Lame Is... 2017 Performers
Debbie Patterson
is a Winnipeg playwright, director and actor. Trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, she is a founding member of Shakespeare in the Ruins (SIR), served as Theatre Ambassador for Winnipeg’s Cultural Capital year, was the Carol Shields Writer in Residence 2012 at the U of W and Playwright in Residence at Theatre Projects Manitoba in 2013/14. She served as Artistic Associate at Prairie Theatre Exchange and is currently a member of the PTE Playwrights Unit. Playwriting credits include Sargent & Victor & Me, the musical Head and Molotov Circus, which was nominated for the Harry Rintoul will Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She has written several adaptations of Robert Munsch stories for Prairie Theatre Exchange which have gone on to be produced at theatres across the country. Directing credits include Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and Taming of the Shrew for SIR, The Crackwalker for Sweet and Salty Collective and Saint Joan for Theatre by the River. As a performer, some of her favourite roles have included Zoya in Molotov Circus, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Jenny in Threepenny Opera, but most especially Jilly in Sargent & Victor & Me. Debbie is active in the dance community, collaborating on projects with Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Aspirant Program and Young Lungs Dance Exchange. In 2014 she was honoured with the United Nations Platform for Action Committee’s annual Activist Award. She is a proud advocate for disability arts through her work with her new company Sick + Twisted Theatre. She lives in Winnipeg with her family: Arne MacPherson, Gislina Patterson and Solmund MacPherson.
Dan Augusta
has been acting for most of his life, and professionally since 2007. He has trained extensively at the University of Winnipeg, Prairie Theatre Exchange (Professional Training Ensemble), and Manitoba Theatre for Young People. He was a founding member of The Struts and Frets Players, a group which for six years created new, original stage adaptations of ancient myths and legends from around the world. Other notable roles include Revenge of the Meek (Thin Lizotte at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival); Johansson in The Ghost Sonata (U of W); Ben in The God Box (out of line); and two turns as Chris in Ripple Effect (Sarasvàti). He has also appeared on film in New in Town and The Capture of the Green River Killer.
Dan has struggled since birth with a number of chronic medical issues stemming from an undiagnosed immune deficiency. The most notable effects of this have been ongoing mobility issues, as well as frequent respiratory infections. In 2011 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells; today, he has been in remission for over five years, but his underlying condition remains undiagnosed and poorly understood.
Angela Chalmers
bio to follow
The Talentless Lumps
are six female theatre artists who embrace the style of bouffon to bring a repulsive and radiant perspective to Winnipeg audiences. Our collective was formed in 2012, and over the course of our evolution, The Lumps have developed a performance style that is a unique mix of bouffon, clown and physical comedy. We have created two shows for RMTC’s Master Playwright Festival, F#ckOff √Off for ChekhovFest, and Stuffed Red Peppers: Extra Spicy for CowardFest. Joff Schmidt, CBC reviewer, said this of Red Peppers: “the Lumps are crude, rude, and witless. They’re also very funny. Over a snappy 45 minutes, they deliver a tremendously energetic show, committing themselves admirably to their style of clowning… it’s hard not to be drawn into their bizarre, unhinged world.” Our most recent production was The Shit Show (performed in the 2016 Winnipeg Fringe Festival), which followed the life of a piece of poop, rejected by society, as he grows to become a great leader in these uncertain times. The Lumps have also performed in countless cabarets and fundraisers over the past five years, including Girls Girls Girls, Joseph Commons’ Holiday Cabarets, Young Lungs Dance Exchange, Wrecking Ball, and FemFest.
Dianna Rasing
began acting in the community after high school, in 1996, with Love’s Labour’s Lost (Rosaline) with Shakespeare in the Park; she has also produced and performed in various plays such as Agnes of God (Agnes), performing out of the Forrest Nickerson theatre at Deaf Centre MB. In most recent years, Dianna has performed and directed plays with the Tara Players Theatre Company; in 2002 she played the Qallapilliut in A Promise is A Promise with PTE.
Over the past 20 years, Dianna has performed in many Fringe Festival shows, most notably: The Problem, I Hate Hamlet, The Whistling Imps: A Choose Your Own Adventure and most recently she wrote and starred in Seducing Father Brian
She is an ASL –English interpreter by trade and does theatre for joie de vivre.
In November 2016 Dianna suffered a stroke and has spent the last several months recuperating and working on getting her mobility, speech and artistry back.
She has just begun doing some stand up comedy. Surviving the stroke has helped her to find the funny in some very unlikely places.
Jordan Phillips
is an actor, director, singer, and musician who has lately been trying his hand at playwriting. Having fallen in love with theatre at a young age, his desire to perform eventually grew so large that he decided to pursue it as a career path. He studied acting at the University of Winnipeg, graduating from their Honours Acting program with a double minor in psychology and philosophy. In the years since, Jordan has performed around the city with companies such as Merlyn Productions, R-G Productions, and the North Kildonan Community Players. He has also staged productions in the '14, ’15, and ’16 Winnipeg Fringe Festivals with his theatre company Sheep On A Mission, and has released two albums under his stage name iFollow. He is very excited for another opportunity to play with new people and new ideas, and hopes to turn his Lame Is… piece into a full length play to be produced in the near future.
