Corina Akeson (King Leontes) – A Graduate of Studio 58, Corina has performed professionally in Theatre in BC, across Canada and in the US, with such companies as The Arts Club, Carousel Theatre, Repercussion Theatre, Project X, Mortal Coil, with many local Equity Co-ops, such as Mad Duck. To gain access to a wider variety of wonderful roles and opportunity to work with some splendid directors, she has also volunteered her performances with a number of local community theatre groups. Among her favourites was an opportunity to portray Josie Hogan in A Moon For The Misbegotten, directed by John Jack Paterson for United Players. As a member of the currently-dormant Cor Departure Physical Theatre Ensemble, Corina spent a number of years with the group co-creating and producing new works, both as an independent company and also in collaboration with the Evergreen Cultural Centre, through whom she also taught Drama to Primary, Elementary and High School groups as part of their ongoing school-year and summer programming. Corina also works in Voice Over, Film and Television, dabbles in Sound Design, Set Carpentry and has most recently tried her hand at Directing, an area she hopes to have many more opportunities. Outside of the arts Corina is a professional Carpenter and a part time stay at home Mom.
Annie Arbuckle (Dorcas, Lady) – Annie has performed at various venues across Vancouver including The Vancouver Playhouse The Music Man, The Kay Meek Centre Little Shop of Horrors, and Theatre Under the Stars Annie. She studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She performed in the AMDA productions of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Frank Wedekind’s Spring’s Awakening (Both Directed by Lisa Wolpe), Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This will be Annie’s first Shakespeare production, and is grateful to be working with this amazing cast and crew.
Sharon Bayly (Alchemist) – Sharon Bayly is a performing artist whose practice is rooted in physical and spectacle-based performance and devised ensemble creation. She trained at the Dell ‘Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California, and completed her BFA in Theatre and Development at Concordia University in Montreal. Currently Sharon is one of the Co-Artistic Directors of Mortal Coil Performance Society, a Vancouver-based theatre company whose work ranges from large scale, site-specific, outdoor theatre…to smaller touring shows for young audiences. The Winter’s Tale is Sharon’s second foray into Shakespeare, but not her first venture in gender crossing. She is thrilled to be working alongside the wonderful cast and crew of Classic Chic.
Krystina Bojanowski (Perdita) – Currently based in Toronto, Krystina is a returning B.C. native, having grown up in Belcarra. Selected theatre credits include: Iago (Othello – Go Play Productions), Bijou (In This World – Youtheatre), Emilia (The Two Noble Kinsmen – Kinsmen Collective), Erin (Shed – Summerworks), Three Sixty, King Lear (NTSC). Film/TV: A Fighting Man (2014). Upcoming: playing Juliet in Urban Bard’s Romeo and (her) Juliet (Toronto September 2014). Krystina is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.
Michelle Boulet (Jailer, Mariner) – Shakespeare in the Ruins (selected): Viola, Banquo, Beatrice, Kate, Stephano, The Porter, Quince, Helena, Horatio, Rosalind. Elsewhere: Monster’s Trilogy, Ce Weekend La (Theatre Projects Manitoba), Three Penny Opera (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), The Diary of Anne Frank (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), Painting Churches, Zeke and the Indoor Plants (Prairie Theatre Exchange)
Et cetera: Michelle is one of the founding members of Shakespeare in the Ruinsin Winnipeg, Manitoba. For the past six years she has served as Artistic Co-Chair. She is also the Co-Director of the popular Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir (apparently she likes to co) which has performed at the Winnipeg Comedy-fest Gala “Women Who Kill” and for Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz and 400 of his closest friends at the Mayor’s Luncheon for the Arts.
