kiss the Moon, WCTC); Marilyn (The Battery, Poverty Cove); Helen (February, Rising Tide); Agnes (Marion Bridge, Bare Boards). Film/TV: Heyday!, Republic of Doyle, Last of the Snow, Four Sisters (shorts). Radio/Recordings: The Grey Islands, Hard Light (Rattling Books). Training: BFA, Memorial University, Newfoundland. Et cetera: Deidre is a founding member of Bare Boards Theatre, a company based in Newfoundland, committed to creating contemporary theatre with Spartan and inventive methods.
    Portrait of Brad Hodder
    Brad Hodder

    2015: Young Charles Marlow in She Stoops to Conquer and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank and Oedipus Rex. Fourth season. Stratford: Edmund in King Lear, Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cassio in Othello, O'Kelly in Mary Stuart and appeared in The Beaux' Stratagem, Measure for Measure, Cymbeline and Elektra. Elsewhere: Hohenzollern in The Prince of Homburg (TIFT); Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (Neptune); Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (Grand); Paul in Hail (RCAT); Freder in Pains of Youth, Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Ernest in The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine (c2c); Sin in Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud); Clarke in No Man's Land (Rising Tide). Directing: Henry IV, Part 1, Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Perchance); The Leisure Society, Autobahn, The Stendhal Syndrome (c2c). Film/TV: Reign (CW); Republic of Doyle, Diverted, Above and Beyond (CBC). Training: BFA (Acting), University of Alberta; Birmingham Conservatory.

    Portrait of Christopher Morris
    Christopher Morris
    Mr. Dussel

    2015: Mr. Dussel in The Diary of Anne Frank, Kreon in Oedipus Rex and understudy in She Stoops to Conquer. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, March Hare/Narrator in Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Tony Blair in Stuff Happens (2014-15 English Theatre Acting Ensemble, National Arts Centre); John in After Miss Julie (Red One Theatre); Civility (Necessary Angel); Pyrrus in Andromache (Necessary Angel/Luminato); Laertes/Player Queen in Hamlet (Necessary Angel/World Stage). Film/TV: Murdoch Mysteries.Training: Queen's University, Trinity College, Dublin. Awards: 2012 Canada Council John Hirsch Prize for Directing, 2008 K.M. Hunter Award for Theatre. Et cetera: Artistic Director of Human Cargo: humancargo.ca. Upcoming: Director and co-playwright of Dust, a Human Cargo/Crow's Theatre co-production at Buddies in Bad Times, November 2015.

    Portrait of Karack Osborn
    Karack Osborn
    Understudy
    2015: Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer, appears in Oedipus Rex  and understudy in The Diary of Anne Frank.  Second season. Stratford: Antony and Cleopatra, Mother Courage and Her Children, King John. Elsewhere: Chicago Shakespeare Theater (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew), Steppenwolf Theatre Company (workshop - The March), Shattered Globe Theatre (Happy Now?), Hartford Stage Company (The Crucible), Eugene O'Neill Theater Center (House of Gold), Highlands Playhouse, Wisconsin Theatreworks (The Buddy Holly Story) and the Adler Studio (La Ronde, Pow'rful Rhyme). As a musician, Karack has also been seen around the United States with The Winter Dance Party, the official recreation of the final tour of Buddy Holly. Training: Birmingham Conservatory 2013-2015, The School at Steppenwolf and The Stella Adler Studio. Online: Twitter: @KarackOsborn. Et cetera: "Love to family, Kameron and the WP2010. Love and thanks always to Brian."
    Portrait of Gareth Potter
    Gareth Potter

    2015: Roger in She Stoops to Conquer, Thom in The Last Wife and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank. 12th season. Stratford: Unicorn/Carpenter (Alice Through the Looking-Glass), Sandy Tyrell (Hay Fever), Lodovico (Othello), Don John (Much Ado About Nothing), Louis the Dauphin (Henry V), Richmond (Richard III), Hosanna (Hosanna), Ferdinand (The Tempest), Proteus (The Two Gentlemen of Verona), Malcolm (Macbeth) (twice), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Nathaniel (Love's Labour's Lost), Edgar (King Lear), Gratiano (The Merchant of Venice), Pierrot (Don Juan), Cromwell (Henry VIII). Elsewhere: Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet) (MTC); Clown (The 39 Steps) (Globe Theatre); Simon/Wahab (Scorched)(Citadel/Tarragon); Pierrot (Don Juan) (Théâtre du Nouveau Monde); Narrator (The Rape of Lucrece) (Theatre Ste. Catherine); Henry V (Henry V) (Gravy Bath). Training: National Theatre School, John Abbott College, Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Awards: Michael Mawson Award, Chalmers Training Award. Et cetera:  "Much love to Sarah and my girls."

