The People of Perchance
Meet some of the talented artists involved with our theatre.
The Cast
Christa Borden
Veranda, Flying Doctor
Dearest gentle reader…Christa Borden is thrilled to be rejoining the magical force that is Perchance Theatre Co. She is most grateful to Danielle and Mary for this opportunity.
This season marks her third run of High Steel and her very first Shakespeare play! She is grateful to her family and to her daughter, Brooking, for all the love, patience and support they so generously give. Christa holds a vocal performance degree from MUN and an elementary education degree from UNB. She is a proud member of the Spirit of Newfoundland theatre troupe and has also been fortunate to join the Tada company this past winter. She is most grateful to you, the bums in our seats and the applause in our hearts. If music be the food of love, play on!
Zoe Cleland
Julie / Juliet / Soldier, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet); Lucille, Flying Doctor
Zoe Cleland is a Canadian Screen Award–nominated actor, writer, and emerging director. Since graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2012, she has been known for her featured roles in Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Reign (CW), and as Tatiana in CBC Gem’s The Communist’s Daughter—a performance that earned her a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Web Program or Series. In 2020, Zoe launched her production company, Sweet Sorrow Productions. She wrote, directed, produced, and starred in her debut short film, Blueberries for Iris, which premiered at the Atlantic International Film Festival in 2023 and went on to win an award and receive multiple festival nominations, including Best Short Film Director, Best Atlantic Canadian Film, and Best Acting in a Short Film for her performance. Her second short, The Newcomer, premiered at the Fog Fest Horror Film Festival in 2024. Now based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Zoe is thrilled to be part of the province’s dynamic and growing arts community.
Kevin Curran
The Count, Flying Doctor
Kevin Curran has been acting for more than thirty years on stage, screen, radio and television. Kevin is thrilled to be making his Perchance theatre debut in The Flying Doctor.
Diane Flacks
Constance, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Diane Flacks is a writer/actor, dramaturge, story editor, and producer in theatre, TV, radio, and print media. Diane writes and produces TV, including as a key creative on Workin’ Moms, Baroness von Sketch Show, Young Drunk Punk, Working the Engels and Kids in the Hall – for which she was nominated for an Emmy. She co-created and written numerous TV series for CBC, and works as a story-breaker on new series for production companies, including Shaftesbury, and has developed series for Accent Entertainment, eOne, and First Generation films to name a few. She was the supervising producer for three seasons on the APTN series Qanurli? in Iqaluit. She also has a number of series in development, including The Wreck, a new comedy with Incendo Productions, and Bruce McCulloch’s Dog Park, with Lionsgate.
As a playwright, this spring, her fifth one-person play, Guilt (a love story) directed by Alisa Palmer, premiered at the Tarragon, and then toured to the Centaur and the RMTC to rave reviews, and is headed to Victoria. Diane also recently co-wrote and acted in a new play, PALS, at the WJT, directed by Jillian Keiley, with her theatrical brother, Richard Greenblatt, with whom she also wrote SIBS and CARE, both for the Tarragon Theatre. Diane and Richard adapted SIBS into a film for CBC. Also written for the Tarragon, is her play about medical risk and compassion, Waiting Room. She also wrote and starred in Unholy, her hit, critically acclaimed play about women and religion for Nightwood Theatre, directed by Kelly Thornton. Unholy was remounted twice in Toronto, nominated for a Dora for outstanding new play, and was filmed live for TV
Most recently, Diane played Mayer Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy for Theatre Calgary, directed by Sarah Garton Stanley. Diane also appeared in the long-anticipated adaptation of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees, directed by Alisa Palmer at CanStage, NAC, Neptune and the Grand theatres. FOYK was Dora nominated, and a recipient of a number of Robert Merritt awards in Halifax. Diane played the titular role of Nathan in Nathan the Wise in Stratford. Diane also received a Dora nomination for outstanding performance in Body Politic, by Nick Green, directed by Alisa Palmer. Her solo play for Luba Goy, Luba, Simply, Luba won the prestigious Kobzar literary award.
Diane was part of the Stratford playwright residency, and is working on a new play, which received the Elliot Hayes Playwright Award from the Stratford festival. Her four other solo shows Myth Me, By A Thread, Random Acts and Bear With Me (adapted from her book of the same name), have been critically acclaimed and remounted internationally. She played the lead in the independent queer film Portrait of A Serial Monogamist. She was CBC radio’s national parenting columnist for 7 years, and a featured columnist at The Toronto Star and the Globe. She has written the Dora Awards for the last 8 years. Diane is the proud mom of two astonishing sons.
