Acting Students Give Circa-1600s Shakespeare Play a 1980s Reboot
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Shakespeare’s circa-1604 play Measure for Measure will get a 1980s reboot with Toronto Film School’s upcoming virtual stage adaptation of this #MeToo morality-meets-judgment tale.
Adapted by Patricia Tedford and her fifth-term Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre students, the 90-minute adaptation raises many questions: What happens when people are granted power? Do they change much? Do the rules shift for them? Or are their true natures finally given ‘free’ reign?
“This adaptation of Measure for Measure could easily be dubbed Power & Politics, with a generous side of Carnality and the Church. It examines double standards and whether the ends ever justify the means: essentially, the intersection of morality and power,” Tedford said of the play, which is set in Vienna in 1985 as the discovery of a new deadly disease brings the sexual party to an abrupt end.
“Now a new standard is being set down for sexual behaviour. Cities are being ‘cleaned up,’ moving unsavoury elements out of the city. With it, a new conservatism has changed everything. But, has the state ever had any place in the bedroom? What is the extent of damage when it tries to interfere?”
Measure for Measure, which is assistant directed and stage-managed by Klaas Raymond, will take to the virtual stage for a three-performance run on March 24, 25 and 26 as follows:
Thursday, March 24 at 6 p.m.
Friday, March 25 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m.
***Click here to Livestream any of the above performances***
The Creative Team Behind Measure for Measure:
Maggie Carr – Juliet/Mariana
Maggie Carr began acting in musical theatre productions in her hometown of Shelburne, Ontario with LP Stage Productions. Some favourite roles she has performed include Wendy in Peter Pan and Little Red in Into The Woods. Maggie is currently training at Toronto Film School in the Acting for Film, TV and the Theatre program. Throughout high school, Maggie was a competitive dancer in hip-hop, jazz and musical theatre and has training in ballet. She is very passionate about dance and music. Maggie plays the guitar and piano and is a soprano singer. She also has training in horseback riding. In her free time, Maggie enjoys spending time outside in the sun and playing with her cats.
Morgan Fremlin – Mistress Overdone/Sister Francisca
Morgan Fremlin is a young, Toronto-based actress originally from Espanola, Ontario. She attended modelling classes at Madame Guaveruex’s Academy for two years, before moving to dance and acting classes at Arts North. She has performed in many theatre productions, including Footloose, The Little Mermaid, and The Theory of Relativity, among others. Morgan is currently studying at Toronto Film School to further cultivate her acting abilities as she works towards graduation. She hopes her future work continues to push the envelope for what is expected from Canadian actors.
Brent Gosnell – Elbow
Ready to be on the big screen, Brent Gosnell is an up-and-coming actor who loves to display his range of emotion and personality. Theatrical pieces Brent has worked on in the past include Marat Sade, and How to Succeed in High School Without Really Trying. He loves writing music and skits in his spare time and is a skateboard and snowboard enthusiast. Brent also looks forward to working with actors like Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio, so he can learn and grow as an actor.
Jake Hitchon – First Gentleman/Barnardine
Jake Alexander Hitchon was born in Cornwall, Ontario and grew up in the countryside of Lunenburg, Ontario. He graduated high school at Rothwell Osnabruck in 2015 as an honour roll student. During his time in university, he took an off-campus class at the Ottawa Acting Company and loved it. He later decided to pursue a career in the arts, completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Studies at Carleton University in 2020. He’s now a student at Toronto Film School, looking to build confidence and connections with others in the film industry. He looks forward to graduating and breaking into the film industry where he can then start his career journey.
Camden Jeppson – Provost
Camden is ecstatic to be a part of the Measure for Measure cast this term. At 19 years old, Camden recently performed in the self-made short Classic and production of Marat/Sade in a previous term at Toronto Film School. Prior to joining TFS, Camden got his roots in the North Peace Secondary School musical production of Grease as Doody and Alice in Wonderland as the dodo bird. Outside of work in the home studio, Camden enjoys playing guitar, writing, and drawing digital art.
