The Playwrights
Aksam Alyousef is a playwright, director and producer in theater and television. He was graduate of The High Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus- Syria. (BA in Criticism and theatrical literature). Beside his writings about theatre in Syrian newspapers, he taught drama in Syria and Qatar for many years before moving to work as a script writer and producer in Aljazeera Network. Alyousef is in the second year of his MA in drama at the University of Alberta. His work in television includes writing and producing programming for children. Since coming to Canada in 2016 Alyousef has written and directed many new plays, including Offerings, Honey and Nuts, Souls, Hagar, F.O.B. and Rehearsal.
aksam alyousef
Recent plays include: E DAY, (Theatre Network Performance Series), I SHOT A DUCK (Augustana University), Murderers Confess at Christmastime (Summerworks, Theatre Network Performance Series), an adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull (University of Alberta, MacEwan University), and Ladies Who Lynch (Azimuth Theatre, Workshop West Theatre’s Canoe Festival). Short plays include: Screen Time (Concrete Theatre), I Love Your Hair and Other Conversations for The National Elevator Project (Theatre Yes), and Problems in Politics and the Pitfalls of Public Service, which was created during a residency at Edmonton’s City Hall (Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre). Jason is a multiple Sterling award nominee and shares a Dora award nomination for outstanding ensemble with the cast of Mr. Marmalade (Outside the March). He is a recent a graduate of the University of Alberta’s MFA Theatre Practice program with a specialization in playwriting and community-based theatre.
jason chinn
Bevin Dooley is a Sterling Award-nominated playwright and dramaturg. She is the author of IN CAMERA, The Drowned, Slack Tide, and Deadstock, and the creator/performer of The Author Will See You Now. Her work has been presented at the Common Ground Arts Society’s Found Festival, SkirtsAfire Festival, the Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival, the Serca Festival of Irish Theatre, Script Salon, and the Tiger Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival. As a dramaturg, Bevin has assisted in the development of new plays for NextFest, the University of Alberta’s New Works Festival, Alberta Playwrights’ Network, and the Alberta Musical Theatre Company. Earlier this year, she was the recipient of a 2019 Edmonton Artist Trust Fund award.
bevin dooley
Beth Graham is a playwright and actor. Her plays include: The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble (finalist for the Governor General’s Award, Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award), Pretty Goblins (Sterling Award nomination), Working It Out (Sterling Award) and A Life in the Day (Sterling nomination). Her collaborations include: The Drowning Girls (with Daniela Vlaskalic and Charlie Tomlinson), Mules and The Last Train (both with Daniela Vlaskalic), The Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things (with Nathan Cuckow) and Fortune Falls (with Jonathan Christenson). She has held residencies at the Banff Playwrights Lab, The Citadel Theatre, The Stratford Festival, The National Theatre School, Catalyst Theatre, and Workshop West Playwrights Theatre. Beth is the current Lee Playwright-in-Residence at the University of Alberta and the resident dramaturg at Workshop West Playwrights Theatre. Her play, Pretty Goblins, will be published by Playwrights Canada Press this fall.
beth graham
Josh is thrilled to be joining the team of Workshop West Playwrights Theatre! Josh Languedoc is an Anishinaabe playwright, theatre educator, and theatre artist from Saugeen First Nation. For the past 10 years, Josh has been teaching theatre writing, creation, acting, and improvisation throughout the greater Edmonton community. Josh has been an active teaching artist and actor for the #WriteOfPassage program since its introduction to Edmonton in 2016. Josh has taught the program throughout Edmonton and as far as Lloydminster and Maskwacis Reservation. Josh also has served as a theatre instructor for Artstrek, the Citadel Theatre and Edmonton Public Schools. In 2018, Josh collaborated with the Drama Department of Ross Sheppard High School to create and direct Side By Side: Our Stories, a devised creation piece rooted in Indigenous teachings and the ancestral stories of the students. As a playwright, Josh’s solo show Rocko and Nakota: Tales From the Land has also toured across Canada to various communities and schools. These days, you can also catch Josh doing research and teaching some undergraduate students while working on his MFA Theatre Practices in Indigenous Playwrighting at the University of Alberta, in addition to his role as Director of Education with Workshop West.
