Cast and Crew

syndrome

George F. Walker

Playwright

George F. Walker is one of Canada’s most prolific and popular playwrights. Since beginning his theatre career in the early 1970s, Walker has written more than 30 plays and has created screenplays for several award-winning Canadian television series. Among his best known plays are Filthy Rich (1979); Zastrozzi (1977); Theatre of the Film Noir (1980); Criminals in Love (1984); Better Living (1986); Nothing Sacred (1988); Love and Anger (1989); Escape from Happiness (1991); Tough! (1993); Suburban Motel (1997, a series of six plays set in the same motel room); Heaven (2000); And So It Goes (2010); and Dead Metaphor (2013). Awards and honours include The Order of Canada, two Governor General’s awards, five Dora Mavor Moore Awards, nine Chalmers Canadian Play Awards, and the Governor General’s lifetime achievement award. georgefwalker.ca

Lisa Marie DiLibverto

Director

Lisa Marie took the helm of Theatre Direct as Executive Artistic Director in 2019. She is also the founder and lead advisor for Theatre Direct’s national initiative Balancing Act Canada, which supports parents and caregivers in the performing arts. Lisa Marie is the founding Artistic Director of FIXT POINT, where she led the creation and production of The Tale of a Town – Canada. In 2016, Lisa Marie conceived and co-directed the inaugural season of Main Street Ontario, an animated series on TVO inspired by The Tale of a Town, now in its third season. Lisa Marie holds an MA from York University where she is currently a PhD candidate pursuing research in Performance Ethnography. She is a graduate of George Brown Theatre School and École Philippe Gaulier in Paris, France where she studied clown, bouffon, neutral mask, character, Shakespeare / Chekhov and melodrama. Past posts include Playwright-in-Residence at Theatre Passe Muraille, Associate Artistic Director at Jumbies Theatre, and Education & Audience Development Coordinator at Canadian Stage. Lisa Marie is a fierce little league coach for her two wild music-loving baseball playing boys.

Kate Walker

Assistant Director

Kate Walker is a Toronto-based arts administrator and producer. She is a University of Toronto graduate with a double major in Anthropology and Sexual Diversity Studies. Kate has a diverse background in the performing arts as a singer/songwriter, with extensive music and music education experience. She was the Company Manager of Common Boots Theatre for six year and has previously worked as the Associate Producer for Theatre Direct’s 2018 WeeFestival and Producer of Shakespeare in the Ruff’s Portia’s Julius Caesar and The Winter’s Tale. Kate has been the Managing Producer of Theatre Direct since 2018 and in 2022 became the company’s Managing Director. Her favourite role to date is becoming a mum in 2021.

Tony Perpuse

Kyle

Hi! I’m Tony, a Dora-winning Toronto based Filipino-Canadian performer and I’m SO happy to share Syndrome with you. My selected acting credits include RJ in The Waltz (Factory Theatre 2023, Watermark Theatre 2025), Herbie in The Darkest Dark (Young People's Theatre), Ollie in Storybook Search (Bad Hats), RuDaGold in Orestes (Tarragon), Koyo/Kapre in Through the Bamboo (Fringe), Eli in Eraser (Riser Festival) and Jorge in Theory (Tarragon). Selected film credits include CBC’s Workin Moms and Save Me. My directing credits include An Utterly Stupid Indefensible Thing (Fringe), The Brothers Gentle (Fringe), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Wolf Manor) and Posthumous Friends (inspiraTO). I received training as a Factory Theatre Mechanical, graduated with a BFA from Toronto Metropolitan University and received the Perry Schneiderman comedy award. Thanks so much for coming! 😊

Sarah McVie

Amie

Fresh off playing Suzanne in a sold out run of Eureka Day at The Coalmine Theatre in Toronto’s east end, and with over 25 years acting on stage and screen, Sarah is recognized worldwide for her turn as quirky mommy and me leader Val Szalinsky in the CBC/Netflix hit comedy series Workin’ Moms which earned her three Canadian Screen Award nominations for best supporting comedic performer. Other TV credits include The Handmaid’s Tale, American Gods, Detention Adventure and Odd Squad. Sarah’s acting career began with five seasons at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada where she was honoured with the John Hirsh Award for Most Promising Young Actor.

Sarah co-created The Public Servant, a play developed by Common Boots Theatre which played to sold-out houses in Ottawa (GCTC) and Toronto (Nightwood) in 2014/15. Sarah also works as a voice-over artist and voiced multiple roles for the animated series The Secret Life of Benjamin Bear. She is an accomplished teacher of acting and theatre arts who spent seven years as a sessional lecturer for the Carleton University English Department among other schools and studios. www.sarahmcvie.com

