Artwork Created By: Taegan O'Bertos
A new Saskatchewan play every month!
A Christmas Play
by Nathan Howe
December 2nd - 7:00pm
Persephone Theatre Lobby
100 Spadina Crescent East
Free - All Welcome
In partnership with Persephone Theatre, we present a new Saskatchewan play every month for eight months (October through May). So, mark your calendars. It's the FIRST Monday of every month.
DECEMBER FEATURE: A Christmas Play by Nathan Howe
Nathan Howe
Playwright
Nathan (he/him) is a theatre maker from Saskatoon now living in Vancouver, with a BFA in Acting from USask and an MFA in Scriptwriting from TMU.
This season takes him to SOTS, Canadian Stage, The Belfry, Live Five (directing Mr Burns), and The Globe.
Mara Teare
Dramaturg
Mara is a local artist. They trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, graduating in 2021. They have had the privilege to work across Canada, on a variety of projects, including several new Canadian plays. She has also written two plays of her own. They are so excited to be back working with SUM Theatre as a First Monday dramaturge!
Pamela Haig Bartley
Ensemble
A Henry Woolf SATAward winner for Continuing Achievement in Theatre and a retired Drama professor, Pam is a proud longtime member of CAEA and ACTRA. She has worked both as an actor -- shows include Native Gardens, Birds and Bees, My Chernobyl (Persephone), Encore (Dancing Sky), Having Hope at Home, Death and the Maiden (Globe Theatre) -- and as a director -- Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan), Skull in Connemara, Proof, The Secret Life of the Octopus, Three Days of Rain (Persephone), and Leaves of Glass (Theatre Ecstasis). She is thrilled to be performing for the first time for First Monday.
Miranda Hughes-McKnight
Ensemble
Miranda Hughes-McKnight is a prairie theatre artist and proud to be both a performer and designer. She has been very lucky to have the opportunity to work with many companies in the Saskatoon theatre community. As an actor she has twice traveled the province with the Persephone Youth Tour, bringing Theatre for Young Audiences to school gyms and auditoriums. She has also been a part of two Live Five seasons as an actor in The Wolves(LiveFive/LittleBig Theatre) and Boom (LiveFive/Fire in the hole). As a costume designer, Miranda's most recent costume designs were Luna (25th Street Theatre) and The Velveteen Rabbit (Persephone Theatre). When not performing and designing Miranda can be found at her second home, Persephone Theatre, where she is the Head of Wardrobe. You can catch her onstage next in Persephone Theatre's 18 Jew's Order Chinese Food.
Aaron Hursh
Ensemble
Aaron earned his BFA in theatre from the University of Saskatchewan in 2007. His first professional gig was at Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan in 2005. He has worked as an actor, director, and producer in theatres across Western Canada. This will be Aaron's first play reading since that whole pandemic thing happened. He mostly plays the role of 'daddy' for his two kids these days. He is very flattered to be offered the opportunity to breathe life into a new play written by a dear friend.
Kayvon Khoshkam
Ensemble
Kayvon is a Canadian Artist of Iranian/Irish descent. He has worked internationally and can also be found on television from time to time. Born and raised in Saskatoon, Sk, he studied at Dalhousie University and is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts. He is a co-founder of Sum Theatre (BC), the founder of Pull: A Ten-Minute Play Festival (Vancouver) and was the Artistic Director of Speakeasy Theatre until 2020. In 2014, Kayvon was a member of the National Arts Centre, English Theatre Ensemble. He is the current Artistic Director of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan. He is also painfully aware that he needs new headshots.
Amanda Trapp
Ensemble
Amanda Trapp (she/they) is a Cree and Saulteaux (member of White Bear First Nations)/settler actor based in Saskatoon, SK, who has performed on stages across Turtle Island. Select acting credits: The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Catalyst Theatre); The Bear and The Proposal (Caravan Farm Theatre); The Little Mermaid, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley; The Herd; It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play; I Lost My Husband (Persephone Theatre); Art of War (Hardly Art Theatre); My Name is Rachel Corrie (Chrysalis Theatre. Education: Bachelor in Music Theatre Performance from Sheridan College; Old Trouts puppetry intensive at the Banff Centre; Atlantic Theater Company in NYC. Upcoming: Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play as part of Live Five’s ’24-25 season.
