HERMAPHRODITUS
Rose Gold Productions and Dead Name Theatre in partnership with Necessary Angel present:
HERMAPHRODITUS dir. Cole Alvis, follows a lesser-known Greek Goddex, living outside the gender binary, and their ascent to Olympus. The Greek pantheon is enacting anti-trans legislation that is putting Hermaphroditus and gender-non-conforming deities and mortals alike at risk. They attempt to take their place on Olympus to set things right for all of the trans people living under the rule of Zeus' repressive regime. Filled with poetry, burlesque, and drag, this new production feels especially poignant for the current political zeitgeist. This world premiere will be presented July 5-16, 2023 at the Toronto Fringe Festival. |
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER FROM THE FRINGE FESTIVAL:
The only place to get tickets in-person is at a Festival Box Office. Tickets will not be available to purchase at-the-door at the venues. You can book at-the-door tickets on a previously purchased multi-show pass. New this year, you can book online up to 5 minutes before showtime. For more information, click here.
The only place to get tickets in-person is at a Festival Box Office. Tickets will not be available to purchase at-the-door at the venues. You can book at-the-door tickets on a previously purchased multi-show pass. New this year, you can book online up to 5 minutes before showtime. For more information, click here.
If ticket prices create a barrier for you, please contact [email protected].
We have a limited number of community tickets available. We want you to come see our show!
We have a limited number of community tickets available. We want you to come see our show!
If you are interested in donating and supporting emerging trans, non-binary and queer theatre in Toronto,
please visit our GoFundMe page.
please visit our GoFundMe page.
This production of Hermaphroditus is generously supported by a grant from Community One Foundation’s Rainbow Grants. The show is also present in partnership with Necessary Angel Theatre Company, which has been influential in the Canadian and international theatre landscape since 1978. This is Rosalind Goodwin’s inaugural production with her company Rose Gold Productions.
Cast Members
HERMAPHRODITUS, PRODUCER and PLAYWRIGHT
Rosalind Goodwin (fae/she/they) is an Irish settler based in Tkarón:to. Originally from Treaty 6 territory and the small town of Ponoka, Rosalind finished a BFA in Performance Arts at the University of Lethbridge before relocating for work. Rose has since produced Jizz Sock for the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival, and Rose’s Buds- A Trans Cabaret for the 2021 Paprika Festival. She has also co-produced the short film Scaring Women at Night which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. |
HERA
Jan Jennings (she/they) a.k.a J.River, is an artist of many seasonings. Which include, Singer, Playwright, Poet, Songwriter, Visual artist,Art's Facilitator, Dramaterg, Sex educator, Podcast host and Comedian. Just to name a few!! Jan is a proud muva, to her six year-old rock-star. Jan draws on her life experiences, and unique outlook on the world. To create works of art, that will warm your heart & always make you think! With a degree in Gender & Women Studies from York University. Jan's activism is rooted in, womyn empowerment & advocating for marginalized groups. Jan takes this work seriously, and shows this by being a living example unlearning & continuously educating herself. Currently Jan is working on her play Habitat with Nightwood Theatre, in the WFTH program. Under the guidance of Donna Michelle St Benard.Jan is also creating a sex positivity course ,and curating her second comedy show: The Encore For Space Space Revolution's: One Night Only Festival! Jan is also enrolled in a grant writing Mentorship, with the Nia Centre for the arts guided by Grant Writer Paulina O'Keefe. Jan has has also concluded her playwriting mentorship under the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Mentorship Program. With mentor Santiago Guzman, working on her new play : Awkward. Jan will be attending Centennial College in the fall, in the special three year diploma program for : Broadcasting, Radio, Film, Television and digital media. You can follow this eclectic old soul on Instagram: @iamjriver. |
ZEUS
Titus Androgynous is a multi-disciplinary performer who has performed and created pieces in genres including drag, burlesque, sketch comedy, red-nose clown and Shakespeare. They have been performing nationally and internationally as a drag king for over a decade. Other performance credits include Heleno in Ill Met By Moonlight, The Writer in the web series, La Ronde, and online creation with Cahoots Theatre's ENBY Ensemble. Other creations include Dapper the Genderqueer Clown, as well as multiple Shakespeare roles and cosplay drag pieces. Titus is also a singer and a writer and has a piece of erotic fiction in the anthology Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year, Volume 6, and a few more pieces being published this year. |
