Colleen MacIsaac (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist living in Mi'kma'ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia), working across theatre, drawing, illustration, video, graphic design, animation, comics, and performance. The artistic producer of The Villains Theatre, Colleen's recent performance creations include 'A Beginner’s Guide to the Night Sky', ‘the effects were cumulative and I almost didn’t notice’, 'TO: THE UNKNOWN', ‘Shortcuts’, 'mercury', 'Cartography', 'The Blazing World', and 'dark matter'. They are a graduate of Emily Carr University (Bachelor of Media Art in Animation) and NSCAD University (Master of Fine Art in Studio Arts - performance), and they have served on the boards of Theatre Nova Scotia, The Bus Stop Theatre Co-operative, and the Halifax Fringe Festival. A Robert Merritt Award nominee for Best Ensemble, Colleen is the winner of the Halifax Mayor’s Award for Emerging Theatre Artist, the Bhayana Foundation Invisible Champion Award, and the Helen Hill Animated Award.

Garry Williams (he/him) is an actor, director, singer, writer, musical director, and composer-lyricist. He has directed several plays, musicals, operas, and operettas, including Something Rotten, Pippin, She Loves Me, A Good Death, Julius Caesar, The Sex Play (La ronde), R.U.R., Le nozze di Figaro, Alcina, and Patience. He appeared in Love, Peace & Hairgrease, and There Are No Gays in Chechnya (reading) with EFT. EFT co-presented the original musical KAMP, and So… What About Love? for which he wrote music & lyrics. With Villains he appeared in Tyrant and The Roaring Girl, and composed music for Arden, Edward II/The Jew of Malta, and Rain on the Parade. Most recently, he musically directed Crypthand (Ship’s Company), Pinocchio (SBTS), and the River Clyde Pageant: A Windfall in the Hollow.

Lara Lewis (she/her) is a queer, mixed Mi'kmaw theatre artist living in Kjipuktuk. Lara was formally educated at Dalhousie University's Fountain School of Performing Arts and the University of King's College. Primarily an actor and dramamturge, she has worked with writers across the country and performed with companies including Villains Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Eastern Front Theatre, Heist, and Atlantic Repertory Company. Lara was nominated for a Merritt Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, and won for Outstanding Volunteer. @thisislaralewis

Geneviève (she/her) just completed a fun summer with Shakespeare by the Sea and is delighted to remain in the great outdoors to revisit A Beginner's Guide to the Night Sky; which holds a very special place in her heart. Recently she had the pleasure of performing in a workshop production of Frenchy's, The Musical for EFT. Other theatre credits include Calendar Girls, Rabbit Hole, Snake in the Grass (Neptune Theatre), Half Cracked (EFT and Ship's Company), Myth of The Ostrich (Theatre Baddeck), Cottagers and Indians (Watermark), Animal Farm, Uncle Vanya (Two Planks), Venus in Fur, Gaslight (FAST). Thank you to this stellar team, and a wink and a nod skyward for my MamaLise.

Rooks Field-Green (He/They) is a white, Jewish, and trans/non-binary theatre artist settled in Kjipuktuk. Rooks's career thus far has involved a lot of great people, a few sacred places and a lot of joy. Rooks has worked with Zuppa Theatre Co. (City Ditties, This is Nowhere, F.I.S.H.), 2b Theatre (The Bridge), DaPoPo Theatre in association with Shakespeare by The Sea (Queer Theatre Ensemble: Shakesqueer), Neptune Theatre (Boys, Girls, and Other Mythological Creatures, Jabber) and Ship’s Company Theatre (Good Grief). The majority of his career has focused on the development of new works with Zuppa Theatre (F.I.S.H.) Villain’s Theatre (M: The Berlin Murders, Isolate Nights, Scene of the Crime, Madsummer, A Beginners Guide to the Night Sky, International Waters, Rain On The Parade & Knight of The Bat II). Rooks also creates queer children’s radio plays (Frog and Toad are Together: Ice Cream, A Swim, Cookies) as well as plays for adults: Oy Vey, My Baby’s A They, Booby Trap! and Into The Out Of, or ITOO. They recently directed Water, Baby! by Trisha Malik at Outfest 2023. Rooks is proud to be a star gazer and has enjoyed this process of wonderment for Colleen MacIsaac's latest creation. He dedicates his work on this production to their Aunt Suzanne, a person who was both the twinkling light and the curious, wondering gaze.