Emily Heinek
Ensemble
Emily is an emerging artist from Saskatoon Saskatchewan and a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan's Fine Arts Drama department. She has been working on any project, on and off stage, she can get her mittens on since graduating in 2021. Some of her recent theatre credits include Bat Brains (SM, Redrum Theatre), The Wheatland Express (Performer, Buttered Ghost Theatre), The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine (SM, Too Bees Productions), The Love Interest (costume designer, Theatre Howl). She was lucky enough to spend 3 weeks in Calgary this summer studying devising theatre with a concentration of including design with Ghost River Theatres Eric Rose and Snežana Pešič; it was an amazing experience of getting able to reconnect with her playful acting skills and stretch the bounds of her creativity with incredible peers from all over the world. She is so pleased to be working with Nathan as a performer/ reader this time and getting to hear his play come to life and off the page. If you like Nathan's work, I highly encourage you to check out his directing skills in Mr.Burns: A Post Electric Play in January where I will also be helping out by costume designing and stage managing as well.
Clare Middleton
Company Dramaturg
Clare (She/her) has BFA in Acting U of S, MFA in Creative Writing UBC has been working in and around theatre for the past several decades. Clare loves to teach adults and kids alike and has held several Artist in Residence positions around the province. She has taught theatre classes for U of S, U of R, and UBC, and is a founding member of Live Five theatre season in Saskatoon. Her passion for theatre takes her in all directions and she especially loves when she gets to work on projects that involve her doing puppetry, clowning, new plays, storytelling, theatre for young audiences and directing. Clare lives in Treaty 6 territory (Saskatoon) with her husband, two kids, three dogs and plants – too many plants.
Season 3 (2024-25) of The First Monday will feature the following plays:
Episode 1: October 7th, 2024 - "66 No Exit Lane" by Jonathon Pickrell
- When the wealthy heiress Angela Winters passes away, her surviving family, close acquaintances, and employees are all invited to the reading of her last will and testament at her old, and slightly crumbling, estate on No Exit Lane. Once they are gathered, a loophole is discovered in her will which some worry might encourage foul play. When their concerns turn out to be warranted, and the presiding attorney winds up dead, it’s up to the cast-of-characters to put aside their obvious disdain for one another to oust the culprit and survive the evening! Who done it? Why they do it? Who can you trust when everyone is out for themselves? Find out in Jonathon Pickrell's love letter to the genres of murder mystery and farce comedy, No Exit Lane!
Episode 2: November 4th, 2024 - "Weyburn 1959" by Arthur Milner
- In the 1950s, Weyburn Mental Hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, was a world centre for research into the use of LSD in the treatment of mental illness. By the mid-‘60s, LSD was a popular street drug and was made illegal, even for medical research. And in 1971, the massive mental hospital closed its doors. Weyburn 1959 is a fictionalized account of a transformational night in the lives of the researchers.
Episode 3: December 2nd, 2024 - "A Christmas Play" by Nathan Howe
- On stress leave from her office job, CAROLINE signs up to apprentice backstage for the annual local theatre production of A Christmas Carol. Through a twelve-hour tech rehearsal, sparks fly and misunderstandings pile up between her and theatre-school crush CHRIS, playing Fred for the fifteenth year in a row. A Christmas Play is a farcical backstage rom-com with wacky double-casting that pulls back the curtain to reveal the magic of love and theatre.
Episode 4: January 6th, 2025 - "Antorcha" by Lautaro Reyes and Mitchell Larsen
- A melding of secrets, desires and despair. Antorcha follows the journey of Teo as they struggle to understand themself and the world around them in the wake of a traumatic breakup. Current Content Warning: Violence and Sex
Episode 5: February 3rd, 2025 - "Stage Moms" by Oli Guselle & Annika Tupper
- It’s opening night— the children of Sacred Heart Inter-Regional Theatre are awaiting their big moment, while behind the curtain, Stage Moms are pulling the strings. Will the show go on without a hitch, or will the company crumble under the pressures of perfection? This is our love letter exposé to community theatre.
