Lela & Co.
Cast & Creative
Cordelia Lynn, Playwright
Cordelia trained as a pianist until the age of sixteen, then went on to study literature and write, taking her English BA at the University of Bristol, and her MA in Modern Literature at University College London. Cordelia has lived around the world and is now settled in London, where she was born.
Her play Lela & Co. premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2015 to critical acclaim, and her one-man monologue, Best Served Cold, was performed at Vault Festival in London in 2016. She is under commission to the Royal Court, Headlong Theatre Company and The Yard theatre, and is the recipient of the Harold Pinter Commission 2017.
Cordelia is currently writing the texts for a chamber opera with composer Sivan Eldar, and Miranda, a new opera after Henry Purcell, arranged by conductor Raphael Pichon, to be directed by Katie Mitchell at the Opera Comique in autumn 2017.
Melissa-Jane Shaw, Director
MJ is the founder of Seventh Stage Theatre and co-founder of LaRouge Entertainment. MJ has been nominated for two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for acting, one BroadwayWorld Toronto nomination for Best Female Lead and two BroadwayWorld Toronto nominations for Best Original Choreography. MJ has choreographed and/or directed 25 musicals, including Crazy For You & City of Angels (Theatre By The Bay), 35MM (Great Hall w/Theatre 20), Rocky Horror (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Blood Brothers, Little Shop, Full Monty, A Chorus Line, Cabaret (Rose Theatre Brampton). She has choreographed the musical movie Country Crush and several episodes for network TV. MJ has co-created two original shows with the UofT/Sheridan College TDS program (Hazel McCallion Musical & How To Make Love in A Canoe) and is now part-time faculty there. She is currently co-developing an original musical WENDY, DARLING. In addition to acting in numerous stage shows across Canada and in the US, you can see her as Melanie on the medical drama, Hard Rock Medical amidst others. Fave random film/TV credits include ‘dance expert’ appearances on Dr.OZ, improvising for two seasons on the Howie Mandel show This Is Howie Do It (Global/NBC), hosting 2 seasons of What’s Cooking (W Network).
Jenna Harris, Actor
Jenna is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts theatre conservatory program in New York City. She is an actor, writer/creator, arts educator and dancer, and is the Founder and Artistic Producer of Discord and Din Theatre. As an actor, Jenna has worked in both the United States and Canada, and with such theatre companies as b’current, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and Theatre Passe Muraille. Most recently she was seen in This is Where We Live at the SummerWorks Theatre Festival. As a writer, Jenna has written everything from radio shows to animated shorts, webseries to feature films, site-specific work to full-length plays, and is also the Editor-in-Chief of City Voices: A Book of Monologues by Toronto Artists. Jenna’s play Mine had its premiere at the Next Stage Theatre Festival in Toronto. Jenna has been part of Studio 180 Theatre’s inaugural IN DEVELOPMENT program (Nov. 2015), the Tarragon Playwrights Unit (2015-2016), Thousand Islands Playwright’s Unit (2016), as well as Playwright in Residence at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and part of their Artist Residency program (2016-2017).
Graham Cuthbertson, Actor
Graham moved to Toronto from Montréal in February of 2017. He was most recently seen in the Canadian Stage/Centaur production of Constellations with Cara Ricketts and directed by Peter Hinton. This season Graham will be performing in two world premiers: A and R Angels at Crows Theatre (written by Kevin Drew and directed by Chris Abraham) and Silence at the Grand Theatre London (written by Trina Davies and directed by Peter Hinton). He is currently at work on his own play entitled #thepotenialofus while also trying to teach himself piano.
Laurie Merredew, Stage Manager
Laurie's recent credits: Hands Down (The Toronto Fringe/Shoot Good Films Inc.), The Jazz Singer (Dancap/Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company), The Last Wife, Rose: A Concert Presentation, The 39 Steps, The Odd Couple, Spoon River, Marat/Sade, The Dybbuk, Of Human Bondage, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Norman Conquests, Our Town, The Time of Your Life (Soulpepper), The Penelopiad, A Flea in Her Ear (George Brown Theatre School), Salt (Lark & Whimsy Theatre), Killer Joe (The Coal Mine), City of Angels, Crazy For You, The Tempest (Theatre by the Bay), The War of 1812, The Life & Times of MacKenzie King, The Great War (VideoCabaret), The Great Gatsby (The Grand Theatre), Dancing With Rage (Mary Walsh), Laws of Motion (Small Elephant Co-op), On The Other Side of The World (Harley Dog), Rigoletto (Opera Hamilton), The Merry Widow (Toronto Operetta Theatre). Graduate of York University.
