We are an Edmonton-based community theatre committed to the production of engaging and vibrant works and providing our member volunteers opportunities to participate in all aspects of theatre production.
Want to get involved with Walterdale?
Have you ever wanted to try your hand at stage management, acting, directing, or even media relations in theatre?
Walterdale Theatre has been successfully run by its volunteers for more than 60 years now, and we invite you to join our team. Whether you can donate a few hours or a few seasons, we are always looking for new volunteers to help grow our theatre.
The best way to get involved at Walterdale is to become a member today! You will receive news about shows, special events, opportunities to volunteer or audition, and discounts on tickets.
For more information about joining Walterdale, go to our website at www.walterdaletheatre.com, e-mail us at walterph@telus.net, or call us at 780-439-3058. We will get back to you!
Walterdale’s COVID Protocols during Performance
- Masks are encouraged but not mandatory.
- Follow all instructions from our Front-Of-House volunteers.
- Enjoy the show!
For more information regarding Walterdale’s COVID-19 response, please click here.
BILL A – Tuesday, May 14 & Thursday, May 16
The Chinese Room Problem, by Michael Tay, Directed by Leland Stelck
Is the A.I. sentient, or just programmed to seem like it?
| Role | Actor |
| Helene Greiner | Gemma Lissoway |
| Tom Castillo | Justin Pitt |
| Ray Peterson | Kirk Starkie |
| Julia Pandit | Allyson Stollery |
Up & Down in an Elevator, by Bridgette Boyko, Directed by Richard Wiens
Life is full of ups & downs; this elevator ride is no different.
| Role | Actor |
| Winston Grey | Dave Breakenridge |
| Morgan Adams | Yana Orchyshko |
| Technician | Eilidh Tew |
Conversations with Cows, by Blaine Newton, Directed by Richard Wiens
When the spouse’s company barbeque goes to hell, sometimes there’s nothing an artist can do but grab a can of paint and go talk with the cows.
| Role | Actor |
| Jordan | Dave Breakenridge |
| Kate | Eilidh Tew |
| Stage Directions | Yana Orchyshko |
BILL B – Friday, May 17 & Saturday, May 18
The Chart, by Shawn Marshall, Directed by Sarah Spicer
How much could you lose because of a chart?
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Kevin | Ryan Mattila |
| Peter | Anglia Redding |
| Narrator | Rachel Whipple |
| Robert | Philip Hackborn (Friday), Dave Wolkowski (Saturday) |
Onward to Never, by Grace Li, Directed by Sarah Spicer
To follow the road least taken, it’s easier to travel with a friend–also a car with a full tank!
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Juno | Ruth Wong-Miller |
| Maia | Renee DeSilva-Bissell |
| Announcer/Mother | Barbara Mah |
| Assistants/Stage Directions | Philip Hackborn |
Modern Day Saints, by Kristen M. Finlay, Directed by Erin Vandermolen-Pater
Sometimes the saints in our midst are those who carry themselves with grace while dealing with the invisible stresses of our modern world.
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Ensemble | Kalin Jensen |
| Ensemble | Lita Pater |
| Ensemble | Anne-Marie Smyth |
| Ensemble | Samantha Woolsey |
BILL C -Wednesday, May 15 & Sunday, May 19
The Warning Monuments, by Madi May, Directed by Shawn Marshall
In a post-apocalyptic society, Napoleon searches for the truth about the world, while her grandmother, Caesar, tries to hide it.
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Napoleon | Chloë Rodgers |
| Caesar | Samantha Woolsey |
| Joan | Casey Powlik |
| Layton | Brian Ault |
| Straya | Emily Rutledge |
| Scout/Exton | Davis Mulatris |
Bed, Bath & the Great Beyond, by Logan Sundquist, Directed by Liam McKinnon
Exhausted, existential, and in search of fitted sheets and overpriced guilty pleasure oven mitts, Amelia enters the checkout line of a Bed Bath & Beyond that isn’t quite what it appears to be.
