Stranger Theatre Artist Bios:
LEA AMBROS, STAGE MANAGER/DESIGNER/PUPPETEER
For Stranger Theatre: Co-Founder and General Manager. Stage Manager on The World Turned Upside Down and Cover Her Face, Technical Director on East of the Sun, West of the Moon, The Yellow Wallpaper Project, and The Clown of God, puppeteer on The Counterfeit Marquise, and what Alice found there, Käthe Kollwitz and Luz. Lea was the lighting desigenr for Ahuri Theatre's workshop production of A Fool's Life. She has worked as a production manager for Zuppa Circus Theatre, Halifax, on Nosferatu, The Door in the Wall, Junk Zuppa, Between Wonder and Amusement, Uncle Oscar was Silent and Radium City. She is the Technical Director of The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival.
KATE CAYLEY, DIRECTOR/WRITER
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 was also a founding member of 4Elements Theatre Company, an environmental theatre company for which she directed outdoor productions of Sophocles’ Antigone and Twelfth Night. Kate is a graduate of the University of King’s College (University Medal for Theatre, Mark de Wolf Award for Theatre.) She studied Clown and Bouffon with Philippe Gaulier, and has apprenticed as a puppeteer with the Bread and Puppet Theater in Vermont. She is also the co-founder and artistic director of The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival, a festival of performance in public space, from 2004 to the present. Her writing has appeared The Antigonish Review, existere, CV2,Room, dANDelion, and The Canadian Theatre Review. Her work as a playwright has been supported through the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. She worked as an apprentice director at Tarragon Theatre (assistant director for Alisa Palmer on East of Berlin, for R. H. Thomson on Wild Mouth, and for Jennifer Tarver on The Fall) for the 2007-2008 season, and was a member of Tarragon’s 2008 Playwrights Unit.
SARAH CORMIER, PERFORMER
Sarah is a member of Stranger Theatre, and has worked with the company since 2002.
With Stranger Theatre, she has worked as a performer and co-creator on 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. Originally from Halifax, she worked as a performer on Narnia and Peter Pan (Neptune Young Company), and Like a Little Candle (Eastern Front Theatre, directed by Mary Vingoe.) She has also taught theatre classes to children and youth in Halifax through Neptune Theatre and Nova Scotia High School Drama Festival. She is currently the Festival Coordinator for The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival. Solo projects include working as an artist in residence in Pittsburgh at The Brew House Arts Centre, and training/performing with acclaimed physical theatre company Double Edge Theatre in Massachusetts. She also is a co-founder of physical theatre company Scrapheap Theatre, and co-created the company’s first show, Hellooo, for The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival 2008. Sarah has a degree in Communications from Concordia University.
SANDY GRIBBIN, PERFORMER
Sandy Gribbin is a performer/creator currently based in Toronto. He is the co-founder of Halifax's Zuppa Circus Theatre and was a member of the acclaimed ensemble for five years, participating in the creation and performance of eight original shows, including Nosferatu, The Door in the Wall and Radium City. He spent a couple of years in North Carolina where he performed with Transactors Improv and Paperhand Puppet. In Toronto over the past year he has created and performed a new piece entitled Suit Suite, which will tour in the New Year, and performed in Stranger Theatre' Käthe Kollwitz.
KILBY SMITH-MCGREGOR, GRAPHIC DESIGNER
For Stranger Theatre: Co-founder, graphic design for,and what Alice found there, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, The Yellow Wallpaper Project, The Clown of God, The Counterfeit Marquise, Luz and The Fever. Kilby is the resident graphic designer for Necessary Angel and Tarragon Theatre. As a playwright, she has developed work in association with Nightwood Theatre, Stranger Theatre and Tarragon, where she was the inaugural Urjo Kareda Emerging Artist-in-Residence. Current theatre-making activities include: dramaturgy for Small Wooden Shoe's contemporary performance pieces and collaboration on TheatreRevolve with Natasha Mytnowych.
SIMONE ROSENBERG, PERFORMER/VIDEO ARTIST
For Stranger Theatre: Performer, The Eiffel Tower Wedding Party, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and The Counterfeit Marquise. Other credits include the title role in Claudia Dey’s Beaver (Factory Theatre), and principals in Goosebumps and Under the Piano as well as a recurring role on Road to Avonlea (final season.) Simone is a video artist in Halifax, and has studied visual art and art history at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She also is a frequent organizer and performer with the Burlesque Society of Halifax.
CHRISTINA SERRA, PERFORMER
For Stranger Theatre: Performer on The Counterfeit Marquise, The World Turned Upside Down, East of the Sun, West of the Moon and and what Alice found there. Christina is a Graduate of the Humber College Theatre Performance Program. Some of her credits include By the Bog of Cats (Toronto Fringe), The Everyman Rock Musical (Edinburgh Fringe) and Bee and Touli's Jungle Adventure, a production for young people which she co-created and co-produced. Christina also teaches Kindermusik and Disco Ducks, a class she created for caregivers and tots.
KIERSTEN TOUGH, PERFORMER
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 studied Clown, Bouffon, and Character with legendary teacher Philippe Gaulier, and Clown with John Turner, Mike Kennard, and Karen Hines. She holds a BFA in Acting from Dalhousie University.
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