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WHO WE ARE...

The Seams Collective is comprised of five female emerging artists including dramaturge Simone Brodie, director Mikaela Davies, designer Shannon Lea Doyle, writer Polly Phokeev, and producer Elizabeth Stuart- Morris. 'Seams' is both the play that brought us together as a collective, and the first play we have produced.

 

Our aim is to speak about our perception of truth and justice in relationship to contemporary and historical events. We bridge the gaps between supposedly objective media reports and biased personal accounts to create art that will resonate with a diverse range of communities. We strive to maintain professional standards in the early stages of our work because we are committed to the long term development of both our ideas and a meaningful dialogue with our audiences.

 

 We felt that 'Seams', written by Polly, perfectly encapsulated this mandate,  which is why we are committed to its development, and can't wait to share it with you!

 

 

Polly Phokeev

Writer. ​

 

Polly Phokeev is a graduate of the University of Toronto Honours Bachelor of Arts with high distinction, specializing in drama, and works as a writer, actor, dramaturg, and devisor. At U of T, she studied playwriting with Djanet Sears and Guillermo Verdecchia. She has also studied clowning with John Turner at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance, and is a certified Intermediate Actor Combatant with Fight Directors Canada. In the fall of 2014, Polly worked together with Karen Knox, Simone Brodie and Jakob Ehman to create and perform a thrilling one-on-one audience experience as part of Single Thread Theatre Company’s remount of Much Ado about Nothing at the Spadina House. Other acting credits include Mankind (PLS), The Tempest (Hart House), My Last (Theatre Double Take), and The Loyalists (Single Theatre Theatre Company). She currently voices and writes for online podcast Duotang Chesterfield’s Mystery Theatre.

Mikaela Davies

Director. ​

 

Mikaela Davies graduated with honours from Dawson College's Professional Theatre Program where she won the Outstanding Achievement Award and the Brian Cloutte Memorial Award for dedication, generosity and respect for the profession. Soon after she was hired as the playwright in residence at Dawson College where she workshopped her original script, The McCarthy's, with the Professional Theatre graduating class and directed the first staged reading. Mikaela then went on to direct and co produce Neil Labute's The Shape of Things and David Harrower's Blackbird in Montreal. Mikaela was also hired to direct and produce the short film, Mike's Place, which is currently in post production. Most recently Mikaela was the associate/co director on the critically acclaimed production of Blackbird in Toronto led by David Ferry. Mikaela is currently an actor in the Soulpepper Academy, a two-year paid artist in residency training, where she has performed in Idiot's Delight, Tartuffe, The Crucible and Spoon River. Currently Mikaela is developing a pilot for a TV series and will be performing in the remount of Spoon River as well as The Dybbuk and Marat de Sade at Soulpepper in 2015.

Elizabeth Stuart-Morris

Producer.

 

Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College’s Theatre & Drama Studies Acting Program, and works as a Toronto indie theatre producer and performer.

Past credits include assistant producer/stage-manager for Sounds of Silence (a fundraising performance for Acting Up-Stage), co-creator/producer of December 1917: The Halifax Explosion’s touring production, actor and producer for Bald Monkey Theatre’s Atlantic Fringe production of ‘Dentity Crisis, and producer/administrator for the Passionate Players production of A Midwinter Night’s Dream- a Convergence Theatre and Outside the March’s fundraising production. She has acted, directed, and produced pieces in Toronto’s Paprika and New Waves Festivals, and has stage-managed for various new-works, such as The Facebook Musical, Faith, Love Virtually, and Witches & Bitches, to name a few. Elizabeth is a proud co-founder of Well Fought Theatre Company, and co-founder of Bald Monkey Theatre.

Shannon Lea Doyle

Designer. ​

 

Shannon Lea Doyle is a performance designer and artist from Toronto. She holds a BFA from OCAD University where she received several awards including the 2013 Sculpture / Installation Medal. Doyle is a member of the current Soulpepper Academy where she has assisted Lorenzo Savoini, Ken McKenzie and Victoria Wallace and taken master classes with Kim Purtell, Michael Levine, and László Marton. In conjunction with the Academy, she has designed Tricks- a collectively created adaptation of an Alice Monroe short story directed by Frank Cox-O’Connell, Spoon River Directed by Erin Brandenburg, and Stageplay written and performed by Andrew Thomas McKechnie. Other theatre and performance credits include: Mary Stuart (George Brown Theatre), Vitals (Outside the March), Women on Diving Board (AGO First Thursdays), Lean (Hazelton Lanes Art Festival), The Big Game (Red One Theatre Collective), Never Still or Motionless (Edward Day Gallery), Known By Traces (XPACE Cultural Centre), Combat (Little Bird Theatre), Ab Intra (Bon Compagnie), i (Cassandra Walker). Doyle is currently developing several new works with emerging Toronto theatre, dance, and performance artist.

Simone Brodie

Dramaturge.

 

Simone Brodie is an emerging dramaturge, director, stage manager, and theatre scholar. She is currently completing an M.A. at the University of Toronto Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies. Simone’s research focuses on contemporary and historic intercultural theatre in Canada. Selected dramaturgy projects include "Much Ado About Nothing" (Single Thread Theatre, Toronto) and "The Runaway" (star star Theatre, Vancouver). Selected directing credits include "This Might Feel Like Home" (star star Theatre), "After Liverpool" (SATCo, University of Victoria), and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (assistant director, Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, Victoria). 

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