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Amelia | Katy Yachimec-Farries |
| Juniper | E Unland Spencer |
Hags, by Donna Call, Directed by Liam McKinnon
Three unemployed witches struggle with themes of aging, stardom and being green.
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Drumiedal | dale Wilson |
| Beatrette | Onika Henry |
| Jzeldameen | E Unland Spencer |
Festival Team
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Festival Coordinator | Louise Mallory |
| Stage Managers | Adorra Sergios, Afrah Collier-Potts |
| Production Assistants | Matthew Baker, Tracy Wyman |
| Reading Jury | John Anderson, Joan Heys Hawkins, Louise Mallory, Lauren Tamke, dale Wilson |
| Directing Mentors | Monica Roberts, Randy Brososky, John Anderson |
| Lighting Coordinator | Rebecca Cave |
| Sound Coordinator | John Anderson |
| Lighting Operator | Adrian Mackenzie |
| Sound Operator | Pat Sirant |
| Publicity Team | Stephanie Swensrude, Merrin Fraser, Kristen M. Finlay, Afrah Collier-Potts |
| Acknowledgements |
|---|
| Stephanie Swensrude, Edwin Thornton, and Syrell Wilson |
Message from the Festival Coordinator
My goals for the 2024 From Cradle to Stage festival included providing meaningful developmental opportunities for playwrights, directors, performers, and team/crew, as well as providing thoughtful and amusing bills of readings for our audiences to listen to.
To help reach those goals, we’ve had help from our jury panel who read 22 scripts without playwright names attached and selected 9, our volunteer mentor directors who supported the 6 emerging directors selected to direct the scripts, and all members of our festival team.
I’m particularly grateful to Kristen Finlay and John Anderson for insightful conversations and practical contributions, and to Heather Inglis and Jake Tkaczyk for inspiration.
I’m proud we can add to Walterdale’s history of supporting new works and new artists, in this city rich with stories to tell and people to tell them. I hope you enjoy them too!
~ Louise Mallory, Festival Coordinator
Playwright Biographies
Bridgette Boyko – Up & Down in an Elevator
Bridgette is a multi-disciplinary artist dedicated to authentic storytelling. She graduated from Vancouver Film School’s Acting for Film & TV program as Valedictorian in 2021. Since then she’s worked with TELUS Storyhive, St. Albert Children’s Theatre, and more. She has also had her plays read in various festivals throughout Alberta!
Donna Call – Hags
Donna Call is a seasoned actor-director and an emerging playwright. You may remember her past scripts including Joan of Normal (Stage Struck 2020), Shakespeare’s Court (Cradle to Stage 2023), Dames (2023), and No Kidding (2024).
Kristen M. Finlay – Modern Day Saints
Kristen M Finlay is very pleased to be a part of FC2S 2024. Previous plays include Pieces, From Something, Zachary and the Storytelling Stones, Little Monsters, Water Beneath Her Feet, and Double Double: The Musical (co-written with Anne Marie Szucs). Kristen is a former Artistic Director of Walterdale and is currently Past-President.
Grace Li – Onward to Never
Grace is a Taishanese-Canadian writer that occasionally emerges from her cozy nook for more caffeine. Through her playwriting, she hopes to convey experiences undergone by a diasporic group, as well as highlight Asians in theatre. She also has an affinity to reading and writing queer fantasy stories.
Blaine Newton – Conversations with Cows
Blaine’s a playwright, fiction writer, improviser, actor, and sometime engineer. When not talking about himself in the third person, he’s been in shows you’ve never seen, published in books you’ve never read, designed roads you’ve never driven down, and written plays for an audience of well under a million people.
Shawn Marshall – The Chart
Shawn Marshall has been writing and acting all his life. He likes the dark, desolate loneliness that permeates the air as he stares blankly at a screen, hoping beyond hope that the words will coherently find a home. Cradle to Stage has flatteringly decided to share those words — HOORAY!
