THE 2024 COMPANY

A working artist in Canada for over 35 years, Ms. de Carteret has made numerous appearances in feature films, movies of the week, episodic television and has performed on stages across the country and abroad. Selected feature films include: GEORGETOWN, GOD AND COUNTRY, THE SECOND TIME AROUND, STANDOFF, THE CONSPIRACY, RED, CHLOE, DIARY OF THE DEAD, SHOOT ‘EM UP, DAWN OF THE DEAD and MEAN GIRLS. Most recent recurring roles for television include: CRUEL INTENTIONS, THE VENERY OF SAMANTHA BIRD (PARAMOUNT +), THE BOYS (AMAZON PRIME), THE WAY HOME (HALLMARK), DAN BROWN’S THE LOST SYMBOL (NBC), Y: THE LAST MAN (FX), PRETTY HARD CASES (CBC), MRS. AMERICA (FX) and V-WARS (NETFLIX) as well as numerous guest appearances. An accomplished stage actress, Ms. de Carteret has appeared at virtually every major theatre across the country. A former collaborator with Toronto’s Necessary Angel under the artistic leadership of the late Daniel Brooks, she was part of the original cast of John Mighton’s HALF LIFE, touring nationally and abroad. Her last stage appearances include: THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE (Neptune Theatre), TOUT COMME ELLE (Luminato) and HAMLET (World Stage - Dora Award Nomination for Best Actress). A respected acting teacher and highly sought after coach, Ms. de Carteret holds a MA (Distinction) in Actor Training from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (London, UK) and a BFA (Honours) in Theatre from York University. Her guest teaching credits include workshops at RCSSD (UK), Rose Bruford (UK) and George Brown College (Toronto).

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0213671/

David is an award winning actor, singer, songwriter who has worked around the world in music, tv, film and theatre. Highlights include Sam in the original Broadway production of Mamma Mia, Lockstock in Urinetown(Dora Award), Canadian premieres of Rock of Ages, Billy Eliot, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, True Love Lies. David has spent nine seasons at The Stratford Festival, most recently playing Kent in King Lear in 2023. Other Stratford credits include Hamlet, Fuente Ovejuna, Trojan Woman, Oklahoma, Richard III, The Three Musketeers and Coriolanus. He also portrayed Benvolio in Robert LePage’s ground breaking production of Romeo and Juliet. His extensive list of tv and film credits include The Manchurian Candidate with Meryl Streep, Designated Survivor, Suits, Copper(Series Regular), Lost Girl, Heartland, Akilla’s Escape, Albatross(Austin Film Fest Award), The Barrens, Ten Truths About Love. He previously released two independent CD’s with fellow actor Paul Gross and their compilation CD, Holiday Heroes, achieved gold status in Canada. Recently, he released his own self-produced CD, Gasoline Rainbows.

davidkeeley.ca

Shannon is looking forward to joining the HFN team this summer! She has spent seven seasons at the Stratford Festival: King Lear (Goneril), Les Belles-Soeurs (Marie-Ange), I Am William (Mary, Queen Elizabeth I), Mother’s Daughter (Mary), The Crucible (Elizabeth Proctor), Twelfth Night (Olivia), The School for Scandal (Lady Teazle), Shakespeare in Love (Viola), The Hypochondriac (Angélique), The Diary of Anne Frank (Margot Frank), Oedipus Rex (Priest), and The Sound of Music (Liesl). Other selected theatre credits include: Uncle Vanya (Crow’s Theatre & Mirvish); ROOM (Grand Theatre & Mirvish); A Doll’s House (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); King Charles III (Studio 180 & Mirvish); The Road to Mecca (Soulpepper); Pride and Prejudice (National Arts Centre & Theatre Calgary); The Jones Boy (Surface/Underground); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Little Women: The Musical (Citadel Theatre); and The Madonna Painter (Factory Theatre). Film and TV: Don’t Hang Up, Private Eyes, MayDay. Training: Birmingham Conservatory; TMU Theatre School (BFA). Awards: Mary Savidge Award; Dora nomination for Outstanding Performance. Love to P & D!

