KEITH BARKER | playwright
Keith Barker is a Métis artist from Northwestern Ontario. A graduate of the George Brown Theatre School, he is the former Artistic Associate at Native Earth Performing Arts.
Theatre credits include King Lear (National Arts Centre) Tombs of a Vanishing Indian (Red Diva/Native Earth), Jesus Chrysler (Praxis/Rhubarb), Homegrown (Aluna/Summerworks), The Making of St. Jerome (Next Stage Festival), Job’s Wife (New Harlem Productions/Summerworks), Deat h of a Chief, (National Arts Centre/Native Earth), Autoshow (Convergence Theatre). He is honoured to be the writer in residence at Native Earth Performing Arts for the 2012/13 season. The Hours That Remain is his first full-length play.
TARA BEAGAN | actor (denise)
Tara Beagan is the Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. She is a Ntlakapamux/Irish Canadian playwright / actor / director / dramaturg / producer and has worked, in some capacity or other, with lots of great people, including the folks at UnSpun Theatre, Crate Productions, Praxis Theatre, Cahoots, the NAC, Caravan Farm, Theatre Northwest, mysterious entity, Urban Curvz, and is thrilled as hell to be adding New Harlem and Keith Barker’s words to her acting experience. She’s made theatre that has been Dora and Betty nominated, and has done a bit of work for film, radio and TV, but her faves were with Thomas King. Please come and visit Native Earth anytime.
ERIN BIRKENBERGS | production manager
Erin is a Toronto based freelance Production Manager for theatre, opera and dance.
Selected credits include: Between The Sheets (Nightwood Theatre); A Synonym For Love (Volcano Theatre); The Story (Theatre Columbus); Topdog/Underdog (Obsidian Theatre); Window on Toronto (Soulpepper). Erin is excited to be working with with New Harlem for the first time with such a talented team. Having studied theatre at York University, Erin spends her days in Toronto discovering worlds of possibility.
JENNIFER DAWN BISHOP | apprentice playwright
Jennifer has been involved with Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company since she was 13 years old, and was a participant in the first Circle of Voices program in 1999. During her years at SNTC Jennifer volunteered, worked as a facilitator with performers’ playhouse, was an Assistant Stage Manager and workshop facilitator. She was also a featured performer in several SNTC productions including as one of the kokums in the many installments of the Rez Christmas Story series. She is very excited to now be part of the Board of Directors for SNTC, and to share her past experiences to help revitalize the Company. Jennifer wants more youth to experience the life changing effect this company had on her. She very honoured to be part of the Arts weather it’s though acting, Assistant Stage Management and Writing.
LEAH-SIMONE BOWEN | assistant director
Leah-Simone Bowen is an playwright, director and improviser having worked across Canada as a member of Toronto’s Second City Touring Company and Education Company. Leah is a Dora nominated director and is currently Artistic Producer of Obsidian Theatre. She is originally from Spruce Grove, Alberta and remembers Oanh Ngoc Ha, Amber Tuccaro and Delores Brower.
RICHARD CLIFF | stage manager
Richard Cliff is an Ottawa based Stage Manager, Production Manager and Arts Administrator. He is proud to have worked for such diverse organizations as the National Arts Centre, Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa's Lumiére Festival, and Native Earth Performing Arts. Favourite productions include Greg MacArthur's Snowman directed by Peter Hinton for Montreak's Imago Theatre and Daniel David Moses' Almighty Voice and His Wife directed by Michael Greyeyes for Toronto's Native Earth performing Arts.
ISIDRA CRUZ | costume & prop designer
Isidra Cruz is a Mexican, Cree, African American, and French Arts Administrator and Costume Designer.
She is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Theatre Production program where she received a BFA with Honours, specializing in theatre administration and costume design/construction. Currently she is working on a comedic video series about urban cycling and working at imagineNATIVE Film + Media Festival as the Guest Service Coordinator.
MONIQUE DIABO | choreographer
AUDREY DWYER | administrator (new harlem productions)
She is the Resident Dramaturge of Anandam Dance Theatre.
She will be performing in the NAC production of thirsty by Dionne Brand, Nightwood Theatre’s The Penelopiad and a remount of Studio 180’s Clybourne Park. She is working on her first fully developed play called Calpurnia and is a member of Obsidian Theatre’s New Play Development Series.
