#315 – Introverted Actors Roundtable

Published: March 22, 2022, 5:45 a.m.

An introverted actors roundtable discussion featuring actor and playwright, Stephen Near; actor & Singer-Songwriter Carolyn Fe; writer, composer & and performer, Kristen Zaza; playwright & performer, Genevieve Adam; writer & actor Michael Ripley, and writer & theatre maker, Jess McAuley.

Stephen Near is an actor & writer working in Hamilton. His plays have been performed across Canada at various theatres and festivals including the Ottawa Fringe, the Toronto Fringe, the Hamilton Fringe, New Ideas, and Summerworks. He is a graduate of York University (BFA), the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (B. Ed) and the MFA Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph. He is a member of the Playwright’s Guild of Canada, the Theatre Aquarius Creator’s Junction and Playwright’s Unit and an alumnus of the Sage Hill Writing Experience and the Banff Centre. Stephen is co-founder and playwright-in-residence of Same Boat Theatre in Hamilton. Stephen was named one of the inaugural Writers-in-Residence at Hamilton’s Cotton Factory and is a staff writer for the Hamilton arts and culture blog Beyond James.   stephennear.com Twitter: @SNear23 Instagram: @stephenisnear   Carolyn Fe is a late-blooming Filipino-Canadian, tri-lingual Actress (English/French/Tagalog), Singer-Songwriter and former contemporary Dancer-Choreographer. Some Theatre credits include: Calpurnia (Nightwood/Sulong), Hilot Means Healer (Cahoots), Through the Bamboo (Uwi Collective) and Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon). At an age when her peers have long established themselves, Carolyn’s continuous pursuit of artistic evolution adds a new instrument to her art as an Emerging Playwright and Writer supported by Montreal's Teesri Duniya Theatre’s Fireworks Playwrights’ Programme, The Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and, Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre, Factory Theatre's Foundry Programme for Playwrights, Cahoots Theatre. Some TV/streaming credits include Lola (Grandma) in the Nickelodeon children’s show “Blue’s Clues & You!” and Madame Z in the award winning French webseries “Meilleur Avant” and the upcoming sketch comedy series "Abroad" on Omni Channel in Spring 2022.

Carolyn-fe.com Twitter: @TheCarolynFe Instagram: @thecarolynfe

Kristen Zaza is a writer, composer, and performer based in Toronto, Canada. She is currently producing the second season of her award-winning audio drama podcast, On a Dark, Cold Night.

www.kristenzaza.com Twitter: @kristen_zaza Instagram: @kristen_zaza

Genevieve Adam is a graduate of the George Brown Theatre School in Toronto and the East15 Acting School in the UK. Her first play Deceitful Above All Things premiered at SummerWorks in 2015 and won several accolades including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production, and Best Emerging Artist. It was remounted at the Factory in association with The Storefront Theatre in February 2017.

Subsequent plays include Bedsport (Newmarket National Play Festival), New World (Future Theatre Festival), Anatomy of A Dancer (Next Stage 2019), The Boat Show (Lost Souls’ Collective), and If The Shoe Fits, which won second place in the Toronto Fringe 2019 New Play Writing Contest.Her most recent play Dark Heart was named one of the top theatrical productions of 2018 by the Toronto Star.

Genevieve is also the poet behind the whimsical #haikusoflockdown series on Twitter.

Twitter: @FavourZeeBrave

Michael Ripley, 54, was born in Alberta but has spent most of his adult life in Ontario. He currently lives in Whitby with his wife and two sons. When Michael isn’t writing, performing or designing he spends inordinate amounts of time typing and immediately deleting long responses (which he never posts) to mean people on social media. He also eats far too many wine gums and watches not nearly enough basketball.

www.talentedmr.ca Twitter: @TalentedMr Instagram: @talentedmr

Jess McAuley is a Brock University graduate (theatre studies, honours) with a passion for devised theatre, writing, and pushing the bounds of adventure on stage. She is also one of the co-hosts of The Introvert’s Guide To…

Twitter: @mcauleyjes Instagram: @itsjessmcauley

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