The Seafarer

CAST & CREW

Paul Gross - Mr. Lockhart

Over a 45 year career Paul has performed on stages across the country, most recently as King Lear at the Stratford Festival and starring in Private Lives on Broadway. Film/TV: Internationally known for Due South and Slings and Arrows, he has produced, written, directed, and/or starred in a number of other films and series including the hit-films Passchendaele, Men with Brooms, Hyena Road and more recently, Tales of the City. Awards (selected): Order of Canada, Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, Honorary Doctorate (York University), Distinguished Alumni (University of Alberta) and multiple Dora and CSA awards. With thanks to WH.



Christopher Hunt - Richard Harkin

Christopher is thrilled to be onboard The Seafarer with such a powerhouse team of new and old friends. For ATP: over 25 productions, including The Wedding Party, 1979, Stones In His Pockets, Two Weeks With The Queen. Elsewhere: Selma Burke, Little Women (Theatre Calgary); The Immaculate Perfection… (High Performance Rodeo, BodyCube Arts Collective), Sleuth (Vertigo Theatre), Resident Aliens (Theatre New Brunswick), Driving Miss Daisy (Stage West), Gilgamesh Lazyboy (One Yellow Rabbit), Waiting For Godot (Black Radish Theatre), Flight Risk (Lunchbox Theatre), The Ballad of Weedy Peetstraw (Caravan Farm Theatre). Film/TV: Things I Know To Be True, Heartland, Caitlin’s Way, Shanghai Noon, You Know My Name. Awards: Christopher received the 2018 Harry and Martha Cohen Award for his significant and sustained contribution to the Calgary theatre community. He’s also the recipient of eight of Calgary’s Betty Mitchell Awards for his acting.



Chirag Naik - Nicky Giblin

Chirag Naik is a South Asian theatre, film and voice actor who’s worked across Canada. He was born and raised in Calgary and is always happy to return for work (and family). He is pleased to be making his ATP debut. Most recently he just completed his run at Bard on the Beach where he played the titular role of Hamlet. In film you may recognize him from hit shows like Upload or Rogue. Or perhaps you have heard him voice one of your children’s favorite cartoon TV shows such as Strawberry Shortcake or Polly Pocket. However, the theatre will always hold a very special place in his heart and he thanks you for being here.



Shaun Smyth - James "Sharky" Harkin

For ATP: Playing with Fire: The Theo Fleury Story, Stones In His Pockets, A Guide to Mourning, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, Mad Boy Chronicles. Shaun was born in Glasgow, Scotland and raised in Calgary, Alberta. He graduated from the BFA Acting program at the University of Alberta and has been acting professionally for nearly 30 years, garnering multiple theatre nominations and awards. Shaun began his career at the
Stratford Shakespeare Festival, moved to Toronto and has performed in close to one hundred Film & TV projects and over sixty Theatre productions across Canada, the US and Internationally. Most recently Shaun co-created a new musical Beautiful Scars with Order of Canada recipient Tom Wilson which recently had its’ world premiere at Theatre Aquarius. The play has been shortlisted for the 2024 Playwrights Guild of Canada Tom Hendry new Musical award. Shaun recently moved back to Calgary with his wife Jennie and three children, Maggie, Iona and Tom. They are all excited to be part of the next chapter for this great city. In addition to his artists path, Shaun is also a successful Realtor with CIR, he believes deeply in housing for all. Shaun currently sits on the board of PAL Calgary (Performing Arts Lodge) a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to championing affordable housing for artists. Selected Film & TV: Suits, Fringe, The Killing, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time In
Wonderland, Arrow, Witches of East End, Almost Human, Alert, Heartland, The Silencing, Hot
Zone, Murdoch Mysteries, Hudson and Rex, Pit Pony. Selected Theatre: Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest ( Theatre Calgary; The Pillowman, Rock n’ Roll, Closer, Trainspotting (Canadian Stage); The Chet Baker Project (Crows Toronto), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Birdland Toronto), Hamlet (Necessary Angel Toronto), Glass Menagerie, Shining City (Citadel Edmonton); Macbeth, Amadeus, Moby Dick (Stratford Festival); The Galileo Project (Tafelmusik Australia & New Zealand, Walt Disney Theatre LA, New York, multi city US tour).