josh languedoc
Susie Moloney is a novelist, and screenwriter. An award-winning novelist, her five books of fiction have been published all over the world, in multiple languages. New to film, she makes her feature debut October 2020 with Bright Hill Road, produced by Nevermind Films. Her award-winning shorts, The Suburbanight and Romi continue on the festival circuit. Currently she is completing a new film, also to be produced by Nevermine. She’s written for television, magazines, newspapers, in all genres including horror, humour, news, features, and biography. She’s delighted to be making her theatrical debut.
susie moloney
Harley Morison (he/him) is an Edmonton-based director, playwright, and producer. He co-founded the independent company, Cardiac Theatre with Jessica Glover in 2016. His work is often queer-focused and is very proud of co-creating Cardiac Theatre 2020 initiative, The Alberta Queer Calendar Project alongside Jessica Glover and Liam Salmon. Directing credits include My Boyfriend’s Boyfriend (Alberta Queer Calendar Project), KaldrSaga: A Queer Tavern Drama for a Midwinters’ Night, Meet Me Under the Gnarly Tree, The Listening Room, Pompeii, L.A., Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes, Pacamambo and Hot Mess for Cardiac Theatre; Orestes 2.0 for ABBEDAM Productions; and assistant director on Adult Entertainment and The End of Civilization with Punctuate! Theatre. His plays include KaldrSaga and Meet Me Under the Gnarly Tree. Harley holds a BA (Honors) in Drama from the University of Alberta and also works for Theatre Network.
harley morison
Mũkonzi wa Mũsyoki is a playwright, director, theatre scholar and a dramaturge from Kenya. He is a PhD student at the University of Alberta in Performance Studies, researching East African Theatre and Performance, Dramaturgy, Urban Discourse and Identity Politics. Mũkonzi is excited to be part of this engagement. He looks forward to creating in an environment that looks beyond the ordinary while navigating the numerous challenges that have made our lives acquire a different rhythm.
MŨKONZI WA MŨSYOKI
Mieko works as an actor, writer, director and dramaturg. She splits her time between her work as Artistic Director of Concrete Theatre, a professional theatre for young audiences company, Associate Artist at the Citadel and a freelance theatre artist. Her plays The Red Priest, The Blue Light, The Dada Play, Nisei Blue, I Am For You, Consent and The Silver Arrow are produced across Canada and internationally and have been recognized with the Carol Bolt Prize, two Betty Awards and a Governor General’s Award nomination as well as translated into six languages. Currently she is working on a new play Burning Mom with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, which has received kind and generous additional support from both Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre and fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre. Mieko was proud to be the 2019-2020 playwright in residence at Workshop West while she worked on the play.
mieko ouchi
Amena Shehab is a Syrian-Canadian actress and a writer. She studied at the High Institute of Theatre in Damascus and worked with Al Jazeera Children’s Channel, and other local theatre companies in Syria and Qatar. Her plays in Edmonton have been works that have spoken to her as a woman, a mother, and an immigrant. She is pleased to have been able to work in these roles to share her experiences with other Canadians.
Her first play in Edmonton was Nine Parts of Desire in 2017. She also played the Ghost in Souls at the 2017 Edmonton Fringe, and the Nurse in Medea at the University of Alberta. This was followed by more plays about the immigrant experience including her one-woman show, ‘Hagar’ in 2018. She performed in other Fringe plays, as Sammar in F.O.B, and Nahla in ‘Harun’. In 2019, she played Amena in E-Day and in Rehearsal. Her current play is All That Binds Us with Azimuth Theatre.
amena shehab
Featuring
Helen Belay (she/her) is an actor and storyteller that has been playing with words and obsessed with all things beautiful since she was a wee babe in Bedford, England. A graduate of the University of Alberta's BFA Acting program, you may have recently seen her in The Blue Hour (SkirtsAFire Festival), her Sterling-nominated turn in The Society of the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius (Theatre Network), Cinderella (Globe Theatre), Vidalia (Teatro La Quindicina), Concord Floral (Edmonton Fringe), Middletown, All For Love, Lenin’s Embalmers (Studio Theatre). She is currently one of the Citadel Theatre’s Associate Artists.
