September 25 - October 6, 2024 (Mainstage)
Low Pay? Don’t Pay! by Dario Fo
Director: Isabella Cesari
Discover the hilariously defiant world of Low Pay? Don’t Pay! by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Dario Fo. This outrageous play follows two working-class women exasperated by skyrocketing prices and economic hardships. Along with their spirited neighbours, they rebel against the cost of living by taking goods without paying. It’s a powerful commentary on the absurdities of modern life and a riotous ride through rebellion and resilience!
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The Director and Producers
ISABELLA CESARI/DIRECTOR
Isabella Cesari is a director, producer, designer, and general theatre person born and raised in Toronto. She is excited to be making her Alumnae Theatre debut alongside this wonderful cast and crew! Directing credits include Cabaret, Spring Awakening, Much Ado About Nothing, Lizzie: The Musical, Twelfth Night, and Radium Girls. She is also the founder and executive producer of Thaumatrope Theatre and is inspired every day by the incredible artists she gets to work with through her company. You can next find Isabella directing Dogfight: The Musical for Thaumatrope Theatre this November! www.isabrutta.com
KIMBERLEY ANN CROSCUP/PRODUCER
Kimberley Ann is an actor who writes, directs, and produces! She is a graduate of both the Three-Year Conservatory Program at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Neighborhood Playhouse Summer Conservatory in New York City. Low Pay? Don’t Pay! is Kimberley Ann’s tenth production with the Alumnae Theatre and her third as a producer. On stage she’s played Tess in The Female of the Species, Mrs. Daldry in In The Next Room, and Jessie Mae in The Trip to Bountiful. To see what mischief she is cooking up next, follow Kimberley Ann on The Internets @kimcroscup.
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 its 2024 New Ideas Festival. Acting credits include Meet Chloe (Carousel Players), and Paved Paradise (Alumnae). Stage managing credits include Midsummer Night’s Dream (Panoply Collective) and Thy Name is Woman (Into the Abyss Productions). Go easy on her–she’s trying her best.
The Actors
MICHELLE PARE/ANTONIA
Michelle started acting at twelve and has done theatre in high school, university, and community theatre in Ottawa. She is so delighted to be in Toronto and working for the first time with the Alumnae Theatre! She has been working with Crash Acting Studios in Los Angeles for over four years, and she is so grateful to her Crash family, her family, and her friends! Enjoy the show!
AILSA WILSON/MARGHERITA
Ailsa Wilson is an actor, dancer, and writer. She is a film enthusiast and a music lover. She went to the Osheaga music festival this summer and will not stop talking about it. Her most recent theatre credits include Orca by Heather Thomas, Harm’s Way by Mac Wellman, Click Bush Train Bug by Camille Intson, The Dybbuk by S. Ansky, and Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in Her Lungs by Chelsea Woolley. She graduated from the School of Performance at Toronto Metropolitan University earlier this year. Ailsa is so grateful to be a part of this production and hopes you enjoy it!
QUAID LALE/GIOVANNI
BIO TO COME
ETHAN KEYES/LUIGI
Ethan Keyes is a proud older brother to four siblings and is dedicated to his passions of storytelling and working with the land.
ELIZA SMITH/SERGEANT, ETC.
Eliza Smith is an actor, playwright, artist, and York University Acting Conservatory graduate. Recent credits include stepping in as an understudy in Bygone Theatre’s Rear Window as Newlywed Wife and Demetrius and Quince in Panoply Theatre Collective’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as popping up in multiple improv performances around the city. As of late, Eliza has been hard at work developing her new play Killy Willy and her sketch comedy. She’s also been creating lots of visual art on Instagram @bighelloartco. Eliza thanks her friends, family, and wonderful partner for their love and support of her work.
DIANA DI MAURO/ANTONIA (UNDERSTUDY)
Diana Di Mauro is an actress and singer from Toronto. Performance highlights include Costancica in El huésped del sevillano with Toronto Operetta Theatre; Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at Teatro Mancinelli in Orvieto, Italy; Mother Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites; L’Enfant in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges; Mrs. Nolan in Menotti’s The Medium; Lola in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana; Clarina in Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio; Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni; Serpina in Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona; and Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
MADELINE DECORSO/MARGHERITA (UNDERSTUDY)
Madeline DeCorso is a multidisciplinary performer and tapered candle lover based in Toronto. She is thrilled to be making her Alumnae Theatre debut. When not on stage or screen, you can find her attempting to finish Tears of the Kingdom and obsessing over her cat, Tazo. She hopes you enjoy Margherita and the show as much as she does!