Madi May – The Warning Monuments
Madi May got her start writing plays when she was fifteen. She has written and directed FANTOMINA (2022) and Pas de Deux (2019) for Edmonton’s Nextfest, and created the short film ‘An Ode to My Siblings’ for the Found Fest in 2020. She performed in the stand-up show Tales of Gender Affirmation in Montreal in 2022, and was apart of the improv show Shot in the Dark for the Edmonton Fringe. Her play JULIE:BOT will have a reading at Nextfest in June, and FANTOMINA will be remount at the 2024 Edmonton Fringe.
Logan Sundquist – Bed, Bath & The Great Beyond
Logan Sundquist is a Playwright/Director in Edmonton/Calgary, currently studying Drama/Education at UofC. Playwrighting Credits: Nextfest (They’re Both Right, The Dirge of 2038), Take 5 Theatre Festival (Gone With The Shopping Cart, Mirrored), MTUCalgary (What The H*ll’s A Musical), From Cradle To Stage (Come Again Another Day).
Michael Tay – The Chinese Room Problem
Michael has lived in three countries, used to know three languages, worked three different careers, had three wedding ceremonies and fathered three children, but The Chinese Room Problem is his first play to reach an audience.
Director Biographies
Shawn Marshall
Shawn Marshall (he/him) is thrilled to be making his directorial debut for Walterdale Theatre.
Shawn has written and directed seven shows for the Edmonton Fringe Festival and recently
directed They Promised Her the Moon by Laurel Ollstein for the Leduc Drama Society. This
script is amazing and please enjoy the show.
Liam McKinnon
Liam McKinnon (he/him) is an actor, an improviser with Sorry, Not Sorry Improv, company
founder of Novice DMing (a table-top gaming leadership, development, & entertainment
company) making his directorial debut with Hags & Bed, Bath, and the Great Beyond. Love to
the casts, tech, John, & Louise.
Sarah Spicer
Sarah Spicer (she/her) is thrilled to be a part of Cradle to Stage. She works as an actor, fight
choreographer, intimacy choreographer, and is also the producer of Shattered Glass Theatre
Company. Sarah is thankful to Walterdale Theatre for giving her the opportunity to add director
to that list.
Leland Stelck
Most of my work at Walterdale has been as a designer: Amigo’s Blue Guitar, Anything Goes, Copenhagen, Nine, The Women and Happy
Birthday Wanda June. I am absolutely thrilled to Bring Michael’s The Chinese Room Problem to this stage! Enjoy the ride.
Erin Vandermolen-Pater
Erin V-P is a singer, actor, theatre- and cabaret- creator, aerialist, and dog and cat mom. She was last involved in the Walterdale performing as Franca in The Light in the Piazza. Recently her creative efforts have been focussed on putting together new work as a singing aerialist (trapeze and hoop).
Richard Wiens
This is Richard’s first time directing at Walterdale Theatre. He is very honoured to have the opportunity to direct two shows for the festival. He is very excited to be working with such a talented cast and crew. He hopes you enjoy the show.
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Donors and Sponsors (August 2022 – May 2024)
Walterdale Theatre extends thanks to the generous support of local business, government grants, partners, and our patrons and members for their donations of time and funding. Without your support we could not continue.
Public Funders and Partners
Community Facility Enhancement Program—Government of Alberta
Artistic Sponsor
Gorilla Property Services Edmonton
Community Partners
Valtone Cleaners
Champions ($500+)
AbleIT Inc.
Alexander Family in Memory of Shelley Superstein Alexander
Anne Marie Szucs
Dale and Syrell Wilson
Harmony Fund at ECF
Supporters ($100-$499)
Joan & Alex Hawkins, Kristen M. Finlay, Michael Buhr, Mike Harding & Don Zeman, Moira Walker, Philip & M.J. Kreisel, Richard Hatfield, Sol Sigurdson, Margaret Booker, Julie Sinclair, David Wolkowski, Genevieve Carolan, Anonymous
Friends ($50-$99)
Brent Christopherson, Jean Guertin, Gerry and Barbara Sinn, Sally Hunt, Ruby Swekla
Donors ($49 and under)
Vivian Binnema, Isabelle Cave, Andrew Marriott, Roberta Rolf, Trish Mallet, Louise Mallory
Player’s Endowment Fund ($200 plus)
The Penelopiad – The Cast and Production Team
Austentatious – The Cast and Production Team
All My Sons – The Cast and Production Team
If you would like to be a part of the Walterdale Theatre family of sponsors, contact our Administrator by e-mail or phone the theatre at 780-439-3058.
