Fall On Your Knees

Alisa Palmer - Director/Adaptor/Co-Creator

Alisa Palmer is a theatre director, playwright, and producer whose work crosses genres. Palmer’s work is characterized by vivid performances, a bold use of music, and a passionate commitment to the body politic. Ms. Palmer has premiered and toured original and provocative theatre creations for close to thirty years and has directed numerous world premieres of Canadian plays including East of Berlin by Hannah Moscovitch, Sibs by Diane Flacks and Richard Greenblatt (Tarragon Theatre), Body Politic by Nick Green (Buddies in Bad Times) Belle Moral (Shaw Festival and NAC) and most recently Hamlet-911 (Stratford Festival) both by Ann-Marie MacDonald. Ms. Palmer spent eight seasons at the Shaw Festival (selected credits: The Women, Sunday in the Park with George, The Philanderer and Pal Joey) and directed the box office breaking production of Good-Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) featuring the playwright in the leading role (Canadian Stage). As Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, Ms. Palmer oversaw the premiere of landmark plays including Djanet Sears’ Harlem Duet and Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God, and Alex Bulmer’s Smudge, the first professional play by a visually impaired theatre maker. Ms. Palmer directed Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls at Soulpepper and Cloud 9 (Mirvish Entertainment), where she was also Resident Director for the World Premier of Lord of the Rings. Currently Ms. Palmer is the Executive Artistic Director of the National Theatre School of Canada, English Section. Ms. Palmer is the recipient of numerous awards, including numerous Dora and Chalmers Awards. She is a three-time finalist for the Siminovitch Prize for Directing and is a proud recipient of a Harold Award. Ms. Palmer is Artistic Producer of Vita Brevis Arts.

Hannah Moscovitch - Writer/Adaptor/Co-Creator

Hannah Moscovitch is an acclaimed Canadian playwright and TV writer whose work for the stage has been widely produced across Canada and internationally. She has won numerous accolades for her playwriting, including the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize and the Governor General’s Award. Past writing for the stage includes: East of Berlin, This is War, Bunny, Sexual Misconduct of the Middles Classes, and Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (co-created with Ben Caplan and Christian Barry). In television, Hannah is the Co-Creator, Executive Producer and Head Writer of Little Bird for Bell Media and Rezolution alongside Jennifer Podemski. Most recently, Hannah was Co-Executive Producer on Interview With The Vampire for AMC with Gran Via and Dwight Street Book Club producing.

Cherissa Richards - Assistant Director

Cherissa Richards has appeared on stage and screen throughout Canada. Recent directing credits: Red Velvet (Crow’s Theatre); Harlem Duet (Bard on the Beach); Meet me at Dawn (Theatre by the River); VOICE (Prairie Theatre Exchange); The Power of Harriet T (Manitoba Theatre for Young People). Cherissa is a Crow’s Theatre RBC Rising Star Emerging Director recipient-‘21, Why Not This Gen Directing Fellow-‘21, she received a directing diploma from National Theatre School directing residency in independent study-‘21. Directing residencies: Bard on the Beach, Shaw Fesitval, Stratford Festival. Upcoming Directing: Trouble in Mind (Royal MTC/Citadel), Julius Caeser (Bard on the Beach) 2023, Diggers (Prairie Theatre Exchange/Black Theatre Workshop) 2024.

Natasha Powell – Choreographer

Natasha Powell is a Toronto native who has been working in the dance industry for 17 years. Her soulful approach to movement that transcends genre can be seen and felt in her choreography and teachings. No stranger to the stage, Natasha has collaborated and created over 20 dance works for live performance. As the founder, artistic director, and choreographer for her company HOLLA JAZZ, she created the award-winning show FLOOR’D - the company’s first full-length production, presenting historical jazz dances in a new light. The production was nominated for 4 Dora Mavor Moore Awards (including Outstanding Original Choreography by Powell, and Outstanding Production) winner of the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, and named one of top 10 dance shows.