Stacy has been a professional actor for over 20 years, working in theatres throughout the country and also has worked extensively in television and on film, with recurring roles on TV in “Rookie Blue” as Zoe Shaw and Sex &Violence starring Olympia Dukakis. She was nominated for a Genie award for her work in the film New Waterford Girl. Other select film/tv credits include: Brilliant Minds, Law and Order SVU(Toronto), Monica’s News, Frankie Drake Mysteries, The Handmaids Tale, Designated Survivor, Murdoch Mysteries, The Detail, Sebastian, Blackbird, Jessie Stone, Robson Arms, Relative Chaos, Blessed Stranger, Single Mom, Marion Bridge, Wake and more. Theatre experience includes working in theatres across Canada such as Drayton Entertainment, Theatre Aquarius, Neptune Theatre, Eastern Front, Mulgrave Road, Ships Company, Theatre New Brunswick, Atlantic Theatre Festival, Luna Sea and Off The Leash, and Mermaid Theatre and Here For Now (Kroehler Girls). Stacy has her own coaching business, as well as teaches at Fanshawe College, Theatre Aquarius Theatre School and Drayton Youth Academy.

Jane Cooper Ford is a comedy and social impact-based screenwriter, actor and producer who has created, written and Executive Produced five series for network television in the US and Canada on networks including NBC and the CBC. She's also an Amazon #1 Bestselling author twice over - with her 2016 thriller This is Devin Jones (under pen name Kristen Conrad) and 2018's This Will Be (a book of literary fiction) both #1 Bestsellers in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia. Also a playwright and actor, Jane's plays have been performed in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, and having started her career as a musician and singer/songwriter, she's also written music for film and TV and has three CD's out on Eastchester Records.

Megan is a director & theatre maker. She is inspired by the feminist ethos of Here for Now Theatre and seeks out opportunities to work with brilliant & fearless artists who want to breathe life into untold stories and shine light into dark places. She is the mother of Wyn and forever grateful to the people in her life who have always supported her wildest dreams. She was the Artistic Associate at the Grand Theatre from 2015-2022. She holds an MFA in directing from the University of Alberta and a BFA in acting from Toronto Metropolitan University. Select directing credits: Re:Opening Festival, Juno’s Reward, Mary Poppins, A Christmas Carol, The Glass Menagerie, Shakespeare:The Mixtape, Julius Caesar (Grand Theatre); Craving, Holiday Window Walk 1&2 (Curveball Creative); Dial M for Murder (Watermark Theatre); A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Shakespeare in the Ruff); Agency (Yell Rebel); Extremophiles (Summerworks); When the Rain Stops Falling & Much Ado About Nothing (University of Alberta).

Rebecca is a costume/set designer and maker from Tkaronto. Select design credits: Set and costume design – Paul and Linda Plan a Threesome (Here for Now Theatre), Associate costume designer – Something Rotten! (Stratford Festival), costume and set design - Cymbeline, costume design - Shakespeare’s N**** (Langham Directors' Workshop, Stratford Festival), costume and set design - ECHO (A FRONT COMPANY), costume design - exercise your demons, Much Ado About Nothing, What If If Only (Langham Directors' Workshop, Stratford Festival). Select assistant design credits, Stratford Festival: assistant costume and set designer - Monty Python’s Spamalot, Les Belles-Soeurs, The Miser; assistant costume designer Every Little Nookie. Training: BFA in Performance Production and Design (Toronto Metropolitan University); Diploma in Fashion Techniques and Design (George Brown College).

www.rebeccachaikin.com Instagram: @rebeccachaikin

Jan Alexandra Smith is an actor, director and instructor based in Stratford. She lived here many years ago, moved around for a few decades, came to her senses, and moved back in March 2020. Timing could not have been worse to re-connect with Stratford’s performing arts community, so developing a relationship with Here For Now has been a tremendous privilege. Jan directed Ellen Denny’s Take Care in 2022, Steve Ross’ Life Without in 2023 and is partnering with Steve again this summer to direct 12 Dinners. She has both staged and performed in productions ranging from mysteries to musicals, and contemporary to classical; she has enjoyed return engagements with the Shaw Festival, Theatre Calgary, The Citadel, Royal Alex, Charlottetown Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Center, The Grand and more. Currently, her passion is Movement Direction, which is a fancy way to describe how we tell stories with our whole bodies, and not just with our voices. Jan is an accomplished home renovator, dog and cat mum, a graduate of Conestoga College’s Culinary Program and has plans for a Masters in Movement Direction to begin in 2025