    Portrait of Tyrone Savage
    Tyrone Savage
    2015: George Hastings in She Stoops to Conquer and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank and Oedipus Rex. Fifth season. Stratford: Simon Bliss (Hay Fever), Lion (Alice Through the Looking-Glass), Lorenzo (The Merchant of Venice), Tybalt (Romeo and Juliet), Jussac (The Three Musketeers), Claudio (Much Ado About Nothing), Gloucester (Henry V), Floyd (The Grapes of Wrath). Elsewhere: A Life in the Theatre, Wait Until Dark, Howie the Rookie, The Zoo Story,The Bear, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Arcadia, Jerry Springer - The Opera, A Musical Called Robin Hood, Miss Julie, At the Black Pig's Dyke, The Warrior Bard, This Bloody Business, Yerma, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Film/TV: Wind at My Back, Instant Star, Total Drama Island, Stoked, Redwall. Directing: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Shrew (Red One). Training: Birmingham Conservatory, Circle in the Square. Online: Twitter: @savageuponavon. Tyrone is a founding member of Red One Theatre Collective and Storefront Theatre.
    Portrait of Laura Schutt
    Laura Schutt

    2015: Brigit in She Stoops to Conquer and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank  and Oedipus Rex. Second season. Stratford: King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Beaux' Stratagem.  Elsewhere: Mrs. Perks in The Railway Children (Marquis/Mirvish), Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (The Grand Theatre), Kellyanne in Pobby and Dingan (YPT), Anne Catherick in The Woman in White (Theatre Aquarius), Eloise in The Eyes of Heaven (Blyth Festival). Film/TV: Copper (BBC America); The Kennedys (Muse Entertainment); Murdoch Mysteries (City TV); Rookie Blue (ABC). Training: Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre (2013-2104 and 2014-2015); George Brown Theatre School; Meadows School of the Arts (Southern Methodist University). Et cetera: Laura would like to thank her father for his never-ending love and support and dedicates her time in Stratford to the memory of her mother. 

    Portrait of Shannon Taylor
    Shannon Taylor
    Margot Frank

    2015: Margot Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Rose in She Stoops to Conquer and Priest in Oedipus Rex. Second season. Stratford: Liesl in The Sound of Music; Inherit the Wind. Elsewhere: The Road to Mecca (Soulpepper); Pride and Prejudice (National Arts Centre/Theatre Calgary); True (Criminal Theatre/Aluna Theatre); Salt-Water Moon (Thousand Islands Playhouse); When the World Was Green, The Jones Boy (surface/underground theatre); A Midsummer Night's Dream, Little Women: The Musical, The Three Musketeers (Citadel Theatre); The Madonna Painter (Factory Theatre); Johnny Belinda, Pygmalion (Montgomery Theatre, P.E.I.); Scenes from the Bathhouse, Emily, The Inspector General (Talk Is Free Theatre). Recordings: Première CD recording of Cyrano featuring Brent Carver and David Rogers. Training: Birmingham Conservatory; Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program; Ryerson Theatre School (BFA). Awards: Dora nomination for The Jones Boy (Outstanding Performance). Et cetera: "Deepest gratitude to my family, Martha, Angela and Peter for their love and support."

