instructors

about our youth instructors

DAVID BIRD

David’s first role at 8 years old as “Second Wise Man” which led to “regular gigs” in School plays. At the age of 12 he was fortunate enough to attend a Grammar School (High School) that had a Drama Program with a long history of Awards in regional and national competitions. He spent 15 years focused on establishing a career, marriage and immigration to Canada, arriving in Perth in 1989 and is now a m Town Councilor. Taking a chance in 1994, he successfully auditioned for Will Parker in Perth Community Choir’s production of “Oklahoma!’ regenerating his involvement in Community Theatre. Since then he has been fortunate to take lead roles in, or direct (or sometimes both), 10 musicals and 65 different plays at various venues around Perth. He was most recently at the helm of the delightful ELF the Musical.

EMMET CAMERON

Emmet Cameron (they/them) is a local playwright, novelist, and poet. They are a founder of the Kitchen Theatre Project, a member of the Perkolator Creative Collective, and a former competitor with the Lanark County Live Poets Society (LiPS) slam team. Recently, Emmet was part of the production team that brought You Can’t Take It With You to the Studio Theatre. You may recognize them as part of the magnificent cast of the play The Lion in Winter. You may also recognize them from their hit roles as camp counsellor, babysitter, and crossing guard.

allison graham

Allison Graham attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, California, where she spent two years studying theatre. Following graduation, she was invited to join the Academy Company and, in collaboration with nine other actors, completed a challenging and rewarding third year performing a range of theatrical works. She finished her formal education at Pasadena City College, majoring in Creative Writing. This combination of training provided her with an Associate Degree in Theatre Arts and enabled her to strike a fine balance working both in front of and behind the camera. Allison returned to Canada in 2002 and has since appeared in over fifty film and television projects. She has recently completed co-writing her second television series. During the past year she also co-directed a film inspired by The Breakfast Club, shot a national commercial campaign for Canada Post, and filmed the Movie of the Week, True Justice: Family Ties.

grace main

Grace Main enjoys the people she meets who are involved in theatre – the backstage folks and the onstage ones. She loves the chances they all take together to find ways of making a story come to life. This past season she was at the helm of You Can’t Take It With You – a lot of theatre people on and off the stage to ‘play’ with. As Eleanor in The Lion and Winter, the playing was a bit more dramatic. Grace has lots to share with the youth from her years of study and experience as an actor, writer, director, costumer and set designer and a bit more too. At present, she also lends her time and expertise in our community as the Artistic Director for Studio Theatre Perth.

ALEXIS SCOTT

Alexis is a theatre educator and physical theatre performer. She attended Ottawa Theatre School, University of Windsor BFA Acting as well as The Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Preformance. Most recently, you may have seen her leaping and dancing on her toes as Essie in You Can’t Take It With You at The Studio Theatre or as part of the Murder Mystery dinner theatre cast recently. Watch for her in the upcoming production of The Maltese Falcon. Ever passionate about creativity and community, she is the administrator at MERA in McDonalds Corners.

CHRYSTINE WILLIAMS

Chrystine has been dancing, improvising and acting since she was a kid and has done everything from Shakespeare to sketch comedy. She attended the University College Drama Program at the University of Toronto where she learned the importance of movement and voice for the actor. She has participated in theatre clown, contact improv and physical comedy workshops. She moved to the Perth area five years ago and has been acting, stage managing, choreographing and directing at the Studio Theatre.

Fiona Bladon

Fiona has been actively painting sets at the Studio Theatre in Perth since 2011. The idea for set painters is to transform flat spaces – creating the illusion of being real and in three dimensions. Oceans, gardens, forests, living rooms, barns and kitchens are some of the illusions that Fiona along with members of the paint team has created for theatre-goers over the years.

Dave Clark

Dave Clark has been involved in theatre for almost 40 years now. He taught high school drama from 1986 to 1999 in the Port Hope/Cobourg area and continued, until his retirement in 2011, to direct student theatre productions (over 50) in the schools where he worked. He was also an active member of the Northumberland Players in Cobourg where he did pretty much everything from 1985 until 2019: directing, performing, lighting design, set construction, board membership, endless trouble shooting and project manager for the remodelling of The Firehall Theatre in Cobourg. He has performed in four student/adult Shakespearean productions with The Players. He is a published author and playwright. Dave and his wife Mary Liz moved to the Perth area in 2020 and are happy to find such a vibrant theatre community and a new home.

dani corbishley

Dani started dance training as a young child and went on to study musical theatre performance and production at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. Since then, she has been working as a therapeutic recreation and arts instructor and has enjoyed working and playing in community productions including her most recent projects as director/choreographer for Working the Musical at Studio Theatre Perth. Among Dani’s choreography credits are Disney’s High School Musical, Grease, Oklahoma, Hairspray, Once Upon a Mattress and Bye, Bye Birdie

dave corbishley

Dave has been working in theatre, onstage (recently in 9 to 5) and offstage, since 2005. He started in stage management and then moved to more technical areas of production; primarily designing and running lighting, with some sound thrown in. He has been part of the Stage Crew at Nepean’s Centrepoint theatre, eventually in the role of Lighting Principal, and then Stage Crew Principal. Four years ago, Dave joined Studio Theatre Productions and has served as Technical Manager there and been the principal tech on many STP shows since.