Aiden Flynn
Professor Night / Othello / Tybalt, Nurse, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Back working with Danielle! I’ve had a working theatre relationship with Danielle Irvine longer than I think I’ve had with anyone else. It goes all the way back to Dick’s Kid’s Productions at MUN and the founding of the Shakespeare by the Sea Festival. Back in the 20th century.
Back outside! I’ve done a lot of acting, producing, writing, and directing for things outside. The aforementioned SBTS. Rising Tide. This festival, in fact, that moved to this lovely location but we originally started in Cupids in 2010. I’ve worked outside at the viking village in Nortsead on the Great Northern Peninsula. I’ve even done a turn with improv shows at the Calgary Stampede. A lot of sun-screen and “Off!” in that list.
Back and forth in the car! I’m very happy to be working with this incredible company (what a collection of humans) but I still have my gig as Director of the Arts and Culture Centres and my beautiful wife and daughter (Sarah and Evelyn) are all in town. Reminds me…I’ve got to find my mixed tapes for the road.
Back with a sword! Just…yay!
Back with the Bard!
Let’s do this!
Aiden
Colin Furlong
Angus, Tempting Providence; Mudder / Reg / Reverend / Man, Flying Doctor
Colin Furlong is an Actor from Mount Pearl, NL and is delighted to be back in beautiful Conception Harbour with Perchance this summer! No stranger to Newfoundland Theatre, Colin has spent his career performing and touring with companies across the Island and abroad. Favourite roles of his include The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, AfterImage (Artistic Fraud); The Only Living Father, Outside Mullingar, and the UK tour of Our Frances, (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador). Colin can often be found bringing you the TV News on CBC’s Son of a Critch, he also appears on the SYFY Television series’ Astrid and Lilly Save the World, and SurrealEstate, as well as on local favourite Hudson & Rex (CityTV). Thank you so much for coming to see us, and please enjoy the show!
Andrew Halliday
Romeo / Chorus / Iago / Ghost, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet); Valere, Flying Doctor
Andrew Ryan Halliday is a stage and screen performer based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Holding a fine arts degree in theatre from Memorial University’s Grenfell College, he has been performing across the island from the Northern Penninsula to the Avalon for the last eight years – and he is elated to be making his debut with Perchance this season! Notable credits include Saltwater Moon (Rising Tide), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare by the Sea), and 17 Men (TNL).
Una Hill-McMullin
Myra, Tempting Providence; Ramona / Desdemona / et al, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Una (she/her) was born and raised in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, but now calls St. John’s home. She came to Newfoundland in 2012 to earn her BFA in Theatre from the Grenfell Campus of
Memorial University and upon graduating in 2016, decided to make NL her permanent home. Her select credits include: Boeing Boeing and The 39 Steps (Beyond The Overpass), Fly Me To The Moon and Our Frances (UK Tour) (Gros Morne Theatre Festival); Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play (Hard Ticket Theatre), Hay Fever, The Tempest, and High Steel (Perchance Theatre); Seal Slippers: A Christmas Panto and Supper Club (Provincial Tour) (RCA Theatre). Her TV credits include: Son of a Critch, Hudson & Rex, and The Missus Downstairs. Una is so excited to be back for another season with Perchance for the remount of High Steel and can’t wait for audiences to experience Tempting Providence. She would also like to express her deepest gratitude for High Steel’s choreographer, Lynn Panting. Without her expertise, guidance, and movement vocabulary, we wouldn’t have been as secure and confident in remounting High Steel. Lynn, you are my rock and I’m proud to be taking the reins of Dance Captain thanks to you.
John Sheehan
Man, Every Brilliant Thing
Primarily a stand up comic, John found his way on to the Perchance stage in 2015, to play a dream role, that of Benedick in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
This is his first time back in theatre, since 2017, and to do so in Duncan Macmillan’s EVERY BRILLIANT THING, under the direction of a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, is both humbling, and an honour.
For more about his comedy career, tour schedules, and clips from shows, visit johnsheehancomedy.com
Gavin J. Snow
Phonse, Flying Doctor
Gavin J. Snow is an actor hailing from North River, Newfoundland. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Memorial University in 2023 and has worked with many theatre companies throughout Newfoundland since. Some of his past credits include Jersey Boys and Cabaret (TaDa! Events). No Man’s Land and The Trinity Pageant (Rising Tide Theatre). Turncoat Hill (King’s Point Theatre Project). He is also a writer and performer with the sketch comedy trio, “The Four Idiots”. Gavin is thrilled to make his Perchance Theatre debut and hopes you enjoy this season’s productions!
