The Clean House

​April 7 - 22, 2017

The Clean House
​​by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Ali Joy Richardson
April 7 - 22, 2017

After the unusual death of her parents, aspiring comedian Matildemoves from Brazil to Connecticut to clean the house of married doctors. When the husband falls in love with a patient, the household is thrown into a messy (and sometimes magical) whirlwind of hilarity and heartache.  

A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, The Clean House is a fearlessly honest and wildly funny look at class, comedy, and the nature of love.

The Clean House Special Events - free!
Post-Show Talk-Back
Sunday, April 9, 2017 - immediately following the matinee
Meet some of the cast and production team! An opportunity for audience members to ask questions and gain insight into Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House in this moderated event.

Laughter & Forgiveness
Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 6:45pm
Join Lynn Himmelman as she invites you to reconsider your relationship with laughter! A Laughter Yoga Leader and Trainer, Lynn will lead participants through a few fun, simple exercises and share the healing role that laughter has played in her own life. This complimentary pre-show workshop offers audiences the opportunity to further explore The Clean House’s themes of healing and the power of comedy.
For further information, visit:
Laughing with Lynn

Cast
Marina Moreira  Matilde
Andrea Irwin*  Lane
Annemieke Wade  Virginia
Lilia Leon   Ana
Neil Silcox   Charles
* Appearing with the permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
​

Creative/Production Team
Director: Ali Joy Richardson
Producer: Laura Jabalee Johnston
Stage Manager: Lizz Armstrong
​Production Manager/Lighting Designer: Steph Raposo 
Assistant Director: Nevada Banks 
Set Designer: Orly Zebak
Costume Designer: Daina Valiulis
Sound Designer: Nicholas Potter
Props Designer/Wardrobe Manager: Helen Monroe
Duet Composer/Vocal Coach: Sam Gaetz

Cast Biographies

Andrea Irwin*  Lane
Recently: ​Proof (Theatre UnBlocked), Toronto, Mississippi (Panfish Productions), False Start (Toronto Fringe), The Avey Sideshow (Isoprox Theatre & The Box Toronto) as well as various tv commercials.
With Alumnae:  Escape From Happiness, Blood Relations, The Lady's Not For Burning, After Magritte, Lady Windermere's Fan. A proud graduate of George Brown Theatre School and Queen's University. 
​"Love isn't clean....It's dirty. Like a good joke."
* Appearing with the permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

Lilia Leon   Ana
Lilia is a Mexican-Canadian performing artist of Mestizo heritage, with a versatile career as a dancer, actor, choreographer and arts educator. She has collaborated with Indigenous, Canadian and Latin American artists. She believes in the power of art and community to effect social change and has worked with like-minded companies such as Aluna Theatre, b.current and Jumblies Theatre. Lilia
holds a BA degree in dance from York and is a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. In development: multi-disciplinary collaborative works Only Sound Remains by Soheil Parsa and Stones Project by Anita La Selva, and solo-show Perdida, which explores identity and blood memory.

Marina Moreira  Matilde
​Marina is a Toronto-based performer and sometimes writer. Sincere thanks to you, for coming to see this show, and to the team at Alumnae for taking it on. 

Neil Silcox   Charles
​An actor, director, and teacher, Neil's stage credits include Macbeth (Macduff) and Comedy of Errors for Humber River Shakespeare; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Lawrence) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom)  for Hart House. Neil has taught with York, Brock, and U of T/Sheridan, and helped create the new Theatre Arts and Industry program at Centennial University. Neil would like to thank his Mom and Dad for their unending support and Alexandra for inspiring him every day.

Annemieke Wade  Virginia
​Selected Credits:  Still (Binocular Theatre), Hello, Dolly!,  Criminals in Love (Hart House Theatre)
Annemieke is managingdirector at Roseneath. Previously company manager at Tarragon, does voice-over work. She holds a MBA from Champlain College, and an HBA from U of T/Sheridan.  Annemieke would like to thank her family for always being enthusiastic about this crazy art thing, and the three loves of her life--Cam, Vesper and Nardwaur--for always being her inspiration.

Creative/Production Team Biographies

Liza Armstrong   Stage Manager
​Lizz is a full-time software developer and occasional stage manager. Past shows include Heartbeat and Other Ways to Say I Love You (Toronto Fringe Festival), Worms for Sale (Alumnae Theatre's New Ideas Festival), and RENT (Toronto Youth Theatre). She spends most of her time making things.

