Stranger Theatre Artist Bios:
Lea Ambros, lighting designer
For Stranger Theatre: general manager, and co-founder, stage manager on Cover Her Face, designer on East of the Sun, West of the Moon, The Yellow Wallpaper Project, The Clown of God, and The World Turned Upside Down, designer/puppeteer on The Counterfeit Marquise, LUZ, and what Alice found there and Käthe Kollwitz. Lea has worked with 2B theatre (formerly Bunnies in the Headlights Theatre), Halifax, on Tough!, Eye Spy (On the Waterfront Festival, 2001) and Cherry Docs as a stage manager, and worked as a production manager for Zuppa Theatre, Halifax, on Nosferatu, The Door in the Wall, Junk Zuppa, Between Wonder and Amusement, Uncle Oscar was Silent and Radium City. Most recently, she was the lighting designer for Ahuri Theatre’s A Fool’s Life, produced in collaboration with the Japan Foundation inToronto. She was a venue technician for the Atlantic Fringe Festival, 2001-2003. She was the technical director of The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival 2004-present, is the festival co-founder, and is currently also a co-artistic director of Cooking Fire.
Kate Cayley, writer and director
For Stranger Theatre: artistic director and co-founder, director and writer or co-writer on East of the Sun, West of the Moon, The Yellow Wallpaper Project, The Clown of God, LUZ, The Counterfeit Marquise, The World Turned Upside Down, and what Alice found there and Käthe Kollwitz. Kate is a graduate of the University of King’s College (University Medal for Theatre, Mark de Wolf Award for Theatre.) She is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival, a festival of performance in public space, from 2004 to the present. Her poetry, short fiction and other writing has appeared in The Antigonish Review, The Canadian Theatre Review, Descant, CV2, Dandelion, existere, The Fiddlehead, The Literary Review of Canada, Room, and, Studio. She has been shortlisted for the CBC Literary Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for the 2009 Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award. She is currently a playwright-in-residence at Tarragon Theatre. She is currently a playwright-in-residence at Tarragon Theatre. Her play After Akhmatova was produced by Tarragon Theatre as part of their 40th anniversary season , directed by Alan Dilworth, and her first book, a novel for young adults, is published by Annick Press.
Sarah Cormier, Performer/Creator: Madame Pomereau
Sarah is a core member of Stranger Theatre, and has worked with the company since 2002. With Stranger Theatre, she has co-created/performed in The Clown of God, The World Turned Upside Down, LUZ, The Counterfeit Marquise, Gudbrand of the Hillside, and what Alice found there, and Käthe Kollwitz. She is currently the co-artistic director of The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival. She has worked as an artist in residence at The Brew House Arts Centre, Pittsburgh and trained and collaborated with laboratory theatre company Double Edge Theatre in Massachusetts as performer/puppet designer on The Illustrious Return of Don Quixote (2008) and lighting/production assistant on their triptych The Garden of Intimacy and Desire (2009). She is co-founder of physical theatre company Scrapheap Theatre, and co-created the company’s first show, Hellooo…, for The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival 2008. She has taught theatre workshops to adults and children, and has a degree in Communications from Concordia University.
Zach Fraser, Performer/Creator: Jean
Zach is an actor, puppeteer, director and teacher originally from Halifax, now based in Montreal. Currently pursuing a Masters in Contemporary Puppetry at the Université du Québec à Montréal, he is also a graduate of École Philippe Gaulier (London/Paris), and Dalhousie University (NS). He has performed throughout North America, Europe & Asia, most recently in Andersen’s Inkwell (Geordie Productions, QC), Life is a Dream (Centaur Theatre, QC), and Guess How Much I Love You (Mermaid Theatre, NS). Recent directing credits include a critically acclaimed production of The Fourposter (Montgomery Theatre, PEI), and award-winning productions of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (NCTF, Montreal) & …and stockings for the ladies (GKW, Eastern Canada tour). Zach teaches mask, movement, and commedia dell’arte atMcGillUniversity,JohnAbbottCollege, and occasionally at the National Theatre School of Canada.
Kiersten Tough, Performer/Creator: Francoise
For Stranger Theatre: performer on The World Turned Upside Down. Kiersten is a former member of acclaimed Halifax physical theatre company Zuppa Theatre, and was a co-creator on The Door in the Wall, Junk Zuppa, Between Wonder and Amusement, Uncle Oscar was Silent, Uncle Oscar’s Experiment, Radium City, and The Open Theatre Kitchen. She created the solo clown piece Lear’s Shadow and co-created the physical theatre piece Hellooo, with Sarah Cormier, both for The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival. She has also performed with Theatre New Brunswick, Mulgrave Road Theatre (Three Story Ocean View, It’s Raining Cats and Daughters),Two Planks and a Passion (Halo), Live Bait Theatre (Guilty, Flying on Her Own, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Eastern Front /Live Bait Co-production (Flux.) She has appeared as an actor in numerous film and television projects, including acting in and co-creating the independent short film The Garden, directed by Jason Buxton. She studied Clown, Bouffon, and Character with legendary teacher Philippe Gaulier, and Clown/Bouffon with award winning teachers/performers John Turner, Mike Kennard, and Karen Hines. She graduated from the Dalhousie University Acting Program.