helen belay
David Madawo is a local film and theatre actor as well as a journalist based in Edmonton. Having been featured in local films like Smile: It’s Only the End of the World (2020), Fugacis (2019), Black and Blue (2019), Hot Box (2019), Equilibria (2018), Awake (2018). Madawo’s theatre credits include: Until the Next Breath (2020), E-Day (2019), Balance Board (2019), Shoreline (2019), Christmas Carol (2017). Madawo is honoured to be included in the production of Here There Be Night.
david madawo
Melissa Thingelstad received her BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta and has worked as a professional actor in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton) for fifteen years. She is an Associate Producer for theatre no. 6, an Artistic Associate with Theatre Yes and was co-curator on the National Elevator Project. Her acting portfolio includes stage work, film work, and voice over. She has had the great privilege of working in Edmonton, Banff, Winnipeg, Washington, DC, London, England, and Halifax and is the recipient of three Elizabeth Sterling Haynes awards for acting. Melissa has also collaborated on new works for a number of multidisciplinary festivals in the city including: Visualeyze Festival, Storefront Cinema Nights, The Expanse Movement Festival, and The Kaleido Festival. Selected Theatre Credits Include: Slight of Mind and Viscosity (Theatre Yes), Stupid F@#cking Bird and Fatboy (Edmonton Actors’ Theatre), The Fever and Proud (theatre no.6), An Accident (Northern Light Theatre), Kill Me Now (Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre), Three Sisters (Broken Toys Theatre), and The Supine Cobbler (The Maggie Tree).
melissa thingelstad
Nadien Chu (she/her/hers) is a mixed race artist living, creating and these days.. zooming in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton), Treaty 6 territory. She loves to work in different spaces and in different ways theatrically. Enjoy the show!
Recent theatre credits include:
All that Binds Us, Azimuith Theatre; The Roomate, Shadow Theatre; Mr. Burns, Thou Art Here, The Thin Man, Vertigo Theatre, The Tempest, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Penelopiad, Citadel Theatre, All the Little Animals I have Eaten, One Yellow Rabbit, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Winter, Titus Andronicus, Freewill Shakespeare Festival; Pretty Goblins, Workshop West; 9 Parts of Desire, The Maggie Tree.
Nadien is a graduate with distinction from the University of Alberta’s, BFA in Acting program.
nadien chu
Jameela is an Edmonton-based artist and MacEwan Theatre Arts Alumnus, most recently seen in Citadel Road Shows (Citadel Theatre), Freewill Summer Concerts (Freewill Shakespeare & Thou Art Here), and until the next breath (Catalyst Theatre). Other credits include: As You Like It, The Color Purple (RMTC/Citadel Theatre), Sister Act, All Shook Up, Soul Sistas (Mayfield), and John Ware Reimagined (Workshop West). She is thrilled to be returning to Workshop West to participate in such a unique theatre experience. As we are in uncertain and troubling times we hope this production provides a moment of joy for audiences. In these times and always we must fix our eyes and centre our hearts on love, equity and goodwill.
jameela mcneil
Pat is thrilled to be back at Workshop West for Here There Be Night. A graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting and MFA Directing programs, she is a two time Sterling award winner. Upon completion of her MFA in Directing, Pat studied Voice and Speech at York University where she developed an integrated voice and movement technique. Pat also writes plays Carnival Magic, Ribbon and West Indian Diary are among the plays that have been produced in Edmonton.
Pat was last seen as an actor at the Citadel in Shakespeare in Love and A Christmas Carol, Atlas Theatre’s Going to St. Ives and Teatro la Quindicina’s The Finest of Strangers.
She directed Atlas Theatre’s production of Mesa and was the Assistant Director on The Color Purple at the Citadel and RMTC.