Darren is thrilled to be back with Here For Now! Previous Set Design work: Life Without (along with Costume Design), The Fox (Here For Now), Seussical The Musical, Mamma Mia! (Secondary Characters), and multiple set and lighting designs for dance and theatre schools in Vancouver. As an actor, he has worked across Canada with such theatre companies as Stage West Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, Canadian Opera Company, The Ross Petty Panto, Globe Theatre, Western Canada Theatre, Thousand Island Playhouse, The Arts Club, Chemainus Theatre Festival, Carousel Theatre for Young Audiences. He has also been honoured to have been in the National Tour/Mirvish production of Matilda, the International Tour of Angelina Ballerina and has won a Jessie Award for his performance as “Snail” in A Year with Frog and Toad. Many thanks to Fiona, Siobhan and SJ for the unwavering trust in me, and his family, friends and especially Hunter for their never ending love and support!

Monique Lund is thrilled to be once again working with Here For Now Theatre for the 5 th season of its hugely successful Festival. For the 2021 HFN season, Monique and Mark performed in The Wonder Of It All- the first two hander Mark wrote especially for them to perform together. Directed by Seana McKenna, that play has gone on to tour Canada at over six different theatres with many more upcoming bookings. Past directing credits with HFN include Infinite Possibilities, WHACK! ( associate director), The Tracks, Every Day She Rose and Margaret Reid. She has been a professional actor, singer and dancer for over thirty years and has worked from coast to coast in Canada and the U.S. Some career highlights include the Broadway Tour of Mamma Mia in which she played the role of Donna, the original Toronto companies of The Lord of the Rings, Joseph, The Who’s Tommy, and Crazy For You. She has also spent 13 seasons at the Stratford Festival in a variety of plays and musicals, workshops and recordings including The House of Martin Guerre, Kiss Me Kate, The Music Man, Julius Caesar, Crazy For You, Elektra, The Sound of Music, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Camelot, Evita, The Bacchae, and Cabaret. For the 2024 Stratford Season, Monique was the assistant director of the musical Something Rotten. In 2017 she won the Brian Macdonald award for emerging directors at the Guthrie Awards. She calls Stratford her home – both artistically and physically and she sincerely thanks you for supporting live theatre

HERE FOR NOW: Life Without, goldfish, Pegeen and the Pilgrim STRATFORD FESTIVAL: 21 seasons. Highlights include Grand Magic, Richard II, Chicago, Finally There's Sun, Rocky Horror, Guys and Dolls, The Lion, the Witch..., Shakespeare in Love, Hamlet, The Alchemist, Crazy for You, Tommy, Grapes of Wrath, The Misanthrope, Kiss Me, Kate, Cyrano de Bergerac, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Odyssey, Midsummer Night's Dream, Coriolanus. ELSEWHERE: Every Brilliant Thing, The Foursome, For the Pleasure... (New Stages); Fleeto, Oh, the Humanity, 4th Graders (Tiny Room); London Road (Dora Award), Indian Ink, Into the Woods, Dream (Canadian Stage); Assassins (Dora Award) (TIFT); Frog and Toad (MTYP); Orson's Shadow (Pilot Group); A New Brain (Musical Stage Company); Shrek, A Christmas Story (Grand); The Producers (Mirvish/Neptune); Seussical, Sylvia (Aquarius); The Three Musketeers (Chicago Shakespeare); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Citadel); Three Sisters (ATF).

THANK YOU: Patrick Smith, Peter Coleridge, David Goldbloom, My family (Al Ross & Joanne Rooney) & Tim Campbell

Geoffrey is a Stratford-based actor, director and educator. He really loves working on new Canadian plays, and is honoured to be making his Here For Now debut with Steve Ross’s 12 Dinners. As an actor, he has starred in over a dozen Canadian premieres, including plays by Wendy Lill, Florence Gibson, Linda Griffiths and David Young, and the Governor General’s Award-winning If We Were Birds by Erin Shields. More recently, he originated the roles of Maurice and Talbot in Marcia Johnson’s Serving Elizabeth. He has also directed premieres from Canadian playwrights Rick Roberts, Jenny Young, Matt Gorman, Melissa Major and others, including two plays that went on to be nominated for GG awards: Kate Hewlett’s The Swearing Jar (now a major motion picture) and Brendan Gall’s A Quiet Place, for which Geoffrey received a Dora Award nomination. He has worked in theatres from BC to Nova Scotia, spending multiple seasons at both the Stratford and Charlottetown Festivals, performing in the Mirvish production of War Horse in Toronto, and receiving a Betty Award nomination at Theatre Calgary for his performance in Fire. In 2023 he starred as Al Manners in the heralded MTC/Citadel production of Alice Childress’s Trouble In Mind. Geoffrey lives in Stratford with his dog, two kids, and wife Madeleine Donohue, who is an award-winning writer and creator for children’s television.

