AS YOU LIKE IT: CAST
Hugh Barnett
(Duke Frederick/Duke Senior) For HRSC: Twelfth Night (Antonio), Much Ado About Nothing (Borachio), The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio). Other credits: Romeo and Juliet: Remixed, The Sleepless Reader (Expect/Spark); The Perils of Persephone, Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii, Arsenic and Old Lace (Theatre Collingwood); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre Brampton); The Mousetrap (Toronto Truck Theatre); The Courageous One, Medea, The Real Inspector Hound (American Academy of Dramatic Arts).
Christopher Fowler
(Touchstone) Christopher Fowler is thrilled to be making his debut with the Humber River Shakespeare Company. Past credits include lemonTree Creations (workshop, Body Politic), Theatre Kairos (The Money Trail; Canadiana Romantica), Left Foot First Productions (In Pink), Crate Productions (The Fort at York), Theatre New Brunswick (Smokescreen; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; For Art’s Sake), the Classical Theatre Project (Romeo and Juliet; Othello), and Ryerson Theatre School (Red Noses; The Good Woman of Setzuan).
Lisa Hamalainen
(Rosalind) Most Recently: Desdemona (Othello, Mysterious Entity); Anna (Lady With a Lap Dog, Another Theatre Company); Sonya (The Russian Play, Spiel Players); Ann Maguire (Cavan Blazers, 4th Line Theatre); Tatyana (Pis’ma Pamyati, Teatre Na Strastnom & Russian Tour); Polly (Jelly Belly, Sudbury Theatre Centre). TELEVISION: CBC Cold War Series. TRAINING: University of Windsor BFA. OTHER: Lisa lived in Russia intermittently for six years where she worked in theatre and studied the Russian language. She is currently developing her Chekhov translation series and writing a play for Theatre IV Mimmo’s Play-Write-Play program. She is thrilled to be working with Humber River Shakespeare Co. this summer!
Christopher Kelk
(Adam/Corin/Martext) Christopher has been a member of Canadian Actors’ Equity for 40 years. He has 27 Shakespeare credits to his name and his favourite roles include the title role in King Lear, Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Ralph Waldo Emerson in Democracy, Edward in Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Prospero in The Tempest, David Kelly in Palace of the End and Spooner in No Man’s Land. With Humber River Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew, A Comedy of Errors, A Christmas Carol. He may be seen as Rollo, the school janitor, in Universal Pictures’ Billy Madison. In 2010, his verse translation of Juvenal’s Satires was published by Edwin Mellen Press.
Andrew Knowlton
(Silvius/Charles) Andrew is very excited to spend the summer with this incredibly talented band of fools again. Andrew was last seen with Humber River in A Comedy of Errors two seasons ago. Some favourite select credits include Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hart House Theatre); Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet (Canopy Theatre); and Malcolm in Macbeth, Orsino/Feste in Twelfth Night (Classical Theatre Project). Andrew trained at the University of Windsor and the Moscow Art Theatre School, his performance as Orsino/Feste was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award. Much love as always to my super-dainty Kate.
Sara Moyle
(Jaques/Audrey) Sara is Artistic Producer and Co-Founder of Humber River Shakespeare. She studied theatre at Ryerson and completed a degree in Creative Writing at YorkUniversity. Sara’s classical theatre credits include: Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Othello, Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labours Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Driftwood Theatre Group), Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare in the Rough), Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre by the Bay), Romeo/Juliet: Remixed (Spark Productions). For Humber River Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, A Christmas Carol, Taming of the Shrew, The Comedy of Errors, and Macbeth. Sara’s theatre in education credits include Shakespeare Shorts (Driftwood), Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About Shakespeare…(Tempest Theatre), High Life and Survival U (Expect Theatre), Shakespearience, Pleiades Theatre, and Playshops for HRSC. Directing credits include, The Sonnet Show (HRSC), Trafalgar 24 (Driftwood), and Cherry Docs (Vaughan City Playhouse).
Spencer Robson
(Orlando) Recent theatre credits include: Ariel in The Pillowman (Rarely Pure Theatre), Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar (Ottawa Shakespeare Company), Octavius Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra (Theatre Elusive), Roy in St Francis of Millbrook (4th Line Theatre), Ross in Macbeth (Hart House), Doug in One Man Show (Docket Theatre), and Victor in Down Dangerous Passes Road (Brighton Fringe Festival, UK). Recent film credits include The Hipster and the Cat (Atlanta International Film Fest, Seattle Short Film Fest), Please Don’t Fire Me (Hollyweb Fest, LA Web Series Festival), Paranormal Witness (Sci-Fi Network), Trespass (TGF Films). Spencer is currently Co-Artistic Director of Rarely Pure Theatre and is attending GLMCC (Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium) in Ohio to become a fully certified performer and teacher of the Michael Chekhov technique.
