BIOGRAPHIES

Chris Earle

 
Chris is a Toronto based playwright, actor and director. His most recent play Ancaster Park was commissioned and produced last spring by Canadore College’s Rep 21 Theatre Program. His other plays include Democrats Abroad (New York Fringe Excellence Award), Radio :30 (Dora Mavor Moore Award – Outstanding New Play, Chalmers New Play Award, Canadian Comedy Award), Russell Hill (produced by Tarragon Theatre, Dora nomination for Outstanding New Play) and Big Head Goes to Bed (written with long time collaborator Shari Hollett). He has also written adaptations of Peter Pan (Dora nomination) and Cinderella for Ross Petty Productions. Radio :30 has toured to the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, Colorado, and the New York Fringe Festival, and was also adapted for CBC Television. Chris was a writer/performer with The Second City sketch comedy theatre and has directed four revues for the company, including Bird Flu over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the Canadian Comedy Award-winner Psychedelicatessen. As well as performing his own work, his stage appearances include Faust and Miracle Mother for Tarragon, The Knee Plays 2 and Doubt for Theatre Columbus, and Possible Worlds for Theatre Passe Muraille. TV appearances include Slings and Arrows, The Newsroom, Due South, Conspiracy of Silence, Chasing Rainbows, Gentle Sinners, and the animated series Rescue Heroes and Slam Dunk. Stage directing credits include Karen Hines’ Dora and Chalmers nominated Hello…Hello at Tarragon and for Pochsy Productions, Joanne O’Sullivan’s Any Second Now, Howie The Rookie for SummerWorks, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Equity Showcase. Chris has been a Playwright-in-Residence at the Tarragon Theatre and a member of the Banff Playwrights Colony, and was also a series writer for The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend, and CBC Radio’s The Muckraker.

Shari Hollett (Director)

Shari co-founded the night kitchen with Chris Earle in 1992 and has collaborated on all the company’s productions. Most recently she directed Jonathan Wilson’s That Gay Guy for Summerworks, and Earle’s Ancaster Park for Canadore College. At Canadore, she also directed Ben Elton’s Popcorn, and Nicky Silver’s The Altruists. She is an acclaimed director of new plays, including Earle’s award-winning Democrats Abroad and Radio :30, Sean Reycraft’s One Good Marriage for Theatre Passe Muraille, Deb Filler’s Filler Up at the Wildside Festival in Montreal, Murdering Godot at the Rhubarb Festival, Sleepless – The Musical at the Toronto Fringe, and Posterchild and The Hurricane Project, both for Summerworks. Shari also assistant-directed and performed in Earle’s Russell Hill at the Tarragon. As a writer-performer, credits include Expectation, Big Head Goes to Bed, The Martha Stewart Projects, I’d Never Give an Acrylic Scarf to the Man I Love and numerous shows with The Second City. She also directed the Second City National Touring Company’s “If It’s Tuesday This Must Be Belleville”. Onstage she has also appeared in VideoCabaret’s City For Sale, Russell Hill, The Proceedings, White Trash Blue Eyes, and the improvised soap opera A Wedge of Night. TV and film work includes roles in The West Wing, WildCard, Blue Murder, Guilt by Association, The Associates, Walter and Henry, Thanks of a Grateful Nation, The Dan Jansen Story and SCTV.