IGNITE Program

Alexandra Miller
Playwright, The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worm 
Ali Miller is a playwright, actor and dancer living in Calgary, Alberta. She is an accomplished student and participant in her high school’s drama program. “The Rabbit, the Water and the Worms” is her second play to be produced.

Marin MacKenzie
Director, The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worm 
Marin MacKenzie is a young artist and storyteller. She has had the pleasure of participating in multiple high school theatre productions as a technical designer, actor, and director. Her most recent acting role was as Lord Capulet in her school’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Along with theatre and performing arts, Marin is passionate about written and visual arts, where she likes to experiment with pushing artistic boundaries to create works with a very unique style. Marin is thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with so many talented actors and tech designers on all her directing and acting projects, especially with her most recent directing project “The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worms”.

Emily Haley
Playwright, The Unkindness of Ghosts
Emily Haley is an eighteen-year-old amateur playwright, author, and poet. She is an active member of the drama program at her local high school and has taken part in several of their productions as a playwright, director, and actor. Outside of school she studies piano with the Royal Conservatory of Music and has participated in several city-wide competitions. She loves imagining worlds slightly different to our own and is often found reading fantasy books in dim light with a cup of tea. In the future, she hopes to continue pursuing her writing, and eventually have a career as an author. The Unkindness of Ghosts is her first play to be produced.

Sylviane Allard
Director, The Unkindness of Ghosts
Sylviane Allard is a young, queer, emerging artist in the theatre industry. They were thrilled to have the opportunity this past year to play the role of Juliet in their school production of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Sylviane has also been involved for the past two years in Dr. E.P. Scarlett’s one act play festival at first as an actor and more recently as an actor, director, and playwright. In their spare time Sylviane continues to work on editing the novel that they wrote during the pandemic and hopes to publish soon. They are a writer inspired by the desire to understand the inner motivations of the characters that they have brought to life both on the page and on the stage. This coming fall they look forward to continuing to explore all the aspects of their art form as they attend the University of Calgary, majoring in drama.

Brianna Newman
Choreographer, The Unkindness of Ghosts
Brianna Newman is an 18-year-old who lives in Calgary Alberta. She has had over a decade of competitive dance experience with The Dance Factory and has worked on choreography within her studio. Brianna is experienced in many styles of dance including but not limited to Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Modern and Tap. She has had the wonderful privilege of attending multiple competitions throughout her dance career, including representing Canada at the international level for tap dance and competing in the IDO world competition. She has worked with world-renowned choreographers such as Lisa la Touche, Tasha Lawson and Katie Sawka. As well as being a dancer Brianna is also a talented actor that has taken part in many productions such as Unity 1918, Romeo and Juliet and many smaller productions. She has worked as an understudy covering parts, as well as had experience in main roles. Brianna is classically trained in voice and currently has her grade 8 in RCM music for vocal training. She has competed in many competitions such as CPA within Calgary. Brianna is scheduled to attend Sheridan College with the class of 2027 for an Honors Bachelor in Music Theater in Ontario in which she will receive more extensive training within the performing arts.

Cast:

• Rachel Benson | Rachel Benson is a 17 year old student at Dr Ep Scarlett Highschool. An aspiring nurse and passionate actor, they are always busy with working hard toward these goals. She played a total of six characters in student written plays, a character in a student written commercial, and most recently the roles of Paris and Juliet’s understudy in Romeo and Juliet. Additionally, she also was in Alberta Ballets, The Nutcracker twice. In her spare time you can find them reading or scanning medical textbooks. The oldest of four children and a loving giant St. Bernard, she is an expert at organized chaos. They spend most of her time in the theatre, organizing props, practicing monologues, or learning small technical team tricks.
  
  
• Marshall Gazaille | Marshal Gazaille is a student at Dr. E.P. Scarlett high school. He has been in the theatre department there since the start of his high school career. He’s worked as a part of the technical team for the winter main stage plays at Scarlett and has acted in both one act festivals during the spring. He also stage managed a few one acts last year and including, First day which went on to perform at ignite last year. This Ignite festival, Marshal is back and he’s excited to to move from the tech booth to the stage but thankful to know his way around the space already. Besides theatre Marshal has also contributed to the track and field department at Scarlett, representing the school at a provincial competition where he was given a pin for recognition of sportsmanship. His friends at school jokingly call him the drama jock as he excels in both programs. He’s a hardworking student and an asset to each project he’s involved with. 
  
