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NAC 40th Anniversary English Theatre Acting Company - Media Photo Call Opportunity - Thursday, November 26 at 10 am

Summary: In its 40th anniversary year, the National Arts Centre is making some theatrical history. For the first time in 25 years the NAC has formed an English Theatre Company made up of 18 artists selected from across the country.

In its 40^th anniversary year, the National Arts Centre is making some theatrical history. For the first time in 25 years the NAC has formed an English Theatre Company made up of 18 artists selected from across the country.

The Company is comprised of directors, playwrights, designers and performers who come from every corner of Canada.

Since late October the NAC’s English Theatre Company has been rehearsing for two productions, A Christmas Carol, which will open at the NAC on December 8^th, and Mother Courage and her Children, which will be performed at the NAC in January and at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg in February.

On Thursday, November 26, media will be invited to join the company as rehearsals take place in the morning. From 10 a.m. to noon, media will have access to record a rehearsal of A Christmas Carol and will be able to interview members of the English Theatre Company, and Artistic Director Peter Hinton.

Since his appointment to the National Arts Centre in 2006, Hinton has championed the idea of a National Theatre Company. As part of its role as a National Theatre the NAC is responsible for nurturing the work of Canadian artists. Mr. Hinton had a dream of bringing artists from across the country to build a company at the NAC. That dream was realized in late October as the ensemble began working together for the first time,

“The Acting Company is NATIONAL, giving a face to the plays we produce that genuinely looks like Canada today. We are dedicated to the ARTS, by presenting new and Canadian versions of two masterful texts. We are a CENTRE; a place where artists gather to explore and celebrate the diversity of our experience,” said Artistic Director Peter Hinton.

The NAC 40^th Anniversary English Theatre Acting Company members consist of 14 seasoned and spectacular performers and four apprentices of great potential. They will work closely together in Ottawa, and Manitoba for four months.

THE 2009-2010 NAC ENGLISH THEATRE COMPANY INCLUDES

NISHA AHUJA is originally from Ottawa. A graduate of York University she is an actor, writer and educator who has performed and created original work across Canada, the Netherlands, and India. This is her NAC debut. She has a sister who works across the street from the NAC at the House of Commons.

MICHAEL BLAKE hails from Toronto, is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, an inaugural member of Soulpepper Theatre’s Academy program and has performed in such productions as Othello, The Lion King and Rock and Roll.

RICHARD DONAT, who makes New Elm, Nova Scotia his home, has worked in theatres across Canada. A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Richard is an award-winning actor and director that is well known as Dr. Burnley on TV’s Emily of New Moon.

RANDI HELMERS hails from Toronto and is an accomplished actor, music director and singer. Randi has worked on stages across the country including The Stratford Festival and has appeared at the NAC in The Wrong Son, The War of the World and The Changeling. As a singer, she performs with John Millard and Happy Day and bassist Rob Clutton.

TANJA JACOBS was born in Brussels and based in Toronto, where her acting work has brought her 10 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations and two wins. A gifted actor, director and teacher, she is well known to NAC audiences for her roles in Happy Days, The Way of the World andThe Little Years.

GEORDIE JOHNSON comes to the NAC from outside of Monkton, Ontario and has appeared on stages throughout North America and Britain, including 11 seasons at The Stratford Festival. He is a Dora Award recipient, and his extensive work includes directing and TV, including such shows as Durham County, Traders, Dracula; the series and The City for which he received a Gemini Award.

KRIS JOSEPH is based in Ottawa, but born and raised in Saskatchewan. He has performed in several NAC productions including The Changeling, The Ark (2008), and Macbeth. His favourite credits include The Pillowman (Vision Theatre), and two seasons with the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott. He’s a blogger.

RON KENNELL born in Stratford, Ron has performed in the International Theatre Festival in Iran and in the Arctic. This two time Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee also spent six years in the Stratford Festival Company and just played Caliban in the Canadian Stage Company’s The Tempest.

JOHN KOENSGEN is a veteran of the NAC’s first English Theatre Company first joining in 1978, and is thrilled by its revival. He’s appeared in many NAC productions including Macbeth, and Buried Child. A graduate of Carleton University, he is married and has two sons.

JANI LAUZON, (Metis) originally from Cranbrook, B.C. and now based in Toronto, is a celebrated artist, who has received three Dora Mavor Moore nominations, three Juno nominations and is a Gemini Award winning puppeteer. Jani was co-founder of Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble and is playwright in residence at Factory Theatre.

JULIE TAMIKO MANNING, is a graduate of Montreal’s Dawson College Theatre Program. She is an actor and writer who recently finished her first play, Mixie and the Halfbreeds, co-written with Vancouver theatre artist Adrienne Wong. In her spare time she likes dragon boating.

ALEX MCCOOEYE is a graduate of the National Theatre School in Montreal. His most recent stage credits include: The Ark at the National Arts Centre, and Rock, Paper, Jackknife a production of the Talisman Theatre in Montreal. He is fond of playing cards, particularly poker.

NIALL PATRICK MCNEIL is from Vancouver and is an actor and an emerging writer. He has performed with Leaky Heaven Circus productions and Caravan Farm Theatre in British Columbia. Niall is the recipient of the 2010 David Leighton Arts Fellowship.

MATT MIWA is a recent graduate of the Theatre Department at the University of Ottawa. He’s thrilled to be part of the NAC’s English Theatre Company and to have the opportunity of working and learning from so many artists across the country. A Christmas Carol marks his NAC debut. He hails from Aurora, ON.

STEPHEN OUIMETTE, a celebrated actor, arrives from Stratford, where he performed in 17 seasons at the Stratford Festival and is known to NAC audiences for such plays as Endgame and I Am My Own Wife. Stephen is also well known for his TV work including his Gemini Award winning turn on Slings and Arrows.

JEREMIAH SPARKS is originally from Nova Scotia, now makes Toronto his home where he is an actor singer and composer. Jeremiah appeared in the Toronto production of the stage musical The Lion King and released his first CD, Let Go and Let God, in 1999.

WANETA STORMS was born and raised in BC. She studied at Simon Fraser University and The National Theatre School of Canada. She is based in Toronto, where she has been working in theatre, film, and TV for fifteen years. She received a Dora Mavor Moore award for her performance in DVxT's Coyote Ugly in 1999. She has been nominated for four Gemini awards, three of which were for her lead role on CTV's The Eleventh Hour.

MATTHEW TAPSCOTT is from Winnipeg, where he has worked with the Manitoba Theatre Centre and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, which lead to a tour of Hedwing and the Angry Inch through the U.K. and Italy. Matthew has also recorded three records with Winnipeg’s Tequila Mockingbird.

The English Theatre Company, Peter Hinton and Company Dramaturg Paula Danckert are also working with a strong company of artists from across the country, including musical director Allen Cole, designers Jock Munro, Teresa Przybylski, Eo Sharp, Troy Slocum, stage managersMichael Hart, Jane Vanstone Osborn and Stéfanie Séguin, and the NAC English Theatre playwrights in residence Dionne Brand, Michael O’Brien and Kevin Loring the recent winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama.

The NAC English Theatre is extremely excited about this season’s English Theatre Acting Company, which should lead to the company growing as the years continue.

“We are thrilled to re-instate a resident company of actors to English Theatre at the NAC, and to bring these productions to audiences in Ottawa and Winnipeg through our co-production with the Manitoba Theatre Centre,” added Mr. Hinton.

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