You can catch Pat in 2021 at NLT in Something Unspoken.
patricia darbasie
Here there be Christina. Christina is tremendously excited to be back in the theatre (or just outside it) with the lovely folks at Workshop West! She is a mixed theatre artist hailing from Edmonton and a recent grad of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting Program. Christina’s recent credits include: until the next breath (Catalyst Theatre), Horizon Lab: Where Are Your Stories (Citadel Theatre), Home Suite (Two Little Theatre/Found Fest), Positive (In Arms Theatre/Nextfest), Shakespeare’s Dog, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Studio Theatre), The Winter’s Tale/Two Gentlemen of Verona (Freewill Players), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Hot L Baltimore (University of Alberta), But Hark, A Voice (Thou Art Here Theatre), The Shape of A Girl (Haven Theatre Society) and Concord Floral (Citadel Theatre/Young Acting Company). She is in the process of imagining, collaborating and creating a new piece about her mixed race identity. Stay safe, warm, and enjoy the show!
christina nguyen
Sheldon Elter- Theatre credits include: The Ministry of Grace (Belfry Theatre), Eday (Serial Collective), After The Fire/BEARS (Punctuate! Theatre), Winter’s Tale/ Two Gentleman of Verona (Freewill Players), Christmas Carol (Citadel Theatre), The Comedy Company (Shadow Theatre), Crazy For You (Citadel Theatre/Theatre Calgary), Evangeine (Confederation Centre of the Arts/Citadel Theatre), Alice Through The Looking Glass, One Man Two Guvnors (Citadel Theatre), Tartuffe, Sound of Music, Enron (National Arts Centre). Sheldon was a Top 14 finalist on Canadian Idol, 2006. TV credits: Hank Williams’ First Nation, CAUTION: May Contain Nuts (Gemini, and Canadian Comedy nominated writer) and Delmer and Marta (APTN). Member of the ukulele rock band sensation, The Be Arthurs.
sheldon elter
Amena Shehab is a Syrian-Canadian actress and a writer. She studied at the High Institute of Theatre in Damascus and worked with Al Jazeera Children’s Channel, and other local theatre companies in Syria and Qatar. Her plays in Edmonton have been works that have spoken to her as a woman, a mother, and an immigrant. She is pleased to have been able to work in these roles to share her experiences with other Canadians.
Her first play in Edmonton was Nine Parts of Desire in 2017. She also played the Ghost in Souls at the 2017 Edmonton Fringe, and the Nurse in Medea at the University of Alberta. This was followed by more plays about the immigrant experience including her one-woman show, ‘Hagar’ in 2018. She performed in other Fringe plays, as Sammar in F.O.B, and Nahla in ‘Harun’. In 2019, she played Amena in E-Day and in Rehearsal. Her current play is All That Binds Us with Azimuth Theatre.
amena shehab
The Creative Team
Patricia is a multidisciplinary artist; at present she works as a director, performer and educator. Her work has taken her to theatres around Canada, where she has worked on over thirty productions. Patricia has recently been recognized with the Sterling Award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role - Comedy. She has had the pleasure of world premiering many new works and finds great joy in play development. She worked at the Banff Playwrights Lab collaborating with national and international playwrights on over a dozen brand new works. She will be debuting her short play as a part of the Sprouts Festival in 2021. Patricia also serves her community in various committees and initiatives. She completed her training at the Citadel/Banff Professional Theatre Program and has graduated from the University of Alberta BFA Acting program with Distinction. She is currently a part of Nightwood Theatre’s Young Innovators Program. Upcoming: Assistant directing ‘A Christmas Carol’ (Rosebud Theatre).
patricia cerra
director
Brian Dooley is an award winning actor and producer. During the last 40 years Brian has worked throughout the country and abroad. His skills include directing, writing, producing and performing in a variety of media including radio, animation, film, television and theatre. Brian was trained and educated at the National Theatre School and Bishop’s University. He is delighted to be working with Workshop West on this unique and intimate project. While he may have relocated to Montreal, Brian continues to hold Edmonton and its community close at heart; and was recently reminded of Richard Scechner’s words: “Theatre is a peak experience and significantly different from other kinds of life because of its focus, intensity, and gneral visibility. But it is not separate from other kinds of life: It comes from them and blends back into them. To work from this perspective means to accept the audience as a potential ally, and to admit that without the audience’s collaboration no performance is possible.”
