April 23 – May 11, 2025 (Mainstage)
FireWorks Festival 2025
Celebrating its eleventh year, the Alumnae Theatre’s FireWorks Festival champions women writers with the premieres of three wonderful full-length plays. This curated three-week festival is an incubator for new works and emerging artists, showcasing provocative writing and inventive staging.
FireWorks Festival 2025 is generously supported by
The Festival Plays
The Executive Producer
MOLLY THOM
Molly Thom is best known as the author and director of the much-loved play about Canadian pioneer writers, The Bush-Ladies (National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre, Artword Theatre, and Ontario tour.) Directing credits include many other premieres: Shirley Barrie’s Beautiful Lady, Tell Me…for 4th Line Theatre, Millbrook, The Gambler by Ronald Weihs for Beggarly Theatre/Artword Theatre, and for Alumnae Theatre: Caryl Churchill’s Fen, Pam Gems’ Camille, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Love of the Nightingale, the Quebec feminist collective, La Nef des sorcières, and most recently Shirley Barrie’s I Am Marguerite. Her Toronto premiere of Carol Shields’ Thirteen Hands appeared on the Best Of lists of the Toronto Star, NOW Magazine and CBC Radio. She is the resident director of Shoestring Opera, founding producer of Alumnae’s FireWorks Festival, and co-founder of its New Ideas Festival.
The Festival Team
MARYSIA BUCHOLC/SET DESIGNER
Marysia has been designing and building sets for over twenty years and has been twice nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award (for Treasure Island (Solar Stage) and Kafka and Son (Theaturtle)). Last year she designed and built sets for Mary’s Daughters at The Space, London UK (BiLLO Studio), and for Better Living (Alumnae). Other favourite recent sets include I Found My Horn (Toronto production, visiting from the UK), Tunnel at the End of the Light (SITA), The Importance of Being Earnest (Alumnae), Motherland (Toronto Fringe), and The Gut Girls (Alumnae).
ZAHRA LOKHANDWALA /SET DESIGNER
Zahra, an architect and urban designer, channels her creativity into crafting immersive environments through theatre. Passionate about storytelling, she aspires to transform spaces into unforgettable theatrical experiences. She began her journey with Alumnae Theatre Company as an assistant set designer and carpenter for the FireWorks Festival 2023 and most recently designed the set for Alumnae’s Mainstage production of Other Desert Cities in 2025. Zahra is excited to return to the FireWorks Festival and collaborate with the talented team of designers.
SARAH YEOMAN/SOUND DESIGNER
Sarah Yeoman (They/Them) is an emerging theatre artist with a BFA in Performance: Production from Toronto Metropolitan University. They have a strong passion for theatre and design and love exploring all facets of the production structure. This is their first time working on the FireWorks Festival, but they have worked with Alumnae theatre in previous years. They have had the pleasure of being able to work overseas in Prague, Czech Republic, and are now looking to expand their network all across Canada. With a specialization in stage management and design, they are delighted to have been given the opportunity to join Alumnae Theatre and team in producing FireWorks Festival this year.
GABRIEL WOO/COSTUME DESIGNER
Gabriel Woo (they/them) is a born shopaholic turned costume designer and a recent graduate of the University of Toronto where they held a design monopoly on campus theatre during their final year of study. Recent works that featured their costume design work include The Gray: A Wilde Musical in Concert (Hart House Theatre 2023), Featherhead (Birdbrain Theatre Collective at Toronto Fringe 2023), Weltamultiek (Paprika Festival 2024), and Next to Normal (TCDS & VCDS 2024). You can find more of their art on Instagram: @milkshookqueen.
DANIELLE CAREY/PROJECTION DESIGNER
Danielle is a Toronto-based designer and technician. She received a BFA in Theatre Production and Design from York University. Previous credits for Alumnae include Projection Designer, String of Pearls (2023) and The Trip to Bountiful (2020), and Projectionist, Boom Baby (2022). Other selected credits are Lighting Designer, Silence S’il Vous Plait (Illusion, Coffee and Poetry) and Head à Tête (YUFFA Fringe), and Sound Operator, Dr. Silver: A Celebration of Life (Outside the March/The Musical Stage Company). Follow on Instagram @_daniellemcarey
HARRIS BAILEY/LIGHTING DESIGNER
Harris is a live entertainment technician and filmmaker, currently Alumnae Theatre’s Technical Director. He began in dramatic arts as an actor and lighting tech in high school and community theatre before studying filmmaking at Sheridan College. From 2017 to 2021, he pursued acting while working tech roles on set. Post-pandemic demand for technicians and multiple film industry strikes brought him back to live entertainment, freelancing at venues like hotels, conference centers, and the Evergreen Brickworks. Seeking a return to the arts, he accepted a contract with Alumnae, where he now facilitates the technical needs of company members and rental clients.
EILEEN WHITCOMB/LIGHTING OPERATOR
Eileen was born and raised in East York. She is excited be working on lighting for the FireWorks Festival. She was the stagehand and lighting operator for the New Ideas Festival. Eileen was a costume assistant on The Children. She was an assistant stage manager for Better Living. She wants to pursue an undergraduate degree in theatre production.
KATHLEEN HALL/SET CREW AND SOUND OPERATOR
Kathleen has worn many hats in community and university theatre productions, to some acclaim. She has been away from active participation in theatre for a while as she’d been living overseas, but attending shows wherever she found herself was a touchstone. While she did not always understand the nuances of other languages (or the language at all at times), she was carried along by the “theatre.”
SANDRA CARDINAL/HEAD OF PROPS
Sandra is an actor, playwright, director, dramaturge, singer, and producer. She is excited to still be contributing to the Toronto theatre and film scene after retiring from a long career in education. She has worked with Paradigm Studios, Union Films, Pulse Theatre, Alumnae Theatre, Festival Players of Prince Edward County, East End Players, City Choir, and Fringe Toronto. She loves to cook and entertain, travel with her husband Bob, and take long walks with her mini goldendoodle, Lucy.
TANIA D’AMICO/PROPS ASSISTANT
Tania is an actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, set designer, prop specialist, costume designer, stage hand, makeup specialist, stage manager, and musician in Toronto.
SCOTT POSTE/MASTER CARPENTER
Since retiring from work in the IT field, Scott has assisted on set building with the Alumnae on various productions including this year’s FireWorks Festival. He also volunteers with maintaining the theatre building and interiors. Scott also works with the Toronto Railway Museum on restoration of locomotives and rail cars. He is a long-time distance runner and volunteers at local races and marathons.
Accessibility
Alumnae Theatre’s Berkeley Street entrance and the Mainstage Theatre are wheelchair accessible. There is a wheelchair-accessible restroom on the ground floor.