The privilege and chance to perform Steve Ross' latest play, to (finally!) collaborate with Jan Smith, and make my Here For Now debut, is a trifecta of wins for me. I'm a longtime admirer of Steve's onstage work, and I'm now a huge fan of his writing, same with Jan and her direction... and as for HFN, I'm in awe if the exponential growth of this indie theatre company, the thriving brainchild of the ever impressive Fiona Mongillo and Siobhan O'Malley. I've spent four decades in theatres all over this country (and sometimes abroad) and I love the grassroots - getting back to why I love what I do - feel of this.

I believe in the healing power of theatre, this play may stir up some stuff, it sure does for me... you, the audience, are the reason it matters.

Thank you for supporting live theatre! Past credits include: Here For Now: Wyatt in Frog Song. Other Theatre: Buttons in Cinderella...If the Shoe Fits! (Theatre Orangeville), Tok in Wizard of Oz: The Panto!, Leslie in It Runs in the Family (Drayton), And I Never Stopped Dancing (Smile Theatre), Forever Plaid (Starvox Entertainment), Boatman in Sunday in the Park with George (Eclipse Theatre Company), Sam in Every Silver Lining (Toronto Fringe), Newsies, Hendrix in The Stars of Mars, The House of Martin Guerre (Theatre Sheridan). Please consider donating to CAMH to continue the improvement of treatments and care in mental health. Big love to Mom, Dad, Alex, Ethan, and the Talent House gang! Instagram: @ben_the_skipper

Rosemary’s first professional show was Ready Steady Go at the old Tom Patterson theatre. Fifty years later (OMG HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??) she is pleased to be still acting in yet another vibrant Stratford theatre. There have been many plays on many stages. Most recently at the Stratford Festival she appeared in Tartuffe, A Little Night Music, Bacchae and Front Page and in Toronto Wildwoman at Soulpepper and Public Enemy at Canadian Stage. There’s been lots of film and tv : from Anne of Green Gables and Mom P.I. in the distant but vibrant past to current streaming of To Catch a Killer, Orphan Black, Fellow Travelers and Chucky ( yes, that Chucky). To act is to walk in someone else’s shoes and see the world through another’s eyes; it is a responsibility, a privilege and an illumination. She feels immense gratitude to be a storyteller.

Robert graduated from the National Theatre School in 2019. Then, he tried his hand at making short films - Shortly after that, due to ‘reasons’ he spent a lot of time inside , wearing masks and staring at ceilings.

He’s absolutely thrilled, honoured and terrified to be apart of this team.

Love first.

Deirdre Kinahan is an award-winning playwright. She is a member of Aosdána, Ireland’s elected organisation of outstanding artists. Deirdre collaborates with artists and theatres all over the world, is literary associate to Meath County Council and has a large canon of regularly produced plays to her credit. Deirdre is published by Nick Hern Books. Best Known Plays include: The Unmanageable Sisters, Rathmines Road, Moment, Halcyon Days, Bogboy, Hue & Cry, Melody, Spinning and her Irish Revolutionary Trilogy Wild Sky, Embargo and Outrage. Deirdre works predominantly with the Abbey Theatre, Landmark Productions and Fishamble Theatre Company in Ireland but also collaborates with theatres in the UK (Bush, Old Vic, Pentabus, Royal Court), Europe (Stat Theatre Maintz, Ateneum Warsaw) and America (Irish Repertory Theatre NYC, Solas Nua, Irish Arts Centre NYC, Studio Theatre DC, Steep Theatre, Irish Theatre Chicago).

