Set Designer Scott Penner
Written by Sophia Fabiilli
Director Dennis Garnhum
Costume Designer Alex Amini
Stage Manager Sam Hale
Fuad Ahmed
Lighting Designer Christian Horoszczak
Sound Designer Donovan Seidle
Assistant Stage Manager Frances Bundy
The Company
(in alphabetical order)
Alison Beckwith Mark Crawford
Mary Pitt Jan Alexandra Smith
Liars at a Funeral is produced by permission of the Playwright and Marquis Literacy (Colin Rivers) www.MQlit.ca
Liars at a Funeral was commissioned and developed by the Blyth Festival, and premiered there 2023, directed/dramaturged by Krista Jackson.
The video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.
the cast
(in alphabetical order)
Fuad Ahmed (Cam/Quint)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre: New (CanStage/ RMTC); Anahita’s Republic (Factory Theatre); Small Mouth Sounds (Segal Centre); After Wrestling (Factory Theatre); Shakespeare in Love (RMTC/Citadel); and Disgraced (Citadel). Film/TV: Late Bloomer (Crave); Allegiance (CBC); Murdoch Mysteries (CBC) and the films Christmas Casanova and Stealing Vows. A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Actors Conservatory and a recipient of REEL Canada’s RBC Emerging Artist Award, Fuad is best known for his breakout role as Dr. Ned Patel in the World War II drama BOMB GIRLS (Global). Instagram @syed_fuad_ahmed.
Alison Beckwith (DeeDee/Mia)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre (selected): PING, Paris SK, And So the Siren Sings (Workshops, Tarragon Theatre); Death to the Prometheans (Workshop, Studio 180 Theatre); Appropriate (Coal Mine Theatre, DORA Award - Outstanding Production); A (musical) Midsummer Night’s Dream (Driftwood Theatre); Taking Liberties (Taking Liberties Collective). Alison has a rich classical music background and sings with many musical groups around Toronto, including the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. She is a graduate of George Brown Theatre School. Gratitude to Ryan and the whole Characters team. For Mom, Dad, Bo, and N.
Mark Crawford (Frank/Wayne)
Drayton Entertainment: Eugene Fodor in Crazy for You. Playwright of The Birds and the Bees and The New Canadian Curling Club Other theatre: A Christmas Story, The Musical (Theatre Aquarius); By the Light of a Story (Theatre Orangeville); Chronicles of Sarnia (Blyth Festival); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Mirvish); The Winter’s Tale (Groundling); Bed and Breakfast (Belfry, Arts Club, Globe, GCTC, Centaur, Blyth), and many more at theatres across the country. As one of Canada’s most popular playwrights, Mark’s work has been seen from coast to coast and internationally. He grew up on his family’s farm near Glencoe, and now lives in Stratford. www.markcrawfordplays.com.
Mary Pitt (Mavis)
Drayton Entertainment: Steel Magnolias, The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, It Runs in the Family. Other theatre: Little Women, Too Close to Home, The Bluff, The Beaver Club (Theatre Orangeville); Into the Woods (Canadian Stage & Neptune Theatre); Man of La Mancha, The Miracle Worker, Gypsy (Stratford Festival); Caroline or Change (Acting Up Stage); Bingo Ladies (Port Stanley Festival Theatre & Hudson Village Theatre); A Second Helping (Victoria Playhouse); Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir (Gravenhurst Opera House); Quiet! I’m Talking (Sudbury Theatre Centre). Mary also performs in feature films and television.
Jan Alexandra Smith (Evelyn/Leorah)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre (Selected): Margaret in Dinner with the Duchess (Crow’s Theatre and Here For Now); Jaques in As You Like It, Tanya in Mamma Mia!, Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Johanna Donnelly in Vigilante (Grand Theatre); Director for God of Carnage and The Mountaintop (Theatre Calgary); Director for The Hollow, Dangerous Corner and Murder on the Nile (Vertigo Theatre); Director of 12 Dinners, Life Without and Take Care (Here For Now); nine seasons with the Citadel Theatre, six seasons with The Shaw Festival.
the creative team
Dennis Garnhum (Director)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre: Dennis was the Artistic Director at The Grand Theatre and Theatre Calgary. Directing highlights include: The Play that Goes Wrong (Citadel Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre); Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird (Citadel / RMTC); Clue (RMTC / Grand) Cabaret, Timothy Findley’s The Wars, (Grand Theatre); world premiere of musical The Little Prince (Theatre Calgary); Barber of Seville (Florida Grand Opera / Opera Lyra / Vancouver Opera); King Lear (Theatre Calgary / Bard on the Beach); Carmen, La Traviata (Pacific Opera); West Side Story (Bangkok University); Stratford Festival (four seasons); Shaw Festival (six seasons). Dennis is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Dennis published his first novel in 2022: Toward Beauty recounts his 830 km walk cross Spain walking the Camino de Santiago (Toward Beauty). @dennisgarnhumauthor.
Scott Penner (Set Designer)*
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre (selected): Job (Broadway, Helen Hayes Theater); Indecent (RMTC); Dion, A Rock Opera (Coalmine); Guys & Dolls (Arts Club); Fireflies, Intimate Apparel (Northlight Chicago); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Flint Rep); Rasheeda Speaking (Jeff Award Nomination, Shattered Globe Chicago); Shirley Valentine, The Extinction Therapist (Theatre Aquarius); Shakespeare’s Will (Indiana Rep); Cymbeline (Stratford); A Raisin in the Sun, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Constellations (APT Wisconsin); Gently Sinking (Prague Quadrennial); Waitress, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Grand); Body Politic, A Few Brittle Leaves (Buddies); Billy Bishop Goes To War, The Drowning Girls (Globe). Scott is a proud member of IATSE Local ADC659.
