MEET THE SWIRLS TEAM:
Harry is an established traditional oil painter who has conducted his art practice in Kingston since moving here in 2005. He has contributed to the Kingston art scene by participating on the City of Kingston’s Art Advisory Committee, and by being involved with collaborations, such as “Your Own Grad School” (The Agitated Plover Salon’s pop-up exhibitions), and Dreamwalker Dance’s “The Whole Shebang”.
Despite the seemingly unending hours that he has spent watching online tutorials, inexplicably, Harry still finds himself somewhat tech-challenged and pondering the relationship between Financial Literacy, Media Literacy and Digital Literacy. While his formal education in Fine Art preceded and set the course of his art practice, it has been his ongoing informal education that has led him now to explore working in VR and AR. He deeply considers where these informal studies could take him.
Anne Marie is a theatre practitioner in Kingston Ontario. As well as running her own theatre company and drama school, Bottle Tree Productions, she supports other artistic endeavours in the community. Most recently, she worked as the Festival Site Manager for the Skeleton Park Arts Festival, and as Stage Manager for Theatre Kingston. She looks forward to a busy year of theatre projects in 2022-23.
Kate is originally from Waterloo, Ontario but resides in Kingston where she is a fifth year drama student at Queen’s University. Kate has been involved in theatre since the age of 4 and has since performed in numerous plays and short films. This led her to a field in Arts Administration where she has worked as an arts administrator at Blue Canoe Theatrical for the past five years and been involved with several arts festivals including acting as Co-Managing Director of the Juvenis Festival (2021-2022) and Associate Producer of Spider Web Show’s Festival of Live Digital Art (2022). In addition to administration and performing, Kate also has experience in costuming, directing, and set painting. She is constantly taking arts classes and workshops across Ontario to hone her craft. When not performing or working on costumes, Kate can be found hanging out with friends or watching the Toronto Maple Leafs game.
Kristen Leboeuf is a theatre creator and administrator currently based in Kingston, Ontario. Coming from a technical background, she finished her undergraduate honours degree in Stage and Screen at Queen’s University and immediately travelled to the Banff Centre to train in Technical Direction (2016). She then spent a few years working as a technician and lighting designer before deciding it wasn’t what she wanted to spend her life doing. Kristen recently graduated from the Master of Arts, Arts Leadership program at Queen’s University (2020) and she is now working towards a career in producing and artistic management of theatre. She currently wears a variety of hats including working as Associate Artistic Producer of the Kingston Theatre Alliance, and Producer for Festival Players.
Jake Runeckles is the XR Producer for Single Thread Theatre Company and the Performance and XR Conference. Jake trained as an actor at George Brown Theatre School, and the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Jake has worked as a playwright, as a producer, and as a musician for companies such as Cahoots Theatre, Clay and Paper Theatre, and Theatre by the Bay. Selected acting credits include The Neverending Story, Henry VIII (Stratford Festival); I and You (Outlook Theatre); The Secret Garden (Young People’s Theatre).
Marcel Stewart is a father, artist, educator, and arts administrator. He is the Artistic Director of b Current Performing Arts Company and an Associate Artist for SpiderWebShow Performance. Artistically, Marcel’s curiosity about history and lineage – beyond the context of colonialism – is at the basis of his work. He is interested in how we got here and where we are going. Marcel is a multi-time Dora nominated actor and has performed in numerous Dora Award-Winning productions. Some acting credits include: The Brothers Size (Soulpepper); The Drawer Boy (Festival Players); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Soulpepper); Father Comes Home From the Wars (Soulpepper); Incident at Vichy (Soulpepper); We Are Proud To Present… (The Theatre Centre); Toronto the Good (Factory Theatre). Marcel has directed the podcast play Toronto Pigeons (Factory Theatre); the digital play Meet Chloe (Carousel Players) and the live theatre production of Serving Elizabeth (Thousand Islands Playhouse). He was a member of the Soulpepper Academy and completed the Theatre Enhancement Program (as a Directing Foreman) through Factory Theatre. Marcel is honoured to have been a playwright in residence at b Current, as well as the RBC Emerging Playwright at Studio 180 where he developed a theatrical audio piece loosely based on his dad’s life in Jamaica. Inspired by d’bi Young Anitafrika, Marcel often returns to the questions: Who am I? How am I? What is my purpose?
Twitter: @marcystews
IG: Marcy2Hollywood
Liam Karry is the Artistic Producer of the Kingston Theatre Alliance. He is also the founding and current Artistic Director of Single Thread Theatre Company, and the Artistic Producer of the Kick & Push Festival, which he co-founded in 2015. He works primarily as a director, producer, and dramaturge. He has trained at Queen’s University, Director’s Lab North, Tarragon Theatre and with Punchdrunk Enrichment in the UK. Recent directing credits include The Flick by Annie Baker, as well as Ambrose and Unless, two original immersive theatrical experiences staged in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Kingston Theatre Alliance, Single Thread Theatre Company, and SpiderWebShow have generously offered their expertise and support for our work at Swirls. We value their help and we are thankful.