2009 COMPETITION WINNERS

Greg has been an actor for over 20 years. Performances have included: Hedwig, Hedwig + the Angry Inch (Hoarse Raven); Mr Mayor, Seussical! (Carousel); a season at Bard on the Beach; and most recently, Malcolm in Patrick Street Productions' The Full Monty. It wasn't until he began documenting his experiences as an ensemble member of the world's most expensive (and over-produced) musical, The Lord of the Rings, that his writing began to reach an audience. The Hobbit Lett Verdaers were originally sent home to a small circle of friends. By the time the show closed (much earlier than anticipated), the letters were being read from Vancouver to Abu Dhabi. Currently, Greg is applying the same format of turning his life into entertainment in The Tumour Cycle, his first attempt at blogging, which explores what life is like after the diagnosis of a benign tumour just next door to his brain.

Rosemary is a playwright and blogger who's pretty sure Anne of Green Gables turned her gay. Rose's most recent credits include co-curating and hosting Anne Made Me Gay: When Kindred Spirits Get Naked at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre; writing Cradle-Robbing Cougar for Workshop West's Loud n' Queer Cabaret; co-authoring Urban Tales 10: BiFurious! for Northern Light Theatre and writing/performing The Diary of Rachel Keyes, Klondyke Nurse for the Hysteria Festival at Buddies. She was the playwright-in-residence at Buddies in 2006/07 and is a veteran of several Fringe festivals from Montreal to Vancouver. Rose thinks she has a BFA in Directing from York University, but refuses to pay her totally bogus library fine to find out.

Donnard MacKenzie is a first year doctoral student at UBC in Language and Literacy, bringing with him over fifteen years in theatre as an actor/indy producer with many westocoat companies. He is the co-founder of the Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival and CineVic Society of Independent Filmmakers. Donnard's been nominated for a Jessie for outstanding production of Blue Dragons with his project-based company Origins Theatre Projects. A recent MFA graduate of UBC's Creative Writing program, he's also been published in Inside Entertainment for cultural affairs and more recently in UBC's Wreck Magazine. Plays he's produced combine an interest in social justice issues with a view for original, lyrical and entertaining theatre. His research interests include arts based inquiry, creative non-fiction and the intersections of identity and auto/biography in playwriting. He loves the beach and open ocean swimming.

Paulo is an actor, writer, dramaturg and director. After graduating from SFU`s School for the Contemporary Arts, he went on to co-found and co-artistic direct two independent companies in Vancouver: Shifting Point and Screaming Flea. His fondest dramaturgical work was on Screaming Flea`s, This Room Is Moving, a multiple Jessie nominee. He was also a contributing writer and dramaturg for several original creations including Boca Del Lupo`s The Last Stand, Seventeenth Floor`s Living Room, and Shifting Point`s See Jane Run. Selected directing credits include Men of The World (UpInTheAir), Sshhh (Seventeenth Floor) and Tying the Knot (Screaming Flea). Some of Paulo's favourite acting roles were Victor in Thir$ty (Headlines), Casilly in Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read By Geologists (Screaming Flea) and Orson Welles in War of the Worlds (Rumble), for which he was nominated for a Jessie. He has appeared in several locally shot TV programs including DaVinci's Inquest, Intelligence and Psych. Paulo is currently developing several new plays, including the premiere of The Rattlesnake Run, as part of The Walking Fish Festival this June.

Claire’s one-act plays have been featured in festivals from coast to coast. Her recent Fringe Festival productions include One Man Romeo & Juliet (2008), Petr’s Boy (2006) and Jericho in the Morning Light (2005).