    Portrait of Bahia Watson
    Bahia Watson

    2015: Bet Bouncer in She Stoops to Conquer, Bess in The Last Wife and appears in The Diary of Anne Frank. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: The Seagull (Crow's Theatre/Company Theatre/Canadian Stage), Someone Else (Crow's Theatre/Canadian Stage), The Penelopiad (Nightwood Theatre), DISS (Mixed Company), A Raisin in the Sun (Soulpepper); pomme is french for apple (co-writer, producer and performer). Bahia Watson is an artist and storyteller. She is currently developing two new shows for the stage and a radio podcast series. Awards: Dora Award for Outstanding Performance Ensemble (The Penelopiad), RBC Footprint Award (presented by Obsidian Theatre). Online: www.bahiawatson.com. Twitter: @bahiawatson

CREATIVE

    Jillian Keiley
    Director
    2015: Director of The Diary of Anne Frank. Second season. Stratford: Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Elsewhere: Artistic Director of English Theatre, National Arts Centre. NAC: Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Metamorphoses and Andy Jones's adaptation of Tartuffe. Artistic Fraud: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Oil and Water, Fear of Flight, Afterimage, Under Wraps, Belly Up, Emile's Dream, Jesus Christ Superstar, Salvage. Sheila's Brush: Jack Five Oh. Theatre Newfoundland Labrador: Tempting Providence, Stars in the Sky Morning, Possible Worlds. Globe Theatre (Regina): The Syringa Tree, Honk. Montgomery Theatre: The Wind in the Willows. The Old Trout Puppet Workshop and Ghost River: Sailor Boy. Teatro Della Limonaia (Italy): Tilt. Tasmanian Theatre Company (Australia): Poxed. Opera: Shallaway: Anne and Seamus; Cork Opera Works (Ireland): Orpheus. Training: York University. Awards: Canada Council John Hirsch Prize, Siminovitch Prize for Directing, Honorary Doctorate from Memorial University of Newfoundland.
    Bretta Gerecke
    Designer
    2015: Designer of The Diary of Anne Frank. Second season. Bretta is a Canadian set, costume and lighting designer. This is her second project with the Stratford Festival and she could not be more thrilled about this opportunity. Elsewhere: She is the resident designer at Catalyst Theatre, where she has designed over 10 world premières which have toured Canada and around the world. Awards: She is the recipient of over 25 awards for set, lighting and costume design; the Enbridge Award for Best Emerging Artist; the Global Women of Vision Award; and Edmonton's Top 40 Under 40. Et cetera: She recently illustrated her first children's book, and she is representing Canada this year in Prague at the Scenography Quadrennial. Bretta designed a summer home on Devil's Lake, Alberta, is a marathon runner and continues her work as an archaeological illustrator. 

    Leigh Ann Vardy
    Lighting Designer
    2015: Lighting designer of The Diary of Anne Frank. Third season. Stratford: For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, Three Sisters. Elsewhere: Recent favourites include The Importance of Being Earnest, The Sound of Music and Metamorphoses at National Arts Centre; I, Claudia at the Globe Theatre; The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Oil and Water, Under Wraps at Artistic Fraud in Newfoundland; The God That Comes with 2b Theatre; Anne of Green Gables at Charlottetown Festival. Leigh Ann also designs for dance and has been a collaborator on many new creation projects. Awards: Leigh Ann has won five Merritt Awards for design and has been nominated for the Siminovitch Prize. Et cetera: Leigh Ann is an instructor and coach at the National Theatre School of Canada. She lives in Halifax with her love, Lori.