Lauren Toffan
(Celia) Lauren is absolutely delighted to be playing Celia in Humber River Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Humber River was the first theatre company Lauren became acquainted with after graduating from the University of Windsor. She graduated with a BFA in Acting and since then some of her credits have included: Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (Theatre New Brunswick), Empty Boxes (Homestead Theatre Project), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare In The Square), Scrooged! A Christmas Musical (Rose Theatre Brampton), Misprint (2011 Toronto Fringe Festival and Pick of the Fringe), Cabaret (Hart House Theatre), Women of Manhattan (Half-Pint Theatre). Last summer Lauren was a recipient of the Theatre Ontario Professional Theatre Training Program grant where she worked with Theatre 20 in marketing and publicity and she also completed a two month Musical Theatre Training program at CAP21 in New York City. In her spare time Lauren works as a Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer for Train By Trina as well as a Dolly Parton, June Carter and Tammy Wynette impersonator with Showplace Entertainment. She would like to thank Kevin, Sara and Eric for their love, support and endless jokes that keep her laughing!
Jillian Welsh
(Phoebe/Le Beau) This small town girl from Turners Ontario is positively jubilant to be part Humber River Shakespeare’s As You Like It. A graduate of AMDA’s musical theatre program in NY, Jillian fell head over heals for the Bard when she stepped into the America Globe Theatre. At AGT she was fortunate to study under John Basil while performing in A Winter’s Tale, Henry IV part ii and Brevity. Jillian has been known to run around Victoria Memorial Square as Helen Marshall in Single Thread Theater’s The Loyalists, she is a member of a local Toronto sketch comedy group The Reception and has the most wonderful grandmother a girl could ask for.
CREATIVE TEAM
Kevin Hammond – Director
As Artistic Director for Humber River Shakespeare Kevin has directed Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Comedy of Errors, A Christmas Carol, Shakespeare Cabaret, among other pieces. In 2012 Kevin was selected to participate in the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction at the Stratford Festival. This spring he will Assistant Director for Measure for Measure at the Festival. Kevin spent five years as Artistic Director for Toronto’s Shakespeare in the Rough (2001-2005) and continues his work with the Bard as a co-founder of the Toronto Shakespeare Workout. Kevin also coaches and teaches Shakespeare to many young actors. While with Shakespeare in the Rough he was able to work as assistant director on Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice. Kevin is the featured voice performer for Oxford University Press’ OXFORD NEXT on-line Shakespeare Program. Kevin recently completed the Certificate Course in Arts Education in partnership with York University and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
Andrea Mittler – Set Designer
Andrea is a graduate of York University’s Theatre production program and works as a theatre designer and scenic artist. Humber River Shakespeare Company: Set Designer for Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, The Comedy of Errors and Macbeth. Other selected set design credits include, assistant set designer for Kiss Me, Kate and The Grapes of Wrath (Stratford Shakespeare Festival). Set design for Julius Caesar, The Seagull, and Brothers Karamazov (Dora Nomination – Wordsmyth Theatre); The Menaechmus Twins (Theatreworks); Fat Pig (Geek Girl); Twelfth Night and Macbeth (Classical Theatre Project). Andrea has also been the Set Designer and guest instructor at the Etobicoke School of the Arts for the past nine years where she has designed such musicals as Seussical, CATS, Anne of Green Gables, Urinetown, RENT, West Side Story. Andrea is honored to be celebrating her sixth season with Humber River Shakespeare Company! Thanks to Mom, David and MacDuff for all of their love and support.
Nina Okens – Costume Designer
Nina is a Toronto based costume designer whose work with companies such as Le Théâtre Français de Toronto (Les Médecins de Moliere, L’Avare, Le Misanthrope), Shakespeare in the Rough (Titus Andronius, Much Ado About Nothing) and Pea Green Theatre/Theatre Voce (Medici Slot Machine, Orchidelirium, Conservatives in Love) has garnered her six Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations. This is Nina’s fourth show with HRSC (A Christmas Carol, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew). She is often a guest artist at Sheridan Colleges school of Musical Theatre where she graduated from the Technical Theatre and Production program in 1996.
Stephanie Meine – Stage Manager
Recent stage management credits include: Camelot, The Matchmaker, The Three Musketeers and the Michael Langham Workshop (Stratford Festival),The Wizard of Oz (Mirvish Productions), The Unplugging (Arts Club Theatre), and Macbeth (Humber River Shakespeare). She has been the resident stage manager of Main Street Theatre in Vancouver for five sweet years, past productions include: Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo, A Lie of the Mind and True West (amongst others). Stephanie is a BFA graduate from the University of British Columbia, a licensed gunslinger, CPR practitioner, occasional designer, and a recipient of the Jean A. Chalmers Apprenticeship Achievement Award (Stratford Festival). She is thrilled to be spending another summer playing in the parks in and around her hometown of King City. She would like to thank her HRSC family, Kevin and Sara, for all the love and laughter that they bring to her life.
Kevin Hammond, Christopher Kelk, Stephanie Meine, Sara Moyle, Hugh Barnett and Siobhan Richardson appear with the permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.