Episode 6: March 3rd, 2025 - "Soul Fisher" by Kevin Moxley
- A queer modern adaptation of an Oscar Wilde fairy tale about love, loss, longing, and self-creation.
Episode 7: April 7th, 2025 - DOUBLE FEATURE: "Personal Space" by Leanne Griffin and "That's Life" by Darius Kiskotagan & Julia Kowalski
- Personal Space: Bernie and Jillian are at odds - he wants to keep the 1970’s style house he inherited from his Granny, while she hates the clutter and feels lonely and isolated in their new location. Mandy hides in the root cellar - but are they a dangerous vagrant, an old imaginary friend, or a potential ally?
- That's Life: a verbatim theatre piece about failure.
Episode 8: May 5th, 2025 - "Dr. Frightful Presents: A Murder by Killing, a film noire mystery" by Grahame Kent
- Follow private detective Dick Dangers as he unravels a mysterious series of murders and robberies in Noire City. This radio play features run-ins with misogyny, vigilante justice, and of course, the law!
Meet the Playwrights
Jonathon Pickrell
Jonathon Pickrell (he/him) is a Saskatchewan-raised actor, dancer, voice artist, and writer. He graduated with his BFA in acting from the University of Saskatchewan, and has performed across Canada and the States. He was the 2022 judges choice winner in Swinging with the Stars, the Choreographer for last years As You Like It at Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, and has recently started playing the trumpet at a professional level. Just kidding, that last one was a lie to see if you were still paying attention. If anything you would pay him not to play. Regardless, Jonathon is absolutely thrilled to be joining the talented team at SUM theatre, and hopes you all enjoy the laughs, intrigue, and ridiculous ensemble cast of characters in his first play, No Exit Lane. Selected recent acting credits include: Macbeth (Canadian Opera Company), Measure for Measure (The Coterie), The Love Interest (Theatre Howl), and his run as the eccentric yet lovable trust fund rich boy, Maximillion Wheatland aboard the Wheatland Express!
Arthur Milner
Arthur Milner is a playwright, theatre director, and columnist for inroadsjournal.ca. Getting to Room Temperature was produced by Regina’s Curtain Razors and will be produced, in French, by La Troupe du Jour in January. Facts, a murder mystery set in the West Bank, toured Palestine and Israel in Arabic. He’s now working with Curtain Razors on Tommy & Père, about Father Athol Murray and Tommy Douglas; and with Architect Theatre on Weyburn Nights, about LSD research in Saskatchewan in the 1950s.
Nathan Howe
Nathan (he/him) is a theatre maker from Saskatoon now living in Vancouver, with a BFA in Acting from USask and an MFA in Scriptwriting from TMU.
This season takes him to SOTS, Canadian Stage, The Belfry, Live Five (directing Mr Burns), and The Globe.
Lautaro Reyes & Mitchell Larsen
Lautaro and Mitchell are long-time artistic collaborators; past collaborations include: Santiago High Tech, Lugo performances 2023, and Art at the Loft exhibit 2023. Antorcha has been brewing and shifting for the last several years and has recently begun to crawl into the light of day.
Kevin Moxley
Kevin Moxley (he/him) is an actor, educator, and writer, originally from the southern Appalachia region of the United States. He completed his undergraduate studies at New York University in literature, creative writing and educational theatre, and earned his MFA in theatre performance from Florida Atlantic University. His short plays have received readings and productions across the US and Canada, including receiving a regional B. Iden Payne award nomination for best digital short script.
Julia Kowalski
Bio coming soon!
