FLUSH INK PRODUCTIONS

presents

ASPHALT JUNGLE SHORTS

September 14 – 16  21 – 24 2006

 

 

THE ACTORS

 

 

Kristopher Bowman

 

 

 

Kristopher, a Kitchener native, has been performing since the age of fourteen.  His most recent credits include, KWLT’s production of What the Butler Saw, and his several roles in Shaking the Dew from the Lilies. 

 

Kris’s passion on the stage include improv, clown work and dinner theatre. 

 

“Comedy in any and every form, is so necessary today, I’m only happy to help.  If I had a wife and kids, I’d thank them for their support.” 

 

 

 

 

 

Kris will be performing in THE ORANGE WHISTLE, 600 SECONDS & ABOUT SURREAL LIFE.

 

 

 

 

Rachel Clark

Growing up in the small town of Elmira, Rachel found her true love....performing.  The only problem was-she was terribly shy, to the point of remaining completely silent.  Her parents then encouraged her to dance at Encore Dance Studio where she trained, competed and taught for many years.  In high school this once shy little girl began vocal lessons and achieved her royal conservatory grade 8 voice examination.  In the fall of 2002 Rachel landed the role of "Anne" in KWMP's Anne of Green Gables performed at the Centre in the Square.  The show proved to be a wonderful success and her happiest moment yet.   In the winter of 2003 Rachel was scouted and sent to dance in Hawaii at the pro-bowl half time show.  That fall she began school in Toronto at Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.  The summer of 2005 Rachel graduated and moved home out of the city.  Currently she teaches dance, and works at group homes with the handicapped, sharing her joy of music with them.  This past summer she performed in "With a Song for Hope" at Waterloo Entertainment Centre to raise money for cancer. 

 

Rachel is thrilled to be performing with such a knowledgeable group of professionals, one being a memorable teacher from Randolph.  She hopes this is only the beginning of her career to act, sing, dance and move people's spirits through the art of theatre.   

 

Rachel will be performing in 600 SECONDS & ABOUT SURREAL LIFE. 

 

 

 

Nicholas Cumming

 

 

Nicholas Cumming, now with New, Improved Hair!  Made in Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Ontario from 100% recycled materials – may contain traces of Nuts!

 

Nick comes with a snazzy BA in Drama and English from the University of Waterloo and plays well with others at The MT Space (linkto: www.mtspace.ca).  He has been spotted acting in Legion of Memory, Me Here/Me Happy, Motio X Industria, Season of Immigration to the West, and Three Legged Horse with The MT Space; Mimetic Flesh & Mimetic Hotel, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Spring Awakening with UW Drama.  He directed/wrote HE for UPStart 2004 and Performance PhArted in-class with Welcome to BEEF-US, The Golem of Prague, and Sprinkle’s Big V.  There was also an intense period of involvement with KWLT - his favourite role was probably Jane the psychotic, terrorist, librarian.

 

After he peels himself off the asphalt, he will appear in Yes or No by local playwright Douglas Campbell at the MT Space in late October, and then with Poor Tom Productions in Tennessee Williams’ I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow and/or local playwright William J. Emberly’s The Visit in November.  Aside from that, he would like to get focused on his own playwriting for Pat the Dog (linkto: www.patthedog.org) , KW’s newly formed playwrights collective (Look out for The Children’s Crusade, Cycle 0, and Capsule).

 

Nicholas will be appearing in BANTER.

 

 

 

Tracey Eccleston

 

 

 

This is Tracey’s debut with the Flush Ink Productions. She is very proud to be involved in their production of Asphalt Jungle Shorts. She is an active member in variety of community theatres, and performs regularly with The Mysterious Players - A theatre company that travels across Ontario performing Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre.

 

Some favourite shows include, Hello Dolly!! – Elmira Theatre Company, Devil’s Disciple – Galt Little Theatre, Funny Valentine – Theatre in the Trees and I Won’t Tell a Soul – Galt Little Theatre.

 

Tracey would like to thank the directors, cast and crew for this opportunity to expand her experience.

 

 

Tracey will be appearing in THE MAN OF MY DREAMS & SHORT TERM AFFAIRS

 

 

Heather Gurd

 

 

Having been classically trained in acting in the 70’s (B.A. Drama, U. of W.) and then trained in comedy improvisation (awarded 1983 international championship), Heather has had great fun acting, improvising, singing, work-shopping, and directing in the theatre community of Southern Ontario ever since.  Favourite shows directed include: “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”, and “12 Night for Kids”.   Selected roles include “Kathleen” in Looking for Mr. Right and Other Stories, “Daphne” in I Hate Hamlet, and “Fifi” in the Canadian Premiere of The Perfect Manhattan – for which she received Best Actress in a Supporting Role from the Western Ontario Drama League - and most recently “Rachel Lynde” in last years’ production of Anne at Waterloo Stage.

