BIOGRAPHIES
Nancy Kenny - Writer/Performer
A proud Acadian originally from Bathurst (NB), Nancy Kenny is a fluently bilingual actor, writer, producer, arts marketing & social media professional.
She is the creator and solo performer of the award-winning and critically acclaimed, Roller Derby Saved My Soul, which was nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best One Person Show. She recently translated it into French with the assistance of Maureen Labonté and the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre. Other works include Everybody Dies in December, which won Outstanding Individual Performance at the London Fringe Festival and Best Drama at the Atlantic Fringe Festival, and Princess FreeWorld Democracy LIVE, co-created with her partner, Wes Babcock.
Other favourite credits include roles in Mary Magdalene and Adventures in Sobriety, Little Martyrs (Evolution Theatre), and The Amorous Ambassador (Upper Canada Playhouse). She also played the title character in The Little Prince. Her role in this Monster Theatre production, which toured schools in British Columbia for two years, was nominated for Outstanding Performance through the Jessie Richardson Awards. Next year, her childhood dream comes true as she will be appearing in an official Heritage Minute on the Expulsion of the Acadians, which was filmed in the Annapolis Valley.
In her spare time, Nancy can be found on the Internet, most likely at www.nancykenny.ca or on Twitter @nancykenny & Instagram @thenancykenny
Ulla Laidlaw - Director
Ulla Laidlaw is an artist whose work explores poetic representations of loss and its interaction with the ethereal, pursuits of truth, and investigations of the artistic spirit. Practicing in multiple forms, her writing, theatre direction, video, dramaturgy, installation and performance work has been presented by CBC’s Exhibitionists, Dawson City International Short Film Festival, Vancouver Alternative Fashion Week, SummerWorks Performance Festival, Arta Gallery (Toronto), the MT Space and Jasper Short Film Festival. Trained at the University of Guelph (ON) in Drama and Psychology (BAH), Ulla has furthered her education through work positions with Native Earth Performing Arts, An Indi(e)n Rights Reserve, Cahoots Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Uncanny House, Playwrites Theatre Centre, Pacific Theatre and Raven Spirit Dance. She has served as a Dory Jury Member (Toronto) and a Jessie Jury Member (Vancouver) and as a member of the Board for Creative Dominion. She is currently developing Sanctuary, an immersive-participatory installation on peace with climate change with Sasha Singer-Wilson. www.cargocollective.com/ullalaidlaw
Margaret Krawecka - Set and Lighting Design
Margaret Krawecka is a performance designer, architect and interdisciplinary artist. After completing her MA Scenography in London, UK, Margaret engaged in site specific and promenade theatre – which continue to influence her immersive multimedia installations. She is interested in the discovery of narrative through movement and through her projects, she explores the psychological and emotional dimensions of space. Margaret is also a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. www.spaceandstory.com
Ali Berkok - Sound Design
Ali Berkok is a pianist, improviser, composer and sound designer in Toronto. His electro-acoustic quartet Aurochs can be witnessed monthly at the Tranzac club. Sound design credits include 13 Hands and Omission (Alumnae Theatre), Marina & The Cryptids (Silent Protagonist) & What I Call Her (Crow’s Theatre). Other compositions include a score for Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin, for which he assembled a twelve-piece chamber ensemble at Toronto’s late, great Beit Zeitoun, where over two sold-out nights they performed the score live with a screening of the film. Ali is a multi-grant winning artist (Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council) and is a recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarship SSHRC for his Master’s research. He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto, where he researches polytemporality.
Wes Babcock - Technical Director / Associate Lighting Designer
Wes is a set and lighting designer, production manager, and technical director. If it lights up, or gets screwed together, he’s your guy. Favourite credits include How Do I Love Thee (Angels and Heroes, Halifax - Set), The Woodcutter (Matchstick, Halifax - Set, Merritt Nominee), as well as the world premieres of I Cannot Lose My Mind by Najla Nubyanluv (Watah Theatre and Crow’s Theatre 2018 - Lights), and Gods Like Us by David Polera (Theatre Nidana, Toronto 2018 - Lights).
He is also a playwright, producer, and performer. His piece, Princess FreeWorld Democracy Live or: Your Princess is in Another Castle (Down The Well Productions - with Nancy Kenny), toured Canada in 2017.
He is the founding co-curator of Dark Day Monday, a Toronto-based monthly performance series featuring artists who break boundaries and defy expectation (@darkdaymonday www.darkdaymonday.com).