Brenda is a director and actor. DIRECTING CREDITS: Outside Mullingar (Festival Players); The Penelopiad, Other Desert Cities (Citadel Theatre); Skylight (Troubadour Theatre Collective); The Wolves (Queen’s University); The Ladies Foursome (Grand Theatre); Machinal (George Brown Theatre School); Of the Fields Lately (Sudbury Theatre Centre). ACTING CREDITS THEATRE: Angels in America (That Theatre Group/Buddies); Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Death of a Salesman, Equus, The Goat (Citadel Theatre); The Price (Sudbury Theatre Centre); End of Civilization (Factory Theatre); The Wild Duck, Ring Round the Moon (Soulpepper); This Hotel (Theatre Passe Muraille); Leaving Home (Blyth Festival). FILM & TV: Surreal Estate, Desire of the Prey, Swing Into Romance, Dangerous, Anne with an E, Shoot the Messenger, Utopia Falls, Haven, The Strain. AWARDS: Gemini for Best Performance Television, four Dora nominations, ACTRA nomination, Sterling nomination.

Dhanish is a sound designer, musician, playwright and performer based in Toronto. You can find her in the city at old time music jams and performing jazz/electronic music under the moniker grrlgrrlgrrl. She is one half of trans girl musical duo Figgy Jam.

Fiona is the Founding Artistic Director of Here For Now Theatre Company. Selected credits include the Canadian Premiere of Girls & Boys as part of the HFN 2022 season and the Crow’s Theatre 2023 season, Angelina in Whack!(HFN), Senta von Schrader in Framed (Lighthouse), Louise in The Enchantment (HERE Arts, NYC); Bessie in The Young Ladies of Baddeck(Theatre Baddeck); Rose in Eigengrau, Elisabeth in Laundry and Bourbon(HFN). Selected Film Credits: Constance Weatherly/Madeline Tomkins in Murdoch Mysteries (CBC); Donald’s Secretary in The Apprentice (Ali Abbasi/Apprentice Productions). Directing: Post Alice (HFN). Training: BFA in Acting, UBC; MA in Classical Acting, LAMDA. Awards: 2022 Best Actress in a Play (Ontario Stage). Currently: The Farm Show: Then & Now and Resort to Murder at The Blyth Festival.

Patricia Reilly (she/her) is an Ontario-born, B.C. and Alberta-raised interdisciplinary theatre artist. Patricia holds theatre art degrees from Red Deer College, the University of Victoria, and University of the Arts, London. She has a degree in 3D Animation and Character Design from Fanshawe College. Patricia found her way into theatre through the joy of drawing, researching, and making dioramas. Recent work includes the costume design for Chemainus Theatre Festival's summer musical 9-5, and she is currently assisting on the costume design of London Assurance at the Stratford Festival.

www.patriciareilly.com

Marie is an award-winning theatre maker and director primarily focused on the creation of new work. She recently directed her wondrous and critically-acclaimed adaptation of André Alexis’ novel Fifteen Dogs for the stage at Crow’s Theatre. She has directed for and collaborated with some of the most innovative companies from across the country, such as Crow’s Theatre, the Banff Centre, Necessary Angel, the Stratford Festival, the Arts Club, the Segal Centre, Théâtre Aux Écuries, Rumble Theatre, Porte-Parole, and Théâtre La Seizième. She was the recipient of the 2019 Ray Michal Award for Outstanding Body of Work by an Emerging Director, the 2020 Dora Award for Outstanding Direction in the Musical Theatre division, and the 2020 Toronto Theatre Critics' Award for Best Director of a Musical. More at mariefarsi.com

Kate Lynch is an award winning actress who has acted in stage, film and television across Canada. Directing credits include: Terrence Rattigan’s French Without Tears and Noel Coward’s Starchamber at The Shaw Festival; Courting Johanne, Winter Kill, and The Nuttalls, at the Blythe Festival; for Theatre Passe Muraille My Teasure Island, by Karen Woolridge, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,3 Plays by Tom Walmsley – Blood, Three Squares a Day, and Descent; Health Class, Roseneath Theatre; The Vagina Monologues, The New Yorker Theatre. Writing credits include The Road to Hell, co-written with Michael Healey for the Tarragon Theatre, Early Au- gust, for the Blythe Festival (to be produce this summer for The Lighthouse Theatre) and for the Summer- works Festival Tales of the Blonde Assassin,(adapted for CBC Radio Drama) and Go Forth and Multiply, for the Summerworks Festival. Biography: Has trained actors at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, the National Theatre School, George Brown Theatre School, and the Gaity School in Dublin. Has worked at the UC Drama Program since 1994, as a director (Henry V, Waiting for Godot, Pericles, Cymbeline, Linda Griffith’s Age of Arousal), a voice teacher and an acting teacher.