brian dooley
dramaturg
Sherry Alvaro is a current student of the University of Alberta Stage Management program currently working as a Production Assistant for Here There Be Night. Previous credits include: The Little Mermaid (St. Albert Children’s Theatre), Balance Board (Ma and Pa Theatre), Red Wood (New Works Festival). She is looking forward to this exciting breakthrough theatre performance and wonders how it will impact future creative endeavours. Enjoy the show!
sherry alvaro
Production assistant
Lana Michelle Hughes is a queer actor, director, playwright, sound designer from Amiskwacîwâskahikan. Selected acting credits include: Winnie Gertske, Champion Off-Ice (SKAMpede), Loud & Queer Cabaret (Guys in Disguise), The Anxiety Project and The National Elevator Project (Theatre YES), Dead Centre of Town (Catch the Keys Productions), Birdie On The Wrong Bus and The Fairy Catcher’s Companion (Promise Productions), Love(her)/Fight(her) (Urban Curvz), The Laramie Project (Citadel Theatre), Going Down… (Running In Heels Productions), and No Wonder(land) (Nextfest).
Selected directing credits include: 50 First Dates (Spins Like a Top Productions), Jack & The Beanstalk (Alberta Musical Theatre Company), The Remarkably True, Real Life Adventures of Callie Montgomery (Promise Productions/Skirts of Fire Festival), Encounters (Citadel Theatre), Soiled Doves, Bust ‘Em Up Burlesque, The Hollywoodland Burlesques, A Bronte Burlesque, and Tudor Queens: A Burlesque (Send In The Girls Burlesque). She spends her days as the Managing Director for Catalyst Theatre.
lana michelle hughes
director
Brian is happy to be back doing what he loved
This is his first production with Workshop West Playwrights Theatre.
A Multiple Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award Nominee for his Set and Costume designs. In 2006 he received his first for Outstanding Costume Design for Shadow Theatres Production of 10 X 2: The Eternal Courtship.
Brian’s design work has been seen on stage all across Alberta with Shadow Theatre, Theatre Network, Alberta Opera, Players De Novo, Red Deer College, Festival Players, Grande Prairie Live Theatre, Opera Nuova, Teatro la Quindicina, MacEwan University, The Mayfield Dinner Theatre along with numerous Fringe Productions. Brian has also been resident costume Designer for Victoria School of the Arts (20 years) and Players de Novo (9 Years). Of his favorite productions he has designed include: My Name is Rachel Corrie (Sterling nominated for Set Design), The List (Sterling nominated for Set Design), Race, Mercy Seat, The Enchantment, Glorious, Spring Awakening, Color of Flesh, Into the Woods, Little Shop of Horrors, The Weir, Xanadu, Treasure Island, Thoroughly Modern Millie, A Little Night Music, As You Like It, White Christmas, MacBeth, Crazy for You, 12th Night, Cinderella (Sterling Nominated for Costume design), Singing in the Rain, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, and My Fair Lady.
brian bast
design coordination
Frances is in her fourth and final year of the BFA Stage Management program at the University of Alberta and is thrilled to be back creating art with Here There Be Night. Recent theatre credits include I, Animal: A Socially Distant Theatre Series (SM - ReadyGo Theatre), Belleville (SM - BLT), Richard III (ASM - Studio Theatre), Monster (SM - ReadyGo Theatre, Edmonton Fringe 2019), Slight of Mind (PA - Theatre Yes and Citadel Theatre), Rekindle (SM - Stagestruck Festival 2019), All For Love (StageHand - Studio Theatre 2019). In her, recently, very abundant spare time, she loves her job at a local french bakery and playing Among Us with her pals. She would like to thank all of the people part of the wonderful Edmonton companies that made this show happen and Erik for being her rock every day.