Ron Cosens

Ron is a theatre kid that never grew out of theatre. First official show was Joseph at age 10 and since then has done a variety of musicals, straight plays and even some dance pieces over the last 29 years. From a fight and choreo background Ron danced for five years often placing fight choreo in his own dance pieces and took a year of fight choreo while attending Sheridan College for Musical theatre. Since then he’s had opportunities to put his skills to use in shows like Sweeney Todd, full Monty and even swinging a youngster by the hair in Matilda.

Mike Irvin

Mike is a retired broadcast production veteran whose 43-year career includes TV & Radio production, along with a 21-year span of teaching part-time in the Algonquin College Radio Broadcasting and Theatre Arts program. His passion for radio performance has garnered several awards and recognition from industry peers and students. As Regional Production Manager at Rogers Radio, he helmed a 6-person team serving the Ottawa, Kingston and Halifax markets. He has directed various productions including commercial and news features, music specials, and podcasts.

GianPaolo Lattanzio

GianPaolo is a working actor with a plethora of credits under his belt, ranging from theatre to film to voice over. He is a graduate of George Brown Theatre School’s Theatre Performance program, one of the leading theatre schools in Canada. Ever since he played his first video game, he was always interested in voice acting as something he’d want to do “until he was old, like Dad”. Over the years, he has a gathered lot of hands-on experience in the VO booth, both as a professional and amateur. After spending many years continuing to hone his vocal technique, he has found many ways to work with his voice and allow the heart of the character shine through every performance.

Karen Mortfield

Karen recently moved to the area after accidentally visiting the Night Market and realizing Perth is the greatest place on the planet. She has a background in event production and has organized street festivals, special events, haunted houses, conferences and more. She is also the co-owner and creative director of Feargrounds, a Halloween haunted attraction in Uxbridge, Ontario.

Diane Coté

Diane has been active in theatre for decades and has plenty of hands-on experience with the many aspects of putting a play on the stage, from actor to writer to director. Not long ago she was at the helm of Kanata’s Tarzan the musical, and recently at the Studio Theatre, she was part of the cast for The Attic, which went on to win two awards at the Eastern Ontario Drama League festival. Diane says her motto is “Life is a Musical” so you can always catch her singing and dancing, like in last year’s Studio Theatre production of “Working, The Musical.

Kiara Coté

Kiara is thrilled to share her passion for the arts with PYP. She has been involved with the local theatre scene for as long as she can remember; at Studio Theatre, most recently, in Tempting Providence and Educating Rita. She continues to pursue her love of theatre in her studies at George Brown Theatre School in Toronto.

Marlene Nicholas

Marlene brings decades of creativity and hands-on experience in costume and makeup design to the theater world. For over 10 years, she created and directed elaborate haunted houses for a Junior A hockey team’s fundraising events : the décor, set design, makeup, and costumes. Halloween has always been one of her favorite seasons, and her passion for transforming characters through costume and face makeup has earned her multiple first-place awards.
Marlene dedicated more than 25 years to the design and direction of costumes and makeup for annual figure skating ice shows. As Creative Director, she oversaw every submission and approved final designs for costumes, makeup, and set concepts, ensuring each production ended the season with a professional and cohesive look.
Her skills extend beyond the stage as well—Marlene has been actively involved in face painting for fundraising events, delighting kids and families alike, and also served as the creative designer for the Afghanistan Training Room at Base Gagetown, where her design expertise brought large-scale concepts to life.
With a background that blends artistry, leadership, and a true love for performance, Marlene is excited to share her knowledge of stage makeup with the kids’ theater group. Participants will learn how makeup helps bring characters to life, enhances stage presence, and supports storytelling in fun, creative, and practical ways.

Marilyn Nicholas-Dahan

Marilyn retired last year after more than 25 years working in the television industry as a Producer, Director, Writer and Video Editor. She has been involved with community theatre off and on since her high school days – as an actor, producer, stage manager, and various other off-stage roles, but admits that sitting in the ‘director’s chair’ is what she love best. She most recently directed the very well received production of The Diary of Anne Frank for the Studio Theatre. She has, in the past, run a summer theatre camp called Kids in the Spotlight for a number of years and is always delighted to work with young folks, “our future thespians”. They are the ones who will keep community theatre alive and well!

