Cymbeline
Cast & Crew
Mairi Babb - QUEEN / MOTHER / BRITON CAPTAIN
Mairi’s career has taken her from the West Coast, across the prairies, through Toronto, to the East Coast, all across the US - even to Tokyo! Some of her favourite experiences include: Ariel in The Tempest (RMTC), War Horse (Toronto, North America/Tokyo Tour), Clarissa in Spider’s Web (Theatre Aquarius), Jenora in Space Opera Zero (Eldritch Theatre), Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls (RMTC/Citadel, TC), Laura in Brief Encounter (Vancouver Playhouse/RMTC), Maria in West Side Story (Citadel/TC), Miranda in The Tempest (SIR), Janet in The Rocky Horror Show (Canstage), Baskerville (Lighthouse Festival Theatre), Emily in Our Town (RMTC), Educating Rita (RMTC), Maria in The Sound of Music (Rainbow), The Twins in The Last Resort (Charlottetown Festival). She has also worked as a voice and text coach, an assistant puppetry coach, and an assistant director. This spring she directed her first show - Early August, by Kate Lynch - at Lighthouse Festival Theatre in Port Dover. She lives in the east end with her husband and legendary cat, Zuzu Petals.
Christopher Brackett - STAGE MANAGER
Christopher is a stage manager and children’s supervisor who has worked across North
America. He is thrilled to be back and joining forces with James, Julia and the entire
BASH’d team.
Select Theatre Credits: Othello, Richard III (Shakespeare BASH’d); The Hockey Sweater (National Arts Centre); The Virgin Trial, Romeo & Juliet (Stratford Festival); MATILDA the Musical (1st US National Tour, Mirvish); The Cottage, Sense & Sensibility (RMTC); A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper); JukeBox Hero (Annerin Productions); Beauty & the Beast, FROZEN (Disney Cruise Line); Rufus Does Judy, Contemporary Color, If I Loved You: Gentlemen Prefer Broadway (Luminato).
Other credits include work with Disney Theatrical Group, the Toronto International Film
Festival, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Always, much love to mom and dad. Follow online @CSDBrackett.
America. He is thrilled to be back and joining forces with James, Julia and the entire
BASH’d team.
Select Theatre Credits: Othello, Richard III (Shakespeare BASH’d); The Hockey Sweater (National Arts Centre); The Virgin Trial, Romeo & Juliet (Stratford Festival); MATILDA the Musical (1st US National Tour, Mirvish); The Cottage, Sense & Sensibility (RMTC); A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper); JukeBox Hero (Annerin Productions); Beauty & the Beast, FROZEN (Disney Cruise Line); Rufus Does Judy, Contemporary Color, If I Loved You: Gentlemen Prefer Broadway (Luminato).
Other credits include work with Disney Theatrical Group, the Toronto International Film
Festival, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Always, much love to mom and dad. Follow online @CSDBrackett.
Daniel Briere - Iachimo
This is Daniel's fourth appearance with Shakespeare BASH'd (Hamlet, Twelfth Night, As You Like It). A graduate of the National Theatre School, he spent three seasons with the Stratford Festival and was seen most recently at the Foster Festival in St Catharines. Daniel is a writer, director, puppeteer, and developing sound designer. He lives in Leslieville with his partner Katie and their four frogs.
Déjah Dixon-Green - ARVIRAGUS / GENTLEWOMAN
Déjah was born and raised all around the city of Toronto. She is a recent graduate of the National Theatre School’s Acting program where she had the privilege of playing roles like Rosalind in As you Like It, the title role in King Lear, Hero in Much Ado, Officer Reggie Fluty in The Laramie Project, and Goneril in Young Jean Lee’s Lear.
Other stage credits include: Susanna Walcott in The Crucible, Lady Basildon in An Ideal Husband, Trebonious/Pindarus in Julius Caesar (Stratford Festival), Kerthia in The Penelopiad (The Grand), Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing, Charmian in Antony and Cleopatra, Artemidorus in Julius Caesar (St Lawrence Shakespeare), and Alex in The Railway Children (Mirvish).