Jennifer Cameron (Camillo) – Jennifer’s passion for Shakespeare began while playing Juliet at age four in her grandparents’ house. For the last fourteen years, Jennifer has trained and performed professionally with teachers and companies from across North America. This production of The Winter’s Tale marks Jennifer’s return to the stage after five years of focus on her career as a voice over actor. Jennifer would like to thank Classic Chic and Lisa Wolpe for this exciting opportunity; and her husband, family and friends for their endless love and enthusiastic support.
Christina Wells Campbell (Paulina) -Christina is an eclectic theatre-maker who wears a multitude of hats. Recent acting credits include: She Stoops to Conquer (The Arts Club Theatre Company), The Music Man (TUTS), Obstructions: Stupid is as Stupid Does (The Only Animal), Fourplay (In the House Festival), ROVE: The Legend of Rusty Point (Tentative Equinox, Vancouver Fringe Festival), MacBeth (Shakespeare Centre Urban Ensemble), Nine (Pipedream Theatre Company), Iolanthe and Ruddigore (Fraser Valley Gilbert and Sullivan Society) and Lorelei and It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman (APPLAUSE! Musicals in Concert). She directed a Jersey Shore interpretation of The Gondoliers, (Fraser Valley Gilbert and Sullivan Society) co-wrote and co-produced ROVE: The Legend of Rusty Point, and is the chair of the board of The Only Animal Theatre Company. Christina is the tour coordinator at the Arts Club Theatre Company and during her tenure also created and continues to coordinate the popular Arts Club’s Actor’s Intensive. She holds a BA in theatre from SFU.
Miranda Clarke (Mamillius) – This is Miranda’s first performance on stage! She is happy to be playing Prince Mamillius and is just as excited to have her mom playing her servant! When she is not acting, Miranda takes singing lessons, just completed grade 3 and has two cats she adores – Mr. Handsome and Sasha. When Miranda isn’t on stage, you can find her doing cartwheels in the lobby, her current record is 22 in a row!
Luna Dai (Assistant Stage Manager) – Joining the team of The Winter’s Tale is a life-changing experience for Luna. She feels like she is stepping into a whole new world of professional theatre production, and is learning cross-gender acting skills from all cast members. She’d love to give special thanks to Lisa, Renee, and Corina for the opportunity of working as an assistant stage manager and understudy actor. She is doing her best to help the success of this fabulous play. Her previous theatre work is Thunderstorm (Face Drama Club, 2014).
Miranda Duffy (Archidamus, Gentleman, Shepherd) – With three out of four suitcases in tow, Miranda washed ashore at Sea Island in September 2001. Favourite roles to date include Regan in King Lear (SCE at The Firehall), Ariel in The Tempest (Savage God), Faith in Kindertransport (Meta.for Theatre), Mrs. Marwood in The Way of The World and Isabel Warwick in The Queens (United Players). This April 23rd, Miranda joined the Classic Chic Collective and 200 of her fellow Vancouver actors in performing “The 24-Hour Shakespeare Project”, where they performed all 38 plays in 24 hours. She played Katherine of Aragon, Joan La Pucelle, Maria, General Siward, a dozen other male and female characters, a zillion servants, and “the cry of women”, helping to raise $11,000 for BC Children’s Hospital. She fronts the imaginary feminist punk band, FAMAW, and practises yoga. Miranda thanks director Lisa Wolpe, and Classic Chic for creating this opportunity for Vancouver actresses. Miranda is a proud graduate of The London Academy of Performing Arts.
Kyla Gardiner (Lighting Design) – Kyla is a designer and theatre creator. In various capacities she has enjoyed working on The Flannigan Affair (Electric Company, HIVE); Brief Encounters 11-17 (The Tomorrow Collective); True Story ((r)evolution theatre); Biographies of the Dead and Dying (MachineFair/ Craning Neck Theatre); Gift of Screws (Bill Marchant); A Picasso (Presentation House); Fever (Radix, HIVE); Trunk (Craning Neck Theatre); What You Want (Machine Fair); City of Dreams (Peter Reder- PuSh); Safe/Guard & Feast (Robert Leveroos); Man Up (Dream Big Productions); Through the Waters (Noam Gagnon/ Meredith Kalaman), Alight (Noam Gagnon/ 10x10x10), and Thank You, You’re Not Welcome (Vision Impure). Kyla is endeavoring towards her MFA at Simon Fraser University.