Alex Amini (Costume Designer)
Drayton Entertainment: Over the River and Through the Woods, Dear Jack, Dear Louise. Other theatre: Kelly v Kelly, Caroline Or Change, The Wild Party (Dora Nominee), Grey Gardens (Dora Nominee), Onegin, Next To Normal (Dora Nominee) (Musical Stage Company); To Life, Gloria: A Life, The Jazz Singer and Brighton Beach Memoirs (The Harold Green Jewish Theatre). As always, thanks to Carmen forever and always.
Christian Horoszczak (Lighting Designer)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre: The Bidding War, Bad Roads (Crow’s Theatre); Doubt: A Parable (Thousand Islands Playhouse); All The Sex I’ve Ever Had – Tokyo, Kyoto, Seoul, Zurich, and Sydney World Pride Editions; Sex, Drugs and Criminality – Riga Edition (Mammalian Diving Reflex); Three Sisters, Entrances and Exits (Howland Company); Kiviuq Returns (Qaggiavuut!/Banff Centre). Associate lighting design: Mirvish Productions, Fall For Dance North, Manitoba Theatre Centre, and the Stratford Festival. Christian is the recipient of a Dora Mavor Moore Award in lighting design.
Donovan Seidle (Sound Designer)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre: Composer/SoundDesign for Liars at a Funeral (Citadel Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Associate Music Director for Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games; Audio Provider/Composer for 2011 Pan-Arabian Games (Qatar); Audio Provider for 2020 World Expo (Dubai); commissioned composer by Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Kensington Sinfonia, I Musici de Montréal, Ensemble Midvest (Denmark); Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Kingston Symphony Orchestra, Globalfest International Fireworks Festival. Innumerable projects with long-time collaborator Dave Pierce. Donovan is a graduate of Northwestern University (Chicago, MMus), and serves as one of the concertmasters of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Delighted to work again with Dennis Garnhum!
Sam Hale (Stage Manager)
Drayton Entertainment: Debut. Other theatre: Job (Coal Mine); The Bidding War (Crows); The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Casey and Diana, Death and the King’s Horseman, All’s Well That Ends Well, Little Shop of Horrors (Stratford Festival); Prodigal, Casimir and Caroline, The Wolves, The Home Project, Entrances & Exits, Lemons..., 52 Pick Up, The Glass Menagerie (The Howland Company); Ladies of the Canyon, Detroit, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Picture This, Parfumerie, Riverboat (Soulpepper); Jerusalem, Mr. Burns (Outside the March); Welcome Ceremony for the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver. Sam also serves as a stage management mentor at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Frances Bundy (Assistant Stage Manager)
Drayton Entertainment: Kinky Boots. Other theatre: Goblin: Macbeth (Spontaneous Theatre/Citadel); A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The ‘70s Musical, Three Musketeers, Pride and Prejudice, Network, Clue, A Christmas Carol (Citadel Theatre); La Bête (Talk is Free); The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Catalyst Theatre, The Grand); Brick Shithouse (fenceless theatre); Vigilante in Concert (Catalyst); The Play’s The Thing, Dead In The Water (TheatreYes); Brother Rat (ReadyGo Theatre). Frances is a graduate of the University of Alberta BFA program and is thrilled to be back on home turf in Ontario. Big love to her family and especially husband Erik for their continued support and encouragement.
the author
Sophia Fabiilli
Sophia Fabiilli is a playwright, screenwriter, actor, and educator. Her works include: The Philanderess (The Second City Award for Best New Comedy), How to Stand Up (Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Award), Liars at a Funeral (Blyth Festival, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Magnus Theatre, Western Canada Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Port Stanley Festival Theatre, and upcoming this fall at Prairie Theatre Exchange), and Why it’s imPossible (Great Canadian Theatre Company). She is a graduate of the Prime Time TV Writing Program at the Canadian Film Centre, wrote for the Emmy Award winning show Odd Squad, and was the Associate Artistic Director of the Thousand Islands Playhouse for three seasons. She holds her B.Ed. from Queen’s University and moonlights as a high school drama teacher in Kingston Ontario.
ADMINISTRATION
Founder & CEO
Alex Mustakas
Artistic Director
David Connolly
Executive Director
Steven Karcher
Producer
Dave Horner
Director of Finance
Siobhan Lovejoy
Director of Facilities
Alan Card
Director of Human Resources
Natasha Hopf
Accounting Clerk
Joanne Labrecque
Ticket & Systems Specialist
Tristan Sabourin
ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION
Artistic Administrator
Brenley Charkow
Artistic Administrative Assistant
Stephanie Reeve
AUDIENCE SERVICES
Director of Audience Services
Ellen Berwick
Audience Services Manager
Gary Good
Box Office Manager
Laurie Castro
Box Office Supervisor
Paige Corriveau
AUDIO
Head of Audio
Allan McMillan
Audio Assistant
Nicholas Wadel-Turcotte
MARKETING & DEVELOPMENT
Director of Development
Elizabeth Dwyer
Director of Marketing
Jackson McMillan
Development Manager
Lindsay Bellaire
Group, Events & Rentals
Manager
Karen De iuliis
Community Engagement
Specialist
Danielle Dixon