Daniela Libano – Isabella
Daniela Libano is a Chilean Canadian actor based in Toronto, Canada, where she has been honing her craft for the last nine months through various student-based films and a collection of monologues. She uses her love of the arts to bring in a sense of security and play to everything she does in her daily and professional life. You can see Daniela in things such as London Sonata where she played Danny Sparks, a film written by the 3X Camera Acting class this summer, where she helped co-write the film under the direction and guidance of Jonathan Higgins. She has also starred in Marat/Sade playing the woman, Charlotte Corday, the eventual assassin of Jean Paul Marat. Her favourite pastimes away from the screen are going out for runs and watching other actors perform, whether professional or her peers.
Aeden MacNeil – Lucio
Originally from Hamilton Ontario, Aedan previously pursued a career in the construction industry. It wasn’t until he was forced online that he realized that acting was his calling. Aedan used online platforms to perform improv, create skits and explore the acting world. Since joining Toronto Film School he has performed in The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, as Kokol and Death of a Salesman, as Biff Loman. Aedan likes to use his intense vocal range to play a plethora of characters. He wants to pursue a career in everything from voiceover for video games, to classic theatre, and everything in between.
Kira Nox – Escalus
Kira Nox began her acting career in high school, exploring theatre work and expressions. Now enrolled in the Acting for Film, TV and Theatre program at Toronto Film School, she looks forward to continuing to grow her skills in the field. Kira first got into acting due to her passion for movies and sharing other people’s stories. She’s also currently learning ASL to further her communication skills. Kira enjoys spending her free time working with accents and movement, including dancing, yoga, meditation and space exploration using the body.
Riley McGloin – Froth/Servant/Friar Peter
Prior to enrolling at Toronto Film School’s Acting program, Riley McGloin had been involved in theatre and musical theatre productions for nearly seven years. His acting journey began back in 2012, when he decided to participate in several school productions, and continued as he began taking occasional lessons for voice. In 2019, he took on the role of Max Detweiler in a local production of The Sound of Music in his hometown of Moncton, New Brunswick.
Megan Morand – Duke Vincentio
Megan Rose Morand is an up-and-coming actor from Windsor, Ontario. She has a rich theatrical background, which started at the Lakeshore Academy of Fine Arts with her debut role as Tinkerbell in Peter Pan. Her more recent roles include those of Mary Snow in the TFS production of Salt-Water Moon and the Herald in Marat/Sade. Megan has always had a passion for the arts and brings an immense amount of energy and passion to the stage during her performances. She is currently enrolled in the Acting for Film, Television and Theatre Program at Toronto Film School, where she continues to pursue her passion for the arts.
Ivo Pereira – Angelo
Ivo C. Pereira is an experienced practitioner of martial arts and stunt work, with more than 14 years of experience studying different forms. He has performed in TFS productions including Betrayal as Robert and The Laramie Project as Aaron McKinney. He has directed, and starred in his own silent short film Rise and continues on creating more of his own content. Ivo is proficient in Portuguese and passionate about working in the field of voice-over and animation. In his spare time, Ivo enjoys motorcycling, rock climbing, and writing. He is well adapted at carrying out leadership roles, as he has done so in many of his prior instructing positions.
AJ Sigue Yntig – Friar Thomas/Abhorson/Second Gentleman/Messenger Boy
AJ is currently a student at Toronto Film School, studying in the Acting for Film, TV, and the Theatre program. He has always had an interest in acting, especially musical theatre and singing. AJ has been in other productions and has previously played Tom in The Glass Menagerie, Edmund in Long Day’s Journey into Night, and Dupreet from Marat/Sade. In his spare time, he likes to read, work out, and play badminton and volleyball. He is grateful to his friends and family for their love and support and would like to thank all those involved in the Term 5 play.