Oli Guselle
Oli (they/them) is a prairie queer who is passionate about music, storytelling, and what happens when you combine the two. Oli graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Classical Vocal Performance from The University of Toronto. Theatre/Opera: Bon Apetit!, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, The Brothers Grimm, La Boheme, (Saskatoon Opera/SSO), The Adventure of Young Turtle (So.Glad Arts), Stag and Doe (Souris Valley Theatre) Concerts: Handel’s Messiah 2022, 2023 (SSO), Drag Messiah (OperaQ) Sound Design/Composition: The Maids (Whirligig Theatre Co.), C’est à nous d’y voir (La Troupe Du Jour), Death: A Love Story (Dandelion Theatre) Direction: As You Like It (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan/Apprentice Director), The Trial of Louis Riel (Riel Co.), War Room: The Musical (Saskatoon Fringe), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (UC Follies) Upcoming: Brahms Alto Rhapsody (Saskatoon Chamber Singers/Soloist) Other: Oli is also a proud member of punk band, Checkout Queens, who just released their debut EP last fall.
Leanne Griffin
Leanne Griffin has a Master of Arts Degree in Drama from the University of Saskatchewan and has written and produced 18 plays. Her script Bluebeard’s Chamber was selected for inclusion in the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre 2018 Spring Festival of New Plays at Persephone Theatre, Saskatoon.
Grahame Kent
A neurodivergent Treaty 6 based theatre artist, Grahame can be found in many places in and around theatre; working as a performer, writer, producer, designer, voice artist, editor, dramaturg, foley artist, director, administrator and stage manager.
Grahame is the Artistic Producer of Buttered Ghost Theatre, a Treaty 6 based company that produces new and exciting work. Grahame has been honoured with three SATAwards over his career.
If you like radio plays, check out Dr. Frightful Presents: A Podcast which is created, produced and curated by Grahame and created with a bundle of incredible talent. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Find out more at grahamekent.com
Annika Tupper
Annika Tupper (they/she) is a queer Métis multidisciplinary artist from Saskatoon, and is based in T’karonto. Performance credits: Mamma Mia! (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Freedom: A Mixtape - Live and Unplugged (b current/NAC); The Prom (Drayton Entertainment); Jesus Christ Superstar (Theatre Sheridan). Creative credits: Assistant to MD - UnCovered: U2 & The Rolling Stones (Musical Stage Co.); Copyist - Red Tide: a macabre maritime misadventure, Assist. MD/Music Teacher - Rooted: A Musical Poem, Vocal Captain - In Studio: The Words and Music of Britta Johnson (Theatre Sheridan) @annikatupper
Darius Kiskotagan
Bio coming soon!
Meet the Dramaturgy
Johanna Arnott
Johanna is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who works as an actor, stage manager, director and playwright. Recently she premiered her play A Brontë Without Genius, #hacked a Big Mouth Billy Bass for the First Monday reading of her script The Tragedy of Gregory and Balthasar, toured Saskatchewan as Luna with 25th Street Theatre, and honeymooned in White Horse while performing in Yvette Nolan’s The Art of War.
Jonathan Seinen
Jonathan Seinen (he/him) is an award-winning theatre director, actor, creator, producer, and co-founder of Architect Theatre. Directing credits include Boys In Chairs Collective’s Access Me (Dora Award for Outstanding Direction), Governor General’s Award Nominee Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) by Jeff Ho (Theatre Passe Muraille/Saga Collectif/Architect Theatre), and Saga Collectif’s Black Boys (Buddies In Times Theatre). Jonathan was awarded the 2020 John Hirsch Prize for Directing from the Canada Council for the Arts, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Regina. jonathanseinen.com
Mara Teare
Mara is a local artist. They trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, graduating in 2021. They have had the privilege to work across Canada, on a variety of projects, including several new Canadian plays. She has also written two plays of her own. They are so excited to be back working with SUM Theatre as a First Monday dramaturge!
Torien Cafferata
Bio coming soon!
David Stobbe / Stobbe Photo
Tim Bratton
Tim is a Saskatoon-based actor, playwright, and sound designer who serves as the Artistic Associate for Burnt Thicket Theatre. Tim lives in the King George Neighbourhood with his lovely wife, Amy, and their two children.
Gordon Portman
Gordon is one of Saskatchewan's most experienced and versatile dramaturges. During his time with the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre and in the decade since, he has assisted in the development of a number of award-winning, critically acclaimed, and audience-popular scripts, including Megan Zong's Unmasked, Todd Devonshire's Monday Night, and Natasha Martina's Displaced. He is also a university-level teacher of both playwriting and screenwriting, and in recent years has dedicated his practice (as a theatre artist in general) to the opening of creative/ doors into inclusivity, decolonization practices, and full/deep collaborations among theatre artists.
