The Knight of the Burning Pestle
Cast & Crew
Max Ackerman - VENTUREWELL/BARBEROSA/SERGEANT
Max Ackerman is an independent actor, director, writer, and producer from Toronto, and the founding Artistic Director of Dandelion Theatre. He gravitates towards work that is surreal, fantastical, and epic. Recent acting credits include Who’s Afraid of Titus (Red Sandcastle Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Rose Theatre), and Slight Expectations (Port Hope Arts Festival). Recent directorial credits include Doctor Faustus (Dandelion Theatre/Apothecary Theatre), DEATH: a love story, The Winter’s Tale, The Sinai Sessions, After Icarus, and an audio workshop of The Hands of Hypatia (and Other Stories) (Dandelion Theatre), and What Will Remain (The Annex Singers). He also recently produced The Bad Mitzvah (SALT Theatre) at the 2023 Toronto Fringe Festival. Max is thrilled to be working with Shakespeare BASH'd for the first time.
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Will Carr - JASPER
Will Carr is thrilled to be working with Shakespeare BASH'd! He is a British-Canadian actor currently based in Toronto, and a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Select credits include; Comedy of Errors, Million Dollar Quartet (The Grove Theatre), Ghost: The Musical (Starvox Ent.), Cabaret, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Lower Ossington Theatre), South Pacific (Calgary Opera), Les Feluettes (Pacific Opera Victoria), This Little Light (The Belfry Theatre), Twelfth Night, A Winter’s Tale (Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival) Film/TV credits; Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), The Boys (Amazon Prime), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (CBS Films).
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Kyle Claeys - TIM |
Sofía Contal - MICHAEL |
Kyle is a Toronto-based actor and musician. Kyle first came to Toronto in 2017 to pursue an undergraduate Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with Toronto Metropolitan University’s (formerly Ryerson) Acting program. Since graduating in 2021, Kyle has been involved in various live performances and film projects. Most recently, Kyle performed in a workshop of the musical “Statistics” with Shifting Ground Collective in March of 2023 as well as performed as a musician at Equity Showcase's Art Club. Kyle is extremely excited to be involved in the reading of "The Knight of the Burning Pestle" after having the opportunity to work with James and Julia during his time at TMU.
Currently, Kyle is working to complete The Second City’s Conservatory Program and is working on an EP of original music that he is hoping to have released in the near future. |
Sofía Contal (She/They) is so grateful to be back working with ShakesBASH’d; She learns mountain-loads from them every time! As a multidisciplinary artist, Sofía has a deep curiosity for classical text but equally loves to move and groove, sing and scat, and scribble a few poetic words herself. Although performing is what sets them alight, they feel a strong pull towards developing their creative voice in order to paint rich, nuanced Latinx stories that pay homage to their cultural upbringing and loving community. Beyond her artistry, Sofía is also passionate about arts education and spent much of 2023 teaching musical theatre to young people. She feels empowered to pay forward the gifts of wisdom others have given her, and knows how special music and storytelling can be as outlets for self-reflection and release. Other credits: Cabaret (Ovation Productions), The Velveteen Rabbit (Carousel Players), 33 1/3 (Theatre Aquarius), 9 to 5 (Capitol Theatre).
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Bailey Green - MISTRESS MERRYTHOUGHT |
Luke Kimball - RAFE |
Bailey (she/her) is an actor and a fight/intimacy choreographer originally from Montreal. For Shakespeare BASH’d, Bailey has appeared as Pisanio in Cymbeline, Luciana in The Comedy of Errors, Arthur in King John, and in multiple staged readings. She associate directed the BASH’d productions of Cymbeline and As You Like It, and played Lavinia in Titus Andronicus directed by James Wallis (Hart House). She is an alumna of Humber College, University of Toronto, Sheridan College, and John Abbott College. She currently works as a mental health and addictions counsellor at the Jean Tweed Centre.
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Luke Kimball is an actor, director, and acting coach located in Toronto. During his final year of theatre school, Luke was cast in the lead role of Albus Potter in the Canadian premiere of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, performing over 400 times in what became the longest-running professional play in Canadian history. Other recent theatre credits include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night (Festival Players of PEC); The Zoo Story (A Front Company); Hamlet (RTS). TV: Bennett Brewer in Workin’ Moms (CBC); Elmer in Umbrella Academy (Netflix). Directing: Almost, Maine (Main St Productions); Pandemic Play (Theatre 44); Macbeth (Associate Director, Panoply Collective). Luke is thrilled to be working with Shakespeare BASH’d, one of his absolute favourite theatre companies in the city!