 

Heather teaches Therapeutic Touch, Meditation, and Breath Work.  Her very favourite, and longest role, (22 years) is that of being wife to the amazing Preston, and Mother to the fabulous and ever entertaining Jess and Nick.

 

 

Heather will be appearing in THE MAN OF MY DREAMS & ABOUT SURREAL LIFE.

 

 

 

Gary Kirkham

 

 

 

 

 

Gary’s Kirkham is a playwright and Actor.  His play, Queen Milli of Galt, which won the Samuel French Canadian Playwriting Competition. He also wrote the one act play Look, which was adapted into a short film staring Mike Peng and Alan Sapp. He also can be found in drag performing his monologue Beth at 50. As an actor he has performed with Lost & Found in Radio Leacock and A Lost and Found Christmas. His other roles include Off the Ground with Motus O Dance Theatre, A Life in the Theatre at Theatre & Company, and Headache Grey and T Intersection at the Record NewWorks Festival

 

Gary spent years as an improviser with several comedy troupes including Mental Floss and was in The Second City’s Master class. And, if you didn’t blink, you might have seen him in several sketches on The Kids in the Hall.

 

Besides work-shopping his newest play, The Lockerbie Boy, with Lost & Found Theatre, Gary is also working on a co-production with Mike and MT Space, The Lost City of Gadorsk. He's enjoying a stint as a resident artist at The Button Factory, which entails (among other things) filming a short documentary and directing the film series Bard on the Street, a series of Shakespeare monologues done on locations throughout the region. He's also performing with MT Space in their touring version of The Season of Immigration. Gary teaches Playwriting, Improv and the Macarena

 

Gary will be performing in BETH AT 50 & LAST CALL.

 

 

 

 

 

Shelagh Ranalli

 

Shelagh loves the idea of taking theatre to the streets, literally!   Asphalt Jungle Shorts offers Shelagh a great opportunity to connect with former cast mates and artists after a 3 year hiatus.

Previously, Shelagh has acted in productions with Waterloo Stage Theatre, KWMP and Theatre & Company.  Her most favourite production was Paddy Gillard-Bentley's renown creation, Shaking The Dew From The Lilies, where she had the honour of portraying the intoxicating Aja.

Shelagh resides in Kitchener with her lovely children, Charlotte and Joseph."

 

 

 

 

Shelagh will be performing in SHORT TERM AFFAIRS & HOWARD and the SNAKE.

 

Brendan Schaefer

 

Brendan is glad to be back on stage after years of absence from the limelight. Brendan completed his bachelors degree in Theatre Arts at the University of Arizona in 1990, and spent a number of years with Theatre & Company in Kitchener in the 1990s, when it was still a small ensemble of dedicated starving artists. Roles from that period include Johann in The Shunning and Trisotin in The Sisterhood, as well as the role of Technical Director, Production Manager, Box Office Manager, Lighting Director, and Chief Cook & Bottlewasher in many other productions.  Most recently (although not that recent) Brendan has appeared in a few "short works fest" pieces, including the legendary 5 minute Bonkers in the Bank Queue (not its real title) penned by the venerable Andrew Lakin.

 

Brendan currently works for Habitat for Humanity Canada, and lives with his wife, Sarah, and two boys, Aidan & Faolan, in a quirky old farmhouse outside of New Dundee.

 

 

Brendan will be appearing in SHORT-TERM AFFAIRS & AŃO 1868

 

 

 

 

Kathleen Sheehy

 

I’m a displaced Philadelphian who loves the small city atmosphere of Waterloo Region. It’s so much easier to park here. I come from a theatre-loving family. My parents met while doing an evening of Irish plays with the Philopatrian Club, a Catholic amateur drama guild in Philly. I started out in children’s theatre and church drama, took lots of classes at the Walnut Street Theatre School and the Arden Theatre Company, and eventually came to the frightening realization that I wanted to be an actor.