Andrew Tremblett
Man, Tempting Providence; Yaffle, Flying Doctor
Andrew Tremblett is an actor, writer, and producer for stage and screen based in Toronto, ON and St. John’s, NL. Tremblett received a BFA in Theatre performance at MUN’s Grenfell Campus. Following his degree, he went on to study with The Second City Training Centre in Chicago and Toronto. Some of Tremblett’s notable theatrical credits include: Tuzenbach – Three Sisters (2013), Bernard – Boeing Boeing (2014), Frankie – A Lie Of The Mind (2014), Romeo – Romeo and Juliet (2015), Feste – Twelfth Night (2016), Tranio – The Taming of the Shrew (2017), Puck – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018), Konstantin – The Seagull (2018), and Pantalone – The Servant of Two Masters (2019), Aaron Lenord – West Moon (2021). He can also be seen on television in shows such as JackTV (Bell Fibe TV1), Astrid & Lily Save The World (Syfy), and Hudson & Rex (CityTV). Tremblett is also known for his professional work in sketch comedy, with Halfhandsome as well as serving as the Festival Director for Newfoundland & Labrador Sketch Fest.
Marquita Walsh
Woman, Tempting Providence; Amanda Lynn, Flying Doctor
Marquita Walsh is a multidisciplinary artist from Fleur de Lys, Newfoundland. Her
outport upbringing has always been her biggest inspiration for storytelling. In 2013,
Marquita graduated from Memorial University’s Grenfell Theatre Program with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting). For the past ten years she has worked extensively
across the island and country as an actor and singer. Walsh is also a songwriter. Her
debut album Into The Night was nominated for Music NL’s Pop album of the year in
2018. Select Credits include:
For Theatre: Tell Tale Harbour / Anne of Green Gables – Confederation Centre of the
Arts, No Change in the Weather – Terra Bruce Productions, Tempting Providence / Bye
Bye Birdie – Theatre Newfoundland Labrador. Revue 2018 – Rising Tide Theatre. Brazil
Square – Resource Centre for the Arts, The Marvelous Wonderettes / Crimes of the
Heart / Boeing Boeing – Beyond The Overpass.
For Film: Hudson & Rex Season 6 / CityTV, Little Dog / CBC, Astrid and Lilly / CTV Sci-
fi, SurrealEstate / CTV-Sci-fi, Iskander / French Kiss Productions.
The Crew
Leila Abbasian
Market and Business Development Coordinator
Leila Abbasian is a PhD candidate in Process Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland and a passionate community-builder with over nine years of experience in nonprofit leadership, cultural programming, and business development. A Research Mobilization Fellow with Memorial’s Business & Innovation track, Leila brings expertise in grant writing, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning. She has led award-winning student initiatives and supported local cultural organizations through event planning, outreach, and marketing. With a deep appreciation for arts-based community work and sustainable innovation, she is excited to contribute to Perchance Theatre’s vision and growth.
Jayne Batstone
Box Office
Jayne Batstone is a NL born and raised singer / songwriter and actor, currently between semesters from the Fine Arts (theatre program) at MUN’s Grenfell campus. Her debut EP “Line Art” was released in 2021 and earned Jayne her first Music NL award nomination for Pop Artist of the Year. Reviews have described her vocals as “smooth and haunting” and her songwriting as “heartfelt and authentic”. Jayne is a fierce defender of equality, a lover of all things theatre, and as her song “Pastel Angst” says, believes that “dreaming is compulsory”.
Robert Chafe
Writer, Tempting Providence
Robert Chafe is a writer, educator, actor and arts administrator based in St. John’s, Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). He has worked in theatre, dance, opera, radio, fiction and film. His stage plays have been seen in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and in the United States, and include Oil and Water, Tempting Providence, Afterimage, Under Wraps, Between Breaths, Everybody Just Calm the Fuck Down, I Forgive You (with Scott Jones), and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (adapted from the novel by Wayne Johnston.) He has been shortlisted three times for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and he won the award for Afterimage in 2010. He has been a guest instructor at Memorial University, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and The National Theatre School of Canada. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Memorial University.
