PLAYWRIGHTS CABARET

NORTHERNERS’ CREATION UNIT 2023
PLAYWRIGHTS CABARET
OPENING NIGHT  PLAYSMELTER 2023

MAY 11  8PM
SUDBURY THEATRE CENTRE, 170 Shaughnessy St, Greater Sudbury, ON P3E 3E7
TICKETS $15 At Door  |  Festival Pass (all events) $50

We are delighted to Open PlaySmelter 2023 with a Playwrights Cabaret featuring the artists of our inaugural Northerners’ Creation Unit. There will be plenty of food and as we hear – for the first time! – offerings of several new works all created by Northern ON artists:

Featured Artists and their work:

The Madonna-Whore Project by Jessie Bergeron (Timmins)
Part theatrical experiment, part social movement, The Madonna-Whore Project is about the sexual liberation of womxn and folks of marginalized genders. The Mother of Ceremony unabashedly shares stories of her own ever-evolving sexuality and invites the audience to share like stories. The audience is encouraged to bring their infants and toddlers with them to the experiment, and to nurse, pump, change diapers, etc., throughout the piece.

Reynolds by Samantha Buttery (Sudbury)
Baltimore, Maryland 1850, one year after the death of Edgar Allan Poe. Of all mysteries surrounding his death, the utterance of the name “Reynolds” is the one that has captivated the world, since to this day, no one knows who Poe was asking for. A provocative new mystery.

To Each Their Own by Eli Chilton (Moose Factory)
A strange underground small, sub-basement location where three men live and work on stationary motion machines. This scene establishes their character, their situation, and by extension, their dilemma.

Garson Girl and Her World by Lisa Colman-Brown (Sudbury)
In 1972 un-wed pregnant teen Alana, from Garson, arrives at Kitchener hospital for the
clandestine delivery of her baby. When comforting Nurse Winifred asks an anxious Alana to recall a time in the past when she was brave memories of her 11-year-old self’s Expo67 adventure begin to unfold.

Scatapella by Joël Giroux and Stephanie Charbonneau (Sudbury)
The Director welcomes the audience directly and sets the stage for Scatapella: a story following a band of puppets competing in a cutthroat jazz competition – The Jazzies.

Chain-Gang by Andrew Paulsen (Thunder Bay)
Chain-Gang revolves around the workers in a call center. Workplace or hellscape?

Itinerary by Avery McMillian (Sault Ste. Marie)
In the mud beside the railroad tracks, a woman finds her possessions discarded and a place at her own table at a dinner party for those travelling alone.

FUIL by Garrett M. Ryan (North Bay)
Structure in three acts and with the voices of three sons of Northern ON, Patrick, Johnny and Yitzhak tell their story. In Kabbalah, it is taught that three is the number of components of the human soul.

The Sibling Survival Guide by Karen Thistle (Sudbury)
How to survive life in a household where a brothers’ disabilities take centre stage.

Facilitated by Caitie Graham

Caitie is a dramaturg, playwright, and emerging screenwriter who is as excited about telling stories as she is about empowering others to do the same. Over her career as a dramaturg, Caitie has designed and facilitated several playwriting units for emerging artists, most notably at Tarragon Theatre (Young Playwrights Unit 2017-2020), and Driftwood Theatre Group, where she began as Company Dramaturg in 2020. Most recently, Caitie was the Assistant Dramaturg on Queen Goneril by Erin Shields at Soulpepper Theatre. She is the facilitator of the inaugural Northerners Creation Unit.

Will Chilton was born & raised in Moose Factory, Ontario. He’s been living in Vancouver, BC since 2015 and has been in various National and International Tv shows such as Arrow, Nancy Drew, TImeless, Jamestown all while continuing to take professional acting workshops, most notably graduating from Vancouver Film School’s Acting for Film & TV intensive program.

Maxwel Cull (he/him) is an emerging actor and theatre artist from Sudbury, Ontario. He is a 2023 graduate of the BFA in Acting program at the University of Ottawa. His recent credits include multiple roles in Howard Barker’s The Possibilities, and Andy-Spandy/Narrator in the TYA adaptation of Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep. He is making his YES Theatre debut in their upcoming production of Romeo & Juilet this summer. Maxwel is thrilled to return to his hometown and continue his work with the Northern Ontario arts community!

