TEAM 2014

Motion is an award-winning poet/emcee and emerging playwright spanning the realms of music, spoken word & drama. Born &  raised in Toronto, her lyricism has taken her from hip hop radio host to appear on stages at Manifesto Jamaica, Canadian Urban Music Awards (CBC), Caribbean Literary Festival, Luminato, HBO Def Poetry Jam and Africa Expo in South Africa. Dubbed by Now Magazine as a “multi-talented, truthful artist,” Motion has released two collections, Motion In Poetry and 40 Dayz (Canadian Scholars Press.) Her dramatic works (4our Woman, Aneemah’s Spot, Dancing to a White Boy Song, Mo’Suite) have been featured at Obsidian and Factory theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille, Summerworks and bcurrent’s Rock.Paper.Sistahz Festival. Her play ANEEMAH’S SPOT premiers at the 2012 Summerworks Festival, andis published in Give Voice, a collection of plays from Obsidian’s Playwright’s Unit, by Playwright’s Canada Press.

Charles Officer Charles Officer graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design in
communication design and worked as a graphic designer and creative director before attending the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in NYC. Charles has appeared in film, television and notably the Soulpepper stage production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun. He completed the Director Lab at the CFC with ShortHymn_Silent War (TIFF 02’, Sundance 04’) that earned his first Genie Nomination in 2004. Named “10 to Watch” by Playback Magazine in 2009, he also received the Ontario Premier’s Emerging Artist Award. Charles’ debut feature Nurse.Fighter.Boy premiered at TIFF’08 before garnering an unprecedented 10 Genie nominations at the 2010 Awards. His feature documentary Mighty Jerome was produced by the National Film Board and won four Leo Awards and an Emmy Award for best documentary in 2012. Charles was a special jury recipient of the 2012 Don Haig Award at Hot Docs and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for contribution to the arts.

DJ L’Oqenz is a powerful force to be reckoned with. Her passion for music and undeniable skills on the turntables have made her a sought after commodity at home in Toronto and abroad. A true lover of music, she is not confined to one genre. Spinning everything from Hip Hop to Jazz – L’Oqenz has the ability to fuse them all effortlessly. She has toured across Canada, the United States, South East Asia and the UK, and has shared the stage some of the most respected artists in the business including Zaki Ibrahim, Motion, Jean Grae, Saida Baba Taliba, Tanika Charles, Isis of Thunderheist, Bahamadia, K’naan, M1 (Dead Prez), Prince Paul, Maseo (De La Soul) and Kool Herc.

L’Oqenz flexed her multitasking skills as founder of Inner Voice Music Management, working as artist manager and Executive Producer to Zaki Ibrahim. Presently, L’Oqenz is completing a production/art project under the alias NiteOwlNaps and she has been committed to bettering her community by setting aside time to teach and fundraise for various organizations in Toronto as an arts educator and DJ instructor at UforChange and St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club.

STAGE MANAGER : Jiv Parasram is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in Toronto. His work has been seen in Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean. He is a founding member and Artistic Producer at Pandemic Theatre. He also operates, with Pandemic and Theatre Lab, the Collective Studio & Event Space. Recent work includes: The Double (TheatreRUN/Tarragon), The Keith Richards One Woman Show (Suitcase in Point), The Selkie of Kincardine(Sundown Theatre), The Department of Homecooked Security (Volcano/InForming content), Femme Fatale (Dis’Place), The Lost Sagas of Tjorvi the Flaccid (Pandemic), and The Hours That Remain (New Harlem) Upcoming: They Say He Fell (Pandemic), Botched (Cleen Theatre), Business as Usual (ZOU).

PRODUCTION DESIGNER : Hanna Puley is Toronto based Production Designer. Favourite credits include set design for The Physical Ramifications of Attempted Global Domination with Birdtown and Swanville, set design for Bad Dog Theatre Company’s Throne of Games, prop design for Henri Faberge’s Heligoland Follies, and Feint of Hart, and costume design for Digits’ music video Street Violence. Ongoing work includes production design for Toronto based sketch comedy group Tony Ho (www.tonyho.ca).

PRODUCER : Byron Abalos is an actor, playwright, producer and theatre administrator from Toronto.  A graduate of Ryerson University’s Acting Program, he has been nominated for 3 Dora Mavor Moore awards, two for acting and one for producing. Byron is currently Studio 180 Theatre’s Development Officer, a member of the 6^th Man Collective and member of Asiansploitation Sketch Comedy Troupe. NOW Magazine named him one of Toronto’s Top 10 Theatre Artists of 2010 and his play Remember Lolo won the 2005 SummerWorks NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award. Recent film/tv credits include Covert Affairs, The Listener, Dead Before Dawn and 88.

________________________________________________________________

TEAM SUMMERWORKS 2012

About the DIRECTOR: DIAN MARIE BRIDGE

At the helm of this production is director Dian Marie Bridge. She was an inaugural member of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s Michael Langham Workshop, and intern artistic director at Obsidian Theatre. Her directing credits include the dancehall theatre work King Ah Di Dancehall  (Baby Boyz Dance Group/Dance Immersion), Thank You for Carey Street Theatre and assistant directing the Mirvish Production of ’da Kink in My Hair. She is artistic producer of Cric Crac Collective, and directed ANEEMAH’S SPOT in its debut workshop production at bcurrent’s Rock.Paper.Sistahz Festival.

________________________________________________________________