Déjah feels very blessed to be making her Shakespeare BASH’d debut and is forever grateful to all who have supported her on this journey. A very special thank you to the beloved Ian Watson, this one is for you.
Other stage credits include: Susanna Walcott in The Crucible, Lady Basildon in An Ideal Husband, Trebonious/Pindarus in Julius Caesar (Stratford Festival), Kerthia in The Penelopiad (The Grand), Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing, Charmian in Antony and Cleopatra, Artemidorus in Julius Caesar (St Lawrence Shakespeare), and Alex in The Railway Children (Mirvish).
Déjah feels very blessed to be making her Shakespeare BASH’d debut and is forever grateful to all who have supported her on this journey. A very special thank you to the beloved Ian Watson, this one is for you.
Bailey Green - PISANIO / ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR / FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER
Bailey is an actor, writer, and emerging director originally from Montreal. She’s a bilingual (English/French), bisexual artist currently focused on fight and intimacy choreography.
For Shakespeare BASH’d: Associate Director/Assistant Fight Director on As You Like It, Cariola in The Duchess of Malfi, Eubulus in Gorboduc, Luciana/Courtesan in The Comedy of Errors, Arthur/Prince Henry in King John, and the Earl of Kent in Edward II.
Selected theatre: She in They Fight! (Process Theatre), Lavinia in Titus Andronicus (Hart House Theatre), Margaret in Much Ado about Nothing (Secret Shakespeare Series), and The Tin Can People (Janus Productions).
She is an alumna of University of Toronto, Sheridan College, and John Abbott College. Outside of the theatre, she’s a book hoarder, bubble tea fanatic, and nature lover. To learn more about her work visit www.baileygreen.caa
For Shakespeare BASH’d: Associate Director/Assistant Fight Director on As You Like It, Cariola in The Duchess of Malfi, Eubulus in Gorboduc, Luciana/Courtesan in The Comedy of Errors, Arthur/Prince Henry in King John, and the Earl of Kent in Edward II.
Selected theatre: She in They Fight! (Process Theatre), Lavinia in Titus Andronicus (Hart House Theatre), Margaret in Much Ado about Nothing (Secret Shakespeare Series), and The Tin Can People (Janus Productions).
She is an alumna of University of Toronto, Sheridan College, and John Abbott College. Outside of the theatre, she’s a book hoarder, bubble tea fanatic, and nature lover. To learn more about her work visit www.baileygreen.caa
Melanie Leon - GUIDERIUS / GENTLEWOMAN / ASSISTANT FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER
Melanie received her theatre training from the University of Victoria. She is also a Factory Theatre Mechanical 2017 and FDC Intermediate Combatant.
Selected theatre credits include: All's Well That Ends Well (Dauntless City Theatre), Othello (Shakespeare BASH'd), Much Ado About Nothing (Dauntless City Theatre), Measure for Measure (Shakespeare BASH'd), Configurations of a Divine Bitch (Goat Howl Theatre), Titus Andronicus (Hart House), Shakespeare in Hospitals (SOTMSC), This Will Be Our Last Transmission (Fireworks Festival), Flooded (North America), CAESAR (Wolf Manor), and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Amicus Theatre). When she's not acting, Mel teaches pole dancing and enjoys baking, eating pasta and drinking whiskey.
Selected theatre credits include: All's Well That Ends Well (Dauntless City Theatre), Othello (Shakespeare BASH'd), Much Ado About Nothing (Dauntless City Theatre), Measure for Measure (Shakespeare BASH'd), Configurations of a Divine Bitch (Goat Howl Theatre), Titus Andronicus (Hart House), Shakespeare in Hospitals (SOTMSC), This Will Be Our Last Transmission (Fireworks Festival), Flooded (North America), CAESAR (Wolf Manor), and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Amicus Theatre). When she's not acting, Mel teaches pole dancing and enjoys baking, eating pasta and drinking whiskey.