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Colton Gobbo is now a Toronto-based actor, writer, director, and stunt performer/choreographer working in film, television, and theatre. His first production was at the age of 9, performing in YES Theatre’s HAIR. Colton is a recent graduate of the George Brown Theatre School, and can currently be seen at 8:30pm every Tuesday on CBC and CBC Gem as Mike Critch Jr. in Son of a Critch, as well as in the second season of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia. @coltosaur on all social media.

Recent theatre credits include: Pedrolino (The Corsican Complaint, GBTS), Solyony (Three Sisters & Co., GBTS), John (A Brave New World [Workshop], Tarragon Theatre), Himself (Wonderfully Fantastic… [Wonderfully Fantastic and Compelling Stories Created, Directed, Performed, and Written (but not produced) by Three Gentlemen Who Live Together, Presented in a Well-Mannered Compilation / Bit Format, Including: The Ballad of the Three Salesmen, a Live Feline, and Other Miscellaneous Stories Based on Real Events, ON ICE], YES Theatre).

Recent film/T.V. credits include: Mike Critch Jr. (Son of a Critch), Jordan (Ginny & Georgia), Noah (The Desperate Hour), Rudy (MADD ‘The Wish), Kyle (Titans), Letterman (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark)

Photo Danielle Provencher

Actor, clown, director and community arts builder, France Huot is a bilingual artist and graduate of Laurentian University’s Arts d’expression program. As an actor, she has also worked closely with the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario on many productions such as Jack, written by Marie-Pierre Proulx, and Parmi les éclats written and directed by Miriam Cusson. In the fall of 2023, she participated in the production of Trois created by Mani Soleymanlou (Orange noyée, National Art Center). Written in collaboration with 40 francophone artists from across the country, the play toured in nine different cities in Canada.

France is also the co-founder of the collective Hoquet/Hiccup! with her artistic partner Jenny Hazelton which is dedicated to creating new theatrical works. Their kaleidoscopic approach to theatre-making draws upon many different forms such as clown, deadpan, shadow puppetry and physical theatre to develop new pieces. Their most recent creation, Barbe Bleue, was an installation shadow puppetry piece created during their artistic residency with the TNO. They are currently working on another piece titled Unravel.

France is also very active in the arts and culture sector in Sudbury and across the province. She hosts and organizes events, cultural mediation activities, workshops for schools and the community.

Ruthie Nkut is a proud Northern-Ontarian artist/ actor and Associate Artistic Director at YES/STC. Recent career highlights include Tapestry Opera/ Obsidian’s World Premiere of Of the Sea at the Bluma Appel Theatre, the English language premiere of April Fools at the Segal Centre and YES/STC’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Recent film credits include Shoresy, Purgatory Jack, Barbie. Ruthie is so excited about this investment in new Canadian theatre and this wonderful partnership with Pat the Dog.

April Perrin is an actor, choreographer and teacher based in Sudbury, Ontario. She began her professional training at St. Lawrence College in their musical theatre program and has recently earned her MA in Musical Theatre performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has been performing with STC & YES theatre for years with her most notable roles being “Tracy Turnbland” in Hairspray, “Rosie” in Mamma Mia & “Constance” in last year’s production of Ride The Cyclone. She’s an arts educator in Sudbury, working with students ranging from 8-18 in theatre training programs and she works as a choreographer and dance teacher at several studios in Sudbury. This is her 4th time working with the PlaySmelter festival and, as always, she can’t wait to see where this work will end up! Be sure to follow her on social media @aprilp777

Andrew Prescott would like to thank PlaySmelter for this wonderful opportunity! Andrew recently made his debut with YES/STC reading for Andrew Paulsen’s “You Paid For It; They’ll Pay For It”, and is grateful to be continuing this journey. He appeared in the Sudbury Performance Group’s production of RENT! and has also been featured in an international commercial for Indeed. When not performing, he can be found mixing concoctions behind bar. He would like to thank his beloved Sky Slywchuk and his family for their ongoing support, and extends additional thanks and love to Lisa from Pat The Dog.

