Jillian Keiley

Raised in: St. John’s, NL/Based in: Ottawa, ON/St. John’s, NL

For the NAC: Metamorphoses Based on the Myths of Ovid, Tempting Providence (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador), Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland as part of the 2009 Magnetic North Theatre

Festival in Ottawa), Oil and Water (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland as part of the 2012 Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Calgary). Jillian was appointed Artistic Director of NAC English Theatre in 2012.

Theatre: An award-winning director from St. John’s, Newfoundland and founder of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. Ms. Keiley has directed and taught across Canada and has worked internationally in opera, musicals, new work and classics. Ms. Keiley received her BFA in Theatre from York University, and was the winner of the Siminovitch Prize for Directing in 2004. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Memorial University and was the winner of the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize. She served as a guest instructor with the National Theatre School of Canada for 12 years, as well as with other universities.

Patrick Clark

Raised in: Fredericton, NB/Based in: Fredericton, NB

For the NAC: Pride and Prejudice (co-production with Theatre Calgary).

Theatre: New Brunswick-based set and costume designer Patrick Clark has worked in theatres and taught in schools across Canada for the past 25 years. His designs have been seen onstage at the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Guthrie Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Neptune Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre, and Theatre Aquarius. Patrick has won three Nova Scotia Merritt Awards for Costume Design.

Other: He is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and The Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts.

Marie Sharpe

Raised in: St. John’s NL/Based in: St. John’s, NL

For the NAC: NAC debut.

Theatre: Costume Designer and Wardrobe Manager for the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre (ACC) for 38 years. Now retired from the ACC, she continues to freelance in theatre and film, designing and costuming hundreds of productions for theatre both amateur and professional. For her innovative contributions to culture, Sharpe was awarded the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Service Award of Excellence. She was also awarded the 2010 Arts Achievement Award from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council.

Other: Her extensive work includes costuming Historical and Military projects as well as designing costumes for feature films, most recently Love and Savagery and Behind the Red Door. TV designs include Republic of Doyle and documentaries for the National Film Board.

Rebecca Picherack

Raised in:Toronto, ON/Based in: Toronto, ON

For the NAC: Belle (co-production with Factory Theatre), Rough House (Nightswimming Theatre), Tulugak: Inuit Raven Stories (presented in association with NAC Northern Scene).

Theatre: Canadian lighting designer Rebecca Picherack designs for dance, theatre and installations across Canada and internationally. She has been nominated several times for Toronto’s prestigious Dora Mavor Moore Award, winning three times for Excellence in Lighting Design. She has worked for such reputable companies as Young People’s Theatre, DNA Theatre, Volcano Theatre, Great Canadian

Theatre Company, Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times, Theatre Passe Muraille, Mammalian Diving Reflex, Nightwood, Manitoba Theatre Centre, and Mirvish Productions.

Other: In the dance community, Ms. Picherack has collaborated with Heidi Straus, Susanna Hood, Yvonne Ng, Julia Sasso, DA Hoskins, and William Yong.

Doreen Taylor-Claxton

Raised in: Ottawa, ON/Based in: Ottawa, ON

For the NAC: Guys and Dolls NAC Orchestra Pops, conducted by Jack Everly.

Theatre: She has worked with Great Canadian Theatre Company, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Third Wall Theatre, Deluxe Hot Sauce, Upper Canada Playhouse, Theatre Antigonish, and the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival.

Other: A competition winner in both Canada and England, soprano Doreen Taylor- Claxton is praised for the colour and clarity of her voice and the emotional investment of her performances. She has been heard in recital for CBC Radio; Jeunes Artistes, Artscape and Classical Encounters, as well as for the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, The Ottawa Chamber Music Society, Antigonish Performing Arts, Festival Antigonish and Vocalypse Productions. She has been a soloist with the University of Ottawa Orchestra and Choirs, The Strings of St. John’s, The Toronto Sinfonietta and the Impressions in Jazz Orchestra. Her discography includes The Spinning Wheel, Hail, and Imprints.

Andy Massingham

Raised in: Toronto, ON/Based in: Ottawa, ON

For the NAC: Metamorphoses Based on the Myths of Ovid, The Ark (2009). His Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning solo play Rough House (Nightswimming Theatre) was presented at the NAC in 2006.