Janet Glassford (Autolycus) – Janet is a long-time actor & singer who’s performed in a wide variety of productions & is a charming, in-demand guest at social occasions. Starting out in the chorus in community theatres, including the Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Society (where she first worked Christina Wells Campbell) Surrey Little Theatre, Deer Lake Players (where she first worked with Corina Akeson) Metro Theatre, (where she met her darling!), Stones Throw Productions, North Shore Players, Down Stage Right Productions, Royal City Musical Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars & Applause Musicals in Concert. Segueing on to earning the big bucks; a wonderful summer in Barkerville, BC as an Historical Interpreter, First Stage Players, 5 seasons touring BC & Alberta with Hooked on Books Entertainment for Children, remounting ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ at The Arts Club Theatre. Several autumns in Stanley Park’s Ghost Train with Mortal Coil Performance Society, as well as Touring ON, NB and IL with Lava & Bones’ Performances of Chris Gatchilin’s very provocative works, doling out Mother Superior advice in Nunsense with Fighting Chance Productions. Very proud to have contributed to Premiers of original works, Larger Than Life at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, as well as several of Grant Mitchell Hunter musical’s & co-hosting the last 2years for the Ovation Awards with David C. Jones. Film, Tv & Voice Overs; London Drugs, Scrubbing Bubbles, several episodes of Untold Stories of the ER, The Movie Out Here, The Killing, Arctic Air, Supernatural and reoccurring roles in Arrow and Wayward Pines, which premiers on Fox Network in 2015.
Lisa Goebel (Choreographer) – Select choreography credits include: Measure for Measure (Honest Fishmongers/Pacific Theatre), A…My Name is Alice (Skycorner Productions), King Lear (Honest Fishmongers), The Winter’s Tale (Studio 58), and assistant choreographer on Initiation Trilogy (Electric Company). In addition to choreography, Lisa works as an actor, dancer, and adjudicator. Her next adventure takes place in Italy, where she will be dancing in the Latium Festival. Lisa hold’s a Bachelor of Performing Arts, and is a graduate of Studio 58. Upcoming choreography: Cannibal the Musical (Awkward Stage).
Alexis Kellum-Creer (Hermione) – Alexis is delighted to be part of this wonderful company of women! Some recent theatre credits include Closer (Shift Theatre), Rove (Tentative Equinox), Speed-the-Plow (Terminal Theatre), The Circle, Waste (United Players), Seasons, QUAD (Half-Stratford Players), and Surrey Little Theatre’s production of Proof, for which she won a CTC Best Actress Award. She has also appeared on episodes of Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis and The L Word. Thank you to this generous and gifted cast and crew, and love and gratitude to her parents for their boundless support.
Frances Kitson (Clown) – Having been a Shakespeare nut since the age of fourteen, when she did her first summer camp at Bard on the Beach, Frances is thrilled to be joining this cohort of gals who are doing it for themselves. A bred but not born Vancouverite (she moved from England at the age of 16 months), she holds a BA Honors in Drama from the University of Alberta and a BFA in Theatre from SFU, and most recently completed the Actor’s Intensive at the Arts Club Theatre (which she highly recommends and doesn’t get paid for saying so, so you know she means it). Her most recent projects include Lost in Twine at the Fringe (Looking for 143 Productions), [un]BOX[ed] (Scarlet Satin Productions), and King Lear (City Stage New West). She also has a solo show, currently titled Titania, which is a retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from the fairy queen’s perspective. When not acting, Frances makes a living as a Construction Safety Officer, which has given her no end of material for playing a man. She loves cheese, salsa dancing, and British wit, and nurses a pet peeve against people who won’t move down when the bus is crowded.
