Theatre PANIK

Kate is a Toronto based dancer and choreographer. In 2004 Kate won the K.M. Hunter Artist's Award in Dance. With Ross Manson Kate co-created The Four Horsemen Project, which garnered four Dora Mavor Moore awards. Kate also co-created the critically acclaimed multi-media work Century Song with Neema Bickersteth and Ross Manson, which has toured Canada and Europe and just closed a return engagement in Toronto at Streetcar Crow’s Nest.

Bonnie has designed lights for over 350 productions for theatre, opera and dance across Canada and internationally. Recent productions include Its a Wonderful Life (Soulpepper), Unholy (Nightwood/Buddies), The Vital Unrest (Ballet im Revier, Germany), and Riel (Canadian Opera Company). Upcoming productions include The Changeling (Stratford) and An Octoroon (Shaw).

Christina is thrilled to be working on strangers, babies with Theatre Panik. Recent credits include Unholy and Quiver with Nightwood Theatre. Other selected credits; Dora nominated shows Gertrude and Alice (Independent Aunties and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) and Sixteen Scandals (The Second City Toronto), Cannibal! The Musical (Starvox) performed at the Panasonic Theatre, two seasons with The Blyth Theatre Festival as assistant stage manager on If Truth Be Told, Our Beautiful Sons: The Matthew Dinning Story, Seeds and Fury. Christina would like to thank her loving wife Kathleen, for all of her support. 

Selected credits include: The Corpse Bride, My Name is Rachel Corrie (Theatre Panik); Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Pacific Opera Victoria); Sweet Charity, You Never Can Tell (Shaw Festival); Life, Death, and the Blues, CRASH (Theatre Passe Muraille); Watching Glory Die (Canadian Rep Theatre); Feng Yi Ting (Spoleto Festival USA/Lincoln Center Festival/Luminato Festival). Cameron teaches and mentors projection design at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Sadie Epstein-Fine is a second-generation queer artist and activist. Past Credits include: Unholy (assistant director, Nightwood Theatre), Freda and Jem’s Best of the Week (performer, buddies in bad times), Brantwood: 1920-2020 (assistant director, Theatre Sheridan), Eraser (director, Homeland Collective), Tire Swing (director, Filament Incubator/Epigraph Collective). Upcoming: King Lear (assistant director, Canadian Stage) Sadie has so much gratitude to be working with Theatre Panik who first inspired her at the age of 13.

Michael designed Other People’s Children for Theatre PANIK in 2013. He has done 13 seasons at Stratford: this season –  A Chorus Line and Bunny. Past seasons include You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Hosanna, The Comedy of Errors, An Ideal Husband, The Sound of Music, Christina, The Girl King, Taking Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, The Blonde, The Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead, Edward II, The Triumph of Love. Elsewhere: set and costume designs for the Shaw Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Theatre Calgary, Canadian Stage, Canadian Opera Company, Opera Philadelphia, National Ballet of Canada, Les Grand Ballet Canadiens, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Young People’s Theatre, Neptune Theatre, The Grand Theatre, Studio 180, Acting Up Stage, Opera Ontario, Segal Theatre, Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, Ross Petty Productions, Royal Conservatory of Music, Mirvish Productions. Film/TV: Christmas Dreams – production design (CBC). Awards: The Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design, OAC Foundation.

Paul’s international credits include work with Theatre BLIK (Poland), the International Theatre (Austria), as well as directing the national premiere of Oleanna for the venerable Stary Theatre in Kraków; Raised In Captivity (Berlin); I Claudia (Barcelona, Shanghai & Munich); Problem Child (Munich); El Boohoo de Omlette and Machinal (London); Beast on the Moon (Los Angeles). Canadian credits include Actors Repertory Company, the blood projects, Globe Theatre, Persephone Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Theatre Tattoo, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, The National Theatre School of Canada, Theatre PANIK and six seasons as associate director with Shaw Festival where he directed and acted in a number of shows. Paul is on faculty at York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design and is Co-Artistic Director of Theatre PANIK.