    Jonathan Monro
    Composer, Choral Director
    2015: Composer and Choral Director for The Diary of Anne Frank. Seventh season. Stratford: Composer: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Much Ado About Nothing, The Best Brothers, Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Actor: Camelot, The Taming of the Shrew, Coriolanus, Much Ado About Nothing, The Miser, The Winter's Tale, The Music Man and Fuente Ovejuna. Elsewhere: Composer: Metamorphoses (NAC); Humble Boy (MTC); Equus (Citadel); AfterImage, Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud). Original:Variations on a Nervous Breakdown (music, lyrics), Dream Vacation (book, music, lyrics), A History of Summer (music). Film/TV: Actor: Buy the Boards, Heyday, Republic of Doyle, When Sunny Gets Blue, Magic Flute Diaries. Training: John Sullivan Hayes Training Program (Stratford); Musical Theatre, Sheridan College. Awards: BMI N.Y.C. Harrington Award (songwriting), Elliot Hayes Memorial Award, Louis Applebaum Award, two Betty Mitchell Awards. Online:  jonathanmonro.com. Et cetera: "To the memory and spirit of brave Anne Frank."
    Don Ellis
    Sound Designer
    2015: Sound designer of The Diary of Anne Frank. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: Sound designer/mixer: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Oil and Water, Under Wraps, Afterimage, Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland); Ann and Seamus (Shallaway); Rick Mercer's Show Me the Button, I'll Push It (Island Edge). Film/TV: Boom operator: Republic of Doyle, Shattered City, Random Passage (CBC); Love and Savagery (Morag); Rare Birds, Above and Beyond (Pope Productions). Production sound: Danny (NFB); Misery Harbour (UIP Denmark). Recordings: Producer/engineer: Hunter Hunter, Spectators (Amelia Curran); Man of the Year, Receiver (Sean Panting); The Dardanelles, The Eastern Light (The Dardanelles); thisvideo.ca, The Once, Row Upon Row(The Once); Duane Andrews, Raindrops (Duane Andrews); Plan Your Escape (Hey Rosetta!); Heart's Delight (Lady Cove). Studio musician: Boy on Bridge (Allan Doyle). Awards: Juno for Hunter Hunter; ECMA for The Once, Duane Andrews; MUSIC NL-Industry Professional of the Year (2006).
    Bob White
    Dramaturge
    2015: Director of New Plays. Dramaturge of The Diary of Anne Frank and The Last Wife. Seventh season. Stratford: Dramaturge of Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Christina, The Girl King, Taking Shakespeare, Hirsch, Hosanna and King of Thieves. Elsewhere: Artistic Director, Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary (1999 to 2009); Co-Director, Banff Playwrights Colony (1997 to 2009); Artistic Director, Factory Theatre, Toronto (1979 to 1987). Director of over 75 productions including, most recently, Mary's Wedding and Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre (ATP), Così Fan Tutte (Calgary Opera/Emerging Artists) and The Clockmaker (Tarragon, Toronto, and ATP). Training: Loyola College, Montreal, and University of Alberta. Awards: Member, Order of Canada; Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD), University of Calgary; Diamond Jubilee Medal; eight Betty Mitchell Award nominations and three wins: "Outstanding Direction" (Calgary).

