MERMAID PARADE is a Toronto based indie theatre company dedicated to producing new work from an international repertory with a focus on female playwrights and performers
forthcoming: November 18-29, 2026 : Two never before produced Plays by Ellen McLaughlin
featuring these CASTS:
The RUNAWAYS
“Point your body like an arrow and run!”
Kayla Brabant, Laura Dae, Cameron Helmkay, Tristan Moore, Vanessa Whyte & Astrid Van Wieren
Kayla (Waawaase) Brabant graduated from the Acting for Camera and Voice Program at Seneca Polytechnic in 2025. Recent credits include Veronica Sawyer in Heather’s The Musical (Connect Theater), Annie in Last Call at Franklin’s (Seradini Films) and as a Performer/Maker in Clay & Paper Theater’s 2026 summer company. Kayla plays EMILY, a runaway Puritan, circa 1690’s, Salem, Mass.
Laura Dae recently graduated from the Theatre and Drama Studies joint program between U of T and Sheridan College. Previous credits include Viola in Twelfth Night (Theatre Erindale), Agnes in She Kills Monsters (Theatre Erindale), Kestrel in The Alchemist (Theatre Erindale), and Quarley in Snacey! at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Laura plays MOLLY, a runaway indentured servant from 1750’s Ireland.
Cameron Helmkay is a graduate of the University of Toronto & Sheridan College Drama Program. Credits include: Jenny Diver in The Threepenny Opera (Theatre Erindale and Unbridled), Leisl in The Sound of Music (BMT), Cinna in Julius Caesar, Earl of Leicester in Edward II (Theatre Erindale), and Harley in Remnants (TFS). Cameron plays JENNY, a runaway wife, from the eastern seaboard, circa 1930’s.
Tristan Moore is a graduate of York University's Acting Conservatory. Past performances include Ismene/Chorus in Antigone, Counsellor Trish in The Camp Campy Campfire Show, Paramedic/Ensemble in Fahrenheit 451, Henrietta in Taming of the Shrew, and Ashlee in Dance Nation. Tristan plays LIL, a runaway sharpshooter, circa 1900’s, from somewhere way out west.
Vanessa Whyte is a recent graduate of the Theatre and Drama Studies Specialist program at the University of Toronto, Mississauga and Sheridan College. Recent credits include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Tottering Biped). Tilly in She Kills Monsters and Agnes/Ensemble in Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (Theatre Erindale). Vanessa plays LIZZIE, an escaped slave runaway, from 1850’s Georgia.
CONVERSATIONS AT THE RETURN OF SPRING
“Let us meet this poisoned spring and see it through.”
Anna Reynolds-Swannie & Astrid Van Wieren as Persephone and Demeter
Anya Reynolds-Swannie is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Sheridan College’s Theatre and Drama Studies program. Most recently, she appeared in Theatre Erindale’s productions of The Alchemist (Subtle) and She Kills Monsters (Chuck / Orcus), as well as The Dogs (Noa) with Ants on a Leash Productions in the Nanaimo Fringe Festival. Most recently, Astrid Van Wieren performed in Bad Hats Theatre’s NARNIA show at Soulpepper, and she’s been appearing in the new musical Freak The Mighty (Cleveland Playhouse & Seattle Rep), from the producers of Come From Away, which Astrid did on Broadway & in Gander Nfld.
Directed by Jon Michaelson
Set & Lighting Design by Graham Maxwell
Costumes: Eveline Petrusma * Music by Rinde Eckert
Set Construction: Joe Madziak & Doug Orr
Stage Manager: Lindsay Lowes
PREVIOUS & UPCOMING PROJECTS
Previous and Upcoming Projects
More recently, Artistic Directors Van Wieren and Michaelson initiated the development of a new play by Rose Cullis, with songs by Astrid. After/BAAL (a rock n roll reckoning) has been workshopped at a Banff Performing Arts Creation Lab (2022), and, under the aegis of November Theatre, was workshopped with public presentations at Red Sandcastle Theatre (2023), and Tarragon Theatre’s Extra Space (2024) with a cast including Jack Nicholsen, Parmida Vand, Sarah Richardson, Michael Scholar Jr., Astrid Van Wieren, and Mike Tae Lee. A premiere production in affiliation with Mermaid Parade is forthcoming in 2027. www.after-baal.ca
Astrid Van Wieren’s acting and singing talent is familiar to audiences in Toronto, and elsewhere in Canada, and she’s created a number of leading roles in new plays and musicals. Her body of work includes originating roles in Come From Away in which she appeared on Broadway for five years during its extraordinary award-winning run, as well as performing in the Apple TV movie version of the show, and on the original cast recording.
