The Other Side of the River

Sarah Bergbusch (she/her) is a theatre artist from Regina, Saskatchewan. She is passionate about performing on the prairies and is proud to call Saskatchewan home! Sarah has worked throughout Saskatchewan with Arts Organizations such as Globe Theatre, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, Live Five Theatre, Curtain Razors, Common Weal, and Sum Theatre. This is Sarah’s second summer with SUM Theatre’s Theatre in The Park. She is thrilled to be back singing, dancing, and puppeteering in the parks of Saskatoon and beyond. 

S.E. Grummett (they/them) is a queer, transgender theatre artist from Treaty 6 Territory. Over the past 5 years, Grumms has created a body of original queer work and toured it to festivals and stages around the world. They are the co-creator of “SCUM: a manifesto”, “Pack Animals” and “Creepy Boys”. Their solo-show, “Something in the Water", won “Best Theatre” at the Adelaide Fringe and was selected by the High Commission of Canada for Spotlight Canada 2021. Their creations have been seen at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Twin Cities Horror Festival, Undercurrents Festival, Persephone Theatre and Live Five. Outside of self-creation, Grumms also works as a performer, puppeteer & video artist. 

As a child, living in rural Saskatchewan, Mitchell(they/him) dreamt of sprouting fawn legs and bounding through the prairie, conjuring melodies on cliff sides, trees opening their eyes as they lumber through the streets. With siblings and friends, Mitchell carved out palaces of snow, explored alien ships, and constructed haunted houses.Nowadays, Mitchell voyages through alternate Oz’s, feels their body billowing, the sail of a ship, summits dumpsters that are mountains, and persisting: the struggle of roots, the cracking of pavement as elm, oak, apple stretch, plant limbs in fresh earth, rise up to stride, lids parting to survey new worlds.

KRYSTLE PEDERSON is a Cree/Metis actor singer songwriter with an outstanding career. Krystle is a recipient of CBC Future 40 Award, Shorted listed for the Saskatchewan Arts Awards for Emerging artist as well as a nomination in the YWCA Woman of Distinction Awards.  Krystle’s list of acting credits includes Saskatchewan film Run: Broken Yet Brave; Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre: The (Post) Mistress, Sum Theatre’s Little Badger and the Fire Spirit, National Arts Centre’s “Gabriel Dumont Wild West Show.” Ferre Play Theatre “Penelopiad” . Currently Krystle is the lead vocalist for “Lynx Lamour Goes to Nashville” a brand-new one-woman Cree musical written and composed by Tomson Highway. Krystle has had the great pleasure of taking this musical to New Zealand and has been touring Canada over the past two years. Krystle Has just returned home from Winnipeg having worked with Manitoba Theatre for Young People on the World Premier of “Frozen River” 

Donovan (he/him) is a Saskatoon based actor and musician originally from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and is a frequent collaborator with SUM Theatre. Past credits with SUM Theatre include Turn Turn Turn, The Young Ones, Theatre in the Pool, The Hockey Sweater, Little Badger and the Fire Spirit, and Hercules. Donovan received the SATAward for best musical direction and outstanding composition for Two Corpses Go Dancing (Live Five). Donovan is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Education at the University of Saskatchewan. He is also a proud uncle to two wonderful nephews. Stay safe, everyone!

Kris is a theatre artist, a Regina monologue, a brown kid grateful for the village who raises her. She is privileged to build relationships in artful ways (Curtain Razors, Fadadance, Artesian, Globe Theatre, Common Weal) Kris performs in other people’s work (Bad Blood, Carmen Angel), makes her own work (What Kind of Brown Are You, Burnt Sienna), and moments before the pandemic, she was humbled by life-inspiring experiences (Reasonable Doubt) Through the pandemic & onward, Kris continues… in film (Donkeyhead, Karma Films / Agam Darshi), in parks (The Other Side of the River, Sum Theatre), on TV (ZARQA, CBC Gem), onstage (Making Spirits Bright – Globe Theatre) and in creation (Acknowledging). Kris is happy to drive back up the 11 to join Sum Theatre for the 2022 Theatre in the Park!