CHARICLO (performance)
Margo MacDonald (she/they) is happy to have been able to step in as a last-minute replacement in the role of Chariclo. Recently, she was nominated for a Dora Award for her performance in the solo show Dressed as People – a Triptych of Uncanny Abduction. Originally from Ottawa, Margo is also a four-time winner of the Prix Rideau Award for Outstanding Performance, as well as the Capital Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actor. Their previous solo show, The Elephant Girls, (which they also wrote) has been touring regularly since it premiered in 2015, including runs in London, England, the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival, and the renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Other recent performance credits include: The Persistent Stain (undercurrents festival). Heartlines, and Albumen (TACTICS Mainstage); A Christmas Carol (Soup Can Theatre); Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), and Fly Me to the Moon, (Great Canadian Theatre Company); Henry V, and Much Ado About Nothing (A Company of Fools); and The Penelopiad (Citadel Theatre). Up next, she’ll be appearing in Bright Half Life at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon. Follow: @Margo_thespian |
CHARLICO (rehearsal)
troy emery twigg is Blackfoot from the Kainai Nation. He has worked as an actor, dancer, choreographer, director, dramaturg and instructor. He has most recently worked with Quest Theatre; Into The Light for the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity; Niitahtaastsi for Juper Theatre; Lilies for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Why Not Theatre and Lemon Tree Creations; Sal Capone, The Lamentable Tragedy of... for the National Arts Centre; Iniskim for the Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry/NAC. He has recently worked for Toronto Dance Theatre and Raven Spirit Dance. He was asked to be part of Older and Reckless 20/50 project in progress presented by Moonhorse Dance Theatre. He was featured in Julia Aplin's film For You. Troy has also published and worked as a curator. He was instrumental in setting up programs with the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and the University of Lethbridge. His work with Quest Theatre entitled We Are All Treaty People was nominated for a Dora Award in the Young Peoples Theatre division. He was curator and programmer for "The Bannock Bumms and Buddies Variety Cabaret Show Spectacular! Spectacular! as part of Springboard Performance's Fluid Festival at the Grand Theatre This past October. He will be creating a solo with a group of fine artists and doing some writing for a couple of projects. Photo Credit: Julia Alpine |
Production Team Members
DIRECTOR
Cole Alvis (she\her) is a Turtle Mountain Michif (Métis) artist based in Tkarón:to with Chippewa, Irish & English ancestors. She is one of the leaders of lemonTree creations, manidoons collective, and AdHoc Assembly, and is on the board of the Dancers Of Damelahamid. Cole has performed, directed and toured queer and Indigenous performance across Turtle Island (North America) including venues in Coast Salish territory, Treaty 7 territory, Robinson Superior Treaty territory, and Mi’kma’ki territory. |
PRODUCER
Jess Thorp (she/they) is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto's Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies. Their academic works center around queer and intersectional-feminist performance art, particularly neo-burlesque, drag, and cabaret. They are also interested in pop culture and performative modes of fandom. As her stage persona, Loretta Jean, they are a founding member and producer of Nerd Girl Burlesque, established in 2012. Select performance credits include The Nerdlesque Festival (New York), The Toronto Burlesque Festival, PrideTO, Red Rum's Satanic Panic (Chicago), and the Southwest Burlesque Showcase (New Mexico). |
PRODUCER
Lee Stone (they/them) is a queer, trans and non-binary, multidisciplinary theatre practitioner with a focus in directing, collective creation and producing. Their inspiration as a director has always been about engaging with stories and voices of and for social change through the lens of feminism. They consider their audience to be those whose voices have been historically and systemically silenced and oppressed due to their gender identity, gender presentation/expression, sexuality and assigned sex. They are a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and have worked in live performance since 2007 as a Director, Performer, Fight/Intimacy Choreographer and Stage Manager in Honolulu, Los Angeles and Toronto. They are the founder of Dead Name Theatre which uplifts and centres the voices, experiences and talents of trans, non-binary and queer creatives in Toronto. deadnametheatre.weebly.com |
