ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
BESSIE WAPP
Co-Artistic Director of Twin Fish, Bessie Wapp was a founder and principle artist with Mortal Coil, a multi-disciplinary performance company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Bessie has acted as Artistic Director for the company and performed, written, directed and toured internationally with Mortal Coil since 1996. She has training in physical theatre and is a stilt walker as well as a vocalist and accordion player. She has appeared in many Vancouver productions as a performer and musician with companies such as Radix, Touchstones and Ruby Slippers. Her most recent projects include “Letters from Lithuania,” a site-specific play produced by Mortal Coil in Vancouver in August 2008 and the one woman show, “Hello, I Must Be Going.” She recently tried her hand at opera, playing Orfeo in the opera Orfeus and Euridice. She relocated back to Nelson, her hometown, in 2006.
ASSOCIATE ARTISTS
NICOLA HARWOOD
Co-Artistic Director of Twin Fish, Nicola Harwood, BFA, MFA, is the recipient of numerous awards including various Canada Council grants, playwriting awards and writing residencies. From 1986 to 1991, Nicola was Artistic Director of Theatre Energy of Nelson, B.C. a professional, rural-based theatre company that developed actor-driven collective works for main-stage and school audiences. Since then, she has taught creative writing and drama for major theatres and arts organization in the Bay Area including the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Magic Theatre, The Museum of Children’s Art, and the East Bay Centre for the Performing Arts. As well, she has taught at San Francisco State University, San Francisco High School of the Arts, the University of Victoria and Selkirk College. Nicola has made theatre with communities ranging from inner city youth, to new immigrants to queer youth, to seniors, loggers, environmentalists and witches. She relocated back to Nelson in 2002 where she is currently director of the artist-run, Oxygen Art Centre.
PATRICK THOMPSON
Patrick is a Canadian born graffiti artist and painter who has exhibited internationally and worked on walls throughout North and Central America, Europe and Asia. Thompson has been involved in Canadian graffiti since 1994 and is highly esteemed for pushing the boundaries of street art by his peers. Often put into the "Canadian School" of street artists including Troy Lovegates, Labrona, and Thesis Sahib, a group of artists known for their improvisations and openness towards mistakism. In January 2009 he created an installation for the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
TERRY BRENNAN
A Nelson resident since 1992, Terry has a strong interest in the place where people and technology meet. This leads him to doing a great deal of explaining and training in his work. He has been able to work on these skills for a number of years as a technician and manager at Kootenay Cooperative Radio and the Capitol Theatre. Terry’s principal creative outlet is radio. For the past four years he has been one of the hosts of Drone - a weekly radio exploration of experimental radio, sound art and live improvised soundscapes.
ASSOCIATE ARTISTS
DON MACDONALD
Don MacDonald’s composition credits include music for theatre, dance, published vocal arrangements and forays into everything from jazz and electronica to avant garde classical music. He has scored music for films featured at all the major film festivals and in 2000 his score for Cannes Film Festival winner "Shoes Off" was recognized as "one of the most compelling original scores attached to any Canadian film, ever..." (Vancouver, Province). His evocative scores continue to gain special awards in the industry including five Leo nominations and two Genie nominations. In 2006 he scored the feature film “Fido” starring Carrie Anne Moss (The Matrix) distributed by Lions Gate. The score was recorded in Prague with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and went on the be nominated for Genie award. He is currently a composition instructor at the Selkirk
College Music Program in Nelson, B.C. See: donmacdonaldmusic.com
BRAHM TAYLOR
Brahm Taylor has worked on stages across
Canada and the world. He toured with the internationally acclaimed Canadian Stage production of “The Overcoat” in such places as London, England, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and San Francisco. He toured Canada with the Dance Arts show “Ice: Beyond Cool,” he has worked at the Caravan Farm Theatre in the production “Joan Henry,” and had the pleasure of playing the role of Hart in the Western Canada Theatre’s production of “Unity 1918.” Brahm was nominated for a Jessie Richardson award for best supporting actor in his first show out of theatre school “I Hate You Before Mondays,” and won a Jessie for ensemble performance with The Overcoat. Brahm is a graduate of Studio 58. He recently relocated to Nelson, BC.
LISEL FORST
Lisel trained with Studio 58’s renowned drama program, UVic’s theatre department, and respected acting connoisseur Scott Swan. This exceptional actress’ highlights include “Sylvia”, “Romeo & Juliet,” and “Joan of Arc”. She and her comic foil, Robyn Lamb, created and toured "Les Ms." their hit two-woman version of a certain Broadway musical, to great acclaim to the Calgary and Victoria 2008 Fringe Theatre Festivals.
MICHAEL GRAHAM
Actor / Writer Michael Graham owns and operates the Livingroom Theatre in Nelson B.C. Originally housed in a deteriorating heritage apartment situated above the main street of the city, the forty seat Livingroom theatre now occupies a converted garage in a back alley. Previous to the Livingroom, Michael worked as a performer, designer and stage manager with Theatre Energy, Vancouver Moving Theatre, Rebound Dance Collective, Winter Theatre, and New World Theatre, Luxembourg.
Set Design for LOCO PHANTASMO by PATRICK THOMPSON