ELI HAM | actor (daniel)
ALAN LONG | general manager (saskatchewan native theatre company)
Alan Long is a theatre artist and writer who lives and works in Saskatoon where he completed an interdisciplinary M.A. in theatre and history at the University of Saskatchewan. Some of his favourite acting roles include: drums/Jerry Allison in Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story and drums/various characters in Fire, both at Persephone theatre. He has worked on many shows as a stage manager and technical director including Buz’ Gem Blues at Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company (SNTC), and Street Wheat at Dancing Sky Theatre. He has also taught acting, movement and stage management workshops at SNTC and was their production/tour manager for the 2008/2009 Season. Since January 2011 Alan has been employed full time as the General Manager of SNTC.KEIRA LOUGHRAN | actor (michelle)
ANDY MORO | set & projection designer
He is a co-founder of the multi-disciplinary community arts organization Red Pepper Spectacle Arts. He co-facilitates the Production/Design Mentorship Program at the Centre For Indigenous Theatre and served 6 years at the Toronto Arts Council Community Arts Committee Chair.
Andy is of Italian/Dutch/Mushkegowuk Cree descent.
ARRON NAYTOWHOW-M'KANDAWIRE | acting understudy
Saskatoon based Cree/Malawian performer Arron has appeared in productions big and small across the country...most recently you may have seen him in Kohkoms In Toyland, VIMY,Toronto At Dreamer's Rock,The Crackwalker, Are We There Yet?, Prairie Song, The Crossing. He is the proud parent of 3 dogs and a cat. Arron is very proud and excited about this project and it's gorgeous team!JIV PARASRAM | administrator (new harlem productions)
Jiv Parasram is an indo-caribbean-south-asian-maritime-canadian and a Toronto based theatre practitioner. He works as a director, writer, actor, producer, technician, administrator, and dramaturge. He is a graduate of the UC Drama program and is currently an MA candidate at York and Ryerson universities in Communications and Culture. Jiv is an administrator at New Harlem Productions and Cahoots Theatre Company and is a founding member of Pandemic Theatre. CURTIS PETEETUCE | artistic director (saskatchewan native theatre company)
MICHELLE RAMSAY | lighting designer
Michelle is a lighting designer for dance and theatre. Previous collaborations with New Harlem include: Gas Girls and Cake. Selected credits include: Obaaberima (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre); Helen’s Necklace (Shaw Festival); Out the Window (Out the Window Collective/The Theatre Centre); Red Snow (Red Snow Collective); The Atomic Weight of Happiness (Stand Up Dance); the sankofa trilogy (Tarragon Theatre); Peter and the Wolf (Theatre Rusticle); Sia (Cahoots Theatre Projects); Tombs of the Vanishing Indian (Native Earth Performing Arts). She has received three Dora Mavor Moore Awards. She is also the 2008 winner of the Pauline McGibbon award.AARON SHINGOOSE | apprentice stage manager
Company’s, Circle of Voices (COV) Program, in 2008 joined the Red Spirits Program, and for two
years served as a facilitator for the Performers Playhouse Drama Camp. Theatre credits as an
actor include Kohkums in Toyland (SNTC), Teacher? What’s a teacher do? (Askiy Productions)
Three Little Birds (SNTC), Luff Actually (SNTC), Savage (NEPA), A Rez Christmas Carol (SNTC), B-Dawg (SNTC), and Kihew (SNTC), and worked as assistant stage manager for Where the Blood Mixes (SNTC). Aaron is hoping to continue his work as a role model for youth.
SAMUEL SHOLDICE | sound designer
DONNA-MICHELLE ST. BERNARD | artistic director (new harlem productions)
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard is a writer, performerand arts administrator. Her plays have been staged
in Summerworks, Ignite Festival and Nightwood
Theatre’s Write from the Hip Festival. She was playwright in residence at Obsidian Theatre. In 2009 she won the Enbridge Emerging PlayRite Award for her play Gas Girls. She is a hip hopartist with several recordings and a writer whosework has been published in Epoch Times and Afrotoronto.com.She is the Artistic Director of
New Harlem Productions and is currently the
acting General Manager of Native Earth
Performing Arts.
DAVID STORCH | director
ISSAC THOMAS | dramaturg