Niki has acted in theatres across Canada, in the U.S. and Germany. Selected credits: Unholy (Buddies), Other People’s Children (Tarragon/Theatre PANIK), little tongues (blood projects), Problem Child (BeMe), Apple (Factory), House of Many Tongues (Tarragon), Comedy of Errors (CanStage), Territories (Theatre PANIK), After the Orchard (National Arts Centre), Mating Dance of the Werewolf (MTC/Rubicon Theatre), Borderline (SummerWorks), The Dershowitz Protocol (SummerWorks), The Last Night of Ballyhoo (MTC), If We Are Women (Persephone), Reading Hebron (Factory) and Suburban Motel (Factory). Niki is Co-Artistic Director of Theatre PANIK.

Richard Lee is an award-winning actor, fight director, sound designer who has worked extensively in both film and theatre. His work has garnered him multiple Dora Award nominations out of which he has received three: One for his Sound Design work on paper SERIES (Cahoots Theatre Company) and Two in performance Sultans of the Street & Cinderella: A Ratical Retelling (both for Young People’s Theatre).  In 2013 he received the infamous Harold Award, which celebrates the mavericks of Toronto Theatre.

Robert is the Associate Director of Theatre PANIK. His previous work with PANIK includes My Name is Rachel Corrie, Problem Child and the development of Other People’s Children, The Corpse Bride, The Finger and Territories. Robert has worked extensively in Romania where he has developed a theatre for social change project bringing international artists from abroad to work with local theatre companies in Brasov. While there he directed Glengarry Glen Ross (National Theatre Sica Alexandrescu).

Theatre: Soulpepper (30 productions), Shaw Festival (5 seasons), Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, Mirvish Productions, Buddies in Bad Times, Tarragon Theatre, Studio180, ActingUpStage, Theatre20, National Arts Centre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Calgary, GEVA Theater, and Charlottetown Festival. Dora awards for The Light in the Piazza and Of Human Bondage, and three Dora nominations. Screen: Designated Survivor, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Flashpoint, Copper and Murdoch Mysteries. Upcoming: touring with Soulpepper to NYC for July. 

Linda comes from Glasgow, Scotland. Her plays have won many awards.  They include Every Five Minutes, Sex&God, Any Given Day, strangers, babies, Shimmer, Riddance, and One Good Beating. Since her first production in 1997 she has been known as a playwright who experiments with form. Her plays have been translated into many languages. An anthology of her work was published in France in 2015 by Actes Sud. Linda is chair of the Playwrights' Studio, Scotland and is on the artistic board of Magic Theatre, San Francisco. She is currently writing a play for Magic Theatre; a new play called Thingumy Bob for Lung Ha (a company for people with learning disabilities); and a Breakfast Play for the Traverse Theatre, called CtrlZ. 

Anastasiya is currently working with Shattered Glass Collective on a one-man show, Red Strings, opening June 2017. Most recently she had the pleasure of stage managing Burnish, directed by and starring Erika Batdorf; which was showcased during the 2016 Toronto Summer Works Festival. Anastasiya would like to give a very special thank you to Paul Lampert and Christina Cicko for this opportunity and for their continuous guidance and support. Strangers, babies rehearsal process was a wonderful adventure.

David is a thirty-one year veteran of the Shaw Festival, last seen on stage in the 2016 season in Our town and Uncle Vanya and before that as Director of Present Laughter in 2012. Paul Lampert directed him in Pirandello's Henry IV in the 1991 season. David has worked in regional theatre all across the country as well as on TV and Film. Last seen in Toronto in "How Do I Love Thee?" at the Berkely Upstairs in 2015.

Christopher has been creating work for stage and screen for over twenty years. His practice is wide-ranging, spanning from performer to director, writer, sound designer, and composer. His stage work has taken him across Canada to Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Montreal – and internationally to New York, Bogotà, Munich, Brisbane, Dublin, and Vienna. He has been nominated for 11 Dora Awards across disciplines, winning in 2011 for his performance in Enda Walsh’s New Electric Ballroom. Christopher is also the Artistic Producer of Toronto-based indie performance company ARC. He is based in Hamilton, ON. onebandoflight.com

Edmund hails from Paradise, Newfoundland & Labrador. Past theatre credits include: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Citadel/MTC); Arms and the Man, The Charity That Began at Home (Shaw); Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare by the Bow); Spelling 2-5-5 (Carousel Players); Henry IV Part 1, The Merchant of Venice (Perchance Theatre). Edmund holds a BA in English and Philosophy from Memorial University and a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta.