Amanda Larder (Set Design) – By day Amanda is the props and paint technician for the Douglas College Stagecraft department, by night she is a set designer/ scenic painter about town. Recent design credits include People Like Us at the Firehall Arts Centre, Made of Stone with Prohibition Theatre and the Douglas College production of Macbeth. She is graduate of the BFA program in Theatre Design and Production at UBC. Amanda is thrilled to be working with a talented team of artists on a play that has inspired her ever since studying it in school.
Naomi Lazarus (Costume Design) – Naomi has been designing costumes since she could hold a crayon, and has been doing it professionally for eleven years. She’s designed and built over fifty plays, focusing primarily on period pieces. Her recent work includes, The Cripple of Inishmaan (Ensemble Theatre Company), currently running all summer at the Jericho Arts Center, Zastrozzi (Enlightenment Theatre), The Three Sisters and An Ideal Husband (Presentation House’s 3rd St. Series) and you can see her work in Pyewacket (Spectral Theatre Company) this fall at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. Naomi is a life long Shakespeare fan, and has been really excited to work with this group of talented and passionate women, on this groundbreaking project.
Mary Littlejohn (Mopsa) – Mary is thrilled to be working on such a wonderful show with so many amazing women. Mary has worn many hats, including director, stage manager, assistant stage manager and props on such shows as Miss Saigon, Songs For A New World, The Producers, Charlotte’s Web, Romeo and Juliet and Under The Hawthorn Tree. Onstage, Mary has appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Frogs, Sweeney Todd and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee just to name a few. Thanks to Classic Chic for the experience and to Patrick for the love and support.
Renee Liyan Liu (Stage Manager) – Renee is very thrilled to be the Stage Manager of The Winter’s Tale. She’d love to thank Lisa Wolpe, Tamara, Melissa, Luna, Mary, all the cast, all Designers, and Corina who provided her this great opportunity to work on the awesome production. Her Stage Management credits include: Thunderbird (Face Drama Club, 2014), Pride and Prejudice (UBC, 2013), Cucci and Cabana (Studio 16, 2013), The Russian Play (UBC, 2012), Spoils of Troy (UBC, 2012), and Lost in Twine (Fringe, Granville Island, 2012).
Michelle Martin (Antigonus) – Film/TV credits include The Whispers, Gracepoint, Supernatural, A Novel Romance, Hit & Run, two seasons as a series lead on the CBC evening drama, Riverdale, CTV’s Traders, the independent feature film, Backroads, and the short film Sleepwalk (2012 Audience Choice Award, New York City Horror Film Festival). Selected theatre credits include Collette in Four Dogs and a Bone (Havana Theatre), See Bob Run and To Hear With Eyes (One Yellow Rabbit, Workshop West), Les Liaisons Dangereuses and A Christmas Carol (Theatre Calgary), The Importance of Being Earnest and Fool for Love (Theatre Junction), Cressida (Workshop West), Misalliance and Night Must Fall (Shaw Festival), 1-900-Dee-Lite (Persephone Theatre), All in the Timing (Summer at the Roxy), Hitting Town (Alchemy Theatre Projects), Cymbeline (Shakespeare in the Rough), Twelfth Night (U of T, Graduate Centre for Drama) and Summerfolk (Equity Showcase Theatre). Michelle is a graduate of York University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Program.
Tamara McCarthy (Assistant Director) – Selected Directing: FourPlay (Studio 58); Tough! (Twenty-Something); Whistler Chairlift Revue (2010 Paralympics); Munsch Alley (Carousel -3 Jessie nominations -Outstanding Direction, Production, Design Team); The Vertical Hour (United Players -critic Jo Ledingham’s Top 10 Shows list of 2009); The Laundromat (Scarlet Satin). Among many Assistant Directing credits: Twelfth Night (Bard on the Beach); Fiddler on the Roof (Gateway); No Great Mischief (Vancouver Playhouse). Tamara is a 5-time Jessie Award nominee (4 for Performance, 1 for Direction), an Artistic Associate of BellaLuna Theatre, an actor, teacher, and mama to little Luke.