David Trimble - Ivan Curry

David was last seen at ATP in The Black Bonspiel Of Wullie Macrimmon. Past ATP credits include: Unity 1918 and Mick Unplugged directed by the late great Gina Wilkinson. Other selected theater credits include; To Kill A Mocking Bird, Councillor At Law, Our Town, Jake and The Kid, Saint Joan, Streetcar Named Desire, Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre Calgary); Blue Surge, Shopping and Fu**king, Steel Kiss, Bash, The Pillowman (Ground Zero); Ivanov, The Misanthrope, Arcadia, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Possible Worlds (Theater Junction); Lion In The Streets, Trainspotting, Drinking In America (Betty Mitchell Award), True West (Sage Theatre). Selected Film and TV Credits: Damnation, Forsaken, Brokeback Mountain, Heartland, Hell on Wheels, Fargo (The Series), Broken Trails, Joe Pickett, Retail, Wynonna Erp, The Abandons, One Night in Aberdeen where David Won An AMPIA for best actor in a lead role. Truly want to thank ATP, Peter and Haysam for this opportunity, to work alongside such a stellar Team! Deep appreciation. This is for you Grayce!



Conor McPherson - Playwright

Conor McPherson is a playwright and screenwriter who was named by The New York Times as ‘the finest playwright of his generation’. Conor won the George Devine Award in 1997 with his play St Nicholas, and went on to win an Olivier Award for Best New Play in 1999 with his follow-up, The Weir. In 2006 he received a Tony Award nomination for Shining City and an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play for The Seafarer. In 2011 he wrote and directed The Veil for the National Theatre and in 2012 he adapted Strindberg’s The Dance of Death for the Donmar Trafalgar Season. The Night Alive premièred at the Donmar in June 2013 and transferred to the Atlantic Theater in New York in November 2013. Conor also writes for film and in 2008 he began production on The Eclipse, which marked his debut as a screen director. The Eclipse was adapted by Conor from a ghost story by Billy Roche and stars Aidan Quinn and Ciaran Hinds. He also developed Strangers for Number 9 Films based on the novel by Taichi Yamada. Conor is currently working on the screenplay Double Cross for Paul Greengrass. His original television drama Paula, developed with Cuba Pictures and BBC NI for BBC2, aired in May 2017 to brilliant reviews. The Girl from the North Country, with music from Bob Dylan, had its world premiere at the Old Vic theatre in 2017, transferred to the West End in 2018 and arrived on Broadway in 2020. Conor currently has several projects in development, including a film adaptation of Girl From The North Country with Blueprint Pictures/New Regency.



Peter Pasyk - Director

Peter is an acclaimed theatre director who has worked with Canada’s leading theatre companies including Stratford Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Tarragon Theatre, Soulpepper, and Canadian Stage. In 2022, Peter directed the flagship production of Hamlet at the Stratford Festival. Peter has directed several world premières including Jordan Tannahill’s Late Company (Theatre Centre). Peter’s Dora-nominated productions include The Nether, Killer Joe, Dying City, When the World Was Green and The Jones Boy. Film & TV: Peter is also a filmmaker, working in both Canada and Poland. He co-wrote one of Poland’s highest grossing feature films: Planeta Singli (Planet Single). His new short film The Understudy (theunderstudyfilm.com) is currently playing film festivals around the world, and was just awarded Best International Short Film at the Montana International Film Festival. Other: Peter dedicates this production to his cousin Michael who has always helped him face the devil.



