SK Theatre Design Festival
presenter bios
Mark Eriksson
Scenic Painting Workshop
Mark Eriksson has been employed painting sets at Persephone Theatre for the last 10+ seasons. The first set he designed was in Grade six in 1966. At university he studied Studio Art, French and Theatre. During his clown career which started in 1978 he was active in designing sets, puppets and props for a variety of clown, puppet and children's shows. When he became Props Master at Persephone Theatre, he started designing professionally in 1984 with youth tours and Main Stage designs for You're a Good Man Charlie Brown in 1987 and Greater Tuna in 1989, after which he moved to Berlin Germany for 13 1/2 years. When not also building his designs, he has always painted them.
After returning to Saskatoon in 2003, he has designed over 12 shows for SNTC (now GTNT), 6 operas and various touring show for the Saskatoon Opera, Berlin Blues and a touring show for Youth Theatre at Persephone and several shows for La Toupe du Jour. He's probably missed something. While preferring sets with a lot of colour (the human world is usually too grey), he's learned to tone it down to achieve the vision of any designer.
Michael Schweikardt
"Swipe Right: Portfolios in Digital Spaces" Career Development Session
Michael Schweikardt enjoys a successful career as a set designer working for opera and theatre companies across the United States and abroad. He currently teaches scenic design and theatre studies at The Pennsylvania State University. Essays in Teaching Critical Performance Theory in Today’s Theatre Classroom, Studio, and Communities (Routledge 2020), and Text and Presentation, 2019 (McFarland 2020) demonstrate his research focus on the tension between materiality and ephemeral performances. He serves as managing editor for design at thetheatretimes.com, and is co-editor of Prompt: A Journal of Theatre Theory, Practice, and Teaching. In the Fall Michael will join the faculty at San Francisco State University as Assistant Professor. His work can be viewed on his website: www.msportfolio.com.
Colleen Grady
Keynote Speaker
I have been designing costumes pretty much my whole life! It started by playing dress up out of my mother’s closet when I was just a little girl. I loved figuring out how to put together different outfits and come up with the character that wore them!
Fast forward just a “few” years, and I have been lucky enough to do what I love for more than 25 years; designing costumes for musicals and plays.
Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, I received my BFA in Costume Design from the University of Regina. During the summers while I was in university, I worked at Maine State Music Theatre. I worked first as a wardrobe intern, then a wardrobe supervisor and finally a costume designer.
My time at Maine State would introduce me to people that would change the course of my life. It was the people I worked with at Maine State that would introduce me to the Artistic Director of the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Who knew then that those introductions would turn into a 19 year tenure as the costume shop manager and resident designer. I am truly grateful for the years I spent there.
When my father-in-law became ill a few years back, my husband and I decided it was time to move closer to his hometown of Amarillo, Texas. So now we live in Houston, which is still 10 hours from Amarillo but still much closer than Philadelphia! We, along with our “fur kids” (Dogs Tater, Tot, Maddie, Gracie and a cat Sneakers) love Houston and have made it our home. I am also so grateful and proud to have made Theatre Under the Stars my new artistic home.
Sheila Sky
"How to Ride a Roller Coaster"
Career Development Session
Sheila Sky became active in Toronto’s vibrant performing arts scene in the mid ‘80s and her career has spanned Fringe to Broadway. Her company, Sky Arts Management, has supported clients in drama and musical theatre, dance, opera, devised theatre, puppetry, comedy and contemporary classical music. She has undertaken management, strategic planning, consulting, producing, marketing, publicity, fundraising, and tour logistics in both the commercial and non-profit sectors. Twice in her career she has been affiliated with Associated Designers of Canada: during the eighties as an administrator and again in the twenty-teens as Executive Director giving her a long view into the evolution of the practice of design in Canada and its challenges.
Celeste Pinder
ADC, IATSE, CITT - what can these organizations do to shape your career?
Panel Session
Celeste Pinder (she/her) is a Ryerson University alumna who has been designing and sewing garments for over 30 years. She has been working as a Wardrobe Technician and Designer for both stage and film, and notably as a stagehand over the past 15+ years. She has spent 14 seasons lavishing in period costuming in the wardrobe department at Regina's Globe Theatre as a Stitcher, Head Cutter and the last 5 years as the Head of Wardrobe.