Melissa Oei (Assistant Director)- Melissa is a Vancouver based theatre professional. She is a graduate of Studio 58’s renowned conservatory acting program and holds a diploma in Theatre Arts from Capilano College and in Film Arts from Langara College. She has also trained at Canada’s National Voice Intensive and at the Banff Centre with Citadel Theatre’s Robbins Academy. Some of her favourite roles include Vivie Warren in Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Alley Theatre), Lady M in Macbeth (Kaleidoscope Theatre), Miss Adelaidein Guys and Dolls (Studio 58), Queen Anne in The Three Musketeers (Citadel Theatre), Ado Annie in Oklahoma! (TUTS), RC in Bug (Hardline Productions), Morgana in Arthur: Boy King (Carousel Theatre), Gloria in Boeing Boeing and Constance Neville in She Stoops to Conquer (Arts Club Theatre), and a six month tour of Greece with the original rock opera Utopian Floes with Caravan Stage Company. She is also a faculty member with Carousel Theatre for Young People’s drama school and Teen Shakespeare Program, and she has performed in their mainstage productions for the past 7 seasons. Melissa is very excited to be tackling a summer of Shakespeare with this production of The Winter’s Tale and Teen Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. Melissa is also one half of the company Beatty/Oei photography with her actor/photographer boyfriend Gaelan Beatty. They live in their one bedroom apartment in North Vancouver where they enjoy hiking and kayaking. Melissa loves coffee, yoga, food and travelling.
Monice Peter (Polixenes) – Passionately pursuing her dream, Monice has performed across Canada in major festivals, with esteemed theatre companies and directors, as well as worked with major network television companies. Recently, Monice wrapped up shooting for Desperate by Gerrick Winston, a short film shot in Calgary. You may have also seen her in the TheatreOne production of Doubt directed my David Mann. With Fox Television Network, Monice was cast as Cindy in the television movie 12 Men of Christmas starring Kristin Chenoweth. She has been nominated for a Best Actress award for her solo-performance in The Dandelion Project and also for Best Supporting Actress as Susan in David Mamet’s Race. Blessed, Ms. Peter has had the opportunity to tour social action plays to students across Alberta and in the city of Toronto. She performed in Are We There Yet? a sexual education show for grade 9 students at the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto and toured Alberta. She has also toured Work Plays and Working it Out, two plays that deal with work safety and the rights of young people in the workplace.
Joanna Redfern (Emilia, Shepherd) – Joanna met some of these wonderful women at the Arts Club Acting Intensive a few years ago and was honoured to be invited to be a founding member of Classic Chic. She has worked in theatre and independent film in both Edmonton and Vancouver, but more recently focused on teaching and directing at the University of the Fraser Valley. Recent credits include the independent films Safest in Her Arms and The Meeting. Receiving her acting training at a variety of institutions in Western Canada, she holds an MA in Theatre from UBC.
Jalen Saip (Dion, Shepherdess) – After studying theatre at the University of the Fraser Valley, Jalen decided to take a break from the stage in order to study/live abroad. Her main goal was simply to sound hoity-toity and pretentious – mission accomplished. She is thrilled to be back in the theatre scene and a member of Classic Chic and can’t wait to take the stage in her first professional production with such a talented group of women.