Nicholas is a classically trained actor, receiving an an MA in Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre from LAMDA and a BFA in Theatre Performance from Concordia University in Montreal. He has trained in the martial-dance performance style of traditional Beijing Opera, at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA) in Beijing, and also in Western styles of stage combat with Fight Directors Canada. His first film ‘An Actor Prepares’ was recently selected to premiere at the 2024 Canadian Independent Film Festival.

www.nicholas-santillo.com

Loretta Yu graduated with a BA in Theatre Studies from Acadia University and made her professional theatre debut in The Company Theatre’s critically-acclaimed production of John by Annie Baker. John received several Toronto Theatre Critics Awards, including Best Production, and was listed in the Top 10 Theatre Productions of 2017 by The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and NOW Magazine. The play also garnered multiple Dora Award nominations. In 2019, Loretta kicked off the year with ARTillery Collective’s Ga Ting at the Next Stage Theatre Festival where she was listed as an Artist to Watch at Next Stage in NOW Magazine. She later appeared in Project Humanity and Crow’s Theatre’s co-production of Towards Youth: A Play on Radical Hope, receiving critical acclaim for her performances. Loretta has contributed significantly to film, appearing in notable features such as Pretend We’re Kissing, Nonsense Revolution, and Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy. Her television credits boast diverse roles in Between, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Listener, and Hemlock Grove. She has had recurring roles in Dino Dana and CBC’s digital series Save Me. Loretta gained recognition as Teresa Fai, a series regular on OMNI Television’s Blood and Water, which received multiple Canadian Screen Award nominations. Recently, she guest-starred on the CW's In The Dark and appeared in CBC series Diggstown and Moonshine. Continuing to expand her skills in 2024, Loretta graduated with Honours from Blanche Macdonald Centre in Vancouver, earning certification in Makeup Artistry. She is excited to return to the stage in Here For Now Theatre's production of With Love, And a Major Organ this summer.

IG: @lalettreu Twitter: @lalettreu

An internationally-acclaimed writer, Julia’s work has been seen across North America and in Europe. Her writing has been described as “delightfully original” (Toronto Star), “laced with sophisticated poetry and wry insight” (The Los Angeles Times), and as, “ris[ing] to a rare level of universal truth, all while making us laugh. A lot.” (NewCity Stage Chicago)

Julia's hit play, WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN, was part of Boston Court Pasadena's Polly Warfield Award-winning season, and short-listed for the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's "Best Production". Julia was a 2023 Playwright in Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity and at NotaBleActs Theatre in New Brunswick, working on her new play, I AM AN ISLAND.

Julia's films have been selections at major festivals, including TIFF, Palm Springs, and Fantasia. Her first feature film, WITH LOVE AND MAJOR ORGAN (her adaptation of her play) premiered at SXSW. It is currently available to rent on Apple, Amazon, and other platforms. Her short films are on CBC Gem and HighballTV. Next: I AM AN ISLAND will have its first production with Watering Hole Collective; a new female-driven adaptation of LORD OF THE FLIES with The Bombshell Dance Project (both in Dallas); GATHER (written with Julie Ritchey) at Tailspinner Children's Theatre in Cleveland. Julia is represented by Play Management.

For more info: www.julialederer.ca

Dhanish is a sound designer, musician, playwright and performer based in Toronto. You can find her in the city at old time music jams and performing jazz/electronic music under the moniker grrlgrrlgrrl. She is one half of trans girl musical duo Figgy Jam.