  
• Cristiana Ursu | Hi I’m Cristiana Ursu, I am 16 years old, I recently started acting this year in my schools One Act Festival. Although this was my first time acting it was really fun, it was wonderful to get to know my cast members, I really enjoyed my time and would love to have the opportunity to continue with this passion! As well as acting, I also do costumes and light tech for the plays, I am also an artist and enjoy to paint, read, I love nature and I dirt bike with my family.
  
  
• Kylie Klob | Ever since the 4th grade, Kylie Klob has fallen in love with the art of acting. At the young age of 9, when she was cast as the lead role in The Little Match Girl, showcased by First Alliance Church, she aspired to learn and grow as an actor, and continue to involve herself in productions. She has continued to be a part of numerous plays and musicals at FAC, David Thompson School, as well as the production Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat with Painted Fish Theatre Company. She has especially enjoyed rehearsing and preparing for her most recent production, The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worms, and is absolutely thrilled to be able to share it this year at IGNITE!

Crew:

• Sophia Longinotti, Stage Manager | Hi I’m Sophia! I’ve been Assistant Stage Managing and Stage Managing for 2 years at Dr EP Scarlet High School. I am an avid theatre lover and share a passion for the arts with my very talented peers. 

Cast:

• Rachel Benson, Zephyr | Rachel Benson is a 17 year old student at Dr Ep Scarlett Highschool. An aspiring nurse and passionate actor, they are always busy with working hard toward these goals. She played a total of six characters in student written plays, a character in a student written commercial, and most recently the roles of Paris and Juliet’s understudy in Romeo and Juliet. Additionally, she also was in Alberta Ballets, The Nutcracker twice. In her spare time you can find them reading or scanning medical textbooks. The oldest of four children and a loving giant St. Bernard, she is an expert at organized chaos. They spend most of her time in the theatre, organizing props, practicing monologues, or learning small technical team tricks. 
  
  
• Will Nichols, Ghost | Based in Calgary, 16 year old artist and actor Will Nichols has had an interest in performance all his life. Growing up in Louisiana, live music was a big part of his life and the theatrical elements and performance of it always stuck out, becoming a big inspiration for him. Performing for a live audience was something he became very familiar with through participating in piano recitals ever since the age of six. Despite his passion for performance, he never had the opportunity to act in a play, professionally or otherwise until entering high school, where he quickly found his place in the high school drama scene. He has since acted in two plays and is excited to perform again in the ignite festival.
  
  
• Elyanna Bouma, Asa | Elyanna Bouma is a hardworking grade 10 student, and a member of the debate club at Dr. E.P. Scarlett high school. Starting in sixth grade, Elyanna involved herself in school theatre productions, and by grade 9 she won Trinity Christian school’s fine arts award. That same year, Elyanna took on the title of grade 9 valedictorian, before going on to make the honour roll in her first year of high school. This year Elyanna played two roles in separate student-written and directed plays as a part of Dr. E.P. Scarlett’s spring one act festival. On top of her love for the arts, she is a passionate show jumper, and has been show jumping for over seven years with a Percheron cross quarter horse named Lily. Elyanna is also fascinated with her favourite school subject, science, and hopes to one day pursue a career as an environmental engineer.
  
  
• Sharmitha Balamurugan, Seren | Sharmitha Balamurugan is a grade 10 honours student who’s been an avid participant in school theatre programs since the third grade. Starting high school off strong, Sharmitha played three roles in different student-written one act plays, one of which went on to perform at UCalgary’s High School Drama Festival this spring. In addition to acting, Sharmitha is an enthusiastic musician. She started to pursue music around the same time she began in drama, starting with piano lessons that blossomed into a love of singing. Going into her second year at Dr. E.P. Scarlet High School, Sharmitha plans to continue acting in school productions and sharing her voice through the school’s choir. 

Crew:

• Alicia Avila Marañon, Stage Manager 
• Mo Fekete,  Lights Technician