The Lehman Trilogy

Theatre Calgary debut. Diane Flacks is a writer/actor who just premiered her fifth one-person play, Guilt (a love story) directed by Alisa Palmer (Tarragon, Centaur and RoyalMTC). Diane co-wrote and acted in PALS (WJT), with her theatrical brother, Richard Greenblatt, with whom she also wrote SIBS, (Tarragon). Selected theatre: Fall on Your Knees, directed by Alisa Palmer (CanStage, NAC, Neptune, Grand); Nathan in Nathan the Wise at Stratford; Unholy, her Dora-nominated play about women and religion directed by Kelly Thornton; Body Politic (Dora nom, outstanding performance), and Waiting Room (playwright, Tarragon). She previously worked with Sarah Garton Stanley in Gulag by Robin Fulford (TPM). Diane’s other solo showsMythMe, By A Thread, Random Acts and Bear With Me (adapted from her book) have been remounted internationally, including at OYR in Calgary, where she first performed Guilt. TV writing includes: Workin’ Moms, The Baroness von Sketch Show, and The Kids in the Hall (Emmy nominated). She was CBC radio’s national parenting columnist. Diane is the proud mom of two astonishing sons.

Theatre Calgary debut. Selected Theatre: At RoyalMTC: Henry in The Lehman Trilogy, Bang Bang (Evie Award-With Belfry), Network, Trouble in Mind (with Citadel), King Lear, Scorched, My Name is Asher Lev (with Segal-Meta Award): Prayer for the French Republic (Segal Centre); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Dybbuk, Incident at Vichy (Soulpepper-Dora Award); Oslo, Disgraced (Mirvish); Remnants, Scorched (Tarragon/National Tour); Angels in America (Year run), Harper Regan, Intimate Apparel, Comedy of Errors, The Tempest (Canadian Stage); Wit (Jessie Nomination-Van P.H); Belle (NAC/Factory); Amadeus, Possible Worlds (TIFT/Munich); Superior Donuts (Coal Mine). Playwriting: The Trial ofWilliam Shakespeare, Cringeworthy (Siminovitch Nomination); This Hotel (Dora Nomination). Film/TV: Little Bird, The Porter, Rich Kid, Suits, Burden of Truth, Never Been Chris’d, Murdoch Mysteries, Cardinal, Flashpoint, Good God. Upcoming: Little Women, Indecent at RoyalMTC. Love to Chloe Babette! Audition Coaching at alexpochgoldin.com

Theatre Calgary debut. Michael is an actor, playwright, director, and producer. As an actor, he performed in the Canadian and American premieres of Our Class by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, and Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced for Mirvish Productions. He has appeared in films alongside Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, and Drew Barrymore. Michael created several performances with Sarah Garton Stanley, including The Book of Judith and We Keep Coming Back, the latter touring across Canada and Poland. In Poland, he has co-created three performances with director Marcin Wierzchowski: Alte Haym/Old Home, in Pozna ; Submergence in Katowice, and Time Shelter in Krakow. Rubenfeld also performs in these productions which are all currently running. He recently premiered his newest work: Poland is not yet lost! in Kraków. Michael was the Artistic Producer of the SummerWorks
Festival in Toronto for eight years and he established CanadaHub, a showcase of Canadian performance at the Edinburgh Fringe. He co-founded and co-directs FestivALT, an organization promoting contemporary Jewish and Polish art in Krakow. mrubenfeld.com

(he/him) For Theatre Calgary: Beauty and the Beast (1987). Brian was born a long time ago, in a city far, far, away… Okay, so Edmonton isn’t that far away, but it was a long time ago. Brian is very happy to be back at Theatre Calgary after 37 years (told you it was a long time ago!). Over the years, he has performed for various other Theatre Companies, appeared in Radio Dramas for the CBC, and in plenty of Film & Television projects. Most recently, he appeared in The Diary of Anne Frank with Artists’ Collective Theatre, and 9 Circles with Theatre Disponibilité. On TV, he recently appeared in Jann for CTV, Key to Love for Hallmark, and The Bad Orphan for Lifetime. Brian hopes you enjoy The Lehman Trilogy, and thanks you for supporting the Arts in Calgary.