Kaitlyn Whetstone – Pompey
Kaitlyn Whetstone started acting in Guelph, Ontario through the Great Big Theatre Company, where she learned to perform on stage and read a script for the first time. She also indulged in high school performances, where she took on the role of Sharpay in High School Musical and Emily in Our Town. Kaitlyn has attended training with writer Lindsay Price and got the opportunity to perform two of her plays in the NTS Drama Festival. In high school, she took the position as director for a play, which was also performed at NTS. Kaitlyn has a passion for musical theatre, dance and movement. She attended Strictly Rhythm Dance Academy, as well as Holly Hughes Dance Academy back in her hometown. Kaitlyn is currently training at Toronto Film School in the Acting for Film, TV & Theatre program.
Gerardo Yela Garcia – Claudio
Gerardo Yela Garcia is a Canadian-based actor born in the Central American country of Guatemala. Gerardo is currently attending the Acting for Film, Television and Theatre program at Toronto Film School, to work on refining his craft. From a very young age, Gerardo always enjoyed the art of performing. Gerardo’s passion for storytelling finally met diligence at the age of 15, when he enrolled in Drama classes in high school. From the ages of 15 to 18, Gerardo took part in Improvisational ‘Lunchbox’ Theatre for his school, from skit writing to script adaptation, as well as character work for various high school plays and musicals such as, Mama Mia! (Sky), Grease (Kenickie) and Shrek (Puss in Boots). Despite working on many adaptations of rom-coms and fantasy, during his time at Toronto Film School, Gerardo has leaned into more dramatic roles and coming-of-age stories. He thrives on more complex, meatier roles that represent an unparalleled level of realism.
Patricia Tedford – Director
Over a 35-year career as an actor, director, teacher, Patricia now lives in Toronto. Previously, Patricia taught Acting and Voice for Theatre at Thorneloe at Laurentian University, in Sudbury, Ontario. Patricia’s most current endeavour was St. Ella of the Camino, a one-person show, which she wrote, performed and produced. The world premiere of St. Ella of the Camino marked Patricia’s first writing venture and was performed in October 2019. Other recent performances in Sudbury include: Escape from Happiness (Thorneloe Theatre), Shakespeare’s Will (Text Me Productions), Hay Fever (Thorneloe Theatre), Henry and Alice Into the Wild (Blue Water Summer Playhouse), Our Town, How It Works (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Muskeg and Money (North Road Theatre), and Faith Healer (ImPulse Theatre/Text Me Productions). For Thorneloe she has directed Road, Greek, The Memory of Water, Cabaret, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Les Belles Soeurs, Book of Days, Hedda Gabler, Twelfth Night and As You Like It. Her most recent film was an ongoing project that was developed in yearly chapters: Perspective, which premiered in September 2020 at Cinéfest in Sudbury. Patricia has lived and worked as an actor in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Sudbury. She has taught Voice for Acting and Acting at the University of Ottawa, York University, Ottawa School of Speech and Drama, St. Lawrence College and U of Toronto. Patricia is the founder and Artistic Director/Producer of Text Me Productions since 2012. She was the Founder/Artistic Director/Producer of Ottawa Lunchbox Theatre 2003-2006. Patricia holds a BFA with a Specialization in Performance from Concordia University, an MFA in Acting, and the Voice Teacher Diploma from York University. Measure for Measure is Patricia’s first directing project at TFS. Thanks to the creative team for going on this crazy ride, and to Hart for the opportunity.
Klaas Raymond
Klaas Raymond just graduated from Toronto Film School, where he was able to produce his own short film called A Loophole For the Rich A-Hole. Klaas started performing in high school, quickly taking action and doing musicals such as Into the Woods performing as the Wolf and steward, Les Miserables performing as a Chorus Member, both produced by Penny and Pound/Part and ParcelTheatre. He then played the great Doctor Seward in a production of Dracula produced by Part and ParcelTheatre, and performed as Mr. Kirby in You Can’t Take It With You, also produced by Part and Parcel Theatre, all performed at the Cambridge Art Theatre.
