Cast & Crew
Elena Belyea (They/she) - Playwright, Producer
Elena (or Eli) Belyea is a queer/non-binary playwright, performer, producer, arts educator, and Artistic Director of Tiny Bear Jaws. They were born and raised in Amiskwaciwaskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory and have had work produced across Turtle Island and internationally (including Austria, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, and Quebec City) and received numerous awards. Her play Smoke was recently published through Playwrights Canada Press. They're also one half of queer sketch duo Gender? I Hardly Know Them (@genderihardlyknowthem).
HELEN BELAY (SHE/HER) - ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Helen Belay is an Ethiopian-Canadian actor and storyteller who’s been playing with words and obsessed with all things beautiful since she was a wee babe in Bedford, England. Graduate of the UofA’s BFA Acting. Previous Credits Include: ren & the wake (Catch the Keys Productions); Jane Eyre, The Fiancée, Heaven (Citadel Theatre); Here There Be Night (WWPT); The Blue Hour (SkirtsAFire Festival); The Society of the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonious (Theatre Network); Cinderella (Globe Theatre); Lost Lemoine Part 1&2, Vidalia (Teatro La Quindicina); Lenin’s Embalmers, All for Love, Middletown (Studio Theatre).
ARIADNE MAYUMI BELLE (SHE/THEY) - DESIGN ASSISTANT
A.M. Belle is a queer and trans-femme theatre artist of mixed Filipinx descent currently residing in Amiskwaciwâskahikan, so-called Edmonton. Their emerging work draws from both the worlds of scenography and outsider art as they parse together combinations of digital and practical production unique to their self-taught practice. Ariadne’s most recent work was seen in the premier mounting of Host Town (NextFest), a staged concert and musical in development.
Mac Brock (he/him) - Associate Producer
Mac Brock (he/him) is your friendly neighbourhood queer producer and playwright. He’s the Managing Producer of Common Ground Arts Society and a member of the Citadel Theatre Playwrights’ Lab. He’s worked with Edmonton Fringe Theatre, Globe Theatre, Edmonton Heritage Council, and more. Recent credits include Boy Trouble (Playwright - Sterling Award nomination, Outstanding Fringe Production), Tracks (Playwright/Producer), and Book of Persephone (Citadel Theatre Horizon Lab - co-created with Salem Clarke).
Upcoming: Boy Trouble (Tour 2023 - Playwright), Re:Construct (Edmonton Fringe 2022 - Producer), Found Festival 2022 (Festival Manager).
madeline blondal (she/her) - set design
Madeline Blondal is an emerging set, costume and lighting designer based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is a recent University of Alberta graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Design. Producing art in fast paced and collaborative settings, she seeks to explore theatre through her designs that focus on blending functionality with architecture and its effects on movement and mood. Recent design credits include Stone and Soil (Nextfest), Caribbean Muskrat (Teatro Quindicina), Ministry of Mundane Mysteries: Sound Off (Outside the March, Hireath (Bright Young Things), Une Exploration en Attendant ( L'Unithéȃtre), Belleville, (Bleviss Laboratory Theatre). See more of her work at madelineblondal.com
DANIELA FERNANDEZ (she/her) - sound design
Daniela Fernandez is a Latinx actor, singer, dancer, emerging music producer and sound designer. Based in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton), she is a graduate of the Grant MacEwan Theatre Arts program. In 2020, she was one of the inaugural recipients of the RBC Horizon Emerging Artist Mentorship Program at The Citadel Theatre for Sound Design. Daniela’s passion has always lied in music and Pop Culture. She is so stoked to be able to bring forward her love for the synth-pop and dream-pop genres into her inspiration for Smoke’s design. Sound credits include: The Fiancée (Citadel Theatre), hiraeth (Bright Young Things), Run and Hide (Ghostlight Theatre Projects).
Whittyn Jason (they/them/theirs) - costume and lighting design
Whittyn Jason is a queer, non-binary, mixed-race scenographer and collaborator of South African and Ukrainian descent. They currently live and create in amiskwacîwâskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton). Previous credits include The Fiancee, Heaven, A Brimful of Asha (Citadel Theatre), Night (Major Matt Mason Collective). In addition to their work in design, they're also the Festival Director for Found Festival (Common Ground Arts Society).