(he/him) For Theatre Calgary: The Mousetrap, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare on the Go 2023). Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, Matthew travelled to Canada in January 2023. He graduated in 2020 with a degree in Acting for Stage and Screen from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Other Credits include: Chariots of Fire (Rosebud), Still Game (BBC), The Mad Hatter’s Circus (Tag Live), Aladdin (Tram Direct), Harvey (New Celts Productions), Three Sisters (NCP). Matthew would especially like to thank the staff at Theatre Calgary who have supported him profoundly in his travels. As always, he sends love home to his Maw, Paw and sister, as well as Nick, Gorman, Moho, Iqbal, Seeger and Derm. The people of Calgary have made a home for him here and he looks forward to many more years in this beautiful city.

Stefano Massini is an internationally renowned novelist and playwright, the first Italian author to receive a Tony Award. He regularly contributes to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, and for several years he has served as artistic consultant at Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa. His works, including The Lehman Trilogy, have been translated into 30 languages, and his plays have been performed in more theatres around the world than those of any other living Italian writer, produced as far afield as Iran and Korea, and staged by directors such as Luca Ronconi and Sam Mendes. His most acclaimed works, beyond The Lehman Trilogy, include: Intractable Woman, a decades-long international success; Ladies Football Club, which premiered to wide acclaim in Spain; and 7 Minutes, hailed by Le Monde as a “masterpiece” at the Comédie Française. He has won numerous Italian awards, including the Premio Vittorio Tondelli and the Premio Ubu, as well as the Tony Award, the Drama Guild Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Qualcosa sui Lehman (The Lehman Trilogy) was among the most acclaimed novels published in Italy in recent years and won the Selezione Campiello Prize, the Super Mondello Prize, the De Sica Prize, the Prix Médicis Essai and the Prix Meilleur Livre Étranger. In 2022 he completed his ten year writing work on the birth of the atomic bomb in a play entitled Manhattan Project, already requested in many theatres around the world. His rewrite based on Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf will debut in 2024.

Ben Power is a writer for theatre and the screen. For the last 12 years he has worked at the National Theatre as associate director and deputy artistic  director and was responsible for the temporary theatre The Shed. Work for the screen includes Munich: The Edge of War and The Hollow Crown (BAFTA nominations for Best Single Drama and Best Mini-Series). Work for the stage includes adaptations of DH Lawrence’s Husbands & Sons, Euripides’ Medea and Ibsen’s Emperor & Galilean, all for the National; A Tender Thing for the RSC and Complicite’s A Disappearing Number (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards). He was associate director of Headlong where he adapted Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author and Marlowe’s Faustus. He is currently creating a television series for Working Title and is published by Faber & Faber.

(she/her/they) Theatre Calgary debut. Sarah/SGS is VP of Programming at Arts Commons. Prior to this she was the Artistic Producer for the National Creation Fund (NAC). She co-stewards the historic Birchdale, and holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University. She is co-founder of  SpiderWebShow and FOLDA, the Baby Grand Theatre, was the 1st female Artistic Director at Buddies in Bad Times and was the inaugural Artistic Associate for The Magnetic North Theatre Festival. SGS co-authors Manifesto for Now with Owais Lightwala, is on the board of Theatre Alberta, Canadian Theatre Museum, the National Advisory for the National Creation Fund, the Steering Committee for the Canadian Arts Summit and on the Leadership Advisory for Buddies in Bad Times. Getting to work on this play with this team at this moment is the best kind of dream. Enjoy the ride. It’s a story that affected us all!

