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2018 - 2019  Alumnae ​Season
The Importance of Being Earnest
FireWorks Festival
        The Pigeon    Moving On    Animal 
Top Girls
New Ideas Festival
Impressionism

​FIREWORKS  FESTIVAL  2018

Animal​

BY ROMEO CIOLFI

​Produced by Molly Thom and Liz Best
Directed by Evelyn-Marie Long
​
November 21 - 25, 2018  in the Studio
​​
Animal
Raina Shepherd is bi-polar, schizophrenic, visited by ghosts…and she likes to bite. 

A spellbinding journey into the mind of a disturbed woman, struggling to find the truth, plagued by what is real and what is hallucination.

​All Raina really wants is to love and be loved…. but is it too late?​

Animal   

November  21  - 25,  2018
Watch the Video Trailer:

 Trailer by Nicholas Porteous

Animal · Special Events

Opening Night Celebration
​Wed. November  21, 2018 
After the show,  join cast and crew in the lobby to celebrate the Opening night of ANIMAL

Panel Discussion
Thurs. November  22, 2018 
After the performance of ANIMAL
We “pull back the curtain” for a stimulating panel discussion about issues raised by the play.

Living on the Edge - Panel Discussion
Anne Shepherd - Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, Actor
Lorene Stanwick - Playwright, Active with Workman Arts at CAMH 

Writer/Director Talkback
​Sat. November 24, 2018
After Matinee performance of ANIMAL
Not to be missed.

Cast of Animal: Alexandra Milne, David Planche, Spencer Streichert, Patricia Pariselli, Craig Martin​
     ​Click on gallery image to enlarge.

Romeo Ciolfi, Playwright
Romeo is a graduate of York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. His screenplay Play Ball was a winner of the Kairos Prize in Screenwriting and was optioned by Pâté Productions. Screenplays Who Is Molly Steele? and, The Great Surrender, were finalists in the Chronos Prize in Screenwriting. His plays include OverTime (Toronto Fringe), Blue (The Village Playhouse) and Stillborn (Annex Theatre). He has written and directed seasonal theatrical productions, creating shows from the ground up.  On his website www.studiosperanza.ca, Romeo blogs about writing and productions of his work. 

Evelyn Long, Director
Evelyn is an emerging director from Calgary, Alberta. She has a passion for creating theatre that brings a voice to the marginalized and misunderstood in our community. She is very honoured and excited to take on the challenge that is Animal. She has previously directed Watch Me Drown in Alumnaes New Ideas Festival, Hexen in the Toronto Fringe Festival and her next piece Futch/ Bemme will be in Kitcheners  OutFest at the end of September. Additionally she works as a dramaturge and
producer/performer for a variety of shows in Toronto.

Actors

Alexandra Milne,  Raina
Alexandra Milne is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (Company 2011). NYC theater credits include: When the Party's Over (Planet Connections Festival, Best Actress Nominee), Macbeth (Aquila Theatre) and Kutsukake Tokijiro (Flea Theater). Toronto theater credits include: This Will be Our Last Transmission (Fireworks Festival 2017) and Six Stories, Told at Night (Fringe Festival 2018). Film: Dim the Fluorescents (Clumsy Ophelia, Slamdance 2017 Jury Prize), Cave Small Cave Big (Joële Walinga), The Feed (TonMan Productions). Television: The Blacklist (NBC).

David Planche, Daniel
David has had a passion for theatre since the age of 7. He's performed in productions ranging from The Crucible, to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Antigone, and, Reasons to be Pretty. Since graduating from Ryerson University, he's taken more of a behind-the-camera approach having written and directed numerous short films and commercials. Recently, he's returned to his love of acting and is excited to be part of Animal.

Spencer Streichert, Griffin/Mark
Spencer is an actor, writer/producer and comedian from Calgary, Alberta. Since 2012, Spencer has worked in film, and created a comedy web-series, Dr. Face: Time 2 FACE Justice, and recently a Telus Storyhive short, Red Water Valley. In 2018, he was also nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award. Spencer studied Drama at the University of Calgary before moving to Toronto, and was in many of their mainstage plays, and is currently enrolled in George Brown’s Theatre School.

Patricia Pariselli, Mercedes
Patricia is a Theatre graduate from Bishop’s University in Quebec, starring in productions from Brecht’s  Mother Courage And Her Children, to Chekhov’s The Seagull and Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. A student of improv at Second City, she has numerous roles in independent films and TV commercials to her credit, as well as TV series such as Forbidden, Fear No Evil and Fear Thy Neighbor.