Emma Cole
Marketing and Communications Officer with Artistic Fraud
Emma Cole is a writer, costume designer, and anarchist bookseller from St. John’s, NL. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Acadia University in English and Theatre. By day she works for local arts organizations in communications and administration (AAMP, Artistic Fraud), and on other days she coordinates and designs costumes for theatre (Shakespeare By The Sea, Kittiwake Dance Theatre). Her creative writing has won awards from Kiwanis, Arts and Letters, and WritersNL, and been featured by CBC and estuary Arts Magazine. You can find her writing at emmacharlottecole.com, her custom clothing at @charlatandesigns, and her bookselling at @saltpagesnl.
Tucker Ellis
Set and Costume Designer, The Flying Doctor; Costume Designer, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Tucker Ellis is a costume and clothing designer based out of St. John’s, NL. Tucker grew up in a small community in central Newfoundland, and has had an active interest and training in musical theatre from an early age. After wandering from home and eventually landing permanently in St. John’s, Tucker attended the Textile and Apparel Design program at the College of the North Atlantic and graduated with first class honours, returning for an additional year of extended study focusing on pattern construction. Since leaving the program they have played an active role in the St. John’s theatre, fashion and craft communities. Tucker is excited to return to the Perchance Theatre team for their seventh summer with some Shakespearean nonsense with the “Come-By-Perchance Players.”
Christina Fox
Associate Fight Director, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Christina is a non-binary, queer actor and artist based in Tkaronto. While their first passion is acting, Christina has been delighted to work as an Intimacy Coordinator and Fight Director as well. They are a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. Christina is delighted to be joining the Perchance Theatre team and has thoroughly enjoyed their first visit to Newfoundland!
Select Credits: Cabaret (TheatreTO); Blackbird, Perfect on Paper (Talk is Free Theatre); Oliver! (Yes Theatre Sudbury); Mad Madge (Nightwood Theatre) Associate Fight Director (Stratford Festival)
Sharon King-Campbell
Assistant Director, Tempting Providence
Sharon King-Campbell (she/her) is a director, playwright and performer based in St. John’s. In addition to her work on Tempting Providence, she has been assistant director for Artistic Fraud’s Between Breaths, I Forgive You, Fear of Flight, co-director of City of Stories, and director of transVersing. She has directed for companies across Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) including Best Kind Productions, New Curtain Theatre, Grand Bank Regional Theatre, and Stephenville Theatre Festival. She was the recipient of the 2017 Rhonda Payne Theatre Award. Sharon holds a BFA Theatre (Acting) and a MA English (Creative Thesis) from Memorial University, where she is now pursuing her PhD. She is the Artistic Director of the Shakespeare by the Sea Festival.
Danielle Irvine
Artistic Director
Danielle Irvine is a proud Newfoundlander who has traveled a lot for her work. Highlights of her career include teaching and directing at the National Theatre School of Canada (most recently as the leader of their second year Shakespeare Project) ; Assistant Directing at the Stratford Festival of Canada (including being the first director to study in their Birmingham Conservatory); and winning such awards as the Canada Council for the Arts prestigious John Hirsch Prize for Directing, the ArtsNL BMO Artist of the Year, and the ArtsNL Artist’s Achievement Award 2019. Danielle was also a participant in the World Stage Festival 2000’s Master Class for Directors; where she was honoured to study with such theatre greats as Peter Brook, Yoshi Oida and Polly Teale. In the fall of 2016, she was invited to participate in the inaugural Stratford Festival’s International Classical Directing Intensive. For over 30 years, she has been directing theatrical productions of all sizes and types in all manner of venues. Her love and passion for NL culture combined with her theatre training inspired Danielle to co-develop a show with Anna Stassis which brought audiences through a theatrical experience on a bus, a ferry, around Bell Island and culminated 650 feet underground in a mine. This was listed by the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres as a Landmark Theatrical Event in 1997. She was one of the founders of the Shakespeare by the Sea Festival in NL, as well as the founding artistic director of Sweetline Theatre Company. She has also been a keynote speaker and workshop leader at various conferences over the years and is also a casting director for television and film. Credits include: CBC’s Republic of Doyle; the Netflix series, Frontier; the CBC Series, LittleDog; the CBC mini-series, Caught; the Citytv Series, Hudson and Rex; and the feature film, Maudie. Recently, she has been nominated a YWCA Woman of Distinction for Arts and Culture and a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Excellence in Casting for Frontier. Since 2014, Danielle has been bringing her love of Newfoundland culture and community, together with her passion for Shakespeare and other timeless theatre in her role as the Artistic Producer of Perchance Theatre.