NORTHERNERS’ CREATION UNIT 2023
PLAYWRIGHTS CABARET
OPENING NIGHT  PLAYSMELTER 2023

MAY 11  8PM
SUDBURY THEATRE CENTRE, 170 Shaughnessy St, Greater Sudbury, ON P3E 3E7
TICKETS $15 At Door  |  Festival Pass (all events) $50

We are delighted to Open PlaySmelter 2023 with a Playwrights Cabaret featuring the artists of our inaugural Northerners’ Creation Unit. There will be plenty of food and as we hear – for the first time! – offerings of several new works all created by Northern ON artists:

Featured Artists and their work:

The Madonna-Whore Project by Jessie Bergeron (Timmins)
Part theatrical experiment, part social movement, The Madonna-Whore Project is about the sexual liberation of womxn and folks of marginalized genders. The Mother of Ceremony unabashedly shares stories of her own ever-evolving sexuality and invites the audience to share like stories. The audience is encouraged to bring their infants and toddlers with them to the experiment, and to nurse, pump, change diapers, etc., throughout the piece.

Reynolds by Samantha Buttery (Sudbury)
Baltimore, Maryland 1850, one year after the death of Edgar Allan Poe. Of all mysteries surrounding his death, the utterance of the name “Reynolds” is the one that has captivated the world, since to this day, no one knows who Poe was asking for. A provocative new mystery.

To Each Their Own by Eli Chilton (Moose Factory)
A strange underground small, sub-basement location where three men live and work on stationary motion machines. This scene establishes their character, their situation, and by extension, their dilemma.

Garson Girl and Her World by Lisa Colman-Brown (Sudbury)
In 1972 un-wed pregnant teen Alana, from Garson, arrives at Kitchener hospital for the
clandestine delivery of her baby. When comforting Nurse Winifred asks an anxious Alana to recall a time in the past when she was brave memories of her 11-year-old self’s Expo67 adventure begin to unfold.

Scatapella by Joël Giroux and Stephanie Charbonneau (Sudbury)
The Director welcomes the audience directly and sets the stage for Scatapella: a story following a band of puppets competing in a cutthroat jazz competition – The Jazzies.

Chain-Gang by Andrew Paulsen (Thunder Bay)
Chain-Gang revolves around the workers in a call center. Workplace or hellscape?

Itinerary by Avery McMillian (Sault Ste. Marie)
In the mud beside the railroad tracks, a woman finds her possessions discarded and a place at her own table at a dinner party for those travelling alone.

FUIL by Garrett M. Ryan (North Bay)
Structure in three acts and with the voices of three sons of Northern ON, Patrick, Johnny and Yitzhak tell their story. In Kabbalah, it is taught that three is the number of components of the human soul.

The Sibling Survival Guide by Karen Thistle (Sudbury)
How to survive life in a household where a brothers’ disabilities take centre stage.

Facilitated by Caitie Graham

Caitie is a dramaturg, playwright, and emerging screenwriter who is as excited about telling stories as she is about empowering others to do the same. Over her career as a dramaturg, Caitie has designed and facilitated several playwriting units for emerging artists, most notably at Tarragon Theatre (Young Playwrights Unit 2017-2020), and Driftwood Theatre Group, where she began as Company Dramaturg in 2020. Most recently, Caitie was the Assistant Dramaturg on Queen Goneril by Erin Shields at Soulpepper Theatre. She is the facilitator of the inaugural Northerners Creation Unit.


Will Chilton
was born & raised in Moose Factory, Ontario. He’s been living in Vancouver, BC since 2015 and has been in various National and International Tv shows such as Arrow, Nancy Drew, TImeless, Jamestown all while continuing to take professional acting workshops, most notably graduating from Vancouver Film School’s Acting for Film & TV intensive program.

Maxwell Cull (he/him) is an emerging actor and theatre artist from Sudbury, Ontario. He is a 2023 graduate of the BFA in Acting program at the University of Ottawa. His recent credits include multiple roles in Howard Barker’s The Possibilities, and Andy-Spandy/Narrator in the TYA adaptation of Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep. He is making his YES Theatre debut in their upcoming production of Romeo & Juilet this summer. Maxwel is thrilled to return to his hometown and continue his work with the Northern Ontario arts community!