ERIK BRACCIODIETA/GIOVANNI (UNDERSTUDY)
Erik is thrilled to return to the Alumnae Theatre in this timely production of Low Pay? Don’t Pay! Credits include Arsenic and Old Lace (Scarborough Theatre Guild), Clothes Encounters (Theatre Etobicoke), Brownbread (Toronto Irish Players), and Director Peron Directs (Alumnae Theatre). Erik was trained in the dark art of improv by The Second City, where he completed the Conservatory Program. Erik thanks his friends for supporting his journey into theatre. We all agree that it is much more interesting than his day job, whatever it is.
MATT SCERRI/LUIGI (UNDERSTUDY)
Matt Scerri brings a wealth of acting expertise, with training from The Second City Training Centre, private sessions with industry stalwarts like Chris Earle and Cary West from The Second City, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance. His commitment to honing his craft is evident in his completion of acting training under The Second City’s co-founder, Michael Gellman. Beyond acting, Matt delves into writing and directing, showcasing his creativity through his own short films. He marked his Toronto Fringe debut at Alumnae Theatre in Things We Lost in The Fire and is thrilled to be back on its stage!
ALEX GRUSPIER/SERGEANT, ETC. (UNDERSTUDY)
Alex Gruspier is an actor, artist, and creator who grew up in Schomberg, Ontario, and now lives in Toronto. They’ve been acting since childhood and have a degree in animation from OCAD University and a diploma in acting from Toronto Film School. They have acted in many independent film projects, some of which they have written and directed, and is a veteran participant of the 48 hour film festival. Stage roles include Macheath in In This Economy? (an adaptation of The Threepenny Opera, director Tanya Rintoul) and Duperret in Marat/Sade (director Jonathan Whittaker).
The Production Team
ROBYN SHEPHERD/STAGE MANAGER
By day, Robyn specializes in projects. Her passion is stage-managing plays for Alumnae Theatre where she gets back to her literary roots. Robyn stage-managed the 2024 New Ideas Festival play Just For Tonight. Also in 2024, Robyn stage-managed a production of fourteen monologues about women who influenced Canadian theatre called Shadows in the Nooks. Unconventionally, the audience followed the flow of the monologues throughout the theatre. Robyn has enjoyed working on Low Pay? Don’t Pay!—a play inspired by Italy’s traditional Commedia dell’arte.
BINI SHAH/ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Bini works as an IT analyst during the day and spends her evenings chasing theatre and arts. She has been a part of the Toronto artistic community by volunteering at theatre festivals like The Fringe and other festivals like Elevate, Comic Con, and more. With an innate love for poetry and writing, she continues to support the artistic community in her capacity as a manager and coordinator. After a successful show run of Smoke Ville at Fireworks Festival 2023 and The Children and NIF 2024, she is excited to be a part of this latest production!
SHELLEY HOGEVEEN/ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Shelley is excited to do her first show with Alumnae after an absence from local theatre. She’s ventured to east side Toronto from the west side where her credits with The Village Players include lighting operator for The Woman in Black, production assistant for Table Manners, and assistant director for The Real Inspector Hound/After Magritte. She’s also wrangled puppets as a stage manager at The Ontario Association of Puppetry, was assistant director of Nothing Sacred in university, and directed actors plus one unexpectedly large rabbit in her university production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.
CAMERON ASHLEY/COSTUME DESIGNER
Cameron (any) is a third-year English student at UTSG. She has worked as head costume designer on A Streetcar Named Desire (TCDS 23-24) and Alice by Heart (Thaumatrope 2024). This is their second production with Alumnae Theatre. Cameron also enjoys illustration and frequently contributes work to the UC Gargoyle and Vic Strand.
ZAHRA ESMAIL/LIGHTING OPERATOR
BIO TO COME
The Marketing Team
MELIZ POSTA/MARKETING
BIO TO COME
ANU BASU/MARKETING
BIO TO COME
KRISTINE GREENAWAY/MARKETING
BIO TO COME
Accessibility
Alumnae Theatre’s Berkeley Street entrance and the Mainstage Theatre are wheelchair accessible. There is a wheelchair accessible restroom on the ground floor.