frances bundy
Production assistant
Heather is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and is an award-winning director, producer, and dramaturg whose career has taken her across the country. In 2019, Heather was nominated for the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada’s Bra D’Or Award, recognizing her support and promotion of Canadian women playwrights via Theatre Yes. Heather has directed and assistant directed over 40 productions, many of which have been new Canadian works. Credits include: The Shaw Festival, Citadel Theatre, Workshop West Theatre, Northern Light Theatre, Azimuth Theatre, Theatre Junction, Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre (SK), Live Five (SK), The Doppler Effect Productions (NS), Alberta Playwrights Network, Saskatchewan Playwrights' Centre, Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre, The Notable Acts Festival (NB) and Universities in Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatoon. Heather has received Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award (2014) for her work at Theatre Yes, the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund (twice), the Celebration of Women in the Arts Award (twice), and the Telus Courage to Innovate Award (Edmonton). Nine of Inglis’ productions have been nominated for 17 Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards, including 7 nominations for Outstanding Independent Production and nominations for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Fringe Director. Theatre Yes received a special Sterling Award for Outstanding Innovation in Theatre (2014).
Heather Inglis
director
Aaron Macri is an Edmonton based composer and sound designer.
He has worked extensively in theatre, television and video since 2001. Composed music for five seasons of CAUTION:May contain Nuts, four seasons of Tiny Plastic Men, all of Delmer & Marta, as well as short films such as the National Film Board of Canada’s Grasslands Project.
aaron macri
sound designer
Andrea is a stage manager, arts administrator and overall wrangler for making magic happen behind the scenes. Recently, she finished the Arts and Cultural Management program at MacEwan University. Recent (in the before times) credits for stage management include: DARK (Fort Edmonton), Slight of Mind (Theatre Yes!), and Lake of the Strangers (Naheyawin Theatre). Andrea also is a graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Stage Management from the University of Alberta. Stay safe, enjoy the adventure and thank you for supporting local theatre artists!
andrea murphy
Production assistant
Trevor Schmidt is the Artistic Director of Northern Light Theatre,as well as a performer, designer of set and costume, a published playwright and a multiple Sterling and Betty award winner. He has been awarded twice for playwrighting (THE WATERMELON GIRLS, and CHANGE ROOM) and directing the Canadian premiere of Carol Anne Duffy’s THE WORLD’S WIFE. He created the role of Bette Davis in the international touring success BITCHSLAP! and performed one-man show COFFEE DAD, CHICKEN MOM, AND THE FABULOUS BUDDHA BOI, penned by Nick Green in New York as part of the FRIGID FESTIVAL. He has been on the advisory boards of Grant MacEwan University Musical Theatre and Red Deer College Theatre Arts programme, as well as being a guest lecturer at the University of Alberta and an instructor at Dramaworks 2009 at which he led an acting workshop on controversial, explicit or banned texts.
trevor schmidt
director
Nyssa is thrilled to be returning to the world of theatre, and with Here There Be Night. A graduate of the U of A stage management program, Nyssa is ready to flex her training after the lengthy hiatus. Some of her recent stage-management credits include: Mr. Burns (You are Here & Blarney Prod.) The Ballad of Peachtree Rose (WWPT), Baba Yaga (AMTC), You Are Happy (Blarney Prod.) The Invisible - Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Catalyst), Matilda, A Christmas Carol, and Shakespeare in Love (Citadel Theatre).
Huge thanks to everyone showing support for their local art and theatre scene, and especially to the wonderful cast and crew for putting on such an incredible production!
nyssa beairsto
stage manager
Ira Tuzlukova is a Edmonton “local” Stage Manager. Originally from Russia, Ira has been actively involved in Canada’s theater scene for almost seven years. She feels very fortunate and excited to be part of such an amazing production. Her previous credits include stage managing Candide and assistant sm Chamber Werx (2018) and Kopernikus (2017) at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity as well as apprenticing for productions of Lilies (2018) and Cinderella (2017) at Edmonton Opera, The Tempest (2019) at the Citadel Theatre as well as Girl in the Machine (2020) with Bustle and Beast.