 

In 1992, I joined Kitchener’s Theatre & Company and served there as actor, teacher, stage manager, props head, and subscriber relations manager. From 30 appearances there, favourite roles include Bubbie, the Jewish grandmother in Crossing Delancey (bag); Claire, Edward Albee’s accordion-playing lush in A Delicate Balance (babe); Miss Rose, (babe/vamp), another booze-soaked dame in Girl in the Goldfish Bowl by Morris Panych, and singing and telling the wonderful stories in the musical Quilters – hard to categorize those characters under “bag” or “babe”. As a member of a small ensemble, I got the chance to play roles I almost certainly wouldn’t have had anywhere else. In the space of a few seasons, I played wife, lover, mother and grandmother, opposite any one of the same 3 actors in the company.

 

In the fall of 2004, 5 comrades and I launched Lost & Found Theatre, a collaboration of like-minded theatre artists and friends. Not long after, Gary Kirkham joined the crew and now we are 7. Our collective energy and imagination has been a source of refreshment and restoration. It’s amazing how fast and far talent, experience and drive can get you when there’s a solid basis of trust built into the equation. Of the 3 fully mounted plays Lost&Found presented in its first year, I had the joy of appearing in Vigil and Eleemosynary.

 

 

Kathleen will be performing in JUSTICE OF THE PEACE and LIVE NUDE MANNEQUIN.

 

 

Darlene Spencer

 

 

 

 

Darlene Spencer received her Master of Fine Arts in Performance from York University.  She is an director, actor and educator who currently makes her home in Toronto.

 

Directorial projects include "Three Cities in the Life of Norman Bethune" a one man opera by Tim Brady, "The Children's Hour" by Lillian Hellman, "Our Country's Good" by Timberlake Wertenbaker, "A Spring Awakening" by Frank Wedekind, "Les Belles Soeurs" by Michel Tremblay,  and "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare. Selected roles include “Sarah” in the film 976, for which, she was awarded the 'best actor in a supporting role' with the Planet Indie Film Festival, “Titania/Hippolyta” in A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare with the York Shakespeare Festival, her one woman show Life Out Loud written by LCCARSON, “Aeire” in Run by Victoria Goring at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and “Helga Ten Dorp” in Deathtrap by Ira Levin with the Waterloo Stage Company.

 

Darlene is also a director and has held teaching appointments at the University of Waterloo, York University, and is currently the Co-ordinator of the Acting Area at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.

 

Darlene will be performing in BALANCING ACT, LAST CALL& ABOUT SURREAL LIFE. 

*Darlene appears courtesy of Canadian Actor’s Equity Association.

 

 

 

Roger Sumner

 

Roger has dabbled in acting, stage combat and stand-up comedy for almost two decades, and he's just starting to get the hang of it. He leaped at the chance to hit the pavement with the Asphalt Jungle crew.
 
An expert rapier duelist and professional writer, Roger's favorite stage roles include Renfield in Bram Stoker's Dracula (KWLT), Albert in Terry Pratchett's Mort (KWLT), and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (UW
Drama).

Roger lives uptown in Waterloo with no cats, no rats, and an anthropomorphic crow.

 

 

 

Roger will be appearing in THE ORANGE WHISTLE,  HOWARD AND THE SNAKE & ABOUT SURREAL LIFE.

 

 

 

Arlene R. Thomas

 

 

 

Arlene has been acting since grade four when she performed in her school play and discovered that she liked being on stage.  More recently she graduated from the University of Windsor with a B.F.A. in acting. She has created and performed in many productions both in Waterloo region and in other areas of the country.  Arlene has appeared in Twelve Angry Jurors (#9), Zazztrozzi (Julia), Something Followed Me Home (Ella), and The Merchant of Venice (Portia), among many others.

 

Arlene is the co-founder of Shadow Puppet Theatre, a new theatre company which is currently working on mounting a production of Macbeth using Shadow Puppets.

 

She is pleased to be performing in Asphalt Jungle.

 

 

 

 

Arlene will be performing in THE ORANGE WHISTLE and AŃO 1868

 

 

 

Bruce Wolff

 

 

Bruce Wolff is more surprised than anyone to be among this group of actors. While he needed not too gentle prodding to join, there may be a general impression that he accepted rather quickly. This is likely the result of his (formerly) secret dreams of a return to the glory years of writing, producing and acting in high school productions.  

His day job (which he won't be quitting anytime soon) at Wilfrid Laurier in the Biology Department gives him plenty of opportunity to practice his oratory skills.  It is most likely that work, time with his kids and friends, and traveling to Formula-One races will
provide sufficient incentive to keep the stage an enjoyable avocation.

 

Bruce will be appearing in BANTER.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to our sponsors and collaborators…

 

 

City of Kitchener

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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