(she/her) Theatre Calgary debut. Tracey is an internationally recognized leader in creating and directing solo performance. As the founder of SOULO™ Theatre, her work has reached stages globally, including NYC, Tel Aviv, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and the UK. She has been honoured with a BroadwayWorld Award (NYC) for her solo show Memento Mori and is a two-time recipient of the Diamond First Place Award for Best Theatre Instructor (Toronto Star). Her documentary TV series DRAG HEALS (OUTtv, Amazon Prime, AppleTV) received Canadian Screen Award nominations for Best Host and Best TV Series for 2024. Recipient of the Inspire Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the LGBTQ2S+ community. Smith is premiering her new solo show Mondays with Mandelbaum in New York, this fall. She is the co-creator of the new show Pain to Power and the Director of the new one-man musical Our Little Secret, both on stage this spring at Montreal’s Segal Centre for the Performing Arts. Her debut book, Flying SOULO is set for release this fall. www.soulo.ca

(she/her) Theatre Calgary debut. Amy is a Montreal-based set designer and an art director for film and television. This is her 10th collaboration with Sarah Garton Stanley. Recent theatre projects include Cisperpersonnage en Quête d’Auteurice (Joe Jack et John/Festival TransAmérique); Alice and the World We Live In (Centaur Theatre); Fun Home (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Once (Segal Centre for the Performing Arts); Measure for Measure (Repercussion
Theatre); and Kill Me Now (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre/National Arts Centre). Amy also teaches in the Scenography program at Concordia University.

(she/her) Theatre Calgary debut. Sophie is an award-winning lighting and set designer working in Theatre, Opera and Dance. She has worked with companies including Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Electric Company Theatre, Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera; Arts Club Theatre, Bard on the Beach, Citadel Theatre, Canadian Stage, Theatre Replacement and so on. Recent credits: Salesman in China (Stratford Festival); Twelfth Night (Bard on the Beach); Three Musketeers (Citadel Theatre x Arts Club Theatre); Cinderella (Gateway Theatre); Michel(le) (Théâtre la Seizième); The Apple Cart (Shaw Festival); Henry V (Bard on the Beach); Legend of Georgia Mcbride (Arts Club Theatre); Midsummer Night’s Dream (Vancouver Opera); Undeveloped Sound (Electric Company Theatre); Choir boy (Canadian Stage and Arts Club); The Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera). Portfolio: sophieyufeitang.com

(he/him) Theatre Calgary debut. Ben is a Halifax based singer-songwriter and entertainer known for his energetic live shows and award-winning studio recordings. Perpetually on tour since 2011, Ben has played nearly 2000 concerts in 28 countries in that time. His 2018 project Old Stock was both an album and a highly-acclaimed musical theatre production which has toured the world since 2017, including a 7-week Off-Broadway run which garnered 6 Drama Desk Award nominations, a NYTimes Critic’s Pick, and numerous other international accolades. This production is his very first theatrical production as a composer rather than as a songwriter or actor. He has new music being released in 2025.

(he/him) For Theatre Calgary: Assistant Sound Design - Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville. Michael is Theatre Calgary’s Assistant Head of Sound. Throughout the past 24 years, Michael has been privileged enough to be a Stage Manager, Sound Designer and Audio Engineer for several productions for many Calgary theatre companies such as Vertigo Theatre, Ground Zero Theatre/Hit & Myth Productions, Sage Theatre, Downstage Theatre, Quest Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Junction, Lunchbox Theatre and Theatre Calgary. Michael was also Head of Audio at Stage West Calgary for 9 years. Huge special thanks to Lesley for all the love and support!

Theatre Calgary debut. HAUI™ is an award-winning mixed-media artist directing, devising, and designing cross-disciplinary work for stage and screen. HAUI™ has designed video/projections across Canada including the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Luminato Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Neptune Theatre, Great Canadian Theatre Company, Black Theatre Workshop and more. Notable achievements include directing his feature-film MixedUp in association with LGBTQ+ Network OUTtv, devising the immersive dance installation Private Flowers (Toronto History Museums), associate directing Choir Boy (Canadian Stage) and as the first black stage director at the Canadian Opera Company directing his libretto Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White. A published poet by Playwrights Canada Press, HAUI™ served as the 2024 artist-in-residence for the City of Guelph, creating the audiovisual piece Aunt Harriet releasing widely next year (www.auntharriet.ca). Upcoming HAUI™ continues developing his upcoming play at an international residency in New York and is part of OYA OBAC’s Emerging Filmmakers Producers Incubator.