Ausar is a Toronto based actor who has performed on some of the country's 

most celebrated stages including the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and Shaw Festival. His recent theatre credits include Ensemble role in Small Axe, Theatre Centre; The Pastor in Awake, Expect Theatre; Marcus Garvey in IMarcus Garvey, Theatre Archipelago. Film and Television credits include Recurring role on Rogue (Direct TV), Principal roles on Man Seeking Woman (FXX), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Nikita (CW) and Covert Affairs (USA Network). He is thrilled to share in telling the poignant tale of Strangers, Babies.

Davida is thrilled to be working with the Theatre Panik for the first time. She is a Toronto based Lighting Designer that works in Theatre, Dance and Opera. Davida completed the Gilbert Hemsley Lighting Design Internship in New York City in 2012.

Selected Credits as a designer include Rocky Horror Picture Show (FOX USA) Ayikodans, Radiant Vermin (Precisely Peter Productions) Patsy Cline (TIP, Western Canada Theatre), Opera Briefs (Tapestry New Opera), Centre Stage Gala (COC), The Particular Premiere of a First (Esme Boyce Dance), Altar Boyz (Angelwalk Theatre, Victoria Playhouse Petrolia), Late, Black Medea (Obsidian Theatre Company).

Associate/Assistant credits include Arc3Design, Canadian Opera Company, Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre for a New Audience), The Princess and The Goblin (The Royal Winnipeg Ballet), The Common Pursuit (Roundabout Theatre Company), The Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre Gala, Hemsley Lighting Design Internship (New York City Ballet, New York City Opera). Davida has assisted at the COC, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, on and off Broadway, and at the Metropolitan Opera. Davida is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.

Christine is an itinerant designer, having worked in the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Select productions: 'Fragments' (English National Opera), 'Medea' (Zen Zen Zo), 'The Wholehearted' and 'The Island' (Massive Company), Next Big Thing (Auckland Theatre Company). In Toronto 'Dancocks Dance' and 'Hogtown' (Campbell House Museum), 'The Good Doctor Holmes' (TPM), numerous Fringe / Summerworks shows and her debut design in feature film 'Language,' an avant-garde, multilingual adaption of 'King Lear.'

Adrien has been working professionally as a technical artist for the past 24 years, combining rolls of Production Manager, Technical Director, Lighting Designer and Stage Manager.  He is currently the Technical Director for Buddies In Bad Times Theatre.  Selected credits include; Assistant Technical Director for Young People’s Theatre. Sound and Video Operator for touring productions of Our Brief Eternity and Circa (The Holy Body Tattoo). Lighting Designer for Under The Mink and Who’s your Dada (The Scandelles), Real Live Girl (Buddies In Bad Times Theatre), The Beauty Salon (Buddies In Bad Times Theatre), The First LP and Shifting Edges (Alias Dance Projects), Mine and This Is Where We Live (Discord and Din).

Lighting and Sound Design for Gash! (Summer Works) Stage Manager for Fluency and Woven by Peter Chin (Tribal Crackling Wind). Technical Director for The Normal Heart and Clybourne Park remount 2013 (Studio 180). Production Manager for Once On This Island (Acting Up Stage Company), Cock (Studio 180), Master Harold and The Boys, Toronto Run (Obsidian Theatre and Shaw Festival), Passing Strange (Acting Up Stage and Obsidian Theatre) Lighting Design, Technical Direction and Stage Management for The Toronto Dance Community Love In.

Ming is a costume designer, stylist, and wardrobe technician based in Toronto. She has worked on a variety of projects ranging from theatre to film & TV. Selected credits include: The Wedding Party (Crow's Theatre); Footloose (Theatre Sheridan); La CeChinna (Glenn Gould Opera School); Breathing Corpses (Coal Mine Theatre); Rocking Horse Winner (Tapestry Opera); Gertrude & Alice (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre-Dora nomination); Domesticated (Company Theatre/Canadian Stage); The River (Coal Mine Theatre); Supers (Pilot, Good Film & TV); Scales (Short film, Jessica Lea Fleming); Hello Dolly, Merrily We Roll Along (Theatre Sheridan); Pelleas et Melisande (Against The Grain); The Wanderers (Cahoots Theatre Company); The Gravitational Pull Of Bernice Trimble (Obsidian Theatre Company/Factory Theatre); Gorey Story (Thistle Project-Dora Nomination). Ming was nominated for the Virginia & Myrtle Cooper Award for Costume Design (2017).