Laurel Smith

Laurel Smith is a theatre director, producer, playwright, teacher, and performer with an MA in Drama and an MBA in arts management. Laurel has directed at Gryphon Theatre, Capitol Theatre, and the Shaw Festival, among many others. Artistic Producer of the Classic Theatre Festival (founded in 2010 in Perth), Laurel was chosen Broadway World Ottawa Best Director for 2022 (“The Fourposter”). This summer she is directing both plays for the Festival’s 2023 season at Arts Court Theatre in Ottawa:
“Affairs of State” and “Sleuth.” Laurel will continue to partner with the Ottawa School of Theatre to provide theatre education and professional development courses in 2023/24. She looks forward to 2024’s 25th anniversary of Burning Passions Theatre (the Festival’s parent company) in 2024.

becky sparks

Becky has a varied teaching background which spans thirty years and includes working with youth from pre-school to college level developing and assisting with classroom and school-wide drama productions. Training with Ontario Youth Theatre in her own youth was pivotal for Becky and so she is excited to share her ideas and energy with PYP and looks forward to creating new memories with them in the theatre world.

jane stott

Jane has been directing plays at Studio Theatre for a decade. She has written several plays and thrives in the theatre environment. As a director you’re given a play that you must read several times and are then expected to ‘bring it to life’ on the stage. She believes a good director must become the eyes and ears of the audience – from the very first rehearsal on. Their job is to make the actors look and sound amazing, and to make the audience wildly applaud at end. Jane is the grandmother to five grandchildren, ages 13 to 22, and says she loves the creativity and spontaneity of youth and always looks forward to having fun with young people!

KRISTY TAIT-ANGEL

Kristy has lived and breathed the many aspects of the theatre world for a number of years. She has been a staple in many of the local productions including those of Perth Community Choir, Barn Door Productions, Orion and most recently at the Studio Theatre, where she was part of the frenetically-paced The 39 Steps. She is passionate about sharing her wealth of knowledge and experience with young folks who love theatre too!

VANNESSA TORRES

Vannessa first found her passion for Television when she starred in Restaurant Makeover in her teen years. She then decided to pursue broadcasting by attending Niagara College where she graduated with a Broadcasting: Radio, Television and Film Diploma, and as well, graduated from the Child and Youth Program of Humber College. Over the years she has formulated skills in videography, on-air announcing, radio and television reporting, social media coordination amongst others that she wishes to share with our Perth Youth Players Club.

Carolee Mason

Carolee is an experienced theatre educator, director, and adjudicator with student and community theatre groups across Ontario. Carolee trained in technical theatre, design, and drama in education, studying with the Georgian Theatre Company, the University of Toronto Opera School, the University College Drama Program, and Queen’s University Drama Department. Her work in school and community theatre in Eastern Ontario earned Theatre Ontario’s Michael Spence Award. Also, an award-winning teacher noted for her work as an author and workshop leader, Carolee contributed to Ontario’s Ministry of Education drama curriculum at various stages of its development. Working with adults, teens, and children, she has directed and designed more than a hundred productions for community and children’s theatre, and the Sears Drama Festival. She has taught drama at elementary and secondary schools, and at universities including the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Lakehead University, and in the Theatre Department at Brock University.

emily poole

Emily studied at the Versailles Academy of Makeup Arts. She has worked on many different styles (wedding makeup, glam makeup, prom makeup) and techniques using makeup – from neutral / no makeup looks to extremely intense makeup looks, with every colour and variety of glitters, and special effects make-up, like adding scars and wounds to faces and hands etc. She enjoys the challenge of seeing how realistic she can get those special effects to look. She says, “I got into the beauty and make-up industry to make people feel more confident in themselves and to show them that little things can do so much to emphasize their own true beauty.”

janet rice

Janet discovered acting ‘late’ in life after earning money at her real-life job as a technical writer and consultant. Once she set foot on the stage, “That was it – no more earning real money!” Theatre is a great passion for her now and she has been acting for over 25 years with anyone who will give her the opportunity – OLT, Goya, Kanata Theatre, Studio Theatre, Ninth Hour, Toto Too and the Phoenix Theatre. She has also had TV roles, a few smaller background parts as well as some main roles. And she has appeared in some TV ads. She started writing short plays during Covid and has to date completed about 8 or 9 with another 5 or 6 sitting on her computer “haunting me” until they are finished!

Reiner Silberhorn

Reiner has been involved in set construction and design for the past 16 years. He started as a member of the building team, then, after a few years, became Head Builder. He took a set design course at Ottawa Little Theatre about 10 years ago and has been designing sets at the Studio Theatre ever since. He never misses an opportunity to study and be inspired by professionally designed sets, and takes backstage tours whenever he’s in Stratford, Niagara-on-the-Lake or Gananoque.