    John Stead
    Fight Director
    2015: Head of Stage Combat. Fight director of Hamlet, The Physicists, The Diary of Anne Frank, Carousel, The Adventures of PericlesShe Stoops to Conquer  and The Taming of the Shrew. 22nd season. Stratford: Fight director of over 150 productions. Elsewhere: Worked as a fight director across North America on over 500 professional productions, including 15 seasons with the Shaw Festival. Film/TV: Stunt coordinator and action director on over 375 films and television episodes. Teaching: Taught at numerous universities and colleges, including the National Theatre School of Canada. Awards: Award of Excellence (Canadian International Film Festival); Genre Award for Best Suspense (BNFF); Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director's Award, Tyrone Guthrie Award (Stratford Festival); Judges' Choice Award (15 Minutes of Fame International Film Festival); Best Short First Runner-Up (Ticket to Hollywood International Film and Screenplay Festival); and nominated for a Best Short Award (Directors' Guild of Canada). Online: www.johnstead.com. John Stead on IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm0824093/. Et cetera: Master instructor with the Academy of Dramatic Combat.
    Shona Morris
    Movement Director
    2015: Head of Movement. Movement for Hamlet, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Taming of the Shrew and Oedipus Rex. Seventh season. Stratford: Coach, 2003 to 2013; movement director of King John, Mother Courage, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers, Peter Pan, The Winter's Tale, Dangerous Liaisons, King Lear, Agamemnon, Electra, The Flies. Elsewhere: Watford Palace Theatre: co-director: Love Me Do, Sleeping Beauty (2014); movement director: Jefferson's Garden (2015), Perfect Match, Override, Our Father, My Mother Said, The Dresser, An English Tragedy, As You Like It, Lysistrata. Chichester Festival: Twelfth Night, Nicholas Nickleby (Toronto/Gielgud Theatre). Io Theatre: The Snow Spider. Director: Swine (National Theatre Studio). Actor: National Theatre, Sheffield Crucible, Nottingham Playhouse, Tricycle Theatre, Paines Plough, Joint Stock, Shared Experience. Training: RAD ballet; Bristol University, drama/English; Ecole Jacques Lecoq; Trish Arnold. Awards: Time Out Award; Fringe First. Et cetera: Teaches movement, mask and chorus at RADA and Drama Centre London.
    Kellie Walsh
    Choral Director
    2015: Choral Director for The Diary of Anne Frank. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: A native of Newfoundland and Labrador, Kellie is the newly appointed artistic director of Shallaway: Newfoundland and Labrador Youth in Chorus, founder and artistic director of Lady Cove Women's Choir and co-founder and artistic director emeritus of Newman Sound Men's Choir. Shallaway is an internationally award-winning and celebrated youth choir. Recently, the senior ensemble received highest marks in the treble youth choir category at the Béla Bartók International Competition, Hungary, and the more than 250-member group performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa. Lady Cove Women's Choir just released their second CD, Heart's Delight. The choir is a two-time winner of the CBC Radio National Competition for Amateur Choirs; it won first place in the prestigious Béla Bartók Contemporary Choir Competition in Debrecen, Hungary, in 2008 and it was one of 25 choirs in the world invited to participated in the Ninth World Symposium on Choral Music in Puerto Madryn, Argentina in 2011. Most recently, Lady Cove won two gold medals at the World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia. Kellie also enjoys a busy schedule as a workshop clinician, guest conductor and adjudicator, regularly traveling to work with choirs of all genres. Training: She holds Bachelor degrees in both Music and Music Education from Memorial University, in addition to a Master's degree in Conducting. Awards: Most recently, Kellie received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, an award honouring significant contributions and achievements by Canadians.
    Christine Brubaker
    Assistant Director
    2015: Assistant director of The Diary of Anne Frank. Second season. Stratford: Christine is an actor, director and teacher. Last season, she was part of Stratford's Michael Langham Workshop, assisting on Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Elsewhere: Revival director of Alice (Charlottetown Festival and other Canadian centres). Favourite acting credits: Tartuffe, The Sound of Music, Enron, The Vaudevilles of Chekhov (NAC); Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud); The Penelopiad, The Danish Play (Nightwood); The Comedy of Errors (Canadian Stage); The Trials of John Demjanjuk (Theatre Asylum); The Babysitter (Theatre Direct). Directing: Elle, adapted by Severn Thompson (upcoming); Madhouse Variations, Doc Wuthergloom's Haunted Medicine Show (Eldritch Theatre). Assistant director: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (Artistic Fraud). Christine is an instructor at Sheridan College. Training: National Theatre School; University of Waterloo; MFA, Interdisciplinary Arts, Goddard College. Awards: Gina Wilkinson Prize, Fox Fellow, Dora Awards for Performance: The Babysitter, The Penelopiad. Online: Twitter: @cjobrubaker.