Dan Bray (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist who splits his time between Kjipuktuk/Halifax and Antigonish. As the Artistic Director of The Villains Theatre, he has written and directed many shows, including Hansel und Gretel in: der Garten von Edible Horrors, which earned Dan a Merritt Award for “Outstanding Adaptation,” and Dinostories, which earned him an ECMA nomination for “Children’s Entertainer of the Year.” He has had the privilege of working with many of Nova Scotia’s finest companies, including Two Planks & a Passion, ZUPPA, Shakespeare by the Sea, Eastern Front, Terra Novella, Festival Antigonish, and more. This is his first time stage managing, and he is grateful to this lovely team for their patience and support. Love to Noella and Gilbert.

Olivia Rankin (she/her) is a stage manager, film producer and lighting designer based in K'jipuktuk/Halifax. She moved here in 2010 from the Okanagan, BC and received her BA in Technical Scenography from Dalhousie. Over the past decade she has made Nova Scotia her home, working with theatre companies around the province. Many of her shows have received recognition such as Merritt Awards, re-mounts and tours, as well as national and international acclaim. 

Jenny Trites (she/her) is a composer, pianist, and choral musician based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax). As a sound designer and composer, Jenny has worked with Villains Theatre (Observatory Mansions, In the Telling, Blazing World, Changeling: The Chimes of Bedlam, Gallathea, The Roaring Girl), LunaSea (Bitterest Time: The War Story of Mona Parsons) and Lion’s Den Theatre (The Shadow, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)

Brenda has been in the show business for 14 years wearing many hats in each department. She earned a BFA in Theatre Production and Design at York University and has worked all over the GTA as a designer and technician. Since living and working in Nova Scotia, she's won the 2023 Wes Daniels Design Merritt Award. She is extremely thankful for all the support from family and friends. Her recent theatre credits: Downed Hearts ( Ships Company Theatre / EFT), Pinocchio/ Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare By The Sea) Mischief/ Colonial Park ( YPCo,Neptune Theatre), Miracle on 31st Street ( Saint John Theatre Company), Glass Menagerie ( ARC), Beyond the Sea ( Victoria Playhouse), #iamthecheese (HTFYP/EFT), Fat Juliet( EFT).

Noella Murphy (she/her) is a trained actor, costume designer, visual artist, and all around clown. She holds a BFA from NSCAD University, and is an alum of Kinsale’s Wooden O Drama Program (Ireland). Despite an active visual arts practice of her own, Noella is deeply interested in sharing art as a therapeutic tool, especially as it pertains to individuals living in care homes as well as children; indeed, much of Noella’s professional career has been dedicated to working with folks with disabilities, students, and the elderly. Noella uses these various expertises, as well as her background in clowning and visual art, to explore deeper, more challenging subject matter, while simultaneously infusing these discoveries with light, care, and play. As a collaborative theatre professional, Noella has worked with many groups around the province. Most recently, she co-created Dinostories: 3 Prehistoric Fairy Tales with Dan Bray - a commission for Festival Antigonish’s 2022 summer season, which has since played in other venues around Nova Scotia. Prior to that, she has helped devise various shows for festivals such as the Halifax Fringe (Worry Duck) and Nocturne: Art at Night (Fox Hatch), and she has been an instrumental collaborator with groups such as The Villains Theatre and North Barn Theatre Collective. Noella has also worked as an educator at such wonderful institutions as the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, Arts Health Antigonish (of which she is a founding member), L’Arche Antigonish, RK MacDonald Nursing Home, Theatre Antigonish, and Red Sky Gallery.

Matt Downey (they/he) is a queer non binary theatre artist from St John’s Newfoundland, Theatrical designer, Technician, Photographer, as well as the technical director of The Bus Stop Theatre Co-op. Since the pandemic hit they have expanded their focus to creating and supporting digital art and performances, with investment in making art accessible and finding fun projects to collaborate remotely. Recent projects include augmented reality content For LiveHeist’s award winning productions of Frequencies, and Princess Pride and Joy, and Animation and software programming for Friends First’s in development Sci-fi rock opera Journey To The Zone. Recent Lighting credits include Fatty Legs, Rings thru water (Xara Choral Theatre), The Blazing World, Chimes of Bedlam (The Villains Theatre) Punchup (Matchstick Theatre)

Audrey Eastwood (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist and parent working in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. She has worked as an actor, designer, musician, technician, fight choreographer, and makeup artist for a number of local companies including Villain’s Theatre, Kick at the Dark, Halifax Summer Opera, Halifax Fringe, Votive Dance and Whale Song Theatre. She is the general manager of the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op (currently on parental leave), and the Artistic Producer of Terra Novella Theatre. In her spare time she loves cooking and sharing huge meals, spending time messing about in gardens, trundling her two children off on adventures, and chasing her chickens with her very patient partner Nick.