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Colton Gobbo is now a Toronto-based actor, writer, director, and stunt performer/choreographer working in film, television, and theatre. His first production was at the age of 9, performing in YES Theatre’s HAIR. Colton is a recent graduate of the George Brown Theatre School, and can currently be seen at 8:30pm every Tuesday on CBC and CBC Gem as Mike Critch Jr. in Son of a Critch, as well as in the second season of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia. @coltosaur on all social media.

Recent theatre credits include: Pedrolino (The Corsican Complaint, GBTS), Solyony (Three Sisters & Co., GBTS), John (A Brave New World [Workshop], Tarragon Theatre), Himself (Wonderfully Fantastic… [Wonderfully Fantastic and Compelling Stories Created, Directed, Performed, and Written (but not produced) by Three Gentlemen Who Live Together, Presented in a Well-Mannered Compilation / Bit Format, Including: The Ballad of the Three Salesmen, a Live Feline, and Other Miscellaneous Stories Based on Real Events, ON ICE], YES Theatre).

Recent film/T.V. credits include: Mike Critch Jr. (Son of a Critch), Jordan (Ginny & Georgia), Noah (The Desperate Hour), Rudy (MADD ‘The Wish), Kyle (Titans), Letterman (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark)

Photo Danielle Provencher

Actor, clown, director and community arts builder, France Huot is a bilingual artist and graduate of Laurentian University’s Arts d’expression program. As an actor, she has also worked closely with the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario on many productions such as Jack, written by Marie-Pierre Proulx, and Parmi les éclats written and directed by Miriam Cusson. In the fall of 2023, she participated in the production of Trois created by Mani Soleymanlou (Orange noyée, National Art Center). Written in collaboration with 40 francophone artists from across the country, the play toured in nine different cities in Canada.

France is also the co-founder of the collective Hoquet/Hiccup! with her artistic partner Jenny Hazelton which is dedicated to creating new theatrical works. Their kaleidoscopic approach to theatre-making draws upon many different forms such as clown, deadpan, shadow puppetry and physical theatre to develop new pieces. Their most recent creation, Barbe Bleue, was an installation shadow puppetry piece created during their artistic residency with the TNO. They are currently working on another piece titled Unravel.

France is also very active in the arts and culture sector in Sudbury and across the province. She hosts and organizes events, cultural mediation activities, workshops for schools and the community.


Ruthie Nkut
is a proud Northern-Ontarian artist/ actor and Associate Artistic Director at YES/STC. Recent career highlights include Tapestry Opera/ Obsidian’s World Premiere of Of the Sea at the Bluma Appel Theatre, the English language premiere of April Fools at the Segal Centre and YES/STC’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Recent film credits include Shoresy, Purgatory Jack, Barbie. Ruthie is so excited about this investment in new Canadian theatre and this wonderful partnership with Pat the Dog.


April Perrin
is an actor, choreographer and teacher based in Sudbury, Ontario. She began her professional training at St. Lawrence College in their musical theatre program and has recently earned her MA in Musical Theatre performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has been performing with STC & YES theatre for years with her most notable roles being “Tracy Turnbland” in Hairspray, “Rosie” in Mamma Mia & “Constance” in last year’s production of Ride The Cyclone. She’s an arts educator in Sudbury, working with students ranging from 8-18 in theatre training programs and she works as a choreographer and dance teacher at several studios in Sudbury. This is her 4th time working with the PlaySmelter festival and, as always, she can’t wait to see where this work will end up! Be sure to follow her on social media @aprilp777


Andrew Prescott
would like to thank PlaySmelter for this wonderful opportunity! Andrew recently made his debut with YES/STC reading for Andrew Paulsen’s “You Paid For It; They’ll Pay For It”, and is grateful to be continuing this journey. He appeared in the Sudbury Performance Group’s production of RENT! and has also been featured in an international commercial for Indeed. When not performing, he can be found mixing concoctions behind bar. He would like to thank his beloved Sky Slywchuk and his family for their ongoing support, and extends additional thanks and love to Lisa from Pat The Dog.

Admission $15. Children under 12 years FREE.

Festival Passes $50. Includes: Admission to all events + Festival Treat Bag + Discount for on-line purchases at Playwrights Canada Press.

Doors open 30 minutes before each event. Please note that some events have limited capacity.