4 Questions: Aaron Jan

Since graduating, Hamilton-born playwright, director, and dramaturg Aaron Jan has worked professionally as a creator with the Next Stage Theatre Festival, Canadian Stage, Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre, Fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre, Cahoots Theatre, Soulpepper and Native Earth Performing Arts. Recent projects include his work as a writer and director for Silk Bath Collective, whose next show, Yellow Rabbit is a part of Soulpepper’s 2018-2019 season.

Spotlight on Alumni: Francesco Antonio

Francesco Antonio (BFA Acting 2017) has been very busy since graduating from the Theatre Department! His work in film, television and music, including his short film “Addiction,” has led Francesco to 4 awards and 9 nominations on the film festival circuit. Francesco joins us to share what was most important about his time at York, and how it impacts his working life today.

4 Questions: Julia Gray

Julia Gray is a postdoctoral fellow at Bloorview Research Institute which is embedded in Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital (and fully affiliated with University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine). She writes, directs and produces applied theatre/performance projects, including her most recent play ,Cracked: new light on dementia, which was a collaborative project among artists, health researchers, people living with dementia and their family members.

Spotlight on Faculty: Shawn Kerwin

Shawn Kerwin joins us to share her experience of her 2017-18 sabbatical, which saw her designing two important works in Newfoundland with director and York alumna Jillian Keiley, and participating as a full-time student in the “Institute without Boundaries.” Shawn shares stories of the 2 shows, and of her time in the IwB, and how they’ve changed the way she thinks about design.

4 Questions: Owais Lightwala

Owais Lightwala is a theatre producer, and also characterizes himself as “as occasional theatre artist and web/graphic designer”. He is the Managing Director of Why Not Theatre, an independent theatre company he helped build from the ground up into one of the country’s fastest growing companies. Additionally, he works as a strategic consultant for a diversity of arts and culture organizations in areas related to changing who’s in their audience demographic, innovating new models, and “anything to do with numbers”.

4 Questions: Byron Laviolette

Byron Laviolette is the resident director of U.N.I.T. Productions, home of the Morro and Jasp clown duo. With U.N.I.T., he has helped create and stage twelve original works that have won various awards including a Dora Award, a Canadian Comedy Award and over fifteen Outstanding mentions in NOW Magazine. Outside of Morro and Jasp, Byron also works with acclaimed puppeteer Adam Francis Proulx, and star drag performer Pearle Harbour.

Spotlight on Faculty: James McKernan

Professor James McKernan, is a scenic carpenter and a professor at York University. He’sbuilt over 200 hundred shows which include: films, live theatre and dance, trade show displays and custom items for performance pieces. Along with his BFA in Theatre Production from York, James received a B.Ed. from OISE at U of T and started teaching at an arts high school in the GTA; from there he got my job at York. He still builds shows to support research, dabbles in sound design and production manages the odd show. Really, he just likes solving problems.

4 Questions: Lynn Slotkin

Lynn Slotkin is a theatre writer and the founding editor of the widely read Slotkin Letter, an online source of critical writing about live performance. Her reviews and articles have been published in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Performance Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, Eye Weekly, How Theatre Educates, Orbit, Mystery Scene Magazine, The Canadian Jewish News, the London Free Press and The Hollywood Reporter.