Lynda Celentano - Playwright

Lynda Celentano is known for her relatable, humourous stories that explore themes such as bullying, generation gaps, peer pressure, and family tradition, set within the backdrop of her Italian-Canadian culture. She holds a BA in English Studies with distinction from York University in Toronto, and since 2018, has received ongoing education and mentorship through Alberta Playwrights’ Network and the Writers-in-Residence at the Edmonton Public Library (EPL). She’s grateful for the opportunities EPL has given her to showcase her work, which include being part of Darrin Hagen’s 2018 Emerging Writer’s Showcase, having a short story published by Capital City Press in 2022, and in 2024, being interviewed alongside Tololwa Mollel by Mark  Connolly for CBC Radio – Edmonton AM. In February of this year, Lynda's play, "Giorgi of the Jungle", was featured at Script Salon in preparation for its debut at the Edmonton Fringe Festival, 2025. Lynda’s humour is greatly inspired by her family and friends, and a slew of “old” character-driven TV shows and comedic performers she grew up watching. When she’s not writing, she enjoys taking classes in playwriting, screenwriting and performance, seeing local plays, and meeting friends for tea and “snackage”. 

Amanda Bergen graduated from the MFA Directing and the BA Drama programs at the University of Alberta. She is a director, educator and actor.  Acting credits include Bitches: A Woman’s Fury, The Flood: A Disaster Story, and Trout Stanley. Her passion for leading creators and educating folks in drama and communication has brought her to teach with the Grindstone Theatre, UofA Drama and Concordia University of Edmonton. As founding Artistic Director and Producer of the Capitol Theatre, she wore all the hats to create a season of quirky, heart-filled productions. Amanda completed three seasons there, and some of her favourites include The Importance of Being Earnest, The Velveteen Rabbit, and Poof! The Musical by Nick Green and Darrin Hagen.

Before that, she headed up Twenties Street Productions at Fort Edmonton Park. Along with award-winning playwright Nick Green, Amanda premiered many original works such as My Blue Heaven, A Long Night, Love Letters and Under the Big Top. For the University of Alberta, she directed April de Angelis’ Ironmistress, Gabriel by Moira Buffini and a staged reading of Fetch by Elena Belyea. Tribes was the production that opened up the world of accessible theatre and changed how she teaches and creates. Amanda continues to shift and adjust as a director and educator, focusing on anti-racism and consent-based theatre practice. . This led her to expand her theatre “toolbox” to include intimacy direction. 

Abby McDougall (she/her) is an Alberta-based actor and University of Alberta BFA Acting alumna. Recent theatre credits include: Robot Girls* (Shadow Theatre) A Christmas Carol (Carter-Ryan Productions), The Radical Re-Education of Generation Z, Internet Hygiene, and Being AFK (Play The Fool Festival 2023, SkirtsAfire Festival 2023), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Grindstone Theatre), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Theatre Calgary). Abby received a Sterling nomination for her performance in Robot Girls (Outstanding Performance Supporting Role). As a filmmaker, she has been awarded the Golden Nose award from the 2021 Play the Fool Film Fest for her film Outtshgh, and the Best in Alberta award the following year for her film EGG (created in collaboration with Dayna Lea Hoffmann). Abby’s experience with comedy, clown, and puppetry inspires her to seek opportunities to laugh and play in her work. Her focus is to create honest, inclusive, relatable art that can connect people and invite them to reflect on themselves.
*World Premiere

Robyn Clark (she/they) is a Métis emerging theatre artist from Sikóóhkotok (Lethbridge) currently residing in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton). She is a recent graduate of MacEwan University's Music Theatre Performance BFA program and also completed two years at the University of Lethbridge in the Drama Education BFA/BEd program. They frequently volunteer with Workshop West Playwright's Theatre, as well as many other local theatre companies in Edmonton and Lethbridge. Robyn loves riding the LRT and collecting double-decker teapots. Recent theatre credits include WROL (Light In The Dark Theatre), Twelfth Night, Legally Blonde, Spring Awakening, and London Road (MacEwan Music Theatre Performance), and Identity: A Cabaret (Director, Producer, and Performer, Sweet Charities Cabaret)

Garett Ross is a graduate of the theatre programs at the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan.  Previous credits include: The Three Musketeers (Citadel Theatre & Arts Club Theatre), The Sound of Music (Citadel Theatre & Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Jane Eyre, Shakespeare in Love, Peter and the Starcatcher, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet (The Citadel Theatre); Fever-Land, I Heard About Your Murder (Teatro La Quindicina);  Nevermore, The Soul Collector, Vigilante (Catalyst Theatre);  Sherlock Holmes and the Raven's Curse (Vertigo Theatre); Liberation Days (Theatre Calgary); Jack Goes Boating (Sage Theatre); Outside Mullingar, The Best Brothers, Beginning of August (Shadow Theatre); Chicago, Hairspray, Sheer Madness (Mayfield Dinner Theatre).  

Kaeley Jade Wiebe is a multidisciplinary artist based out of amiskwaciwâskahikan/Edmonton, Alberta, and she is excited to make her SPRINGBOARDS debut. She is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting Program, and she also recently studied sound design and composition in the Citadel Theatre’s RBC Horizon Emerging Artists Program. Kaeley’s deep involvement within the theatre, film, and music ecosystems have presented her many opportunities to weave her disciplines together; in 2022, Kaeley joined forces with playwright Trevor Schmidt to create the critically acclaimed country-folk musical Two-Headed/Half-Hearted, which premiered at Northern Light Theatre with Kaeley in the role of “Venus”. Additional acting credits for theatre include: The Wolves (Citadel Theatre/The Maggie Tree), Toque: Songs for a Canadian Winter; All Because I’m A Woman (Citadel Theatre House Series), A Christmas Carol (Carter-Ryan Productions), Chrysothemis (Studio Theatre), Sprouts (Concrete Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare by the Bow), A World of Stories (Alberta Musical Theatre Company). Kaeley also works as a singer/songwriter with her project Kaeley Jade; her debut album, Turpentine, has taken her across Canada with over 130 performances in the past two years, including the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, and garnered accolades that include a Canadian Folk Music Award.

Hayley (she/they) is an actor, playwright, dramaturg and producer. She is grateful to be living and working on Treaty 6 territory in Amiskwaciwâskahikan, colonially known as Edmonton. Select acting credits include Stars on Her Shoulders (Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre), Robot Girls (Shadow Theatre), Smoke (Tiny Bear Jaws), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lodestar Theatre), Slight of Mind (Theatre Yes) and The Bully Project (Concrete Theatre). Next up, you can catch Hayley in Little Women at the Citadel Theatre.