Biographies
Playwright
DAVID BELKE fills many different roles in the theatre: performer, producer, designer, teacher, award winning playwright. His first full length play was produced for the 1990 Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival, the largest theatre festival in North America. Since then he has written a new play for each subsequent year becoming one the Fringe’s mainstays and one of the city’s favorite playwrights. His plays have been performed across Canada, as well as in the United States, England, Northern Ireland, India, Ghana and soon in Brazil. David currently works as resident playwright with Edmonton’s Shadow Theatre where he is also an Artistic Associate. Shadow Theatre usually produces one of David’s plays a year, either a premiere or a remount. A multiple Sterling Award winner, David recently received the award for the Outstanding New Play of the 2009-2010 season for The Science of Disconnection. He also received prestigious Samuel French Inc.’s Canadian Playwrights’ Award for 2000 and they have since published four of his plays. Active in Edmonton’s theatre community, David currently serves as vice president for the Alberta Playwrights Network and is the Alberta regional representative for the national council of the Playwrights Guild of Canada.
Director
Ellie King - Ellie is small and round and loud. She originally comes from near Liverpool in England which is a great place to come from. But don’t go there if you can avoid it. She has qualifications from various on-line academies ranging from a Phd in plate-spinning to a Fellowship in the Academy of Fog Juggling. She is honoured to have been asked to direct shakespeare’s hitherto unknown ‘who hath done it’, adapted for the modern stage by the amazing David Belkie and has enjoyed working on the show so much that she thinks it should be turned into an ap so non-Fringers can also enjoy. Which enjoyment she is sure you will experience right now. So enjoy. Not a suggestion, a requirement.
Cast
Michael Charrois – Michael is a grizzled veteran of over thirty shows at the Edmonton, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Orlando and New York Fringe Theatre Festivals. Michael has performed in over one hundred stage plays including the roles of Polonius and the Gravedigger in Hamlet, Trinculo and Ariel in The Tempest and Father Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet. Michael has written dozens of produced plays including The Happy Anarchist and The Illumination of Marshall McLuhan and he is the Lead Drama Instructor at the Evergreen Cultural Centre.
Jacqueline Becher- Jacqueline is pleased to be playing with her friends again. She was last seen at the Vancouver Fringe in 2005 as Rose in The Woolgatherer. Her recent credits include the Prince in Romeo & Juliet and The Wicked Stepmother in Cindarella. She also produced Orphans at The Firehall Theatre in 2008 and assistant directed Brides of the Moon for Leaping Thesbians in March. She would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone she knows who stepped up to the plate in the past year, she couldn’t have made it without you.
Nigel Brooke - Nigel began his theatrical career in the critically-acclaimed roles of “Tree” and “Candy Cane” in “Hansel and Gretel” at age five. More recently, he is one of the founding members of “Shadows and Dreams”, for which he directed “Hamlet”, “Desdemona : A Play About a Handkerchief” and “Comedy of Errors” as well as appearing in roles including Sir Toby Belch in “Twelfth Night” and Mr. Capulet in “Romeo and Juliet”. He also designs lights.
Mark Carter – Mark is the Artistic Director for DSR Productions, a local theatre company he founded in 1990. He works as a Director and Technician; & some of his Directing credits include The Rocky Horror Show (Arts Club Theatre/ DSRP), Cabaret and most recently the Vancouver Production of Evil Dead the Musical. He has acted in productions of Evita, Dracula, Jesus Christ Superstar & Kiss Me Kate. This November, Mark will be directing What About Luv? a musical Comedy that will be presented at the Waterfront Theatre. Check out his company’s website www.dsrproductions.com for more information.
Kerri Norris – Kerri is an Actor, Director, Designer, Producer,Writer and sometime Dramaturg. She has an MFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. Past credits include Miss Anne Thrope in Robin Hood (RCTC), Hanni in Refuge of Lies (Pacific Theatre), and Feste in Twelfth Night this past summer for Shadows and Dreams, of which she is a founding member. Usually she can be found chasing her children Aeron & Cayleigh around with her husband Stephen. Thanks to all the babysitters who made this possible!
Steve Weller - Steve is an Actor, Playwright, Director, Teacher, and Stand-up Comedian. He trained at Studio 58 & The National Theatre School. He has appeared at Theatres across Western Canada and in Quebec, and he will be with you in just a minute so why don’t you take a minute took look at the wine list and our daily specials; I recommend the veal. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves – Victor Frankl
Daniel James White – About 8 years ago, Daniel took his first acting class with Michael and Ellie. After a few years’ hiatus from the theatre during high-school, he decided it was time to return. Now back from two years at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, he just finished tapping up a storm in Singin in the Rain with TUTS. Enjoy!
David Mann – David is thrilled to be making his Vancouver acting debut in The Maltese Bodkin. Currently disguised as Performing Arts Manager of the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam, David is secretly a veteran actor, director, dramaturge and theatre administrator. He has acted or directed in over 100 professional productions and dozens of new play workshops, and has been Artistic Director of 3 professional theatre companies (Edmonton’s Workshop West, Nanaimo’s TheatreOne, and Kelowna’s Sunshine Theatre). David is married to writer Janet Hinton and they live in Burnaby under the protection of 3 cats, a dog, and 2 daughters.
Daniel James White – About 8 years ago, Daniel took his first acting class with Michael and Ellie. After a few years’ hiatus from the theatre during high-school, he decided it was time to return. Now back from two years at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, he just finished tapping up a storm in Singin in the Rain with TUTS. Enjoy!