In addition Celeste has been an elected Executive Board Member of IATSE Local 295 for over 10 years and is currently serving in her second term as President. She is the Women's Committee Co-ordinator for IATSE District 12, and also sits as a committee member with the Canadian Entertainment Industries Retirement Plan (CEIRP). Her passion for the labour movement doesn't stop there as she is a Vice President on the Regina & District Labour Council (RDLC) and an alternate VP for unions under 1000 with the SFL. Celeste has also recently joined the board for the CITT Prairie Section. Celeste prefers the magic that takes place behind the scenes and her passion is training up future technicians of all ages and honouring the skills to work in the entertainment industries.
Patrick James
Integrated Tech Panelist
Patrick James is currently an Interdisciplinary MFA student at the University of Regina focusing on Creative Technologies and Theatre and will soon be the Technical Director at Darke Hall. Currently as a theatre technologist he is exploring different creative technologies to implement within theatrical productions (ie. 3D printing, wearables, 360 cameras, etc.). He has worked professionally for the past 7 years at Regina’s Globe Theatre as the head of lighting; working on shows such as Chicago, The Drowning Girls, and Mamma Mia!. He has used his technical skills with companies such as the Stratford Music Festival, Regina Fringe Festival, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Holland America Lines, and Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan. Patrick’s lighting design credits include Midsummer [a play with songs] (Globe Theatre), Henry and Alice: Into the Wild (Theatre Northwest), Two Rooms (Persephone Theatre), Medea and Transit of Venus (both with University of Regina). Patrick wishes to thank Kenilee and Elizabeth while he pursues his MFA in Theatre/Creative Technologies
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Emily Rollie
Training Everyone in the Room - Consent & Intimacy Protocols for Designers and Technicians
Bio coming soon!
Deneh'Cho Thompson
"Decentralizing Design and Re-imagining Collaborative Theatre in Saskatchewan"
Panel Session
Deneh’Cho Thompson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Drama at the University of Saskatchewan and coordinator of the wîcêhtowin Theatre Program. As a scholar/practitioner, Deneh’Cho maintains a professional acting practice and his current research considers Indigenous pedagogy for theatre training and Indigenous storytelling in digital worlds.
Angus Ferguson
"Sustainability: How This Informs the Design"
Panel Session
Angus is a theatre director, designer, dramaturge and teacher who is dedicated to creating art and developing artists in Saskatchewan.
He is the founding Artistic Director of Dancing Sky Theatre in Meacham, where he develops and produces new plays. He teaches at the U of S Drama Department and at St. Peters College in Humboldt, just to see if he can preach what he tries to practice.
Adam Parsboosingh
Integrated Tech Panelist
Adam Parboosingh is thrilled to be a part of the Saskatchewan Theatre Design Festival panel discussion on {NAME}. Adam is an assistant professor of theatre design in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Winnipeg. Always searching for innovative ways to tell the story, he looks for the right moment to introduce technology into the collaborative mix. Some of his more recent productions at the university include scenery and lighting design for UW’s Love and Information and 365 Days / 365 Plays, and scenery and projection design for Blink. Keeping busy outside of the department, Adam designed the lighting for Magnus Theatre’s Salt Baby and Lunenburg, scenery for Shakespeare in the Ruin’s Shakespeare’s Will, scenery for the Manitoba Theatre for Young People’s Spelling 2-5-5, scenery for Bang Bang at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, scenery and projections for Dry Cold Production’s Kiss of the Spider Woman and projection design for Théâtre Cercle Molière’s La Liste.
He is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada with a focus in scenic, lighting and projection design.
Jensine Emeline
"Sustainability: How This Informs the Design"
Panel Session
Jensine is a theatre designer and stage manager from Saskatoon and an alumnus from the U of S drama department. Select stage management credits include: “With Glowing Hearts” & “Blow Wind” (Dancing Sky Theatre), “Blow Wind” (Station Arts Center), and “Girl in the Box” (Scantily Glad Theatre/Live Five). Select costume designs include: "The Revolutionists" (Persephone Theatre), “With Glowing Hearts” (Dancing Sky Theatre), “The Penelopiad” (Ferre Play Theatre), and “Girl in the Box” (Scantily Glad Theatre/Live Five). Jensine is honoured to have been awarded two Saskatoon & Area Theatre Awards in 2020. Jensine is endlessly grateful for their mentors and friends, the guidance and support they have been given, and to be able to work in and share their passion for the arts and community in Saskatchewan.
