Playwrights
In Development
Roseneath Theatre is currently developing the following plays through workshop:
It’s Nothing by Julia Lederer
This piece addresses eating disorders, a pertinent issue for young girls and boys. It’s Nothing aims to present a unique perspective on anorexia that assists in the understanding of the illness by those experiencing it and those on the outside. Following the story of Emma, a high school student, there is an unseen girl who speaks Emma’s thoughts, a hot dog who taunts her, a concerned close friend, as well as her mother and the school guidance counsellor. Important aspects of developing this show include exploring how to present the mindset of someone who suffers from anorexia on stage through humour as well as demystifying what treatment entails.
Stop The Internet by Jesse Stong
Kayla and Danielle are siblings. They may only be a year apart, but sometimes it feels like they are living in different worlds! People say Kayla is the strangest kid in seventh grade. She leaves her smart-phone at home so it doesn’t distract her during class. She can barely type texts, and spends all day writing in cursive and calligraphy. When she wants to learn something, she actually goes to the library…. using books instead of Google! Her family must be dinosaurs or part of a cult or hate electricity or something! The truth is exactly the opposite; Her Mom designs some of the hottest video games on the web, and her sister is practically an internet celebrity! In fact Danielle is the coolest, funniest, most liked, most upvoted, most iphone-addicted eighth grader on the planet! When she isn’t stuck sneaking texts under her desk at school, she’s on her computer keeping up with all her loyal online followers. Stop The Internet will look at all sides of the arguments for and against the internet. Rather than preaching at kids about the dangers and thrills of the web, it will be about showing both sides equally and allowing young people to draw their own conclusions. The play will explore the real history of the internet and theories about the potential future of our online world.
Live Stream Creators Project
Roseneath has commissioned eight IBPOC artists (Indigenous, Black and People of Colour) to create 15–20-minute pieces for young audiences. Each piece has 1-2 actors and can be performed from the safety of the actors’ homes; streaming directly into the classroom. Artists: Anthony Raymond Yu (Head A Tete), athena kaitlin trihn (LGBG, Outside), Brendan Sean Chandler (Spirit Horse), Djennie Laguerre (Rendez-vous with Home), Lisa Nasson (Spirit Horse), Mina James (Outside), Samson Brown (LGBG), Sofía Rodríguez (La Maleta – The Suitcase). Each of our Live Stream Creators has toured with Roseneath into schools and will be tapping into these skills in adapting to an online platform and sharing stories dramatically.
Playwrights In Residence
Michael Kras is a Hamilton-based playwright, actor, and director. He is the recipient of the prestigious Herman Voaden National Playwriting Prize for his play The Team, which was also a 2018 Tom Hendry Award nominee and a national finalist for the Safe Words New Canadian Play Award. The Team made its world premiere in the 2018/19 theatre seasons at Essential Collective Theatre and Theatre Aquarius, and is published by Scirocco Drama in the anthology FIERCE: Five Plays for High Schools alongside new Canadian plays by Dave Deveau, Judith Thompson, Tanisha Taitt, and Ali Joy Richardson. Other works include Lydia, commissioned and presented by the Frost Bites Festival; The Year and Two of Us Back Here, which was developed at Theatre Aquarius and has seen multiple productions in Canada and the United States; and #dirtygirl, which premiered at the Hamilton Fringe Festival and won the festival’s Audience Choice Award. Michael is a graduate of Humber Theatre School, the artistic director of Broken Soil Theatre, and a member of the Theatre Aquarius Playwrights Unit.
Roseneath’s past Playwrights-in-Residence and TYA Playwrights Unit participants include: Marcia Johnson, Jordan Tannahill, Andrew Moodie, Beatriz Pizano, Dave Deveau, Erin Norah Thompson, Emil Sher, Andrea Scott, Paul Dunn, Julia Lederer, Robert Watson, Jesse Stong, David S. Craig and Robert Morgan.
Live Stream Creators
SAMSON BROWN
Fin in our tour of Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. Samson Bonkeabantu Brown is a sangoma, ngaka, inyanga, hoodoo, traditional healer, multidisciplinary artist and playwright. His primary focus is on spiritual healing, ancestral veneration, trans advocacy and the arts. He uses the arts (primarily as an actor and playwright) to create visibility for men of trans experience and to educate the general public on trans issues. He has been tasked by his ancestors to shed light on how ancestral veneration can assist with healing the self and living in our purpose.
BRENDAN CHANDLER
Pa/Grandpa in our tour of Spirit Horse. Brendan Chandler is an indigenous artist - Cree/English from the hometown of Grande Prairie Alberta. Brendan made his journey to become an actor by traveling to Toronto, Ontario where he completed a three-year acting program at Humber College. Brendan has been a part of Weesageechak Festival at Native Earth for the last three years collaborating with incredible indigenous artist across Canada. He was cast in Daniel David Moses play Almighty Voice and his Wife right out of theatre school in 2017. Brendan’s true love is acting, but something has been directing him in a new direction which is writing and directing. Brendan is developing an 8-episode series called the Sins. The Sins is a horror film/series that revolves around James who lives in Algonquin Heights, where peculiar events unfold which are constructed by The Seven Deadly Sin and The Wendigo. The first episode/pilot should be completed around March of 2021.