Jan Alexandra Smith is an actor, director and instructor based in Stratford. She lived here many years ago, moved around for a few decades, came to her senses, and moved back in March 2020. Timing could not have been worse to re-connect with Stratford’s performing arts community, so developing a relationship with Here For Now has been a tremendous privilege. Jan directed Ellen Denny’s Take Care in 2022, Steve Ross’ Life Without in 2023 and is partnering with Steve again this summer to direct 12 Dinners. She has both staged and performed in productions ranging from mysteries to musicals, and contemporary to classical; she has enjoyed return engagements with the Shaw Festival, Theatre Calgary, The Citadel, Royal Alex, Charlottetown Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Center, The Grand and more. Currently, her passion is Movement Direction, which is a fancy way to describe how we tell stories with our whole bodies, and not just with our voices. Jan is an accomplished home renovator, dog and cat mum, a graduate of Conestoga College’s Culinary Program and has plans for a Masters in Movement Direction to begin in 2025

David is an award winning actor, singer, songwriter who has worked around the world in music, tv, film and theatre. Highlights include Sam in the original Broadway production of Mamma Mia, Lockstock in Urinetown(Dora Award), Canadian premieres of Rock of Ages, Billy Eliot, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, True Love Lies. David has spent nine seasons at The Stratford Festival, most recently playing Kent in King Lear in 2023. Other Stratford credits include Hamlet, Fuente Ovejuna, Trojan Woman, Oklahoma, Richard III, The Three Musketeers and Coriolanus. He also portrayed Benvolio in Robert LePage’s ground breaking production of Romeo and Juliet. His extensive list of tv and film credits include The Manchurian Candidate with Meryl Streep, Designated Survivor, Suits, Copper(Series Regular), Lost Girl, Heartland, Akilla’s Escape, Albatross(Austin Film Fest Award), The Barrens, Ten Truths About Love. He previously released two independent CD’s with fellow actor Paul Gross and their compilation CD, Holiday Heroes, achieved gold status in Canada. Recently, he released his own self-produced CD, Gasoline Rainbows. davidkeeley.ca

Monique Lund is thrilled to be once again working with Here For Now Theatre for the 5 th season of its hugely successful Festival. For the 2021 HFN season, Monique and Mark performed in The Wonder Of It All- the first two hander Mark wrote especially for them to perform together. Directed by Seana McKenna, that play has gone on to tour Canada at over six different theatres with many more upcoming bookings. Past directing credits with HFN include Infinite Possibilities, WHACK! ( associate director), The Tracks, Every Day She Rose and Margaret Reid. She has been a professional actor, singer and dancer for over thirty years and has worked from coast to coast in Canada and the U.S. Some career highlights include the Broadway Tour of Mamma Mia in which she played the role of Donna, the original Toronto companies of The Lord of the Rings, Joseph, The Who’s Tommy, and Crazy For You. She has also spent 13 seasons at the Stratford Festival in a variety of plays and musicals, workshops and recordings including The House of Martin Guerre, Kiss Me Kate, The Music Man, Julius Caesar, Crazy For You, Elektra, The Sound of Music, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Camelot, Evita, The Bacchae, and Cabaret. For the 2024 Stratford Season, Monique was the assistant director of the musical Something Rotten. In 2017 she won the Brian Macdonald award for emerging directors at the Guthrie Awards. She calls Stratford her home – both artistically and physically and she sincerely thanks you for supporting live theatre

Kelli Fox is an actor/director with 35 years on stages across Canada, and in the US, including 15 seasons with the Shaw Festival, and 3 seasons with the Stratford Festival. Last season she directed The Fox for HFN Theatre. Other directing credits include, The Drowning Girls, Peter and the Starcatcher, A Christmas Carol (Globe Theatre), Hamlet (Shakespeare on the Sask), A Midsummer Nights Dream (SotB - Theatre Calgary), Kitchen Radio, Cakewalk (Blyth Festival) Gaslight (Shaw Festival), and Between Riverside and Crazy (Coal Mine Theatre) for which she received a Dora nomination. As an actor, Kelli has been recognized with a Jessie award (Keely & Du, Arts Club/Canstage), a Dora nomination (Top Girls, Soulpepper), a Capitol Critics Circle award (A Room of One's Own, Shaw tour), a Toronto Critics Circle award (Penelopiad, Nightwood Theatre), as well as sharing a Dora with the Penelopiad ensemble. She was the 2016 recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Prize recognizing emerging directors transitioning mid-career.

