FireWorks Festival 2025
Days Since Bo's Been Gone
by Miriam Sossin
Directed by Sarini Kumarasinghe
Produced by Tsipporah Shendroff
Mainstage Theatre/April 30 - May 4, 2025
Days Since Bo’s Been Gone brings to the stage the raw and ridiculous world of grief. Jade is in her early twenties, starting her job at a small art gallery in Toronto, when her boyfriend Bo dies. Suddenly she must take on the responsibilities that come with death while trying to keep the other relationships in her life alive. One day at a time, fragmented and over the course of years, we witness Jade’s journey through imposter syndrome, impossible decisions, and the search for relief in this dramatic comedy.
FireWorks Festival 2025 is generously supported by
The Playwright
MIRIAM SOSSIN
Miriam Sossin (she/her) is an emerging playwright, director, and producer. A recent graduate of The University of Toronto’s Drama program, she is ecstatic to have the first full production of her play put on at Alumnae Theatre! Miriam likes to write what she calls “comedy that makes you cry” and hopes her work is able to bring together heart and humour, silliness and sadness. She created her production company Crybaby Theatre in the summer of 2024 and produced a workshop reading for her play Days Since Bo’s Been Gone in the fall. She looks forward to continuing her collaboration with fellow emerging theatre artists in Toronto and is honoured to have her work be a part of this year’s Fireworks Festival. Miriam is obsessed with the colour blue and loves creating new fonts!
mimi.sossin@gmail.com
The Production Team
SARINI KUMARASINGHE/DIRECTOR
Sarini Kumarasinghe (she/her) is a director and playwright born in Sri Lanka and based in Toronto. She started her career in filmmaking, completing a BFA in Screenwriting at York University and working on numerous projects, including the award-winning ACTRA short ShoeGazer. Post-pandemic, Sarini rekindled her love of live theatre and community-based storytelling, having her playwriting debut at the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival with the gothic horror play The Bluffs. Her work blends fun and fantastical worlds with deeply intimate, character-driven conflict.
TSIPPORAH SHENDROFF/PRODUCER
Tsipporah is an actor/writer/producer/stage manager/hot mess who is very excited to be back at Alumnae after working as a production manager on the 2024 New Ideas Festival and as a producer on Low Pay? Don’t Pay!. Acting credits include Meet Chloe (Carousel Players), Paved Paradise (Alumnae), and King Ubu (Brock University). Stage managing credits include Midsummer Night’s Dream (Panoply Collective) and Thy Name is Woman (Into the Abyss Productions). Big fan of her cats, taking naps, and Richard Madden’s entire filmography. Go easy on her: she’s trying her best.
LIDIA FOOTE/STAGE MANAGER
Lidia is a graduate of Humber College’s Theatre Production Program and is currently doing stage management for this new Canadian play, Days Since Bo’s Been Gone. In the past, she has done stage management for Timon of Athens (Dandelion Theatre, 2024), lighting design for Constellations (2024), Fiji (2023) with Icarus Theatre, Dreams (Toronto Fringe 2022), Sweet Kisses-Tender Limbs (Toronto Fringe, 2019), and a mainstage production of Tales of a City by the Sea (Passe Muraille, 2019). Thank you to the FireWorks Festival for making this happen and to all the cast and crew for creating a thing of beauty. Enjoy the show!
MARISA ROGGEVEEN/ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Marisa Roggeveen is a stage manager, producer, actor, singer/songwriter, and playwright. A passionate and versatile artist, Marisa has earned accolades for her work, including as a two-time recipient of the prestigious Noel Coward Award for Excellence in Acting. She was also honoured with the Feme Sole Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the music creation industry in Calgary. A proud graduate of the University of Calgary’s Drama and Business programs, Marisa is expanding her career beyond acting by embracing stage management and producing. She combines a practical understanding of business with a passion for creativity and working with emerging artists, helping to keep projects running smoothly while staying true to their artistic vision. When not on stage or screen, Marisa can be found scaling bouldering walls, curating elaborate themed parties, or writing music. You can learn more about or get in contact with Marisa at www.marisar.ca @marisaroggeveen.
The Cast
NADINE MARANAN/JADE
Originally from Winnipeg and now finding her groove in Toronto, Nadine Maranan is a versatile Filipina-Canadian performer with a deep love for storytelling. Her recent acting credits include A Little Night Music, Titanic (Nuova Vocal Arts), Snow White (Manitoba Theatre for Young People), and Scorched and Seeds (University of Manitoba). Nadine loves new adventures, warm hugs, and big bowls of pho.
AVA RAIN PATTERSON/CHLOE
Ava Rain Patterson (She/They) is a playwright and actor creating and loving in Toronto. Her work prioritizes accessibility and community and often explores her identity as a mixed, Queer, disabled artist navigating the world. Ava is a recent graduate of the joint University of Toronto (Mississauga) and Sheridan College Specialist Theatre program. Ava is currently working with First Born Theatre as the assistant dramaturge for this year’s writers’ round table. Ava loves growing heirloom tomatoes in the summer and doing crafts and is looking forward to longer days filled with the beauty of it all.
JULES AUCKLAND/ATLAS
Jules Auckland is a singer-songwriter and actor from Toronto, Ontario. She recently performed as Ralph in the St. Michael’s College Troubadours’ production of Lord of the Flies at Hart House Theatre. In addition, she has performed in various theatre productions, such as Victoria College’s production of Never Swim Alone by Daniel MacIvor and, as Janet Weiss, in University College’s production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Jules released her first EP, “The Sideways EP,” on all streaming platforms and is working on recording her next release.
NATE BARTOSHUK/RICK
Nate Bartoshuk, a San Francisco native, is an actor and writer. He is a 2020 graduate from Pepperdine University whose acting credits include Days of Our Lives (NBC), Into the Wild Frontier (INSP), and Phrogging (Lifetime). Nate wrote, produced, and starred in the short film Gays’ Straight Makeover, which screened at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival’s Emerging Filmmaker’s Showcase. The List called Nate a “standout” actor in The Adobe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the LA Times gave Nate a shoutout for his performance as Steve Harrington in Netflix’s live Stranger Things: The Experience.
BRONWYN KEOUGH/HOST
Bronwyn Keough (they/she) is a daydreamer and poet from the east coast, now based in Tkaronto. They are a well-rounded theatre creator: having worked as a director and stage manager, they are currently dedicated to falling in love with acting again. Selected credits include Transfigure/Transfix, co-produced by Ghost Tower and Around+Out, QueerCab 2.0 at Buddies in Bad Times, and Fefu and Her Friends for Theatre Erindale. She is a co-founder of No Vowels, a St. John’s-based sketch/improv group who will perform their second sketch revue, Sophomore Slump, this May at the second inaugural NL Sketch Fest.