Joel Bernbaum is an actor, director, playwright, journalist and the founding artistic director of Sum Theatre in Saskatoon. He is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts and Carleton University, where he did his Master’s Thesis on Verbatim Theatre’s Relationship to Journalism. Produced plays include Operation Big Rock, My Rabbi (with Kayvon Khoshkam), Home Is A Beautiful Word and Reasonable Doubt (with Lancelot Knight and Yvette Nolan). Previously for Sum Theatre, Joel has performed in Alice in Wonderland and The Pied Piper and has directed Walk the Trail, Hercules, Little Badger and the Fire Spirit, Nutana Talks, The Hockey Sweater, Theatre in the Pool: Earth Diver, Queen Seraphina and the Land of Vertebraat and The Young Ones. Joel is currently a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, where he is investigating the potential of theatre companies to strengthen cities. Upcoming productions include Being Here:The Refugee Project (Belfry Theatre).

Laura Negraeff is a writer, director, performer, assistant stage manager, and educator who recently joined the Sum Theatre team as a producer/artistic associate. She holds a BA in English, a Masters of Educational Foundations from the University of Saskatchewan and an Advanced Certificate in Human Resources from SaskPolytechnic. After twelve years teaching Business at the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, Laura is thrilled to be be combining her knowledge of business with her passion for community engagement and the arts. Laura has been an active volunteer with Saskatoon Summer Players for many years with select credits including, The Addams Family: A New Musical (director), Annie (Miss Hannigan), and Cabaret (Fräulein Kost). She has also worked with Ppl r Ppl Productions on Avenue Q (Assistant Stage Manager) and The Rocky Horror Show (Phantom). She is excited for the opportunity to share, learn, and create as part of the Sum Theatre team.

Ricardo Alvarado (Production Manager) is a local theatre artist who believes in the power of music, positive energy, diversity, and teamwork. He is the Artistic Producer for Saskatoon Summer Players, the co-founder of Ppl r Ppl Productions, a long-time member of Artists Against Hunger, and he spends his spare time daydreaming and pretending to be a grown-up. This is Ricardo's third season with SUM Theatre and he is grateful for the opportunity to create with such a wonderful group of artists on a regular basis. Past Credits: La Troupe du Jour, Persephone Theatre, SUM Theatre, Ppl r Ppl, SSP, Live Five, Shakespeare on the SK, Greystone Theatre, and Saskatoon Opera. Up next, he's directing and starring as Jeff in [Title of Show] for Ppl r Ppl Productions and getting ready to once again hit the parks in both Saskatoon and Regina with SUM's Theatre in the Park show this summer!

Johanna (she/her) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who works primarily as an actor, writer, stage manager and newbie director. A selection of her theatre credits include: The Last Children (SM; Curtain Razors Theatre), Shadows Among the Prairies (SM; GTNT), The Winter’s Tale (actor; Bridge Theatre Co.), The Wolves (actor; littleBIG Theatre & Evilstick Productions), You Said We’d be Together Forever (director; We Treaty People Burnt Thicket Theatre), and Breaking the Curse (co-director; 25th Street Theatre & Ferre Play). Johanna is thrilled to be a part of the Sum Theatre team again this summer.  When she’s not working in theatre, Johanna enjoys knitting, saying hi to dogs, and doing crosswords with her partner.

Taegan O’Bertos is an emerging artist from Saskatoon. Her most recent work includes costume and projection design for Reasonable Doubt (Persephone Theatre, 2020), Puppet designer/builder for the travelling theater experience of Turn, Turn, Turn...(Sum Theatre, 2020), and set design for I Lost My Husband (Persephone Backstage Theatre, 2019). Taegan’s design work has led to positions such as Head of Props at the University of Saskatchewan, and Production Assistant at Persephone Theatre. She has also found artistic outlets such as Shadow Puppet Builder, commissioned poster artist, and body painting artist. Taegan has her thinking mask on and is ready to create, innovate, and integrate safety consciousness into her upcoming projects!

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Born and raised in Saskatoon, Mac is proud to call the prairies home. He received his BFA in Acting from the University of Saskatchewan, and has since diversified his practice to include playwriting, direction, and stage management. Mac is grateful to play a role in Sum’s ongoing commitment to community-oriented art and radically-inclusive theatre-making. Projects with Sum Theatre include The Young Ones (Assistant Stage Manager) and The Hockey Sweater / Le Chandail (Co-Director).

Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) is a playwright, director and dramaturg. Her work with Sum Theatre includes Thicker Than Water, Little Badger and the Fire Spirit, Queen Seraphina and the Land of Vertebraat, The Young Ones and Last Sunday. Other work includes The Tempest (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan), Reasonable Doubt (Perspehone), The Unplugging (Arts Club; Factory; GTNT), the dance-opera Bearing (Signal Theatre), and the libretto Shawnadithit (Tapestry Opera). Her book, Medicine Shows, about Indigenous performance in Canada was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2015. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Public Policy at Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.