Steven Conde - Assistant Director

Steven is a theatre director and actor from the Philippines. He has been involved in the arts industry for almost 20 years, mainly acting in musicals and directing for various professional companies and organizations in Manila and parts of Asia. He recently finished his MFA in Directing from the University of Calgary where he directed productions of A Monster Calls and Shakespeare in Love. In Calgary, he has also recently formed the first Filipino Canadian theatre company in Alberta called the FlipSide Theatre Collective which was launched through the original Filipino musical Good As Gold. FlipSide Theatre has opened up avenues for more Filipino representation in Calgary’s stages and has enabled the community to discover untapped Fil- Canadian talent in Calgary and across Alberta. Prior to coming to Canada, he was assistant director to director Bobby Garcia for the Singapore and Manila productions of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street featuring Tony winner Lea Salonga and was also assistant directing the Southeast Asian premiere of The Band’s Visit. He also directed musicals such as Sideshow, Once Upon a Mattress, Madagascar the Musical, Rent Jr. and acted in Asian premiers of musicals such as Aladdin, Kinky Boots, Waitress, Jersey Boys, The Bridges of Madison County, Matilda, The Producers, Ghost the Musical, Shrek the Musical, etc. He has directed and artistic produced the touring production of the University of Calgary’s children’s theatre troupe Wagonstage and is set to direct the Arts Commons’ Amplify Series for emerging artists and Storybook Theatre’s Kensuke’s Kingdom.



Jane MacFarlane - Dialect Coach

For ATP: The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon, Selma Burke, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Last Wife, E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, Fortune Falls, The Circle, Venus In Fur, The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Toad of Toad Hall, The Highest Step in the World, Unity 1918, That Elusive Spark, The Syringa Tree, Vincent in Brixton.
Elsewhere: Jane is the Resident Voice Coach for Theatre Calgary, where she has worked on 85+ productions. She has also worked with Vertigo Theatre, The Shakespeare Company, Lunchbox Theatre and The Citadel Theatre. Jane is on faculty in the Drama Division of the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary.



John Knight - Fight Director

John is a Mokhinstsis/Calgary based theatre artist and educator. He is a Certified Instructor and Fight Director with The Academy of Fight Directors Canada. He is excited to be making his ATP debut. Select Credits Elsewhere: Escape to Margaritaville, Little Women (Theatre Calgary); Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson Apt 2B, The Girl on the Train, Sleuth (Vertigo Theatre); Carmen, Filomena (Calgary Opera); Proving Up (Ammolite Opera), Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar (The Shakespeare Company); Between Us (Handsome Alice), Hookman (Chromatic Theatre & SCPA), Shakespeare in Love, A Monster Calls, Illegal Entry, This is War (UofC, SCPA); No One’s Safe (Banff Centre & Against the Grain), Wolf on the Ringstrasse, Fifteen Minute Hamlet & All In The Timing, A Streetcar Named Desire (Spirit Fire Theatre). He thanks Eva for all of her love and support.



Hanne Loosen - Set & Props Design

Hanne is a set and costume designer living and working in Calgary. She grew up in Belgium. Before her move to the beautiful prairies, Hanne was mainly working in opera where she gained traditional experience at some major repertory houses in Europe as well as in the experimental opera laboratories of Berlin. In Calgary, she has realized many collaborations with ATP, as well as with Theatre Calgary, Vertigo Theatre, The Shakespeare Company, Verb Theatre, Calgary Opera, Rosebud Theatre and others. Outside of Calgary, she is a regular guest at the Shaw Festival and she is excited to be part of their 2025 season once more. Her design work can be viewed online at hanneloosen.com



Ralamy Kneeshaw - Costume Design

Ralamy is honoured to be part of ATP’s 50th Anniversary Season. For ATP: Teenage Dick. Recent credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Shakespeare Company), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Vertigo Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre Calgary), Fresh Hell (Fire Exit), Screwball Comedy (Stagewest), Much Ado About Nothing (CYPT), The Ballad of Georges Boivin (Lunchbox Theatre), Waiting for Godot (Black Radish Theatre). Ralamy is deeply grateful to have sailed on this ship with these beautiful, very talented souls. Special thanks to the wonderful Caroline Broadly, Head of Wardrobe at ATP, and breakdown artist Susan Montalbetti. Ralamy is most grateful to Hugh Short, her partner in all things, who is her brilliant illustrator. She dedicates this work to those who offer safe harbour in a storm… síocháin.