Other premiere productions in which she played leading roles include Bad Hats Theatre’s musical NARNIA, in Toronto in 2025, Sharon Wheatley’s DRIVE (La Jolla/San Diego), Belles Soeurs - The Musical (Montreal, and the NAC), The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (Artistic Fraud, St. John’s Newfoundland), Matt Murray’s comedy Myth Of The Ostrich, Kat Sandler’s farce SUCKER, Rob Kempson’s musical The Way Back to Thursday (Theatre Passe Muraille), and BAAL (Mercury Theatre/Buddies in Bad Times, Toronto)
Recently, (spring and summer 2026) Astrid has been performing in a new musical: Freak The Mighty at the Cleveland Playhouse & the Seattle Rep. Earlier in 2026 she was in a NYC workshop of another new show God, Sex, and Musical Theatre - from creators Kristin Hangii (“Rock Of Ages) and KT Tunstall. And she’s slated to perform in Ellen McLaughlin’s RUNAWAYS and CONVERSATIONS AT THE RETURN OF SPRING. More info at www.astridvanwieren.com
Previous producing work includes two Mercury Theatre productions in which Astrid didn’t appear: “Pterodactyls”, & “Homebody/Kabul”, and two in which she performed and provided songs: BAAL (premiere) & After/Baal. (Banff & Toronto workshops). For Marjory Avenue Productions she also co-produced (with FILM COOP), the indie feature film The River You Step In which received awards from several North American indie film festivals: including Best Actress & Best Indie Feature (Toronto, Chicago, LaJolla, NYC).
Associate Producer Claire Burns, who also played a lead role in The River You Step In movie, will provide administrative, production management/event planning & marketing expertise to Mermaid Parade company’s theatrical efforts, including mulit-media projects. Claire has uniquely extensive experience and expertise as a producer, playwright, and actress. She was the Artistic Managing Director of Toronto’s Storefront Theatre Arts Initiative for several seasons. Her play HATCHED was presented in Toronto, directed by Jeannette Lambermont-Morey, with Astrid featured in the cast.
Director Jon Michaelson’s advocacy of work by female playwrights includes presenting Canadian premieres of plays by Rose Cullis, Cindy Lou Johnson, Wendy Kesselman, Jane Martin, and Ellen McLaughlin. (all for Mercury Theatre Toronto.)
His feature film debut The River You Step In - focused on a maverick female social worker, exploring issues of domestic abuse, and violence against women - was selected as an official entry in various North American indie film festivals, with cinema screenings in Toronto, and New York City. Awards included an Indie Vision award from the 2022 Socially Relevant Film Festival NYC. The movie is distributed by Cinemaintenant and available as a DVD and for online screenings. www.cinemaintenant.com
Jon also produced & directed a medium length documentary film Inside the PATERverse - about Toronto singer/songwriter/musician Parmida Vand (aka PATER) making their debut album “4-7 Company” - slated for release on the indie film festival circuit in 2026 from MAP & Mermaid Parade.
INSIDE THE PATERVERSE (opening minutes…)(fine cut) Other theatre and film work can be seen at www.jonmichaelson.net
Mermaid Parade resident playwright ROSE CULLIS is a queer writer/educator who’s had short stories, plays and monologues published in a number of theme-based anthologies, and other writing in This Magazine, Event Magazine,Brick, Vallum, and Prairie Fire. They’ve also performed in cabarets like Hysteria and Cheap Queers, and presented new work at the Summerworks, Fringe, and Rhubarb festivals. (e.g., “That Camille Claudel Feeling”). Their play The Happy Woman was produced by Nightwood Theatre. BAAL was produced by Mercury Theatre at Buddies in Bad Times. After/BAAL was developed at a Sage Hill playwriting lab, and workshopped at the Banff Centre, and presented as a work-in-progress by November Theatre at the Red Sandcastle theatre and the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space. Rose completed an MFA in Creative writing at Guelph University and a Masters of Environmental Studies at York University. (see more at www.rosecullis.com
To the extent that it’s ‘difficult’, ‘wordy’, witty, provocatively imaginative in content and style, topical, relevant, risky, compassionately sympathetic to ‘others’, and gives presence and soulful expression to the dispossessed - this is the kind of theatre MERMAID PARADE aspires to produce with excellence: shows that engage audiences in emotional and intellectually evocative experiences.