David Mackett - CYMBELINE / SICILIUS LEONATUS
For Shakespeare BASH’d: Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors, Edward ll (Staged Reading), Gorboduc (Staged Reading).
Elsewhere (Selected): Titus Andronicus (Hart House); Arcadia (Citadel Theatre); Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Cold Comfort, The Good Thief (Fly on the Wall Theatre); After the Fall (Equity Showcase), The Weir, The Good Thief (MacKenzieRo); Aftershock (SummerWorks); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Touchmark Theatre); Half Life (Rose Theatre); All’s Well that Ends Well (Shakespeare in the Square); Lucrece (Willow Cabin Theatre); Peter Pan (TheatreWorks/USA); Candida, Of Mice and Men (Kentucky Rep).
Other: David is a graduate of the Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program, Circle in the Square Theatre School (NYC), and completed his Classical Theatre Training at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He is Co-Artistic Producer of Fly on the Wall Theatre ( www.flyonthewalltheatre.ca ).
Elsewhere (Selected): Titus Andronicus (Hart House); Arcadia (Citadel Theatre); Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Cold Comfort, The Good Thief (Fly on the Wall Theatre); After the Fall (Equity Showcase), The Weir, The Good Thief (MacKenzieRo); Aftershock (SummerWorks); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Touchmark Theatre); Half Life (Rose Theatre); All’s Well that Ends Well (Shakespeare in the Square); Lucrece (Willow Cabin Theatre); Peter Pan (TheatreWorks/USA); Candida, Of Mice and Men (Kentucky Rep).
Other: David is a graduate of the Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program, Circle in the Square Theatre School (NYC), and completed his Classical Theatre Training at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He is Co-Artistic Producer of Fly on the Wall Theatre ( www.flyonthewalltheatre.ca ).
Jesse Nerenberg - POSTHUMUS
For Shakespeare BASH’d: Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Macbeth, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, The Duchess of Malfi.
Selected Theatre: The Winter’s Tale, Julius Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew,Cyrano, The Three Musketeers (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Kidoons/Manitoba Theatre for Young People/Persephone Theatre/Ohio Theatre); Perfect Wedding (Magnus Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chekhov Collective); The Golem's Mighty Swing (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre/Outside the March), The Whipping Man (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre); Twelfth Night (Repercussion Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (Citadel Theatre);Casimir & Caroline (Howland Company); Birth (Pandemic Theatre); Journey's End (Empty Room); The SantaLand Diaries (Frosty Co-op);Equus (Hart House); Mary's Wedding (Brantbury Fair); Serious Money (RTS/Nightwood).
Film, TV, Voice-Over: Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Fare Trade (Bell Media), Slasher Digital (Shaftesbury), Private Eyes (Global), Touring T.O. (Bell Media), Warehouse 13 (SyFy), The Transporter (HBO Canada), Canadian Made and Storming Juno (History Television), Trust, INC. (CBC Radio).
Other: Graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School and participant in the 2014 Citadel/Banff Professional Theatre Program.
Selected Theatre: The Winter’s Tale, Julius Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew,Cyrano, The Three Musketeers (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Kidoons/Manitoba Theatre for Young People/Persephone Theatre/Ohio Theatre); Perfect Wedding (Magnus Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chekhov Collective); The Golem's Mighty Swing (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre/Outside the March), The Whipping Man (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre); Twelfth Night (Repercussion Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (Citadel Theatre);Casimir & Caroline (Howland Company); Birth (Pandemic Theatre); Journey's End (Empty Room); The SantaLand Diaries (Frosty Co-op);Equus (Hart House); Mary's Wedding (Brantbury Fair); Serious Money (RTS/Nightwood).