Hollywood Jade – Associate Choreographer

A visionary with a passion for excellence, Hollywood Jade wears multiple hats as a choreographer, artistic director, performance coach, and media personality, among others. Selected credits: Choreographer Sleeping Beauty (Capitol Theatre), Choreographer The Soul Of Motown (Stage West), Resident Choreographer/Guest judge Canada’s Drag Race (Crave/World Of Wonder), Assistant Choreographer - The United States vs Billie Holiday (Hulu), Choreographer - Queen Tut (Fae), Choreographer - Accused (Fox).

Tereka Tyler-Davis – Associate Choreographer

Tereka T is a passionate performing artist and dance professional, always looking for ways to explore and tell diverse stories. She has appeared on screen and on stages in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Credits include Facing Home: Love and Redemption (Kashedance), Shades (Esie Mensah Creations), Tribute to Harry Belafonte (Culchaworks), and Margarita (Holla Jazz). Tereka won a Dora Award for Best Ensemble as part of the cast of Floor’d (Holla Jazz). She has appeared in series American Gods and Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker and Canadian film Door Mouse. This is her first production with Canadian Stage.

Sean Mayes - Music Supervisor & Composer

Based in New York & Toronto, Sean Mayes enjoys a varied career as a conductor, music director, orchestrator, arranger, composer, author & educator, spanning the range of numerous musical styles between Broadway, theatre, opera, classical & pops. Conducting credits include: Hadestown & MJ (Broadway), The Color Purple (Canadian Premiere), and Black Broadway with American Pops Orchestra (PBS National Broadcast). Other credits include: Come From Away (Music Supervisor, Finland), aportia chryptych (Composer/Music Supervisor, Canadian Opera Company), King Lear (Composer, Stratford 2023). André De Shields with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Orchestrations, Music Direction). Other: Co- author of An Inconvenient History of Black British Musical Theatre & Reframing the Musical (Bloomsbury).

Camellia Koo - Set Designer

Camellia is a Toronto based set and costume designer for theatre, opera, dance and site-specific performance installations and collaborations.
Recent designs for theatre and opera include collaborations with The Electric Company, Factory Theatre, The National Arts Centre, Soulpepper Theatre, The Shaw Festival, The Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Against the Grain, Banff Centre, Boston Lyric Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Edmonton Opera, Helikon Opera (Moscow), Minnesota Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Santa Fe Opera, and Tapestry New Opera. Camellia has received six Dora Mavor Moor Awards (Toronto), a Sterling Award (Edmonton), a Chalmers Award Grant, 2006 Siminovitch Protégé Prize, and the 2016 Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award for Costume Design.

Judith Bowden - Costume Designer

Judith Bowden has been designing for the theatre for the past 25 years.
Selected credits include: costume design for Queen Goneril and King Lear, Soul Pepper Theatre. The Humans, Citadel Theatre/Canadian Stage. London Road, The Other Place, Canadian Stage. Sense and Sensibility, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Chimerica, M.T.C./ Canadian Stage. Set and Costume design for White Christmas, Gaslight, Holiday Inn, LadyKillers, Grand Hotel, St Joan, and Sweeney Todd, costume design - Cabaret, at the Shaw Festival where she has designed for the past 20 seasons. She has had the pleasure of working at a number of theatres including the National Arts Centre, The Grand Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, P.O.V. Theatre Calgary, The Citadel, Crows Theatre, ATP and Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.

Joyce Padua – Assistant Costume Designer

Joyce Padua is a Toronto-based costume designer, cutter, and head of wardrobe. A BFA graduate of York University, her work as a designer and assistant has been featured in several productions including shows with the Shaw Festival, the Stratford Festival, and Factory Theatre. In 2021, Joyce was nominated as a Siminovitch Prize Protegée under designer Gillian Gallow. Previous theatre credits include: Costume design: Too True to Be Good (Shaw Festival), Year of the Rat (Factory Theatre), Desire Under the Elms (Shaw Festival), Head of Wardrobe: TOKA (Theatre Passe-Muraille), Trout Stanley (Factory Theatre), Lady Sunrise (Factory Theatre), Marjorie Prime (Coal Mine Theatre).