Elizabeth Whitbread
Liz Whitbread (she/her) is a queer theatre artist born and raised on Treaty One Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg Honours: Acting Program, her work has taken her across the Prairies, to Toronto and back again. She loves the First Monday series, and is delighted to be working with SUM Theatre again.
Bob Wicks
Born and raised in Saskatoon, Bob Wicks (he/they) is an Actor, a Director, a Producer as well as a Voice & Text Teacher & Coach (and now a Dramaturg!) who received his MFA in Acting and Voice Teacher Certificate studying with David Smukler at York University (Toronto, ON) in 2015. He has been a member of the International Actors’ Fellowship at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (London, UK,) an Associate with Canada’s National Voice Intensive, a faculty member of the Training Department at Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA,) and has previously spent 10 seasons with the Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival, both on and offstage. Recently he co-directed LEAR, co-produced by La Troupe du Jour, Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre, and Never Never Shakespeare. Bob is a founder and current Creative Director of Never Never Shakespeare. Next up: Twelfth Night.
Many thanks to our funders!
Season 2 (2023-24) of The First Monday featured the following plays:
Episode 1: October 2nd, 2023 - "One Night" by Paige Francoeur & Bob Wicks
- A new take on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. A family gathering descends into chaos when truths are told. A story about the lies we tell each other and the lies we tell ourselves and the lies we need to believe in order to make it through.
Episode 2: November 6th, 2023 - "The Boat" by Todd Devonshire
- Canada. 1964. Abortion is illegal.
But 15 miles off the coast, The Boat is ready to challenge everything.
Episode 3: December 4th, 2023 - "The Tragedy of Gregory and Balthasar" by Johanna Arnott
- Gregory and Balthasar are two men from two houses, both alike in dignity. They are told that they should be enemies, and so they are. But on the shore of Lake Verona Ontario, they are just two dudes who want the same thing: to catch the big fish. Narrated by the big fish himself through a Big Mouth Billy Bass and adapted lines from Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Gregory and Balthasar is a love story dealing with the issue of the impact those with power have over the people who do not.
Episode 4: January 8th, 2024 (SECOND MONDAY) - "I AM WHO I AM" by Peace Akintade-Oluwagbeye
- I Am Who I Am follows the poetic and philosophical exchange between A-kin, the embodiment of storytelling and poetry, and Ọrunmila, the embodiment of guidance, knowledge, and divination. The play is largely based on Yoruba philosophies of death, life, deities, and the abstract concepts of identity.
Episode 5: February 5th, 2024 - "Matriarchy" by Jacelyn Perret
- With the counsel of her ancestors a young Métis woman contemplates motherhood, the significance of the matriarch in Métis culture, and what it means to leave a legacy while grappling with a quickly approaching secret.
Episode 6: March 4th March 11th, 2024 - "The Olive Suitcase" by Jalisa Gonie
- The outside world is terrifying, especially when you haven’t left the house in over a decade. But Olive always has her suitcase packed and ready for any danger that could come knocking and when it does, Olive will learn if she is truly prepared for the outside world.
Episode 7: April 1st, 2024 - "Final Notice" by Jordan Harvey
- Final Notice centers around a university house and its tenants as they prepare for an impending eviction following a failed rental strike, and their one last party before vacating. Storylines intersect in a barely post-adolescent cacophony of drugs, sex, queerness, and those perilous half-understandings which accompany such a time in life.
Episode 8: May 6th, 2024 - "My Name Is..." by Megan Zong
- Xiao Tong is on a quest to reclaim what has been taken from her, and take down the bad guy in school. Alongside her friend, Diva Dave, she discovers hidden superpowers. But to use them, she will have to embrace a part of herself that she has pushed away for too long. First developed with Persephone Theatre's TYA Playwrights Unit, this play is about embracing our unique differences and finding a sense of belonging when faced with adversity.