Film, TV, Voice-Over: Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Fare Trade (Bell Media), Slasher Digital (Shaftesbury), Private Eyes (Global), Touring T.O. (Bell Media), Warehouse 13 (SyFy), The Transporter (HBO Canada), Canadian Made and Storming Juno (History Television), Trust, INC. (CBC Radio).
Other: Graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School and participant in the 2014 Citadel/Banff Professional Theatre Program.
Julia Nish-Lapidus - DIRECTOR
Julia is an actor, director, and producer, as well as a Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Shakespeare BASH'd, where she has produced all of the company's productions. She just completed her first season at the Stratford Festival as part of the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Directing, acting as the Assistant Director on Private Lives and will be returning this season as Assistant Director on All's Well That Ends Well.
For Shakespeare BASH'd, Julia has directed Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, and the staged reading of The Duchess of Malfi. She has also performed in many BASH'd productions, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Volpone (staged reading).
Selected Additional Credits: The Tom & Gertie Letters Project (Co-Director), Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen and This Property is Condemned (Director, The Playwright Project), Modern Love (Co-Creator, Next Stage), As You Like It (Text Coach, Theatre By the Bay), Titus Andronicus (Text Coach. Hart House), and as an actor OVER, See Bob Run (Theatre Caravel), reasons to the pretty (The Labute Cycle), The Forest (Red One Theatre Collective), Dublin Carol (Fly on the Wall). Julia is a member of the Advisory Board for the Canadian Stage GYM program and a graduate of the joint acting program at UofT and Sheridan College.
For Shakespeare BASH'd, Julia has directed Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, and the staged reading of The Duchess of Malfi. She has also performed in many BASH'd productions, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Volpone (staged reading).
Selected Additional Credits: The Tom & Gertie Letters Project (Co-Director), Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen and This Property is Condemned (Director, The Playwright Project), Modern Love (Co-Creator, Next Stage), As You Like It (Text Coach, Theatre By the Bay), Titus Andronicus (Text Coach. Hart House), and as an actor OVER, See Bob Run (Theatre Caravel), reasons to the pretty (The Labute Cycle), The Forest (Red One Theatre Collective), Dublin Carol (Fly on the Wall). Julia is a member of the Advisory Board for the Canadian Stage GYM program and a graduate of the joint acting program at UofT and Sheridan College.
Catherine Rainville - INNOGEN
Catherine is Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare BASH'd.
With BASH’d as a director: A Midsummer Night's Dream (co-director), Measure for Measure, Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Windsor (co-director), and The Taming of the Shrew (associate director).
Most recent credits: Hermione in The Winter’s Tale and Roxane in Cyrano De Bergerac at St Lawrence Shakespeare Festival.
With BASH’d as an actor: Desdemona in Othello, Queen Elizabeth and Catesby in Richard III, Cardinal Pandaulph in King John, The Widow in The Taming of the Shrew, and Katherine in Love’s Labour’s Lost.
Other acting credits include: Viola in Twelfth Night with A Company of Fools, Rosalind in As You Like It, Cordelia in King Lear, and Jenny in the company written musical production of Pinocchio with Shakespeare by the Sea.
With BASH’d as a director: A Midsummer Night's Dream (co-director), Measure for Measure, Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Windsor (co-director), and The Taming of the Shrew (associate director).
Most recent credits: Hermione in The Winter’s Tale and Roxane in Cyrano De Bergerac at St Lawrence Shakespeare Festival.
With BASH’d as an actor: Desdemona in Othello, Queen Elizabeth and Catesby in Richard III, Cardinal Pandaulph in King John, The Widow in The Taming of the Shrew, and Katherine in Love’s Labour’s Lost.
Other acting credits include: Viola in Twelfth Night with A Company of Fools, Rosalind in As You Like It, Cordelia in King Lear, and Jenny in the company written musical production of Pinocchio with Shakespeare by the Sea.
