MARTY CHAN

(Writer)

Marty Chan writes plays for adults and books for kids. His dramatic works include romantic comedies, political satires, thrillers, and musicals. They have been produced around the world. His hit play Mom, Dad, I’m Living with a White Girl has been produced across Canada and Off-Broadway. His thriller, The Bone House, captivated audiences in Edmonton, Toronto, and Edinburgh. Marty’s children’s novels include The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul, which won the 2007 Diamond Willow Award.

Marty has also written radio plays and television scripts. From 1994 to 2000 his weekly commentary series, The Dim Sum Diaries, aired on CBC Radio. This series was adapted into a television program, The Orange Seed Myth, winning a Gold Medal for Best Television Pilot at the Charleston World Film and Television Festival.

Marty lives in Edmonton, Alberta. He was Citadel Theatre’s first playwright-in-residence and has served as the Chair of the Edmonton Arts Council. Marty received an Arts Achievement Award and a Performance Award from the City of Edmonton.

LAURIE STEVEN

Laurie is an award-winning director, writer, dramaturge, and the founding Artistic Director of Odyssey Theatre.

Laurie’s productions of over 30 original plays and adaptations of classics have incorporated masks, puppets, dance, bouffon, and Commedia dell’Arte. She has pioneered collaborations with artists practicing international forms of masked theatre including Peking Opera, Kathakali and Wayang Wong. These collaborations led to productions including The Wedding, for which she received a Capital Critics Best Director Award. Her original plays include the Commedia farce, Moonlight Mischief, the epic, Kamalay, and the social satire, A Guy Named Joe. She is currently writing The Blue Demon for a co-production with the Sri Lankan State Dance Company and an adaptation of the folktale The Handless Maiden.

In 2017, Laurie received a Chalmers Arts Fellowship to further explore folklore-inspired theatre. In 2020, she launched Odyssey’s Digital Theatre program.

PAUL AMATO

(Dimitri and Cop)

Paul Amato is a Toronto actor who has worked in theatre from Timmins to Windsor, in NYC, and Akron, Ohio. He was nominated for a Dora award for co-directing Columbus, a school touring show, and played William Lyon Mackenzie King in a Dora-award-winning production of 1837 for Theatre on the Move. He directed The Importance of Being Ernest for the Scarborough Music Theatre, BTW at Bell Homestead, and Casa Loma. He has performed in over 100 plays, numerous TV and film projects, and TV commercials. Paul is excited to be a part of these audio dramas.

JESSE BUCK

(Liam)

Jesse Buck hails from Ottawa, now lives in Toronto and works primarily in the world of physical comedy. He has created and performed in over a dozen original shows in the styles of Clown, Mask, and Commedia, including his one-man show Bubkus, which toured internationally. Jesse’s roles in Odyssey Theatre productions include The Financier, Scapin, Kamalay, and A Servant of Two Masters, for which he received Capital Critics Circle Award for his portrayal of Truffaldino. He is a graduate of Ecole Philippe Gaulier and spent five years on tour as a principal clown in Cirque du Soleil’s Alegria. His film and TV roles include Nightmare Alley, The Expanse, The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Frankie Drake Mysteries, and Murdoch Mysteries.

MARYSE FERNANDES

(Jessie)

Maryse Fernandes is an Ottawa actor and theatre creator, working and performing on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe land. She is a core member of the award-winning physical theatre company, Aplombusrhombus., She has also worked with companies including NAC English Theatre, A Company of Fools, Dauntless City Theatre, STO Union, and Odyssey Theatre. For Odyssey she has performed in The Bonds of Interest and The Servant of Two Masters. She also mentors young theatre artists in playwriting and directing. Maryse trained as an actor at the National Theatre School of Canada, in Montreal.

JANET IRWIN

(Co-dramaturge and Features Producer)

Janet Irwin is an award-winning theatre director, playwright, and dramaturge. She is a recipient of the prestigious Victor Tolgesy Award for her outstanding contribution to the arts in Ottawa. She has written plays for the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Upper Canada Playhouse and the National Arts Centre. Her connection with Odyssey goes back many years. She has been a playwright in residence, during which she wrote They All Do It, produced in 2010.  She has also directed The Barber of Seville and was dramaturge for Lysistrata and the Temple of Gaia and The Game of Love and Chance. In 2012, she was Acting Artistic Director.  Janet is a dramaturge in Odyssey’s New Play program.

JEREMY HUTTON

(Music Supervisor and Editor, Narrator and Harold)

Jeremy Hutton is a Toronto-based actor, director, composer, lyricist, and sound designer.

Jeremy played Joseph Surface in Odyssey’s online production of The School for Scandal in 2020. Other favourite acting credits include Iago in Othello, Cassius in Julius Caesar, and Captain Hook in Peter Pan (Shakespeare by the Sea), Hamlet in Hamlet and Pontius Pilates in JC Superstar (Hart House Theatre) and Robin Hood in Robin Hood (SBTS).

Jeremy’s musicals continue to play across North America including the award-winning Snow White, the ever-popular Alice in Wonderland, the Toronto Fringe hit Fairytale Ending, and Robin Hood the Legendary Musical Comedy. His sound designs have been celebrated with such companies as Hart House Theatre, The Howland Company, The Classical Theatre Project, and Shakespeare by the Sea.

DAMIAN KEARNS

(Supervising Sound Designer)

Damian Kearns is a sound recordist, editor, mixer, and designer with over 27 years of experience. A graduate of the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART), Damian spent his early years working for Canada’s top post-production facilities before landing a job as Post-Production Audio Engineer with CBC Toronto. After spending more than a decade and a half working for the national broadcaster, Damian left to build a successful home studio, specializing in post-production audio recording, editing, design, and mixing. For the past 9 years, his studio, 217 Audio, has serviced a wide variety of creative clients.