    Jennifer Goodman
    Associate Designer
    2015: Associate designer of The Diary of Anne Frank. Fifth season. Stratford: Alice Through the Looking-Glass (associate designer); The Merchant of Venice, The Three Musketeers, Elektra, Wanderlust, Cymbeline and The Homecoming (assistant set and/or costume designer). Elsewhere: Set, costume and lighting design credits include You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Globe); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Red One); Billy Bishop Goes to War, Joyful Noise (Theatre Northwest); The Miracle Man, Dustbowl Joan (Two Planks and a Passion); The Rose Tattoo (George Brown); Vigilante (Catalyst); Récolte (l'UniThéâtre); Age of Arousal (Maggie Tree/Blarney); Dark Owl (Tableau d'Hôte); Extremities, The Farnsworth Invention, Chicago (Keyano). Training: MFA, University of Alberta; BFA, Concordia University; BA, Queen's University; Banff Centre for the Arts. Awards: MECCA for best set design, 7 Stories (Tableau d'Hôte); Tyrone Guthrie Awards. Et cetera: A member of the Associated Designers of Canada.
    Kaileigh Krysztofiak
    Assistant Lighting Designer
    2015: Assistant lighting designer of The Diary of Anne Frank, Carousel, Possible Worlds and The Last Wife. Fifth season. Stratford: Assistant lighting designer of A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Chamber Play, Crazy for You, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Tommy, A Word or Two, The Pirates of Penzance, Jesus Christ Superstar. Technical director of Taking Shakespeare, The Thrill (Studio Theatre, 2013). Elsewhere: Lighting designer: Elizabeth Shepard: Signals (live concert tour); Plants and Animals (live concert and video); Fishskin Trousers (Cart/Horse); Paradise Red (SummerWorks '14); Three More Sleepless Nights (Playwrights Project); Curtains, The Trojan Women, Lord of the Flies, Stuff Happens (Randolph); Whirl (Global Cabaret); Savage in Limbo (Bob Kills Theatre); Bliss (Candles). Assistant lighting designer: Don Giovanni, Die Walküre (Canadian Opera Company); Seeds (Crow's Theatre); The Little Prince (Geordie); Kid Koala: Space Cadet Headphone Tour (European tour). Training: National Theatre School of Canada (2011). Et cetera: Instructor at the NTSC.
    Geoff Scovell
    Associate Fight Director
    2015: Associate fight director of Hamlet, The Physicists, The Diary of Anne Frank, Carousel, The Adventures of PericlesShe Stoops to Conquer  and The Taming of the Shrew. Fifth season. Stratford: Associate fight director (selected): King Lear, Crazy for You, King John, Man of La Mancha, Alice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Beaux' Stratagem, Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers, Othello, The Thrill. Assistant fight director: Fiddler on the Roof, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Count of Monte Cristo. Elsewhere: Fight director: Don Giovanni (Royal Conservatory); Gas (Next Stage); Don Giovanni, War and Peace (COC); The Godot Cycle (Yes Let's Go); Mirandolina (Soulpepper); Romeo and Juliet (ShakespeareWorks). Film/TV: Stunt performer: 12 Monkeys, Bitten, The Strain, Covert Affairs, Pompeii, Robocop, Reign, Orphan Black, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Assassins Creed: Unity, Carrie, Total Recall, Being Human, XIII the series, Lost GirlTraining: BFA, Ryerson University. Awards: Paddy Crean: excellence in stage combat. Online: @GeoffScovell. Et cetera: "Thank you to Kasia and John for all your continued support and guidance."
    Brian Scott
    Stage Manager
    2015: Stage manager of The Diary of Anne Frank and assistant stage manager of She Stoops to Conquer. 21st season. Stratford: Brian has stage-managed 23 productions at the Festival, most recently last season's Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Elsewhere: Brian's favourite credits include Jesus Christ Superstar (Stratford/La Jolla/N.Y.C.), War Horse (Mirvish Productions), the Miller-Plummer Lear (Stratford/N.Y.C.), The Seagull (Segal Centre, Montreal), Hamlet's Room (Theatre Plus Toronto) and The Father (Tarragon Theatre).
    Kimberly Brown
    Assistant Stage Manager
    2015: Assistant stage manager of The Diary of Anne Frank and She Stoops to Conquer. Stratford debut. Elsewhere: The Heart of Robin Hood (Mirvish Productions/Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); South Pacific, Twist and Shout (Drayton Entertainment); The Full Monty, Little Shop of Horrors (Stage West Mississauga). Training: Technical Theatre Production, Sheridan College. Et cetera: Kimberly would like to thank her family for all of their love and support, and Alex for always being her rock and knowing that anything was within her reach.
    Melissa Rood
    Assistant Stage Manager
