Who We Are

Artistic Producer: Melissa-Jane Shaw

MJ hails from Nova Scotia, grew up mostly in Ottawa, and is now based in Toronto where she splits her time between acting, producing, and choreographing. MJ has worked across Canada and in the US as an actor, dancer and singer for theatre, film and television. As a producer, MJ has worked freelance for various companies, as well as having worked as an entertainment publicist with rock-it promotions. In addition to founding Seventh Stage, she is Co-President and founder of LaRouge Entertainment (www.larougeentertainment.com), which produces entertainment for a wide range of corporate events. In the community, MJ sits on a variety of arts and culture advisory boards and donates services to numerous charities, particularly the Canadian Women’s Foundation where she sits on the cabinet for Women Moving Women, Canada’s largest ever campaign to get Canadian women and girls out of abuse and poverty. MJ holds her HBA in acting from the University of Toronto and Sheridan College and did her graduate work at the U of T Drama Centre. For more information about MJ, check out her personal site: www.melissajaneshaw.com

Artistic Director: Kelly Straughan

Kelly is currently the Artistic Director of Seventh Stage Theatre Productions and the Assistant Artistic Director at Tarragon Theatre. Recent productions include directingThe Little Prince for Resurgence Theatre, assistant directing Wajdi Mouawad’sScorched at Tarragon Theatre and on the Canadian tour, directing Soulless for 505 Productions at Factory Theatre, Wake at the 2008 Toronto Fringe Festival (Patrons Pick, Best of the Fringe, Now Magazine’s Best Director), Bright Room Called Day with Theatre Best/Before, as well as writing and directing Timebomb for the 2007 Toronto Fringe Festival (Patrons Pick, Now Magazine’s “Best Ensemble” and “Best Director”). Kelly also completed her Masters in Theatre Directing at the University of British Columbia where she directed Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Bully, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune, Taming of the Shrew, Four Single People (Playwrights Theatre Centre) and Courting (Vancouver Fringe).

Associate Producer: Briana Brown

After spending a year at the Canadian Stage Company as the Artistic and Producing Intern (where she produced the Raw! Raw! Raw! Festival, assisted in casting, and helped develop and launch their Emerging Artists Program, The GYM), she is thrilled to be applying those skills to an organization such as Seventh Stage. A graduate of York University (Honours BA), she has created and performed in a number of her own works and collaborations including her one woman show, Cassandra which was presented as part of FemFest in Winnipeg, following its national fringe tour. Recent credits include assistant directing True Love Lies (Factory Theatre), Misery(Canadian Stage Company) and directing the 2009 production of The Vagina Monologues (V-Day Toronto). As a playwright she was part of Nightwood Theatre’s 2008 Write from the Hip program and has recently been commissioned by SeriousFUN! Theatre Company. An excerpt of her work in progress, The Concessions was presented as part of the HOTscrawls Festival last May. She is currently the Director of Artistic Programs and artist facilitator with the Paprika Festival and Program Director of the TheatreKairos writers’circle.

Board of Directors:

Debra Goldblatt
Alyssa Huggins (President)
Karim Kanji
Amanda Quinn
Stephania Varallli

Company contributors and artistic associates:

Rosa Laborde, Meghan Hoople, Kelsey Matheson, Amanda Ballard, Jennifer DeLucia, Katherine East and Karen Gilodo.