| WALTERDALE THEATRE ASSOCIATES Is a Canadian Registered Charity, and will provide you with an income tax receipt for any donation over $20.00 you wish to make.Thank you to everyone who supports our theatre! |
A Brief History of Walterdale Theatre and Building
Walterdale is one of the longest running community theatres in Canada.
Walterdale Theatre Associates traces its beginnings to Theatre Associates, who produced their first plays (Lady Audley’s Secret and Out of the Frying Pan) in August 1958, playing in the Jubilee Auditorium social room. Before finding its home in the current Fire Hall, there have been two other Walterdale Theatres. The first was an old school on the Walterdale flats (Kinsmen Fieldhouse area), hence our name. The second was a former service men’s club house, which was later demolished for Kingsway Garden Mall.
Our current building was built in 1910 and was Strathcona Fire Hall #1. In 1912 it was re-numbered Edmonton #6 when the City of Strathcona amalgamated with the City of Edmonton. The bell tower houses the Strathcona “Town Bell”. It is topped by an octagonal belfry, covered by an octagonal roof. The tower was used to dry hoses (by hanging them up) after use. The stable (now set-building workshop) was designed to house nine horses.
The building ceased to be a working Fire Hall in 1954 and was used to store furniture. In 1974 Walterdale Theatre Associates took over the building and lovingly restored it, and converted the inside to a 145-seat theatre. The first play produced in this theatre was What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton, which opened November 12, 1974.
Major renovations were again carried out in 1993 (raising the roof and tying the building together with new beams) and in 2011 (new main floor washrooms, renewing the bricks and other major outside work).
Walterdale continues to keep our building updated and efficient, and have replaced the lighting instruments with LED lights, and the aging second floor furnaces with new high-efficiency units.
Walterdale Theatre Board of Directors 2023 – 2024
Executive
Artistic Director – Lauren Tamke
Incoming Artistic Director – Barbara Mah
President – Sally Hunt
Vice-President – Anne Marie Szucs
Treasurer – Martin Stout
Secretary – Jennifer Robinson
Past-President – Kristen M. Finlay
Directors
Building Co-Directors – Ed Medeiros & Doug Verdin
Front-of-House Co-Directors – Matthew Baker & Vacant
Membership Co-Directors – Laura Eschak & Christine Gold
Production Co-Directors – John Anderson & Louise Mallory
Public Relations Co-Directors – Merrin Fraser & Stephanie Swensrude
Technical Co-Directors – Rebecca Cave & Richard Hatfield
Director at Large – Afrah Collier-Potts & Tracy Wyman
Front of House Volunteers
Front of House Committee Members
Volunteer Coordinator
Vacant
Box Office Manager
Anne Marie Szucs
Bar & Concession Manager
John Dolphin
A special and heartfelt thank you to all the wonderful volunteers for Front of House positions during the run of Amigo’s Blue Guitar.
ANDREW SELWOOD, BANAFSHEH NOURANI, BRENDA NOBLE, CASEY POWLIK, CINNAMON STACEY, DAVE WOLKOWSKI, DAVID BODNAR, DOUG VERDIN, GENEVIEVE TU, GLORIA CARR, HEIDI RYLL, IAN HICKS, KENDALL SAUNDERS, LEIGH BORNN, LOUISE MALLORY, MARNIE WANG, MARTIN STOUT, MIKE COOPER, NICOLLE LEMAY, PHIL ZYP, PIERRE VALOIS, REBECCA FIRLOTTE, ROW ANNE RIVET, SHABAB KHAN, SHANNON HARRINGTON, STEPHANIE SWENSRUDE, VIVIAN BINNEMA