Leigh Ann Vardy - Lighting Designer

Recently: Hamlet 911, The Neverending Story, As You Like it, The Diary of Anne Frank (Stratford), The Breathing Hole, Metamorphosis (NAC), Misery, The Rocky Horror Show (Neptune), Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (Belfry Theatre), For A Look or a Touch (Pacific Opera Victoria), Tell Tale Harbour (Confederation Centre for the Arts), Between Breaths, Everybody Just C@lm The F#ck Down (Artistic Fraud), The Silver Arrow (Citadel Theatre), The Third Colour (Prairie Theatre Exchange), Secret Life of a Mother (Theatre Centre, Crows Theatre), and The God That Comes (2b). Leigh Ann is a teacher and coach at NTS. She is originally from Nfld and now lives in Nova Scotia and works all over the country. She’s honoured to be part of the telling of this story with these remarkable people.

Brian Kenny - Sound Designer

Brian is a designer for theatre from Mt. Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador and is a graduate from The National Theatre School of Canada and Sheridan College. Selected credits include: Come From Away in concert [Mirvish, Marquis Ent], Billy Elliott, The Rocky Horror Show, The Music Man, Little Shop of Horrors [Stratford Festival], Elf, Grow, Mary Poppins [The Grand Theatre], Once [Segal Centre], Everybody Just C@lm The F#ck Down, Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams [Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland], Supper Club, Birthday Balloon [RCA Theatre]. Brian is a board member of the IATSE Local 659, The Associated Designers of Canada.

Douglas Price - Associate Music Supervisor

Douglas Price is an award-winning composer, music director, and teacher from London, Ontario. He is an alumni of the Shaw Theatre Festival’s music directing internship program (mentor: Dr. Paul Sportelli), a masters graduate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and he inaugurated the position of Head of Music at the National Theatre School of Canada (2014-2020). He is the founder and creator of tunetorialz.com (an online catalogue of musical theatre lessons), and he recently launched his first book, Seventeen To Millionaire, a personal finance book for Canadian teenagers available at seventeentomillionaire.com.

Anita Nittoly - Fight & Sexual Choreography

Selected Fight Director credits: 2019 Season (The Stratford Festival); The Last Wife, The 39 Steps, Successions (Centaur Theatre); Whole World (Carousel Players); Kitchen Radio, Stag & Doe, 2018 Season (Blyth Festival); Don Quichotte, Die Walkure, Carmen (Canadian Opera Company, Associate Fight Master). Stage Combat Instructor and Fight Director/Sexual Choreographer (National Theatre School). Intimacy Choreographer: Trojan Girls and The Outhouse of Atreus (Outside The March/Factory Theatre/Factory Theatre); Our Place (Cahoots Theatre/Theatre Passe Murraille); TV/FILM: Stunt Performer/Stunt Actor (selected credits: SEE, Star Trek: Discovery, Pretty Hard Cases, Teen Titans, The Boys, Rabbit Hole, What We Do in the Shadows, various Ubisoft motion capture productions).

Mel Hague - Dramaturg

Mel Hague is a Toronto based Curator and dramaturge. Mel is the Artistic Director of Factory Theatre in Toronto. Previously, Mel has worked with Canadian Stage Company, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Obsidian Theatre Company, IFT Theatre, Factory Theatre, Banff Centre Playwrights Colony, current performing arts, fu-Gen Asian Canadian Theatre, Eastern Front Theatre, Queer Acts Festival, The Paprika Festival, and Mulgrave Road Theatre. Mel was the Director of the Rhubarb Festival from 2014 - 2019 and was selected as a Leader in Residence at the National Theatre School of Canada (2018/19). Selected Dramaturgy work includes Venus’ Daughter by Meghan Swaby (Obsidian Theatre Company, 2016) Up the Garden Path by Lisa Codrington (Obsidian Theatre Company, 2016), Black Boys by Saga Collectif (with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 2018) lulu v.7 aspects of a femme fatale (red light district with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 2018) Always Still the Dawn by Susanna Fournier (Canadian Stage, 2020). Mel is a member of the Board of Directors for the Summerworks Festival.