Madeleine Brown

Jenny

Madeleine Brown is an actor, playwright and sometimes stand up. Madeleine has performed in productions with such companies as Mixed Company Theatre and Outside the March, and appeared on-screen in national commercials. She has received NOW Magazine Awards for Outstanding Ensemble and Individual Performance. As a playwright, her writing has been supported by such companies as Theatre Aquarius Brave New Works Festival, Here for Now Theatre, Theatre Direct, 4th Line Theatre, Driftwood Theatre, Capitol Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Hart House Theatre, Blyth Festival and Toronto Fringe. Alongside her career as playwright and actor, Madeleine volunteers with L’Arche Toronto, Loran Scholars Foundation, and as Chair on ARC's Board of Directors. She also plays euphonium in the Swansea Community Concert Band, serves as Theatre Direct's Next Draft Artistic Producer, leads Smile Theatre's improv sessions, and is part of Stand Up Gals with Taryn Dougall, producing open mics and stand up showcases featuring femme and queer comics. She is a graduate of University of Toronto Mississauga, Sheridan College, Second City Training Centre and CB Pro.

www.thatmadeleinebrown.com

Conner Bustamante

Stage Manager

Past Credits (selected): Stage Manager: Twelve Dinners (Talk Is Free Theatre); Jazz and Sonic Arts, Banff International String Quartet Competition (Banff Centre for Art and Creativity); Finding Home: A Salmon Journey Up The Humber River (Theatre Direct & Animacy Theatre Collective); Grounds For Goodness (Jumblies Theatre + Arts). Assistant Stage Manager: The Frogs (Talk Is Free Theatre); Apprentice Stage Manager: Madama Butterfly, Medea (The Canadian Opera Company); London Assurance (The Stratford Festival); Mary’s Wedding (Drayton Entertainment); Elf: The Musical (The Grand Theatre); King Henry Five (Driftwood Theatre); R.U.R. A Torrent of Light (Tapestry Opera). Additional Projects: Art In Transit: Luminato on the GO (Luminato Festival Toronto). Other: Endless thanks to my Parents, Mentors, and Friends for all their support!

Amanda Wong

Sound Designer

Amanda Wong (she/they) is an award winning Toronto based set and costume designer for live performance and media. As an artist she is interested in the exploration of the overlap of heightened reality and the surreal lucid spaces. She is interested in working in moving metaphors. Amanda has been honoured with the outstanding design award in Toronto’s Summerworks Festival for two consecutive years collaborating with directors Severn Thompson and ted witzel and multiple nominations for the Pauline McGibbon Award. She has designed costumes for tv, web series and feature films. In 2020, Amanda designed a 100' long plexiglass ice sculpture in front of Union station. She has worked with the prominent theatre companies Soulpepper, Tarragon, Obsidian, Modern Times Stage Co, Aluna, Canadian Stage, Nightwood and Blyth Festival Theatre.

Lyon Smith

Sound Designer

For Theatre Direct Acting: UFO REX, Little Sister, Bang Boy Bang, Not Quite the Same. Sound design: Martin Summer, Roundabout, the Phoenix Rides a Skateboard, Misha. Other select credit sound design: Witness for the Prosecution (Shaw), the Donnelley Trilogy (Blyth), a Public Display of Affection (Studio 180) Pipeline (soulpepper), Macbeth (Canadian Stage)

Chin Palipane

Lighting Designer

Chin Palipane (he/him) is a Toronto-based Theatre Artist, Technician, and Lighting Designer. He is a proud member of Coyote Collective, the TD of The Assembly Theatre, and a recent addition to the HT team at NEJPC. He enjoys breakfast (at non-breakfast times) and a good cup of coffee or tea. He is thrilled to be working on his first production with Theatre Direct and the premiere of this new work! As always, he thanks those closest to him for their support and hopes you enjoy the performance.

Aaheli Mukherjee

Production Manager

Aaheli Mukherjee (she/her) is an arts enthusiast of South Asian heritage, born and raised in the Middle East and currently based in Toronto. She is a Production Manager, Producer, and Arts Administrator working in Toronto theatre. Recent professional highlights include: Production Manager, Paprika Theatre Festival (since 2022); Production Manager/Technical Director, Crossroads Theatre (since 2023); Production Manager, the world premiere of Earworm by Nowadays Theatre in association with Crows Theatre (2024); The Caged Bird Sings by Modern Times Stage Company at the Aga Khan Museum (2024); A Public Display of Affection by Studio 180 in association with Crows Theatre (2025); and a workshop presentation of To A Flame by 1s1 Theatre at NEJPC. She is passionate about collaborating with values-aligned companies to cultivate spaces for innovative and accessible processes. Her love for theatre and live performance is inherited from her dad, so really, she is living their shared dream.

Alexis Eastman

Producer

Alexis is a writer, creative producer, and horror movie lover in Toronto. In addition to her work with Theatre Direct, Alexis is currently producing two projects in Residency at The Theatre Centre; The Observer Effect by Nehal El-Hadi and Versus by Adam Lazarus and Guillermo Verdecchia, premiering in May 2026. Alexis has worked in arts admin and producing with incredible companies including: Paprika Festival, Canadian Opera Company, Outside the March, and she was the producer at The Theatre Centre from 2019-2023. Select projects produced at The Theatre Centre include: Here are the Fragments., Secret Life of a Mother, Monday Nights (Luminato 2019), Hybrid by Design Festival, Comedy is Art. Festival (2019-23), Broken Shapes, and Loss (Luminato 2023).