Theatre NS Board
Theatre Nova Scotia is a not-for-profit charitable organization and is governed by a Board of Directors elected each year by members in good standing at the TNS Annual General Meeting.
Executive
|
|
Colleen MacIsaac, Co-ChairColleen MacIsaac (they/she) is a multi-disciplinary performance and visual artist working in Kjipuktuk /Halifax. The former Managing Director of 2b theatre company and current Artistic Producer of The Villains Theatre, Colleen is a consultant at Strategic Arts Management and an avid supporter of The Bus Stop Theatre. Colleen has drawn over a thousand playwrights as part of a daily art project that has been ongoing for 3070 consecutive days and has performed with companies such as Xara Choral Theatre, Matchstick Theatre, and Lions Den Theatre. Colleen's play The Blazing World premiered at the Neptune Studio Theatre as part of the Open Stages program, and they are the winner of the Halifax Mayor's Award for Emerging Theatre Artist and the Bhayana Invisible Champion Award. See more of Colleen's work at littlefoible.net |
|
|
Chris O'Neill, Co-ChairChris O'Neill (she/her) is a professional actor and playwright who co-founded Two Planks and a Passion Theatre and the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, where she is the Executive Director. |
|
|
Erin Niedermayer, Vice ChairErin has been a community theatre participant since 1992 in both acting and stage management. She is in her second year on the board at Dartmouth Players and currently sits as Treasurer. Erin is pleased to be a Community Theatre representative on the TNS Board. |
|
|
Alex Mills, TreasurerAlex Mills is the Treasurer for The Bus Stop Theatre and has sat on the board of directors since 2016. He has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Dalhousie University and is currently working towards getting a Chartered Professional Accounting Designation. Aside from accounting, Alex plays bass guitar with the band Elektrik Boogaloo and has also played in several musicals by Side-by-Side Productions. More recently, Alex has become involved with producing by working with Jake Planinc and Chelsea Dickie to create and run Matchstick Theatre. |
|
|
Logan Robins, Co-SecretaryLogan (he/him) is a Halifax-based director, actor, puppeteer, and writer. Since graduating from the Fountain School of Performing Arts in the spring of 2019, he has trained as a puppeteer at the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, worked as an actor with Theatre Baddeck, as a producer with Theatre du Poulet, and as a director and founder of The Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company. Currently, Logan is working on creating an anthology play called “Forest Town”, which will premiere in late February 2020. He is passionate about collaboration and community building within the arts, the bridge between science and theatre, and finding innovative ways for artists to tell important stories about the world around them. His (proverbial) door is always open and he loves talking about theatre. |
Directors
|
|
David Zinck, Co-SecretaryDavid Zinck is an art educator who works for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE). He currently serves as the Fine Arts Department Head for the Halifax Regional Arts, a supplementary funded school under the HRCE. As a high school drama teacher, David has been involved in more than 21 theatrical productions and has proudly brought students to the Nova Scotia High School Drama Festival for more than 20 years. He is a past board member of Eastern Front Theatre and currently serves as Vice President and Conference Chair for the Education Drama Association of Nova Scotia (EDANS), a professional association under the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. As a performer, David is a 3 time Halifax Slam Poetry team member who represented Halifax in the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Ottawa, Victoria, and here at home in Halifax. David is also a high school coach for the Canadian Improv Games and has attended the Canadian Improv Games National Festival several times. David is Dartmouth-born and Dartmouth proud. |
|
|
Kirandeep KaurKiran is the artistic director and co-founder of Hustlers Theatre company, a new and fresh initiative to tell cross-cultural stories from across the globe. After graduating from Asmita Theatre Company, New Delhi with a diploma in Street play and socio-political theatre, she worked with the theatre company for 4 years in the capacity of an actor as well as director. She has acted in several plays over the years: Chukayenge Nahi, Court Martial, Macbeth, Refugee, Amritsar Aa Gaya, Ramkali, and The last Salute; for many, she has received awards and accolades.Post my move to Nova Scotia, Kiran has collaborated with the local theatre community for various projects viz Peachy Keen Short Plays with The Bus Stop Theatre, The Knight of Pestle with Villians Theatre, Character mask workshop with Theatre du Poulet, Drinking Game with Dapopo Theatre Company, Students Playwrights Play reading with Theatre Nova Scotia. Kiran has also acted in "Dearg" and "The Tales of the man who whispered to the flowers" both award-winning short films at the Atlantic Film festival 2018. Most recently, Kiran shot for a principal part of a Nova Scotia Indie feature called 'Surface Tension'. These days, Kiran has been focusing on writing and developing content for Hustlers Theatre company. |