Jane Gooderham - Dialect Coach

Theatre Credits: London Road, The Syringa Tree, Rock ’n’ Roll (Canadian Stage), 19 seasons with The Stratford Festival; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cloud Nine, The Lord of the Rings, The Producers (Mirvish); Shaw Festival; War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Royal National Theatre/Mirvish); Matilda (Royal Shakespeare Company/Mirvish); Oroonoko, Chair (Theatre for a New Audience, New York). Television: Good Sam (CBS), Reacher (Amazon), Republic of Doyle (CBC). Teaching: Head of Voice, National Theatre School of Canada (2009-16); Centre for Indigenous Theatre; Birmingham Conservatory. Training: Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (MA Voice), Guildhall School of Music & Drama (BA Acting).

Yousef Kadoura – Dialect & Disability Consultant

Yousef Kadoura is a Disabled Lebanese-Canadian actor, writer, and curator as well as a graduate of the acting program at the National Theatre School of Canada (2017). He was the producer and host of Walking the Space, a podcast series exploring disability in the arts, and was previously the 2018 Curator in Residence at Tangled Art + Disability. Yousef’s recent theatre credits include: P.T. Barker, Inangible Adorations Caravan, as a part in Toronto’s Year of Public Art (2022) Jonathan, Jonathan La Figure du Goeland, with Geordie theatre (2021), and Jihad, Eraser, as a part of the Riser Project (2019).

Ann-Marie MacDonald - Author

Ann-Marie MacDonald is an author, playwright, and actor. She is known for her novels, Fall On Your Knees, The Way the Crow Flies, Adult Onset, and Fayne, as well as her plays, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), Belle Moral: A Natural History, and Hamlet 911. Her work as an actor on stage and screen has earned her a Gemini Award and a Genie Nomination, and she hosted and narrated CBC TV’s documentary series, Life and Times and Doc Zone. Her writing has been honoured with awards including the Chalmers, the Dora Mavor Moore, the Governor General’s, and the Commonwealth Prize. Ann-Marie is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. In 2019 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of her contribution to the arts and her activism for LGBTQ2S+ rights.

Michael Hart - Stage Manager

26 seasons at the Stratford Festival including All’s Well That Ends Well, Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Show, Hay Fever, The Tempest starring Christopher Plummer, The Duchess of Malfi, The Swanne Trilogy amongst others; Heisenberg, Liv Stein (Canadian Stage); Constellations (Centaur/Canadian Stage); Body Politic (Buddies); The Death Of The King (Modern Times); The Winter’s Tale (Groundling); Bombay Black (Factory); Manon, Sandra and the Virgin Mary (Pleiades); Saint Carmen of The Main (NAC/Canadian Stage); Romeo and Juliet (NAC); Mother Courage and Her Children (NAC/MTC); Real Live Girl (MTC); Fully Committed, Silence, Einstein’s Gift (Grand Theatre); Wit (Centaur); Hamlet (Neptune).

Sarah Miller - Assistant Stage Manager

Sarah Miller is a Toronto-based freelance stage manager for live theatre and events. She’s worked with arts organizations across the country including City of Toronto Cultural Events, Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more. Select credits include: I Send You This Cadmium Red (Art of Time); A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline (Capitol Theatre); What Makes a Man (Canadian Stage/Necessary Angel); MixTape (Crow’s Theatre/Grand Theatre); Bang Bang, The Crackwalker (Factory Theatre); The Runner (Human Cargo/ Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Monday Nights (Luminato/Theatre Centre); Of Mice and Morro and Jasp (Manitoba Theatre for Young People); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Mirvish); Lil’ Red Robin Hood (Ross Petty Productions); Sisters, Innocence Lost, Of Human Bondage, Spoon River, A Christmas Carol, Hosanna, The Heidi Chronicles, Angels in America (Soulpepper Theatre); Forever Plaid (Starvox Entertainment); Orestes, Yaga (Tarragon Theatre); The De Chardin Project (Theatre Passe Muraille) and Freedom Singer (Project Humanity). Sarah is a mentor and instructor of Stage Management and has worked with students at Toronto Metropolitan University and Humber College.