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David Mackett - CITIZEN |
Rianna Persaud - BOY |
For Shakespeare BASH’d: The Tragedy of King Lear, Cymbeline, 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): Arcadia (Citadel Theatre); The Good Thief, Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Cold Comfort (Fly on the Wall Theatre); Titus Andronicus (Hart House); After the Fall (Equity Showcase), The Weir (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 Repertory Theatre). 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).
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Rianna is overjoyed to be returning to Shakespeare BASH’d for The Knight of the Burning Pestle. She is a creator and performer from Ottawa, with over a decade of training in a variety of vocal and theatrical styles. Last season, Rianna played Vasques in the staged reading of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore with Shakespeare BASH’d and she is currently filming Swine through the TMU Media Production program. Persaud is a recent graduate of Randolph College for the Performing Arts, where her love for Shakespeare and his contemporaries began upon studying with James and Julia. Since graduating, she has devoted her time to her writing and directing. She relishes any
opportunity to collaborate with other queer, BIPOC artists and hopes to amplify the voices of marginalised communities with her work. (Selected Theatre/Film Credits: ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore - Shakespeare BASH’d, Matilda: the musical - North Stage, The Invisibles - Rather Unimpressive Films, Swine - Node Productions, Teenage Fever - Bell Media). |
Alyssa Pothier - LUSE |
Adriano Reis - HUMPHREY |
Alyssa Pothier (she/her) is an actor, playwright, director, and a co-founding Artistic Director of Panoply Theatre Collective. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s BFA Acting Program, she is passionate about using all aspects of storytelling as a vehicle for connection and change. She is thrilled to be a part of this group exploring classical text, with a company & team she has long admired! Some favourite past acting credits include Rosalind in LoveSick: An Adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost, Wendy in Peter Pan, and the title role in Macbeth.
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Adriano Reis is a Brazilian-Canadian (Latinx), Dora nominated actor and graduate of the George Brown Theatre School. Some of his recent credits include: Romeo and Juliet (YES Theatre), Martyr (ARC Stage), Shanty Show (The Lakeside Players), and Cyrano de Bergerac (Theatre on the Ridge). He’s currently developing his movement practice with goals to teach and direct physical theatre; recently working as the assistant movement director for YES Theatre’s production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Adriano also works as a tile installer and furniture mover - anything to make ends meet.
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Lesley Robertson - CITIZEN'S WIFE |
Deivan Steele - OLD MERRYTHOUGHT |
Lesley Robertson is a Toronto-based actor and comedian. As an actor, Lesley has enjoyed playing a wide range of Shakespearean roles including King John, Feste, Pompey, Touchstone (Shakespeare BASH’d), Dogberry, Cordelia, the Nurse (Hart House), and Julia in Two Gents (Shakespeare in the Ruff). As a comedian, Lesley is a co-creator of the comedy band “The Diddlin’ Bibbles”, which won Patron’s Pick at the 2017 Toronto Fringe Festival, and then performed at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Lesley also performed in her first solo sketch show, “Birdie”, at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival in March 2023.
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Deivan Steele is a Dora award-winning actor, writer, and director originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Past work with Shakespeare BASH’d: ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore; King Lear. Other credits include: Romeo and Juliet (YES Theatre); Behind the Moon (Tarragon); Romeo & Juliet and Action, 3Tempests (Shakespeare in Action); Hamlet, Henry V, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Cinderelly, Wizard of Oz (Shakespeare by the Sea); and rihannaboi95 (Unwrap Theatre). Original theatre works include: The Assembly (co-created with Breanne Tice/Theatre Direct, Eastern Front Theatre, Shakespeare in Action); Palany (Neptune INKubator writer-in-residence); The Book of Kit and Mel (with Garry Williams/Shakespeare in Action); and Froxeaglousey (Driftwood). He also appeared in the Canadian Screen Award-winning film Weirdos.
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