Christopher Bryan De Guzman
was born in the Philippines but immigrated to Canada with his family six years ago. As a small boy, he would capture the attention of family and friends through his impersonations, goofy characters or his latest dance moves, so when given the chance to ham-it-up in mime, Christopher knew it would be a sure fit. Christopher feels fortunate to have the opportunity, with his fellow founding troupe member, to show the non-deaf communities how naturally and beautifully the Deaf can act and entertain the masses. Christopher has been professionally trained in mime, physical comedy and storytelling by the award winning Hot Thespian Action’s Shannon Guile.
Joanna Hawkins
A University of Manitoba Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate, Joanna Hawkins has always felt a strong connection to the arts. She is a skilled artist (drawing & painting), graphic designer and photographer but her real dream had always been with acting. Joanna has performed as a lead in a children’s show for young deaf children and has been involved in several films in Manitoba as a featured extra as well as two television commercials. Joanna has been professionally trained in mime, physical comedy and storytelling by the award winning Hot Thespian Action’s Shannon Guile.
Jordan Sangalang
Taken under the wing of Hot Thespian Action’s Shannon Guile, Jordan Sangalang, a graduate from both UBC (BA) and Gallaudet University (MA), took flight with 100 Decibels in the summer of 2014! Jordan made his performing debut in Florida with his high school’s dance troupe where they performed all around the state. More recently, Jordan has expanded his interests from stage to screen and can be seen in several films, most notably in Strings where you can see him bustin’ a move on the dance floor. When not performing for a crowd, Jordan enjoys doing back flips, dancing and climbing walls. Jordan aspires to show audiences that there is more to just ‘being Deaf’ by dazzling them with his excellent performance skills and is looking forward to not only make the audiences laugh till they pee their pants but to make them feel so deeply that they cry… or maybe cry just because they have to pee so bad.
Hannah Foulger
is a British Canadian writer of prose, poetry and drama. Born in Amsterdam to Christian missionaries, she was raised in Cambridge, Ontario. When she was twenty years old, she endured a blood clot in her brain, for which she had life-saving brain surgery. As an artist with a disability, she writes in the tragicomic vein about everything that hurts and heals.
Heather Bjorklund
was born Heather Ada McKenzie on January 11th, 1963 in Winnipeg, Mb. She was born in the St. Boniface hospital. Her father was William Roderick McKenzie and her mother Addie Mason. Her father died in 1986 and her mother is still alive today. She is the middle child with a younger sister, Ada, and an older sister named Evelyn.
Heather grew up in the wolseley area of the city of Winnipeg and has always called Winnipeg home.
Heather's artistic life began early. She remembers dancing the red river jig for family friends in the living room of the apartment they lived in. Later on, it would be her sister Evelyn, who would teach her rhythm gymnastics. Heather and Evelyn became a duo when it came to dancing and listening to music. They would create dance routines together and dance at the high school dances. Evelyn would even pay for Heather to take jazz dance classes at the old Prairie Theatre Exchange school.
Heather eventually took theatre at the University of Winnipeg earning a degree in theatre in 1996. Since then, She has performed in many theatre shows as an actor. It was in 1999 when Heather earned her greatest award. She was the stage manager for a play called “Misty Lake”. It won for best play at the Winnipeg Fringe festival that year and Heather was awarded an eagle feather for her work.
Since then, Heather has done numerous shows, both directing and acting. She recently took a workshop with Decapo Sound, to add voice acting to her resume.
She has also taught drama to inner city kids and to youth up north who don't have access to drama classes.
Heather continues to devote her life to drama and the arts. She enjoys teaching drama, directing plays, and acting in shows. Heather has two grown children, Mindy and Charlie. Both live in Vancouver, B.C. She is very happily married to Ryan Bjorklund.
Trish Cooper
Bio to follow
Arne MacPerson
has directed over thirty productions in Winnipeg, in both professional and student settings. Favourite shows include The Threepenny Opera (The Manitoba Theatre Centre and Shakespeare In the Ruins), Head, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest (Shakespeare In the Ruins), Stretching Hide (Theatre Projects Manitoba), The Walworth Farce, Such Creatures (Incompletely Strangled), Magical Mystery Munsch (Prairie Theatre Exchange).
He has worked as an actor extensively, including playing the title role in Shakespeare’s Dog at the Manitoba Theatre Centre and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and shows at Shakespeare In the Ruins, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and in many independent productions. He performed with his partner Debbie Patterson and their two kids Gislina and Solmund in Patterson’s play Molotov Circus, at the Winnipeg Fringe and the Summerworks festival in Toronto.
He recently performed in the contemporary dance Petites Danses for Gearshifting Performance Works.
Projects currently in development: Embargo (One Trunk Theatre), Crazy Bone (Theatre Projects Manitoba), and an as-yet untitled work by Zorya Arrow with Company Link.
He is a member of núna(now) , an Iceland-Canada art convergence. In association with núna(now), Arne co-created with a group of Icelandic and Canadian artists a multi-disciplinary performance work called The Island, which was shown in Reykjavik and Winnipeg.