Jillian Keiley
Director, Tempting Providence
Jillian Keiley has directed and taught across Canada and Internationally. She was the Associate Artistic Director at the Resource Centre for the Arts in St.John’s, Newfoundland, and founding Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. She assumed her role as the Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2012. Highlights from Artistic Fraud include In Your Dreams Freud, Under Wraps, Afterimage, The Cheat, The Chekhov Variations, Salvage: The Story of a House, Oil and Water, Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, and I Forgive You, most of which toured Canada. NAC highlights include Andy Jones’ Tartuffe, A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night as Imagined by the Old Trout Puppet Workshop, Metamorphoses, and Copenhagen. She also directed Anne Carson’s Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, As You Like It, The Neverending Story, and Alice Through the Looking Glass as well as this years’ Richard II for The Stratford Festival. Her Production of Alice Through the Looking Glass travelled across the country engaging local casts in Ottawa, Edmonton, Charlottetown, Stratford and Winnipeg. Tempting Providence, her collaboration with Robert Chafe for Theatre Newfoundland Labrador toured nationally and internationally for 12 years. Earlier this year she directed Pals with Richard Greenblatt and Diane Flacks for Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. Jillian finished her tenure at the NAC in August of 2022. Her productions of TellTale Harbour for the Charlottetown Festival and her all new production of Come From Away set in Gander Newfoundland were among the top selling productions in Canada in 2022 and 2023. She is directing a remount of Tempting Providence and a remount of Come From Away this year. Jillian has directed Opera, Musicals, Children’s Theatre, Music Theatre, Puppet Theatre, New Work and recognized Classics, as well as concert choreographies, an Olympic medal presentation ceremony, and large scale experiential installations. She has directed productions in Italy, Australia and Ireland. She teaches and mentors regularly, including recurring contracts with the National Theatre School in Montreal. She holds Honorary Doctorates from Memorial University in Newfoundland and Toronto’s York University. She is the Winner of the Canada Council John Hirsch Prize and the 2004 Siminovitch Prize for Directing.
Allison Moira Kelly
Director, Every Brilliant Thing
Allison is an actor, director, and writer from Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, who
has a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Memorial University, Grenfell Campus, a Masters of
Fine Arts from York University, and a diploma in directing from The National Theatre
School of Canada. As an actor, Allison has worked for theatre companies across Atlantic
Canada including Perchance Theatre (Hamlet, Our Eliza, Julius Caesar, Midsummer
Night’s Dream), Resource Centre for the Arts (The Drowning Girls, Dedication, Seal
Slippers), Rising Tide (Saltwater Moon), Two Planks and A Passion (Unity, 1918), and
more.
As a director, she has directed for Gros Morne Theatre Festival (Our Eliza, NL Rocks),
Memorial University’s Theatre Department (Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bedlam) and was
the associate director to Jillian Keiley on Come From Away. Recently Allison directing the
remount of Rising Tide’s Maiden Voyage. Allison is currently the Artistic Director the St.
John’s Short Play festival, where she helps to program the festival.
Select television and film credits include Son of a Critch, Republic of Doyle,
Surrealestate, Hudson and Rex, and Little Dog. Allison is one fourth of the sketch
comedy troupe Mom’s Girls who have been performing to audiences since 2018,
including four sold out shows at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. Their children’s
television series Tales from the Floordrobe is streaming on BellFibe.
Shannon Lacey
Technical Director
Shannon Lacey (She/Her) is currently enrolled at CNA’s Television and Film Creation program, she is the technical director for Perchance Theatre this summer, she has been on a few film sets and absolutely adores the film and entertainment industry. If you ask her what her favourite films are, she could talk for hours.
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Writer, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Ann-Marie MacDonald is a novelist, playwright, actor, and broadcast host. Her work has been honoured with numerous awards, including the Chalmers, the Governor General’s, Gemini, Dora Mavor Moore, John Drainie, the Gascon-Thomas, the Canadian Authors Association, the Canadian Booksellers Association, and the Commonwealth Prize. Her writing for the stage includes the plays, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning, Juliet), Belle Moral: A Natural History, and Hamlet-911; the libretto for the chamber opera, Nigredo Hotel, and book and lyrics for Anything That Moves; her novels are Fall On Your Knees, The Way the Crow Flies, Adult Onset, and Fayne. Ann-Marie graduated from the Acting Program of The National Theatre School of Canada in 1980. In 2019 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. She is married to theatre director, Alisa Palmer, with whom she has two children.