Darren is thrilled to be back with Here For Now! Previous Set Design work: Life Without (along with Costume Design), The Fox (Here For Now), Seussical The Musical, Mamma Mia! (Secondary Characters), and multiple set and lighting designs for dance and theatre schools in Vancouver. As an actor, he has worked across Canada with such theatre companies as Stage West Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, Canadian Opera Company, The Ross Petty Panto, Globe Theatre, Western Canada Theatre, Thousand Island Playhouse, The Arts Club, Chemainus Theatre Festival, Carousel Theatre for Young Audiences. He has also been honoured to have been in the National Tour/Mirvish production of Matilda, the International Tour of Angelina Ballerina and has won a Jessie Award for his performance as “Snail” in A Year with Frog and Toad. Many thanks to Fiona, Siobhan and SJ for the unwavering trust in me, and his family, friends and especially Hunter for their never ending love and support!

Nick Green is a Dora Mavor Moore, Elizabeth Sterling Haynes, and Tom Hendry Award-winning playwright in Toronto. Most recently, Nick served as bookwriter for The Last Timbit, the star-studded Tim Horton's musical that premiering at the Elgin Theatre late June. Nick’s Dora Award-nominated play Casey and Diana premiered to a sold-out run at the Stratford Festival of Canada before transferring to Soulpepper Theatre. This show slated for five more productions across Canada in the 2024/25 season. Other favourite credits include In Real Life (book, Musical Stage Company, Tom Hendry Award Winner); Dr. Silver (book, South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival 2022 and 2023); Happy Birthday Baby J (Shadow Theatre); Body Politic (lemonTree Creations/Buddies in Bad Times, Dora Mavor Moore Award Winner, Outstanding New Play); Fangirl (book, Musical Stage Company); Living the Dream (book, Canadian Music Theatre Projects); Poof! The Musical (book, Twenties Street Productions, Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award Nomination); and Coffee Dad, Chicken Mom, and the Fabulous Buddha Boi (Guys in Disguise, winner of 3 Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards). Nick is also the creator of The Social Distancing Festival, and internationally-acclaimed online festival created during COVID to showcase interdisciplinary works from around the world. The website was inducted into the US Library of Congress in 2021.

Rosie is an actor and singer based out of Toronto. She attended university for musical theatre in Vancouver BC, and has since pursued a career in film/tv and voice over in addition to stage work. You may know her from her work as Amy Chao in the Netflix anthology thriller, Slasher: Solstice, or from her Dora nominated performance in The Chinese Lady with Studio 180/Crow’s Theatre/fu-Gen. Other select theatre credits include: The Three Musketeers(RMTC), Lady Sunrise(Factory Theatre), John(RMTC), Kim’s Convenience(Soulpepper), Cowboy Versus Samurai(Soulpepper), Acquiesce(Factory Theatre), Urinetown(The Firehall), The King and I(Gateway Theatre), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee(The Arts Club). Film/Tv credits include: Star Trek Discovery, Hudson and Rex, Goodwitch, Shadowhunters, Killjoys, Carter, Motive, Robyn Hood. Rosie was a part of an earlier version of Dinner with the Duchess at The Next Stage Festival back in 2019 and can’t wait for audiences to see where Nick Green has taken it since!

Born in Tkaronto (Toronto) to settlers from Hong Kong, Marjorie Chan is the Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille. As an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, she primarily identifies as a writer with specific interest in contemporary opera and collective forms, while also maintaining an active practice as a dramaturge and director. Marjorie also has a long history of working at the intersection of accessibility and dramaturgy, creating spaces and processes for more radical inclusivity in theatre creation.

Sam is thrilled to be stage managing two shows for Here For Now’s 2024 season! Previous stage management credits include Where The Heart Is at the Victoria Playhouse Petrolia, where he was also on the technical crew for their 2023 season. Sam spends some time on stage as well, recently playing Jason in Seneca’s Medea (Player’s Theatre) and Warner in Legally Blonde: The Musical (McGill Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society). He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English studies at McGill University.

Theatre, for me, is all about community. It's a place where people come together to connect, share experiences, and explore diverse perspectives. Being back in my hometown, getting to share these stories while working with amazing people is a wonderful full circle moment for me. I spent many years driving vans and buses touring around Canada with companies including Driftwood Theatre and Geordie Theatre. I went west with the Canadian Badlands Passion Play, and east with Perchance Theatre. More recently I worked at the Blyth Festival on The Donnelly Trilogy, and with the Grand Theatre on Kim’s Convenience, and In Seven Days. I'm grateful for every audience member who joins us in experiencing these beautiful plays, - and especially to John, who sees all my shows – your support means the world!