|
|
Kristi WenausKristi is the owner and principal of Stagecoach Halifax - Performing Arts School for Children. Theatre has been in Kristi's blood since she first started "performing" at her parent's dinner parties when she was 5 years old. As a performing arts student all through her youth, she continued her education into college, studying Theatre Arts at Dalhousie University, eventually working as a singer and an actress in film and on stage and travelling the world. She eventually returned home to Nova Scotia to raise her family and her professional focus switched to International Business Development and Marketing in the tourism and hospitality field. Her passion for the theatre never died through and she is thrilled to be bringing her business management skills and commitment to children's performing arts education to the board of Theatre Nova Scotia. |
|
|
Franziska GlenFranziska Glen is an actor, puppeteer and theatre maker living in K'jipuktuk (Halifax). She is co-artistic director of Gale Force Theatre and performed in their inaugural show Crypthand, for the 2019 Halifax Fringe Festival. After completing three international tours with Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia's show The Rainbow Fish, Franziska spent the summer of 2019 at Bread and Puppet as an apprentice puppeteer for their circus and pageant shows. Recently she spent the summer of 2020 developing outdoor shows to be performed during the time of Covid. These include Late Night Radio with the North Barn Theatre Collective and A Tale On Two Wheels with Gale Force Theatre.Franziska also works and creates in French. She is currently developing Satellite Théâtre's newest show and directed Antioche for Théâtre DesAssimilés. |
|
|
Elsa PihlGrowing up just outside of Stratford, Ontario, Elsa was exposed to theatre at a young age. For post-secondary education, she decided to pursue Theatre Studies at Acadia University because of their unique program that provided training and hands-on experience in all aspects of theatre. After graduation, she moved to Toronto and began a career as a Stage Manager. Twelve years, four moves and two children later, the East Coast called her and her family back. Elsa feels like the combination of her stage management experience, various retail jobs, and parenthood helped to prepare her for her current role as General Manager at Eastern Front Theatre. Elsa is eager to get involved with TNS’s board and help the organization evolve into the future. |
 |
Reema FullerReema is a leader and community builder. She has over 20 years’ experience in non-profit management and philanthropy across the charitable sector including education, healthcare, international development, politics, and arts & culture. Most recently, she worked as Managing Director for Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre, where she led the organization through an expansion of partnerships and audience outreach, growth in sponsorships and fundraising, and navigating the COVID crisis while ensuring a strong financial footing. Reema is passionate about the power of arts in building community and effecting social change, and she is proud to work with a team of like-minded, talented, and dedicated colleagues and artists towards this goal. Having previously lived and worked in Ontario, she currently resides in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, with her husband and their eleven-year old twins. Reema is fluent in three languages – English, Hindi, and Punjabi. In 2019, she was recognized by Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) as one of twenty second-generation immigrants making an impact on the social and cultural fabric of the province. |
 |
Ingrid RiskIngrid (she/her) has enjoyed a richly varied production career which has led her to take on a variety of roles such as stage manager, designer, technical director, production manager, prop builder, technician, and carpenter. Ingrid has helped shape venue design, curated arts-theatre spaces, taught theatre stagecraft courses at StFX University, and mentored young professionals. Ingrid has worked with many leading Atlantic theatre companies. She has toured extensively, taking productions to venues nationally and internationally, from Labrador to the Yukon to NYC, including several stops at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and the Cultural Olympiad at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Before returning to FAST as production manager, Ingrid’s focus had been on lighting design and stage management where she has received countless nominations for her work, and is the recipient of several Theatre Nova Scotia Merritt Awards. Her passion is for spare, interesting, and meaningful pieces of theatre that convey important ideas about the human experience. |
| photo coming soon! |
Ryan Sadler |