Leo Mackey
Stage Manager, Tempting Providence, The Flying Doctor
BA, BEd, MEd
Since graduating from Memorial University in 1993, Leo has taught junior and senior high school in Newfoundland until his retirement in 2024. This is his third season working with Perchance Theatre. He has thoroughly enjoyed his experience as the stage manager for Flying Doctor.
Jax McNabb
Assistant Stage Manager
Jax McNabb is a theatre fanatic from St. John’s, NL. She is delighted to be a part of her first season with Perchance Theatre this summer. She is a grade 11 student at Holy Heart of Mary Regional High School. Recent credits include ASMing Annapurna (Nothing On Productions) as well as work on props and lighting for various productions with the Holy Heart MainStage Company. Other passions include reading, overdressing whenever possible, and her two cats.
Woody Meaney
Lead Contractor on Site
I’m 51, married to Johannah for 29 years. I have two kids, Nathan, and Noah, and I’ve lived in Avondale most of my life. I’ve been a contractor on and off for most of my life.
Evan Mercer
Writer / Adapter, Flying Doctor
Evan Mercer (he/him) is an actor/writer/director/musician from Shearstown Newfoundland and Labrador. He graduated the National Theatre School of Canada in Acting in 2023 and is currently near finishing the Birmingham Conservatory program at the Stratford Shakespeare festival. In his 15 year career as an actor he has been fortunate to have worked with many of the best theatre companies in Newfoundland and Canada: Having completed seasons with Perchance Theatre, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Newfoundland, Poverty Cove Theatre, Rising Tide Theatre and more. In film and television he as had recurring roles on CBC and Netflix productions and in 2017 was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for best supporting actor in a feature film for his work in Riverhead. As a writer his Commedia Dell’arte love letter Help my Doctor is a Bayman or The Flying Doctor has been produced twice since 2023 and he has been a staff writer for Rising Tide’s politcal satire show Revue multiple seasons and has written material with HalfHandsome (where he was a producing member) that has travelled to the New York, Toronto, and Chicago Sketch Comedy Festivals respectively. In leadership positions he assistant directed both …The Flying Doctor and The Tempest in Perchance Theatre’s 2023 season, and continues to advise in programming and development. Also he has taught several workshops at the Stratford Festival and during his time at NTS under the Creative Facilitation Program guided a cohort of high school students in a project to find their original voice through writing. As a proud Newfoundlander he is eager to continue in the free exchange of learning from his experiences in other parts of Canada to Newfoundland and vice-versa.
Sophia Molnar
Stage Manager, Every Brilliant Thing and Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Sophia (she/her/elle) has a BFA from Grenfell’s Technical Theatre program. Selected theatre credits include: 76 Centimeters (TODOS Productions); J’aime ma francophonie (Amandine & Rosalie), An American Hymnal (Terra Bruce Productions); How To Make Bread; Jewel, The Birds, The SS Ethie, Bingo Ladies (The Gros Morne Theatre Festival). Merci à tous and enjoy the show!
Baptiste Neis
Front of House Manager
Baptiste Neis is an actor, filmmaker, and puppeteer. She has performed with companies including White Rooster, C2C Theatre, Artistic Fraud, Caravan Stage Barge, Rising Tide, and 30for60. Baptiste designs, builds, and performs puppetry, including The Sleeping Prince with the Waterloo Chamber Players and Kate Crackerberry with White Rooster Theatre. She has produced and directed for film, television, and new media, and has collaborated on dance film initiatives with Stand Up Dance. Baptiste has held leadership roles with the Resource Centre for the Arts, the Nickel Independent Film Festival, and is a founding director of Perchance Theatre. She holds a BFA in Acting from Concordia University.
Anita Nittoly
Fight, movement and intimacy director, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet); Fight Director
Fight & Intimacy Director (selected):
Stratford Festival 2025 season; Fat Ham, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Hamlet, Fairview (Canstage); GroundHog Day (YES); CRAZE (Tarragon); Midsummer Night’s Dream (Perchance); The Bidding War, Wights, Bad Roads, Prodigal (Crow’s); Roberto Zucco, Angels in America (Buddies in Bad Times); The Retreat (Imago); Truth (YPT)
Jesus Christ Superstar (Here For Now); WildWoman (Soulpepper); Hamlet (The Rose); Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (TIP); Fall on Your Knees (CanStage/NAC/The Grand); Counter Offence (Segal Centre)
Stunt Performer/Stunt Actor credits (selected):
Copenhagen, Slasher, Twisted Metal S2, Law & Order: Toronto, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, The Boys, Handmaid’s Tale.