Theatre: (Acting) Circle Mirror Transformation, The Shadow Cutter (Prix Rideau nomination) (Great Canadian Theatre Company); In The Eyes of Stone Dogs (Evolution/Ottawa Theatre School); The Fan (Odyssey Theatre – Capital Critics’ Circle Award); Exit The King (Prix Rideau award, Capital Critics’ Circle Award), Peer Gynt (Prix Rideau nomination) (Third Wall Theatre); Hamlet (Ottawa Shakespeare Company); Bifurcate Me (Prix Rideau award for Original Creation) (Undercurents/ Wildside); I, Blood Brothers, How the Other Half Loves (Prix Rideau nomination) (Gladstone Theatre). Andy has performed at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival (Four seasons, including playing Feste in Twelfth Night), Yukon Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre, Young People’s Theatre, the Banff Centre (Three seasons) and many others.

(Directing) The Game of Love and Chance (also wrote new adaptation) (Odyssey Theatre); Twelfth Night (Prix Rideau, Capital Critics Circle Award nomination), We Want Life (Ottawa Theatre School); Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety (Evolution Theatre); em (PlayGuerilla Heart Juice), The Andrews Brothers and The Danish Play (Gladstone Theatre); The Squatter Heart (Ottawa/Edmonton Fringe).

Andy is a 1986 graduate of the George Brown Theatre school. He is a member of the artistic team at the Ottawa Theatre School where he recently directed The Farm Show.

Heather Hill

Raised in: Newmarket, ON/Based in: Guelph, ON

For the NAC: NAC Debut.

Theatre: Othello 2013, The Grapes of Wrath, Camelot, The Misanthrope, Cymbeline, The Matchmaker (Stratford Festival); Calendar Girls, To Master the Art, Pride and Prejudice and A Streetcar

Named Desire (The Grand Theatre).

Other: (Film/TV) Dialect coach for the feature film The Grand Seduction. Heather has coached several productions at the University of Waterloo. Heather is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Waterloo in the Speech Communication and Drama department. (Training) MA Voice Studies, Central School of Speech and Drama; University of Regina, BFA performance.

Stéfanie Séguin

Stage Manager (King Lear)

 Raised in: Kingston, ON /Based in: Moncton, NB

For the NAC: The Comedy of Errors (co-production with Centaur Theatre), A Christmas Carol, The Changeling, The Snow Show: The Great Frost of 1608, And All For Love, Copper Thunderbird, The Wrong Son, recovery, Crowns (coproduction with Manitoba Theatre Centre and Canadian Stage), Vanya (coproduction with Citadel Theatre), The ‘Vaudevilles’ of Chekhov, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Written on Water (co production with Canadian Stage), and Twelfth Night.

Theatre: Stage Manager for Forests, Scorched tour, Thom Paine (Tarragon Theatre); Talking With (CanPlay Productions); Democracy (GCTC); Lady M (a Company of Fools); Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad (Factory Theatre); Measure for Measure (Resurgence Theatre Company). Assistant Stage Manager for The Wizard of Oz (Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People); Reverend Jonah, Queen Milli, The Thirteenth One, The Ginkgo Tree, Test Drive and Salt-Water Moon (Blyth Festival).

Kai-Yueh Chen

Assistant Stage Manager

Raised in: Taiwan and England/Based in: Toronto, ON

For the NAC: Metamorphoses Based on the Myths of Ovid.

Theatre: Under Wraps, Oil and Water, Afterimage (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland); King Lear (Harbourfront Centre); A History of Summer (SummerWorks Festival); A Synonym For Love (Volcano Theatre); La Traviata (Opera York); Sia (Cahoots Theatre); Sanctuary Song (Theatre Direct); Would you say the name of this play? (NGGRFG), Breaking Away (Young People’s Theatre); The Nutcracker”ing” (Matty Eckler CRC); Tout Comme Elle (Necessary Angel Theatre Company); Anne of Avonlea (Sullivan Entertainment); A Dickens of a Christmas (Canadian Children’s Opera Company); Blasted (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre); Orlando/Lunaire (Opera Erratica); I was Barbie (VenusMACHINE); The Particulars and in General, Me Happy, Sia (Pyretic Production); Body and Soul (Thompson & Fine); In the Solitude of Cotton Fields, Now he belongs to the ages/angels (Crow’s Theatre); The Merchant of Venice (Clockhouse Theatre, UK); Cabaret, Richard III (National Theatre School of Canada). Kai is a graduate of McGill University and the National Theatre School of Canada. Upcoming: Stencilboy and Other Portraits (Next Stage Festival), Oil and Water (NAC).