Craig Martin, Cliff
This is Craig’s first show at Alumnae Theatre and he is thrilled to be a part of the talented Animal team. Craig has worked extensively in theatre in Durham Region in a diverse range of roles from Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, to Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men, and has appeared in independent films. Craig is also an avid back-country hiker.

Production Team

Molly Thom, Producer 
Director, dramaturg, writer and sometime actor, Molly is best known as the author/director of The Bush-Ladies. She has dramaturged and directed several plays by Shirley Barrie, including; Beautiful Lady,  Measure of the World, I Am Marguerite, as well as The Gambler by Ronald Weihs. And because in the theatre you don’t do just one thing, Molly is the co-founder of Alumnae’s New Ideas Festival and resident director of Shoestring Opera, a company that presents opera for children in schools and theatres.

Liz Best, Associate Producer
​​Liz is an actor, director, producer and playwright. Acting credits: Surrender, Dorothy (FireWorks    Festival), Inked Heart (FireWorks Festival), Meet the Family (City TV). Playwright credits: The Bay (Big Ideas Festival, PAL Reading). Surrender, Dorothy (FireWorks Festival, Procunier Hall, Palace Theatre in London, February 2019). Directing credits: The Dining Room (Marion Abbott Productions), Crossing Delancey (Encore Entertainment), The Goodbye Girl (Scarborough Players).

Lucy Collingwood,  Assistant Director
Lucy is a director, writer, and theatre artist based out of Toronto, Ontario. She completed her MFA in Theatre Direction at the University of Alberta. A few notable credits include: Tape, and Shakespeare's Richard III in the Bleviss Laboratory Theatre in Edmonton; Art at the Bandeen Hall in Sherbrooke, and The Violet Hour at the Timms Centre Theatre in Edmonton. 

Leslie Ann Walcott, Stage Manager

Joan Burrows, Dramaturge
Joan has won awards at both ACT-CO and Theatre Ontario Festivals for her work as a director, stage manager and playwright. As a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada her play credits include:  Staff Room; The Photograph; Gloria's Guy; Willow Quartet; Four Hours.  Last year she did the dramaturgy and directed Surrender, Dorothy by Liz Best for Fireworks 2017.  This past summer she has enjoyed working with playwright Romeo Ciolfli on his very challenging play, Animal.

Sandra Burley, Props
Sandra began her stage performances in the suburbs with Mississauga Players where she enjoyed a variety of roles from pantomimes to comedy  and drama.  Current endeavours have been with ACT II STUDIO, a theatre school and creative drama centre at Ryerson University, and the Alumnae Theatre.
As a member of the Alumnae Theatre, Sandra has had the opportunities to act, direct, work back stage as ASM and Sound Tech and to research particular productions for FOH display.  She looks forward to extending her resume with providing props for FireWorks.

​Adriana DeAngelis, Costume Designer
Adriana is a recent graduate of York University with a BA in Theatre Studies. She had her work premiere in the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival as: Co-Costume Costume Designer for The Concept (YUFFA, 2016), and Costume Designer and Director of David S. Craig and Robert Morgan’s Head à Tête (YUFFA, 2016). Adriana has worked on two Nightwood shows this season as Assistant Production Manager: Unholy, and Calpurnia. Adriana is excited for this year's FireWorks festival!!

Haley Duncan, Sound Designer
Haley is a recent graduate of York University’s Theatre productions program and is excited to be back at Alumnae, sound designing for the 2018 Fireworks Festival! In the past she has sound deigned for Theatre@York’s Dream Play, Sarnia’s WODL festival entry piece Willow Quartet which also played in Guelph, and Alumnae Theatre Company's production of This Will Be Our Last Transmission for the 2017  FireWorks Festival. Recently she also had the opportunity to work on Robert Fothergill's G_dot Prequel, Let's Go!

Liam Stewart, Lighting Designer
Liam is a director with a camera, a Lighting Designer in the theatre and has a passion for creativity. Liam works in the Film industry as an Electrician, laying cable and powering lights. He learns from the best on set, bringing new insight to the stage. Constantly testing equipment to create new emotions and atmospheres with light. He also enjoys leisurely strolls through the park and writing short films.

Alexis Chubb - Set Designer
Alexis is pleased to be working with Alumnae Theatre on FireWorks for the second year. Alexis has previously worked with Alumnae on August: Osage County. She has also designed Sabrina Fair, Scotland Road, Moonlight and Magnolias, and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife with Amicus Productions as well as Tainted Justice, Queen Milli of Galt, and Real Estate at the Village Playhouse. Enjoy the show.

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