Virg Iredale - Apprentice Stage Manager

Virg(she/her) is a freelance stage manager and props builder based in Mi’kma’ki, Halifax Nova Scotia.
Select Stage Management Credits: Elapultiek (Tour for Two Planks and a Passion) Crimes of the Heart, Boeing Boeing (Watermark Theatre) Dayboil, Good Grief, Half-Cracked, Hook, Line & Sinner (Ship’s Company Theatre) #IAMTHECHEESE (Eastern Front Theatre & Halifax Theatre for Young People) Beneath Springhill, The Lear Project (Neptune Theatre) Hamlet (Below the Salt) Brundibar (Halifax Theatre for Young People) People, Places & Things, La Calandra (Fountain School of Performing Arts) Pocket Rocket (Theatre Baddeck)
Props Credits: Elf the Musical, Rocky Horror, Woman in Black (Neptune Theatre)

Douglas Price is an award-winning composer, music director, and teacher from London, Ontario. He is an alumni of the Shaw Theatre Festival’s music directing internship program (mentor: Dr. Paul Sportelli), a masters graduate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and he inaugurated the position of Head of Music at the National Theatre School of Canada (2014-2020). He is the founder and creator of tunetorialz.com (an online catalogue of musical theatre lessons), and he recently launched his first book, Seventeen To Millionaire, a personal finance book for Canadian teenagers available at seventeentomillionaire.com.

Anna Atkinson is a singer, songwriter, composer,
producer and multi-instrumentalist originally
from Windsor, Ontario. She studied the viola at the
University of Victoria before spending nine years
immersed in Toronto’s creative music and theatre
communities. Anna performs her own music as
Linaire: experimental electro-pop combining
emotionally lucid lyrics with synths, strings, and
lo-fi beats. A self-titled debut album was released in
2020. Anna has also contributed, both as creator
and performer, to numerous projects across music,
theatre, film and dance. Most recently, she was
musical director, co-creator and performer in Joe
Jack et John’s Les waitress sont tristes in Montreal,
where she now lives.

The son of a proud Scottish immigrant, Spencer
Murray got his start playing the bagpipes when he
was 8 years old. In his twenties Spencer moved to
Toronto to study saxophone at Humber College
with jazz legend, Pat LaBarbera, but at night
he was studying Irish flute with Juno-winning
Irish musician, Loretto Reid. In 2016, Spencer
was accepted to the University of Limerick in
Ireland, where he became the first ever Canadian
to receive a Master’s degree in the Uilleann
piping. Spencer has performed as a soloist with
the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and with
the Canadian company of Come From Away for
over 850 performances. He is about to release his
second album with his band Pipeslinger.

Vocals, Qanun , Oud, Percussion
Credits: Maryem Tollar is a renowned EgyptianCanadian vocalist, known for her world music
performances. She composed the music for the
song Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind for Canadian
Stage’s production of As You Like It, directed by
Anand Rajaram in 2022. She was nominated
for a 2010 Dora Award for outstanding cast in
Nine Parts of Desire by Heather Raffo; and was in
the 2009 Dora Award winning production of
R. Murray Shafer’s opera The Children’s Crusade,
playing the role of Ariana. Her voice has been
heard CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie and A.R.
Rahman’s Bollywood hit, Mayya Mayya. She
performs with several Toronto musical groups
including: Al Qahwa and Turkwaz. Maryem was
awarded the inaugural 2019 Johanna Metcalf
Prize for Performing Arts.