John Dyck
"ADC, IATSE, CITT - what can these organizations do to shape your career?"
Panel Session
John is proud to call Saskatchewan home for over the past 12 years and has spent the last nine of them in the Battlefords at the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts, where he resides as the Technical Director. Since graduating from the technical theatre arts program at Mount Royal University John is proud of the connections created and colleagues that he has had the pleasure to work with over the years. When John’s not working, he continues his passion for the arts through volunteering with the local community players in various productions. He also sits on the board of directors as president for Theatre Saskatchewan.
More coming soon!
Karyn McCallum
"Creating Your Own Digital Content"
Workshop
Karyn has designed sets, costumes, and multi-media for projection across Canada and in Britain. A major focus of Karyn’s work has been designing for new plays in development. As well as designing and teaching at Dalhousie University, Karyn maintains a professional design practice and was curator of the Student and Emerging Designer exhibit for Canada at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial. Karyn is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and IATSE local ADC659.
Simon Rossiter
ADC, IATSE, CITT - what can these organizations do to shape your career?
Panel Session
Simon Rossiter is a Toronto-based lighting designer who occasionally designs scenery. He has created more than 250 original designs, including works for Ballett am Rhein; Citadel+Compagnie; the National Ballet of Canada; Soulpepper Theatre Company; Sudbury Theatre Centre; Théâtre français de Toronto; Theatre New Brunswick; Toronto Dance Theatre; and he is the Director of Design of Fall for Dance North. Simon is the recipient of three Dora Mavor Moore awards and six nominations for outstanding lighting design and serves as Business Agent for the Associated Designers of Canada, IATSE Local ADC659.
Beverly Kobelsky
"Sustainability: How This Informs the Design"
Panel Session
Beverley Kobelsky has worked as a professional costume designer in Saskatoon for over 25 years. She is an Instructor for the University of Saskatchewan Drama Department where she teaches costume construction and design. She had designed costumes for more than 170 productions for Saskatoon’s theatres including Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, Persephone Theatre, Greystone Theatre, La Troupe du Jour and Twenty Fifth Street Theatre. She is the recipient of seven S.A.T. Awards(Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards) for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design. In 2017, she was awarded the S.A.T. Awards (Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards) Henry Woolf Award for Continuing Achievement.
Ken MacKenzie
"ADC, IATSE, CITT - what can these organizations do to shape your career?" Panel Session & "Integrated Tech" Moderator
Ken MacKenzie grew up in Toronto attending an arts focused school from grade 4 through high school. Ken earned a BFA in Performance at Concordia University in Montreal. Throughout his time in Montreal Ken continued to take visual art and design electives classes and upon graduation found increasing interest and opportunity as a designer for Music videos. Ken returned to school to earn a Masters Degree in design for performance at the California Institute for the Arts.
Since his graduation in 2006 Ken’s work has appeared on stages across
Canada, the United States and in Europe. Ken has been nominated and won multiple awards for both his design and performance/creation work. Ken was a resident artist at Soulpepper theatre company from 2011 to 2020, where he designed a number of Soulpepper’s shows including Kim’s Convenience, Spoon River and Almighty Voice and His Wife.
Ken’s most recent design credits include the set and costume design for Necesaary Angel’s The Events, the set design for Soulpepper’s Jesus Hopped the A Train and the set and costume designs for the Shaw Festivals: Sherlock Holmes and the Raven’s Curse.
Ken has also taught at design and creation as a guest lecturer at many schools in and around Toronto including, University of Toronto, Sheridan College, Humber College and George brown College.
Since 2017 Ken has been the president of the Associated Designers of Canada and has been one of the founding members of IATSE local ADC659. Over the past 12 months Ken’s focus has shifted towards artist advocacy in trying to help designers find a path through the pandemic while maintaining some degree of financial stability. Ken has become a registered federal lobbyist over the past year and while he’s happy to be able to advocate on behalf of designers across the country, he’s very excited about the new chapter that’s about to be written at the University of Saskatoon.