Claire Hill, Scenographer
Claire is an MFA candidate in Sustainable Design for Theatre at York University. Recent Work: Set design King Lear/Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in High Park, Canadian Stage); Liver, Retreat, Cockfight (Brouhaha); Contractions, Dangerous Liaisons, House of Yes, The Castle (Red One Collective); Turtleneck, Donors, Nature of the Beast (safeword), Nine Mile Portage, Macbeth (Theatre By the Bay), 4 ½ (ig)noble truths (zeitpunk/SummerWorks 2016); lighting for Dancock’s Dance, Hogtown: The Immersive Experience (Hogtown), Reality Theatre (SummerWorks 2017); costumes for The Nails (JSquared Theatre, SummerWorks 2017) and scenography for The Smile Off Your Face (Re:Current Theatre, SummerWorks 2017). Four MyEntertainment World nominations for best design. Thanks to Navid for dancing.
Jazz Kamal, Lighting Designer
Jazz is a Toronto based Lighting Designer and theatre collaborator, celebrating 10 years of working in theatre. She is known for her bold designs, live concert improvised and musically intuitive lighting. Her flare for dramatic lighting techniques, vibrant colours, and moody palettes comes through every show she designs. Jazz has designed for various independent, not-for-profit and commercial theatre and dance companies since 2008. As Jazz is also an artist, she always strives to heighten the visual experience of any show she designs, while bringing the performers’ worlds and visions to life. Her designs have been acclaimed by Michael Rudinoff the Dean for Visual & Performing Arts at Sheridan College and various loved directors and theatre practitioners in Toronto. Her credits include: Sheridan Pop Critiques Concert, Musical Theatre Program ; Rhubarb Festival, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre; Femme Playlist, b-current’s AfteRock series; Insatiable Sisters (formerly known as Strange Sisters), Buddies in Bad Times Theatre; Do I Have To Do Everything My F***ing Self?, SummerWorks Theatre Festival (2014); Rock.paper.sistahz Festival, b-current, Wychwood Barns (May 2016), and; SummerWorks Theatre Festival, Drake Underground (2016).
Verne Good, Sound Designer
Verne's recent credits include Sound Designs for Stratford Festival (Romeo and Juliet, Pericles, Hirsch); Blyth Festival (Mr. New Years’ Eve, The Berlin Blues, The Pigeon King, The Birds and the Bees, Our Beautiful Sons); The Grand (Art, The Mountaintop); Soulpepper (The 39 Steps [Dora Nomination], The Heidi Chronicles); Roseneath Theatre (Outside, Birds of a Feather, In This World); Obsidian Theatre (Up The Garden Path); Driftwood Theatre (The Odyssey); Native Earth Performing Arts (Free as Injuns); as well as Sound Design and Composition for Carousel Players (Tick); Studio 180 (You Will Remember Me, The Normal Heart); StandUp Dance (The Atomic Weight of Happiness); Seventh Stage Theatre (Stockholm, The Red Queen Effect). Upcoming: projects for Cahoots Theatre, Stratford Festival, Factory Theatre, and Humber College.
Pip Bradford, Production Manager
Pip Bradford is a technician, production manager, and stage manager for many companies in Toronto, including The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Toronto Dance Theatre, The Lab Cab Festival, Summerworks Performance Festival, Stand Up Dance, The LOT, Native Earth Performing Arts, and The Theatre Centre. Pip has a BA in Technical Theatre and Scenography from The University of King’s College in Halifax; creates performance art with Art Is Hard Productions, including Flip The Table and Fringe Portrait Studio at the Toronto Fringe, The People’s Gallery at the 37th Rhubarb Festival, and Blanket Fort at the Theatre Centre; and is one of the founders of The Bellows, a production arts outreach and social club that is the recipient of a 2017 Harold Award.
Brittany Kay, Associate Producer and Educational Coordinator
Brittany is a Dora nominated actress and arts educator. She received her degree from the University of Toronto and Sheridan College joint program in Theatre and Drama Studies. She is also a graduate of the Musical Theatre Intensive at the Banff Centre of the Arts and is a certified teacher, with a BEd from OISE. She is currently back at OISE part time, working towards her Masters degree in Education. She is an arts educator for the Paprika Festival, York Region District School Board, TDSBcreates, Young People’s Theatre and the resident educator at Roseneath Theatre. Brittany is also a regular contributor to the theatre blog In the Greenroom. Some of Brittany’s past acting credits include:Marry Me Marry Me (House +Body), Romeo and Juliet Chainsaw Massacre (Toronto Fringe Festival, Winner of Best of Fringe), FITZ HAPPENS! (Lighthouse Festival), The Yellow Ribbon (Musical Works), Misprint (Musical Works, WOM Festival), 9 Parts of Desire (Seventh Stage-Dora Nominated), and The Lion King (Mirvish). @brittanylkay @intheGreenRoom_