    2015: Stage manager of The Last Wife and assistant stage manager of The Diary of Anne Frank. 15th season. Stratford: More than 30 productions. Favourites include Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar (Stratford/La Jolla), Christopher Plummer's A Word or Two (Stratford/Los Angeles), Henry V, As You Like It, and a very special prompting lesson by Douglas Campbell during her apprenticeship on The Alchemist. Elsewhere: From opera to horror clown, from English to Inuktitut, from the Middle East to north of the Arctic Circle: Rood worked on five premières in 2014, including Christina, The Girl King, The Carousel and the new opera Stickboy by composer Neil Weisensel and spoken-word artist Shane Koyczan. Training: Sheridan College (Technical Production) and University of Waterloo (Social Development Studies and Social Work). Awards: Proud recipient of the KP Hay Award and four other Guthrie Awards. Et cetera: In memory of good Jay Klassen: "feed the worm."
    Zeph Williams
    Assistant Stage Manager
    2015: Assistant stage manager of The Diary of Anne Frank and Carousel. 10th season. Stratford: Crazy for You, Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, The Three Musketeers, 42nd Street, Camelot, Twelfth Night, Kiss Me, Kate, The Music Man, Moby Dick, Oklahoma!, King Lear, Richard III, The Threepenny Opera, The Trials of Ezra Pound. Elsewhere: A Christmas Carol (Citadel Theatre); Jersey Boys (Dancap); Oliver!, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Goat (Neptune Theatre); The Lion King, Mamma Mia! (Mirvish); Hair, Homechild (Canadian Stage); Das Rheingold (COC); The Nutcracker (RWB/NAC). Senior production manager: Golden Princess, Caribbean Princess and Cunard's QE2 World Cruise. Supervisor: 2010 Olympics; Pope John Paul's visit, 2002. Film/TV: Director's assistant, A Christmas Wedding (Lifetime TV). Training: National Theatre School of Canada. Awards: 2001 Tyrone Guthrie. Et cetera: "Love to my wonderful parents, my beautiful wife, Maria, and our new baby girl, Bella."
    Julie Miles
    Production Stage Manager
    2015: Production stage manager of the Avon Theatre and stage manager of The Alchemist. 18th season. Stratford: Nine seasons as production stage manager (Tom Patterson, Avon and Studio theatres). Stage manager: The Beaux' Stratagem, A Word or Two, The Thrill, The Homecoming, Jacques Brel, Shakespeare's Universe, Othello, The Measure of Love/Ruth Draper on Tour. Assistant stage management highlights: Noises Off, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Inherit the Wind, Fiddler on the Roof. Elsewhere: In 2014, Julie travelled to Los Angeles with Christopher Plummer's A Word or Two. Production stage manager: The Odd Couple, As You Like It (Soulpepper). Assistant stage manager: Don Giovanni, Roméo et Juliette, Eugene Onegin, Lakmé, Tosca (Opera Ontario); La Bohème, Die Walküre (Canadian Opera Company). Founding member of The Grey-Bruce Arts Collective. Training: Graduate of Ryerson Theatre School. Et cetera: "Love to Mom, Dad, Roger, Eldon and Annie-Irene. xoxo"
    Maxwell T. Wilson
    Production Stage Manager
    2015: Production stage manager of the Avon theatre. Stage manager of Carousel. 17th season. Stratford: Max first worked at Stratford in 1990. In the intervening years, he has had the pleasure of working in all of the Festival's venues and on over 40 productions. Last season, he was stage manager of Man of La Mancha. Other productions include Des McAnuff's Henry V, The Three Musketeers, Taking Shakespeare, Hosanna, Peter Pan, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Avon Theatre, 2009; Canon Theatre, 2010-11), Cabaret, South Pacific and My One and Only (director Michael Lichtefeld), The Winter's Tale (director Brian Bedford), Death of a Salesman (starring Al Waxman and Martha Henry), Timon of Athens (director Michael Langham), Gypsy (director Brian Macdonald). Elsewhere: Max's career in theatre and opera spans over 25 years, including work with Citadel Theatre, Edmonton Opera, Opera Ontario, Opera Atelier, the Canadian Opera Company, Canadian Stage, Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre, the National Arts Centre, Young People's Theatre and Mirvish Productions on The Who's Tommy (director Des McAnuff). Training: Max holds a BA in dramatic arts, University of Lethbridge. He also studied theatre production at MacEwan University in Edmonton. Awards: Tyrone Guthrie Award recipient, 2012. Et cetera: Theatre venues coordinator for the Toronto International Film Festival, 2002 to 2004. He is a freelance web developer for such organizations as The Southern Ontario Orchid Society (www.soos.ca) and Ravenvision Photographic (www.ravenvision.ca).

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