CALLING STAGE MANAGER
Annasofie 诗慧 Jakobsen (she/her) is an emerging Toronto based production and stage manager who also occasionally dabbles in the live journalism world! She has a soft spot for silly shows and hopes to make a career out of stage managing them. Annasofie is also currently stage managing Insert Clown Here at The Tank House with Parlous Theatre this Fringe season. Much love and appreciation to the Hermaphroditus team for welcoming her with open arms! Select stage management credits include: Harabogee & Me (Shakespeare In Action), And Then They Came (lemonTree creations), All For One For All (xLq) and A Perfect Bowl of Pho (Toronto Fringe). Upcoming: Give ‘em Hell (Prairie Fire Please/Theatre Direct) |
REHEARSAL STAGE MANAGER
Allison Jordan (they/she) is a genderfluid performer and first-time stage manager based in Tkaranto/Toronto. Originally from the United States of America, they received their BFA in Musical Theatre from Mars Hill University in North Carolina. Upon graduation, she began to pursue her professional musical theatre career in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Washington D.C. area and soon thereafter moved to New York City to further pursue her career. Her involvement in the queer musical theatre community, paired with the New York City drag scene, fueled an already expressive and passionate interest in their support of and involvement in queer and trans-inclusive theatre and the safe space it can provide. Their professional and personal endeavors eventually lead them to Tkaranto/Toronto, and they are thrilled to be here. Select credits include Ensemble/Columbia understudy (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Iron Crow Theatre, Baltimore, MD). |
COSTUME DESIGNER
Eish Van Wieren (they/them) is a white (Dutch/UK) trans-nonbinary transdisciplinary theatre practitioner, performer, playwright, mask maker and costume designer originally from Mohkinstsis/Calgary and currently based in Tkaranto/Toronto. The wonders of plants, animals and magic, along with the horror of their dysmorphia, inform their creation of creatures, stories and masks. They are interested in using the wonderful to explore the terrible. Eish is passionate about staging trans/queer stories while building teams that reflect the stories on stage. Eish is an alumni of Playwright’s Workshop Montreal Young Creator’s Unit 2021-2022, Tarragon Theatre’s Extended Young Playwriting Unit 2021 and a current member of the Nightwood Innovators 2022-2023. They have been supported by the Canada Council, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Theatre Outre, Buddies in Bad Times, Playwright’s Workshop Montreal, Canadian Stage, Swallow-a-Bicycle, Nightwood Theatre, Factory Theatre and more. Select Credits Include: Grape Head (Playwright’s Workshop Montreal, Splatbonfitz Productions), The Parasite (Buddies in Bad Times, Theatre Outre), Orange You Glad (Buddies in Bad Times), Disparate Worlds (Splatbonfitz Productions), The Void (Buddies in Bad Times), Apartment Show (Thumbs Up Good Work) |
SOUND DESIGNER
Alex a/k/a Cloud (she/her) is an actor, musician, and sound designer based in Toronto, and she is excited to be back collaborating with Dead Name Theatre. An alumnus of emerging artists' programs such as Nightwood Innovators, TENT, Crane Creations' Summer Ensemble, ACTRA Diversity’s inaugural A Different Lens, and Paprika Festival, she is eager to tell stories by seamlessly crossing the boundaries of creative disciplines and media forms - utilizing theatrical sound as a creative spark as fundamental as performance and dramaturgy. Credits as an actor include Lunchmates (ACTRA Diversity), Beginning the Middle With the End (UTM EDSS), Three Sisters (Tarragon YPU reading), Gay Mean Girls (KindaTV), and her solo-ish show Dreams (Toronto Fringe 2022), which was self-directed and sound designed. Sound design credits include House of Whale (Monologue Slam for Toronto Fringe 2023), Into the Woods (Dead Name Theatre), Wheel of the Year Walks (b current Performing Arts), BOOM! (Paprika Festival), and On Which We Stand (Black Theatre Workshop). You can listen to her original music on Bandcamp at cloudj.bandcamp.com! |
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Melissa Joakim (she/her) is a lighting and projection designer and scenographer. She is a recipient of a Dora Award in Scenic Design for Prophecy Fog (The Theatre Centre, Paper Canoe Projects and Nightswimming Theatre). She has recently collaborated with Outside the March, Ahuri Theatre, Bad New Days, Lucid Ludic, Theatre Why Not, Theatre Passe Muraille, Lemontree Creations, Soundstreams, Signal Theatre, ARC Stage Co, and Crow’s Theatre. She is the stage manager and touring lighting designer for Sea Sick (Theatre Centre, 2014) which has toured extensively around the world and recently had its USA premiere at The Kennedy Center. |
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