Emilio Vieira - CLOTEN / BRITON LORD
Emilio is so pleased to be making his BASH'd debut, after years of admiring the heart and calibre of this company's work. Emilio adds Cymbeline to his other classical credits: The Tempest, Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Tartuffe (Stratford Festival); Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Titus Andronicus (Canadian Stage); Richard III, Dido Queen of Carthage (Birmingham Conservatory); Romeo and Juliet (Guild Festival Theatre).
Emilio is ever thankful to Karol Roseman and Ian Watson, two passionate practitioners who unlocked Shakespeare's language for him. Emilio dares you to ask him "Why Shakespeare? Why now?" He double dog dares you...
Emilio is ever thankful to Karol Roseman and Ian Watson, two passionate practitioners who unlocked Shakespeare's language for him. Emilio dares you to ask him "Why Shakespeare? Why now?" He double dog dares you...
James Wallis - CAIUS LUCIUS / BELARIUS
James has been a Shakespeare fan all his life, having performed with Resurgence Theatre Company as a teenager and again as a professional later in his career.
In 2010, James co-founded Shakespeare BASH’d with his wife, Julia. For the company, James has directed staged readings of Romeo and Juliet (2010), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2011), Edward II (2015), Volpone (2017), as well as the full productions of Romeo & Juliet, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Twelfth Night, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He played Petruchio in the company's Best of Fringe winning production of The Taming of the Shrew in 2012 and the remount in 2015, and played Benedick in their sold-out production of Much Ado About Nothing in the 2013 Toronto Fringe. In addition, here are some of James’ selected theatre credits: A Midsummer Nights’ Dream, Shakespeare’s Magic and The Taming of the Shrew (Theatre by the Bay), Danny, King of the Basement (Roseneath Theatre, US Tour), Sleeping Beauty (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Paradise by the River (Shadowpath Theatre).
James participated in the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Directing at the Stratford Festival, assistant directing Macbeth, Bunny, and Romeo and Juliet, as well as Julius Caesar in 2018.
In 2010, James co-founded Shakespeare BASH’d with his wife, Julia. For the company, James has directed staged readings of Romeo and Juliet (2010), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2011), Edward II (2015), Volpone (2017), as well as the full productions of Romeo & Juliet, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Twelfth Night, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He played Petruchio in the company's Best of Fringe winning production of The Taming of the Shrew in 2012 and the remount in 2015, and played Benedick in their sold-out production of Much Ado About Nothing in the 2013 Toronto Fringe. In addition, here are some of James’ selected theatre credits: A Midsummer Nights’ Dream, Shakespeare’s Magic and The Taming of the Shrew (Theatre by the Bay), Danny, King of the Basement (Roseneath Theatre, US Tour), Sleeping Beauty (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Paradise by the River (Shadowpath Theatre).
James participated in the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Directing at the Stratford Festival, assistant directing Macbeth, Bunny, and Romeo and Juliet, as well as Julius Caesar in 2018.
Kiana Woo - LORD / PHILARIO / CORNELIUS / ROMAN CAPTAIN / BRITON CAPTAIN
Kiana is a Chinese-Canadian actor, mover and creator with a special love for clown, physical theatre, and classical works (which she knows is sort of an odd combination). She is a graduate of the BFA Acting program at the University of Alberta. After growing up out west in Alberta, she is very grateful and excited to be a part of the Shakespeare BASH’d season, and to be working alongside such an incredible team of delightful and talented artists. In her off time she enjoys playing the ukulele and searching for exciting new snacks. She sends endless thanks to her friends and family who constantly shower her with love and support in this wild career. Selected credits include: Dispatch, Monsieur Leotard, Symphony No. 6 (Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival),That’s Danger! (Alberta Workers Health Centre), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Theatre Calgary/Shakespeare by the Bow), Doll House, The Lower Depths, and The School for Scandal (Studio Theatre), Silence and the Machine (Nextfest), Lion in the Streets, The Cerebra Soiree, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (University of Alberta). @kikihybrid