Anton deGroot - Lighting Design

Anton is a set, light and sound designer based here in Calgary, and an occasional instructor of all-things scenography at the U of C. He is very pleased to be returning to the Martha Cohen Theatre after seven years, especially with this team and on this show. Here at ATP, you may have seen (or heard) his work previously on The Circle, Cockroach, Charlotte’s Web (twice), Waiting for the Parade. Elsewhere: A Christmas Carol, The Importance of Being Earnest, Noises Off! (Theatre Calgary); Heist, Clue, Nine Dragons, Misery, The Thin Man, Whispers in the Dark (Vertigo); GIANT, Struck (Ghost River); Treasure Island, HMS Pinafore, Brontë: The World Without (Stratford Festival); Jersey Boys, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Mamma Mia!, Chapter Two (Stage West); Countries Shaped Like Stars, Peril in Paris, The Ballad of Georges Boivin (Lunchbox). Up Next: Liars at a Funeral here at ATP, Please Return to Empire Video at Lunchbox, and The DaVinci Code with Vertigo. All the love to Meg, Rosa, Tilly, and Arnie.



Kathryn Smith - Sound Design

Kathryn Smith is a queer and trans theatre creator who has worked across Canada for the last 10 years. Kathryn is the artistic director of Verb Theatre and they are also a part of the Mudfoot Theatre Collective which focuses on sustainable artistic practices. Select Sound Design credits: For ATP: The F Word (with Downstage), Selma Burke (with Theatre Calgary). Elsewhere: Merry Wives of Windsor (Theatre Calgary); inVISIBLE, inVISIBLE TOO (Handsome Alice); Safe Site Sessions, Bottle Picker Monologues (Downstage Theatre); Sharkbite (Lunchbox Theatre), Yabber: A Folk Opera (Mudfoot Theatre). Select directing credits: For ATP: Undressed. Elsewhere: Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Murder In the Studio (Vertigo Theatre); USS Artemis (Boathaus Studios), A Chitenge Story, inVISIBLE Too (Handsome Alice Theatre); Care Takers, Countries Shaped Like Stars (Lunchbox Theatre); Bright Half Life (Persephone Theatre), We’re Gonna Die (Verb Theatre). Kathryn is also an award winning singer songwriter/sound designer under the name KP Smith. Much love to Lara and Scout the GSD.



Donna Sharpe - Stage Manager

Donna is an Alberta-based stage manager, who enjoys working in opera, dance, and musical theatre, as well as program management and new performance creation. She has collaborated with both seasoned and early career artists doing local, Canadian and world premieres. Donna has worked as a faculty member, stage manager, and mentor at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and as Manager of the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts. Selected company credits include, Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Alberta Theatre Projects, Vertigo Theatre, Rainbow Stage, Downstage, The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, Opera on the Avalon and Theatre Calgary. Donna last stage managed for Alberta Theatre Projects in their 2023 production of Teenage Dick, and now looks forward to continued creation with old friends and new.



Michael Luong - Assistant Stage Manager

For ATP: Debut. Elsewhere: The Ballad of George Boivin, Raising Stanley/ Life with Tulia (Lunchbox Theatre); As You Like It, Little Women, Million Dollar Quartet (Theatre Calgary); Sleuth, Misery (Vertigo). Michael is Calgary-based stage manager with a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the University of Calgary. He is excited to be coming to ATP for his first time. When not in theatre he enjoys building puzzles or playing video games. Michael would like to thank his Fiancé for their constant support.