(she/her) For Theatre Calgary: Assistant Director - A Christmas Carol (2023), Resident Voice Coach – More than 80 productions since 2000 including: Beaches the Musical, Selma Burke, Meteor Shower, The Mousetrap, Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville, Forgiveness, Little Women, The Importance of Being Earnest, Million Dollar Quartet, Steel Magnolias, 12 seasons of Shakespeare by the Bow and 15 years of A Christmas Carol (incl. playing Mrs. Cratchit from 2001-02). Additionally, Jane adapted and directed the 2022 Shakespeare on the Go production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. She has also worked for ATP, Vertigo, and The Shakespeare Company, and coaches Voice and Presence through her business Voice Activated. She has taught Voice for the Actor and Acting at such institutions as York University, Harvard University, Southern Methodist University, MRU, UofA, and is currently on faculty in the Drama Division in the School of Creative & Performing Arts at UCalgary.

(she/her) For Theatre Calgary: Little Women. Danielle was born and raised in Calgary, AB, where she studied multiple dance disciplines for over 25 years. She studied at the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria BC and has since been choreographing and performing for theatre companies around town, while teaching and sharing her love and passion for dance with people of all ages. Recent credits include A Chorus Line (Front Row Centre); Naughty but Nice: Xmas! (Forte Musical Theatre Guild); Descendants: The Musical, Curious George and the Golden Meatball, and Return to Treasure Island (Storybook Theatre). When not choreographing or performing, you can find her at home with one dog, two cats, one daughter, and one immensely supportive wife.

(he/him) Theatre Calgary debut. Recent Credits: The Farm Show: Then and Now, Resort to Murder (Blyth Festival). Selected Credits: Guilt (A Love Story), Withrow Park, Orphan Song, Bunny (TarragonTheatre); The Donnelly Trilogy, The Drawer Boy (Blyth Festival); New, Bigger than Jesus (Necessary Angel); The Fish Eyes Trilogy, Boys with Cars (Nightswimming); Dividing Lines, Madre (Aluna Theatre); Public Servant, Weather the Weather (Theatre Columbus / Common Boots); Gladstone Variations, Yichud (seclusion) (Convergence); The Silicone Diaries (Buddies in Bad Times); and seven summers with Dream in High Park Canadian Stage. Sandy is the great-grandson of Morley Plunkett of the almost forgotten WWI Canadian Vaudeville Troupe, The Dumbells.

(she/her) For Theatre Calgary: A Christmas Carol (2023), Noises Off, Mary and Max A New Musical. Elsewhere: The Girl on the Train, Whispers in the Dark, Deathtrap, The Lonely Diner, Undercover, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (Vertigo Theatre); Shark Bite, Home For the Holidays (Lunchbox Theatre); Screwball Comedy, Elvis Has Left the Building (Stage West); The Birds and the Bees, Cowgirl Up (Alberta Theatre Projects). When not working in theatre, Chandler also works in film costuming, watches LOTS of movies, and admires sloths for their beauty and grace. Thanks to her family, friends, roommates, and local movie theatre employees who keep her sane and feed her popcorn.

(she/her) For Theatre Calgary: Beaches The Musical, A Christmas Carol (2023), The Mousetrap, Forgiveness. Brianna is very happy to be back at Theatre Calgary! Elsewhere: The Girl on the Train (Vertigo Theatre); 9 to 5 The Musical, One Hit Wonders, Forever Plaid, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Stage West Theatre). Brianna is so happy to be working with this lovely team. Big thanks to her friends, family, and her partner Rio for all their love and support!

For Theatre Calgary: Beaches The Musical, A Christmas Carol (2014-19, 2023), The Great Gatsby, An Ideal Husband, Sherlock Holmes. Jamie is an award winning actor, singer, puppeteer, educator and deviser based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta). Her creative curiosity and diverse skill set has nourished a twenty-plus year career of performing everything from classics to contemporary fireside shows in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. She has performed in countless premier productions of new works, devised theatre productions and recently as a puppeteer on two seasons of Apple TV+ and The Jim Henson Company’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.

* TC Mentors participants are generously supported by RBC Foundation.