Nevada Banks   Assistant Director
​Nevada is a Toronto-based artist Toronto who originally hails from small-town Alberta. She is thrilled to be working with and learning from such an incredible cast and creative team. Selected credits include: The Unending - Production Assistant (Convergence Theatre), Lessons in Temperament - Assistant Director (TuneSmith Productions/SummerWorks Festival), Brantwood 1920-2020 - Tiffany Fisher (Theatre Sheridan), and Moll - Candy (CMTP).

Sam Gaetz  Duet Composer/Vocal Coach
​Sam is very excited to have played a role in this production. She is a proud graduate of the musical theatre performance program at Sheridan College and has music directed/composed for multiple productions including Macbeth: Walking Shadows (Shakespeare in the Ruff). Selected acting credits include: Brantwood 1920-2020 (Theatre Sheridan), Perry Loved Mary (Old Flame Brewing), Hello, Dolly! (Theatre Sheridan), and The Last Resort (HSF).

Laura Jabalee Johnston  Producer
Laura is currently earning her stripes in screen-based media production working with the extraordinary women of Bizable Media (www.bizablemedia.ca). As a manager of business affairs, her work has been focused predominately in the film and television industry; however, Laura continues to gain experience producing for independent theatre companies (Binocular Theatre, Play Practice Collective) and acting as a consulting producer on multiple digital properties. A repeat jury member of the T.O. WebFest, Laura is a graduate of U of T Mississauga/Sheridan. Upcoming: producing Liars at a Funeral for Truth ‘n’ Lies Theatre, running May 5-14th at St. Vlad’s Theatre.

Helen Monroe  Props Designer/Wardrobe Manager
​Helen Monroe is a designer, director and writer working in Toronto. While props aren't her usual trade, she is very excited to flex her designer muscles on this great show. Previous design credits include: Four Hours at Alumnae theatre (costume props and set), Avaricious at Theatre Gargantua (props), and Afterplay (costumes). 
​

Nicholas Potter  Sound Designer
​Selected sound design and composing credits include: Couple-ish (Parcelface Productions), Still (Binocular Theatre) Seams (Summerworks). Upcoming: sound design for Liars at a Funeral (Truth’n’Lies) the St. Vladimir Theatre, as well as creating surreal soundscapes and musical mashups for Toronto-based scream queen Lucinda Miu. Whenever Nicholas Potter has a free moment, he’s dreaming up scores for video games and glam-rock fantasias.

Steph Raposo  Production Manager/Lighting Designer
​Steph is a graduate of York's Theatre Production and Design program, where she also specialized in playwriting under Professor Judith Rudakoff. Steph has worked as the technical and managing director of Little Black Afro Theatre since 2013, and joined the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre team last September as the cabaret technician. Past credits include: production manager, Paprika Festival 2016; sound composer, 10/10/10: Our Idiot Friend Is Dead (Then They Fight Theatre, 2016); student production manager, Space Lab (Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, 2015).

Ali Joy Richardson  Director
As director: Get Yourself Home Skyler James, Still, O (Binocular Theatre), We Are XX (The Regent Collective/Paprika), Oklahoma! (First Act Productions), A Spirit’s Face (Spiderbones Performing Arts). As assistant director: Peace River Country (Richard Rose, Tarragon Theatre), Julius Caesar (Estelle Shook, Canadian Stage), BRANTWOOD (Sheridan's Canadian Music Theatre Project) Upcoming: Directing Liars at a Funeral by Sophia Fabiilli Other: Ali recently directed/co-wrote The Secret Life of Riley K., a touring musical about anxiety for ages 9-12 (Education Arts Canada).  www.alijoyrichardson.com

Daina Valiulis  Costume Designer
​Daina is a 12-year design veteran of the indie theatre and film worlds. She has been a producer, production designer, and costume designer, is a founding member of Shakespeare at Play (www.shakespeareatplay.ca), was the in-house designer for Solar Stage Children’s Theatre from
​2012-2016, and is a talented artist across different media (painting, drawing and illustration).
Daina is beginning her career in IATSE and has worked as a daily on Miss Sloane, Taken, and Suits. She was assistant costume designer on Man Seeking Woman, Season 3, costume designer 7 Stories (Hart House) and is an Executive Board Member of CAFTCAD (http://www.caftcad.com/).

Orly Zebak  Set Designer
​Orly is a multidisciplinary artist and U of T graduate, where she was the designer behind Hello From the Rain (UC DRAMA) and What She Said (Off Key Productions). Recent design credits include TOUGH! and  Dreams (Canadian Rep Theatre). She recently participated in Driftwood Theatre's Trafalgar 24 as a playwright, and this past February showcased a video she created and directed entitled VALENTINE #VALENTINE ADVENT- Snapchat and the Female Gaze at the FOOT Festival.