Upcoming Theatre Projects:
Robin Hood, Slave Play (CanStage); The Welkin (Soulpepper); Powers and Gloria (Blyth Festival)
Upcoming Theatre Projects:
Robin Hood, Slave Play (CanStage); The Welkin (Soulpepper); Powers and Gloria (Blyth Festival)
Upcoming Film/TV Projects:
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy S2; Emerald Inn
Alisa Palmer
Director, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
An internationally trained, award-winning theatre director, playwright, and theatre producer with a career spanning over 25 years, Alisa’s work crosses genres, including the classics, contemporary plays, creation projects, musicals and operas. Alisa’s work is characterized by vivid performances, a bold use of music, powerful visuals and a passionate commitment to the body politic.
Alisa’s productions have been celebrated in theatres across Canada including the recent national tour of the critically acclaimed, two-part adaptation of Fall on Your Knees. She spent eight seasons at the Shaw Festival and three seasons at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival where she directed the world premiere of Hamlet-911 by Ann-Marie MacDonald. She is the former artistic director of Nightwood Theatre where she commissioned and produced landmark productions including Harlem Duet by Djanet Sears, and Smudge by Alex Bulmer, Canada’s first professional play by a visually impaired playwright. Alisa was also resident director for the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings for Mirvish Entertainment.
A passionate supporter of Canada’s theatre community, Alisa has served on the Toronto Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Conseils des arts du Montreal and the Steering Committee for the Canadian Arts Summit, where she served as Chair from in 2020 to 2022. Alisa recently completed an eleven-year tenure as the first Executive Artistic Director of the English Section of the National Theatre School of Canada, Canada’s only arts school training in both official languages. Alisa is founder and Artistic Producer of Vita Brevis Arts, a company committed to the development of urgent and ambitious theatre projects.
Cordella Pilgrim
Financial Manager
BAccS, CPA
Cordella has been working in accounting and business management for 25 years, and she is excited to join Perchance this season as part of the office management team. She believes that “Accounting Matters” and she aims to prove that every day at work and through her business. Cordella enjoys snuggling with pets, solving problems, making a positive difference, and sharing homemade cookies.
Liam Kavanagh-Penney
Box Office
Liam Kavanagh-Penney is from and lives here in Conception Harbour. Liam is a grade 11 student at the local high school, Roncalli Central High. Interested in the arts Liam is excited to work with us over the summer. Over the previous season and into the fall Liam has volunteered with us many times, from helping to build the theatre to scaring the community in the Halloween Harbour Haunt. Liam is very excited to work with us again this season and hopes to add to the already positive atmosphere we have here as a team.
James Richardson
Managing Producer with Artistic Fraud
James is an award-winning producer, cultural manager, director, sound designer, actor and collaborator with over 20 years experience in theatre and music across Canada. Originally from St. John’s, James founded Third Wall Theatre in 2001 in Ottawa, where it quickly became one of the city’s leading theatre companies. As producer / artistic director, he has won several Prix Rideau Awards and Capital Critics Circle awards and in 2016 he was awarded the Special Jury Prize from the Capital Critics for his work with TWA, Third Wall’s youth wing that he established. He has served as General Manager for Odyssey Theatre and the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Ontario and worked with the Ottawa Jazz Festival and Ottawa Children’s Festival. As an actor, James has worked with Third Wall Theatre, Vision Theatre, Actors’ Co-op, Gros Morne Theatre Festival and Theatre By The Bay; he holds a BFA in Fine Arts (Theatre) from Grenfell College and a MFA in Directing from the University of Ottawa. Over the years he has worked all jobs from baggage handler to nanny to overnight stocker. When not in the theatre he can be seen building things, playing piano, participating in orienteering events or on a hike with Laurel Anne and their dog Zeke.
Jodee Richardson
Season Sound Design and Composition
Jodee Richardson is a lifelong Newfoundland creator who focuses on local people, places and projects, hopefully using his abilities to further enrich the cherished culture of our province. He is currently developing a new original 9-member dance band, HIT PIECE (debuting at Writers at Woody Point 2024) and tours the island each September with his partner Nicole Hand and their dog Nan. Next year his new play Sorrow’s Tree will debut with the beloved Perchance Theatre.