MINA JAMES
Krystina in five tours of Outside. Mina James is a Toronto based theatre performer, improviser, writer, and educator. Her most recent theatre credits include Bagheera/Raksha in Jungle Book (YPT), Ensemble/Puppeteer in 1991 (Riser Project 2019/Theatre Center), Blister in Naughty Listers (Second City), Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well and Fortinbras in Hamlet (Canadian Stage Company). Other previous acting credits include: Ensemble in Blood Wedding (Buddies in Bad Times), Chorus in Antigonick (SummerWorks 2014), Mala in Sultans of the Street for YPT (Dora Win-Best Ensemble), Lennox in Macbeth and Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew (Canadian Stage Company). Mina was a fellow in the 2013 incarnation of the International Actor’s Fellowship at The Globe (UK). Mina loves her rescue doggo, Annie, making complicated recipes, and going on hikes. She would like to thank Roseneath Theatre. Also, Mina would like to thank her Mom for raising her, Jake for loving her, and Annie for making her laugh.
DJENNIE LAGUERRE
Writer and solo performer in our tour of Rendez-vous With Home - Dora nominee for Outstanding Individual Performer. Djennie is a graduate of The Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in NYC and the University of Ottawa (Theatre and French Literature). She is an actor, writer, and storyteller. Select theatre credits include Espoir/Espwa (Imaginary Invalid), Les Zinspirés (Producer le Théâtre Français de Toronto), Rez Sisters (Factory Theatre), (Anonymous) Women (Infintheatre). She wrote and performed Rendez-vous Home/ Lakay at various storytelling festivals and toured in French and English in Montreal with Black Theatre Workshop. Djennie is getting ready to tour with her next written play Mother Sea/Manman la mer in April- May 2021 COVID WILLING. Djennie is currently developing a show for Luminato Festival (Residency 2020-21). She is very proud to be a teaching artist for the Ontario Arts Council for 15 years.
LISA NASSON
Angelina and Jesse in our tours of Spirit Horse. Lisa Nasson is a Mi’kmaq actor, director and storyteller originally from Mi'ma'ki, also known as Nova Scotia. She has spent most of her professional career, touring with Indigenous stories across Turtle Island. She studied acting at George Brown College in Toronto, and studied Classical Theatre with the Birmingham Conservatory at the Stratford Festival. Lisa was also a teacher at the Neptune Theatre School (Halifax), and Young Peoples Theatre (Toronto). Lisa was the Associate Artistic Director at Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto, where she began her directing journey. Lisa was nominated for a Halifax Merit Award for best New Play in 2019 for her playwriting work on Rings Through Water. Lisa is currently in creative development process while the world is on pause.
SOFÍA RODRÍGUEZ
Roca in our tour of La Maleta (The Suitcase) - Dora Nominee for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Sofía Rodríguez was born and raised in the City of Mountains: Monterrey, Mexico. She is a multidisciplinary actor, creator and collaborator currently based in Toronto, Ontario. Her recent work for young audiences includes Dora Mavor Moore Award nominated La Maleta/ The Suitcase (Roseneath), Merry Munsch Pyjama Party and Princess Knight (Solar Stage). Other credits include: The Solitudes (Aluna), Beautiful Man (Factory Theatre), Noor (Generous Friend), Shadow Girls (Pencil Kit), “El Retorno/I Return (Theatre Aquarius, Riser) and PETS (Changeup, Shadowland Theatre).
athena kaitlyn trinh
Mom/Holly/Teacher in our tours of Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls (Dora Nominee for Outstanding Ensemble Performance) as well as Krystina in our most recent tour of Outside. athena kaitlin trinh is a recent acting graduate from the National Theatre School of Canada. She is a Dora nominated, queer, Chinese-Vietnamese actor, writer, and spoken-word poet. Celebrating her Chinese-Vietnamese heritage, athena dedicates herself to diverse, intersectional, and inclusionary art-making. athena is a settler in Tkaronto, on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas, the Huron-Wendat and the Haudenosaunee peoples. For more information, please visit her website at www.athenakaitlintrinh.com
ANTHONY RAYMOND YU
Adam/Please in our tour of Head À Tête. Anthony is a Queer Asian-Canadian actor, director, and producer. Originally from PEI, he moved to Ontario to study theatre. Since graduating, he expanded into directing and producing through the Hamilton Fringe. Anthony also wrote and performed with Carlos Bulosan Theatre and Pirate Life; toured with Roseneath Theatre; and recently began dramaturging for circus. Recent Projects Frost Bites (ALERT/Hamilton Fringe) Ad Sales; Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (2017 Hamilton Fringe Festival) Producer/Director, rejzndkliv.