Julia Siedlanowska (Cleomenes, Shepherdess) – Julia is a graduate of the Douglas College Theatre Program and holds a BA in Acting from the University of Wales. Recently she performed in a one act comedy entitled Party Princess Rule No. 5 at the Cultch, in Metro Theatre’s What I Did Last Summer and took part in Rumble Theatre’s 48-Hour Crockpot. Currently she is performing with Rebel Haunt Theatre in Anton Chekhov’s A Marriage Proposal as well as performing in The Winter’s Tale with Classic Chic Productions. In addition to acting, Julia also holds a passion for directing. Past directing credits include assistant direction for the Vancouver Polish Theatre’s production of King Matt the First (Vancouver International Chutzpah! Festival), The Act (The Cultch & Port Moody Inlet Theatre), co-direction of The Seal Woman and The Story of a Mother (Russian Hall), and a touring show for youth entitled Jack and Maggie (BC Children’s Hospital.) Most recently she has paired with a choreographer to create Shakespeare Unchained a show which portrays Shakespeare’s most iconic monologues through movement and dance. Julia is thrilled to be a part of the Classic Chic productions and is excited to work under the direction of Lisa Wolpe. She would like to thank her for the opportunity!
Donna Soares (Officer, Shepherdess) – Donna is a Vancouver-based theatre artist. As an actor, she has worked for companies such as: Caravan Farm Theatre (Little Brother, Little Sister), Belfry (Let Me Call You Sweetheart), The Elbow (White Rabbit, Red Rabbit), Theatre Replacement (Dress me up in your love, Bioboxes: Artifacting Human Experience), Vancouver Playhouse (A Christmas Carol), Persephone (Quarry), Presentation House (My Mother’s Story, Bangs & Buddha), Ruby Slippers (The View From Above), Graffiti Theatre (The Salt Spring Chalk Circle), Boca del Lupo (Vasily the Luckless, The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces, Sleeping Beauties), Firehall (Urinetown), Gateway (Tiger of Malaya), and Rumble (Terrible Things). She is the general manager of The Elbow Theatre alongside artistic director Itai Erdal. They are currently presenting The Chop’s How to Disappear Completely at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and have four new works in development. Donna has provided project coordination for companies such as: Mammalian Diving Reflex (Children’s Choice Awards, Eat the Street, Haircuts by Children), Projet in Situ (Do You See What I Mean?), Theatre Replacement (100% Vancouver) and Progress Lab (Hive2). She is a graduate of Studio 58 and holds a double major in theatre and French from UBC.
Colleen Winton (Old Shepherd) – Colleen is thrilled to be playing an ancient, rustic Bohemian shepherd. At UBC, when she played a Canadian farmer who had taken up arms in 1837:The Farmer’s Revolt, the director memorably said, “Colleen, if you don’t stop moving your feet, I am going to nail them to the floor. You look like a %#@*ing Rockette in a July 4th revue!” Colleen hopes that, with Lisa Wolpe’s expert guidance, she will be more convincing as a man this time.
Colleen’s career includes the Stratford, Shaw and Charlottetown Festivals, the companies of CATS and Show Boat, extensive film/TV credits, and numerous directing/choreographing credits. Recent appearances: Marilla in Anne of Green Gables (Theatre Calgary); Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! (RCMT), Three Musketeers, Little Women (Citadel), Golde in Fiddler on the Roof (Chemainus), Mother Abbess in Sound of Music (Gateway), Marie in Calendar Girls (Arts Club), and in My Mother’s Story (PHT). Most recently, she directed Waiting for the Parade for Chemainus Theatre Festival. Up next: Hedda Gabler at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon.
Andrea Yu (Florizel) – Andrea is thrilled to be a part of Classic Chic’s production of Shakepeare’s The Winter’s Tale. Andrea is a Vancouver-based actor, dramaturge, and theatre producer. Favourite acting credits include Proof (Mnemonic Theatre Productions), Hana’s Suitcase (Magnus Theatre), and Jade in the Coal (Pangea Arts). Producing credits include Heptademic Redux (Hardline Productions) and Ga Ting (Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre). She has worked as the dramaturge intern at Solo Collective Theatre and currently works as the Artistic Associate at Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre. She is a graduate of Studio 58.