SAM JEFFERY (She/her) - Intimacy Director
Sam (she/her) is a certified intimacy director & coordinator, educator, actor, and award-nominated fight director who was born and raised in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. With a special interest in mental and sexual health, Sam is passionate about bringing joy and a trauma-informed approach that celebrates how honouring our needs leads to exciting & creative artistic choices. She is grateful to be able to grow and apply her practice across Turtle Island alongside so many other wonderful people. Intimacy credits include: Batwoman (The CW); Bunny (The Search Party); Michael Mysterious (Pyretic Productions); Boticelli in the Fire (ABBEDAM); The Magicians (NBC/Universal). Samjeffery.com
hayley moorhouse (she/her) - actor (jordan)
Hayley is a queer actor and playwright based in amiskwaciwâskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton), Treaty 6 territory. Recent performance credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lodestar Theatre), Tracks (Vena Amoris Projects), Slight of Mind (Theatre Yes) and The Bully Project (Concrete Theatre). She debuted her solo show Bird Signs in a workshop production at Nextfest 2019, and adapted it into a short film for the festival in 2020. Her play Suspension had its premiere production at the 2019 Edmonton International Fringe Festival. The following year, it was adapted into podcast format as part of the Alberta Queer Calendar Project.
Tori Morrison (She/her) - Production Manager, Technical Director, producer
Tori Morrison is a designer, producer, and production manager from Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, AB). She is the Executive Director and Artistic Producer of Tiny Bear Jaws and she also co-produces work with writer David Gagnon Walker as Strange Victory Performance. Recent credits include sound/video design for This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear at High Performance Rodeo (Calgary, 2022) and Pi Theatre (Vancouver, 2022), sound design and producing for Gender? I Hardly Know Them at the rEvolver Festival (Vancouver, 2022), and sound design and production management for Pyretic Theatre's premiere of Michael Mysterious (Edmonton, 2021). Find out more about what she does at her website torigmorrison.com.
GAbriel richardson (he/him) - Actor (Jordan)
Gabriel (He/Him) is a film and stage actor, singer, improvisor and producer born in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. After graduating from The National Theatre School of Canada Gabriel moved back to amiskwaciwâskahikan to reinvest in the rich community that he missed so much while out East. Select acting credits include: Scout (Screaming Mantis Productions), Crave (Stonemarrow Theatre), Pandora (Youtheatre Montreal) and Everyone We Know Will Be There (Tiny Bear Jaws).
JADE ROBINSON (she/her) - actor (AIDEN)
Jade is a half-Chinese artist who was born and raised in amiskwacîwâskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. Specializing in stage, screen, and voice performance, she received her BFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). She also holds Associate diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music and Trinity College London, and is a National Gold Medalist for Speech Arts & Drama Performance. Select credits include: Monkey King (Enrichment Works), Appropriate (CalArts), CHAMP (Kerning House Pictures), Georgie Romero is Done For, and Phantom Limb: Falling Out (Center for New Performance). Jade thanks her parents and Zach for their support and for fueling her with snacks.
jenna rodgers (she/her) - director/dramaturg
Jenna is a mixed-race Director and Dramaturg who gratefully resides on land called Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary), on Treaty 7 Territory. She is the founding Artistic Director of Chromatic Theatre, the Dramaturg for the Playwrights Lab at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Board Co-Chair of LMDA, and the Director of Theatre Alberta. She is a graduate of the NTS Artistic Leadership Residency (2020), the Banff Centre’s Cultural Leadership Program (2019), and a member of the artEquity National Facilitator Training cohort (2018). Jenna holds a MA in International Performance Research from the universities of Amsterdam and Tampere.
STEVEN SOBOLEWSKI (HE/him) - Stage Manager
Steven is a proud mixed-Filipino artist based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan, on Treaty 6 Territory. Since graduating from Grant MacEwan he has developed a deep passion for safer spaces and anti-racist theatre-making. He has worked as a stage manager all over Treaty 6. Some of his favorite credits include Million Dollar Quartet (Theatre Calgary) Matara (WWPT), Rigoletto, La Traviata (Edmonton Opera), Happy Birthday Baby J (Shadow Theatre), Dodona (Small Matters Productions), Hiraeth (Bright Young Things). Steven is also a part the Citadel Theatre's RBC Emerging artist program in Artistic Leadership/planning. Thanks to Casey for all the love and support.
Tiny Bear Jaws engages under the terms of the INDIE 2.2, professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.