Martin Rotchford
Stage Hand and Box Office
Martin Rotchford (he/him) is a local lad. He was born and raised in Conception Harbour, NL. He just finished Grade 12 at Roncalli Central High School in Avondale. He intends to pursue a career in Engineering at Memorial University. He is an avid crib player, loves swimming, and going on adventures with his family. He is an active member in the community, always contributing to local events. Martin lucked in to a three-day stint with Perchance Theatre last season. That was all it took to get him hooked, so he’s making a comeback this year. You’ll see him milling around, so be sure to say hello! He’s a pretty nice guy.
Perry Schneiderman
Director, Flying Doctor
Listed in Canadian Who’s Who for his contribution to Canadian Theatre as director, master teacher, translator and administrator.
Stratford Festival: Comedia coach The Hypochondriac, Don Juan; Choral direction Comedy of Errors; Comedia Master class, Taming of the Shrew; Comedia/Mask Master classes Birmingham Conservatory throughout directorship of Michael Mawson /David Latham.
Former Artistic Director, National Theatre School of Canada (initiated Writing/Directing programs), Former Artistic Director, Piggery Theatre, Former Chair RyersonTheatre School.
Selected Directing: Place Des Arts: Nathalie Choquette’s La Diva (Charles Dutoit/MSO) NTS: Servant of Two Masters, The Miser, Flea in Her Ear; Piggery: Noises Off, Lend Me a Tenor, Crimes of the Heart; Theatre Francais de Toronto: Les Fridolinades; Theatre du Vieux Terrebonne/Quebec Tour: Tenor Recherché with Benoit Briere. Translations English/French: Lend Me a Tenor, Old Love, East of Berlin, The Little Years and Perchance Theatre: Servant of Two Masters.
Mask Master classes: Las Vegas (Cirque de Soleil), Moscow Art Theatre, Glasgow (RSAMD), Shanghai Theatre Academy, Capetown (Emerging Artists).
Training: L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, University of Washington
Jordan Vincer
Production Manager
Jordan is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University and holds a BFA in theatre production. Jordan is primarily a stage manager. Select Credits include Come From Away (You Are Here, Inc.) , The Empire Strips Back – Star Wars Burlesque Parody (NX5 Theatrical) , Man of the Year (Artistic Fraud), Jesus Christ Superstar (TIFT), There’s Nothing You Can Do (RCAT), and Once: The Musical (Theatre St. John’s). Jordan is thrilled to be back with Perchance Theatre and wants to thank you for coming out and enjoying our 2025 season. Instagram @jordanvincer
Board of Directors
Perchance Theatre is a registered Canadian charitable organization (819766650RR0001) and is incorporated provincially as a non-profit organization under the governance of a volunteer board of directors:
Natasha Hart
Chair
Giles Ayers
Vice Chair/Treasurer
Aleksandra Stefanovic-Chafe
Secretary
Danielle Irvine
Artistic Director, ex-officio
Allison Catmur
Co-Chair
Don Fitzpatrick
Member
Patrick Mackey
Director
William Newton
Member
A Tribute to
Ian Watson
Ian was a dear friend and mentor to some of us here at Perchance. And through those of us who were his students – his knowledge, passion, and electricity touches all.
He was an actor, director, teacher and coach, with a specialization in classical text. He worked at the Stratford Festival, the National Theatre School...
Ian was a dear friend and mentor to some of us here at Perchance. And through those of us who were his students – his knowledge, passion, and electricity touches all.
He was an actor, director, teacher and coach, with a specialization in classical text. He worked at the Stratford Festival, the National Theatre School of Canada, Ryerson Theatre School, and even came to our province to lead workshops with his beloved wife, Janine Pearson (Head of Coaching at the Stratford Festival). Every step of our text analysis was informed by Ian and Janine’s work. Our joy in the taste of the power of words came directly from their guidance. Ian unlocked the key to argument and through his passionate, unwavering and infectious deep commitment to specificity in performance, he made us all better. And he did it all with a kindness, generosity, and wisdom that brought out the best in each individual.
Our 2019 season was dedicated to the honour of Ian Watson. In 2020, Ian’s family honoured Perchance Theatre with a bequest in Ian’s name that changed the course of the company. This transformative gift has allowed our company to weather a pandemic and come out as a strong, year-round organization that has the ability to pay forward Ian’s love of words.
“He gave his honours to the world again, His blessed part to heaven, and slept in peace.” (Henry VIII)
Perchance Theatre is a proud member of Business and the Arts NL and the international Shakespeare Theatre Association.
