Stageworthy

Stageworthy
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Now in its 10th year, Stageworthy is Canada’s theatre podcast, bringing you in-depth interviews with theatre artists, panel discussions, and more. Each week, host Phil Rickaby sits down with the people who make theatre happen: from household names to artists you should know. Whether you're an audience member, a theatre maker, or just plain curious about Canadian theatre, Stageworthy offers a front-row seat to the conversations shaping the industry. New episodes every Tuesday.

  1. 1d ago

    Natalie Kaye is Channelling Harpo Marx, Mae West, and Shakespeare All at Once

    About This Episode: Playwright and writer Natalie Kaye joins Phil Rickaby to talk about her wildly ambitious new musical, 1920s Walking Around in a Dream, playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival. The show is a screwball comedy set in an imagined 1920s Jazz Age Chicago, and it's a retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, translated not into modern English, but into the heightened, slang-drenched language of the Jazz Age. It's a project Natalie has been quietly nurturing for at least a decade, and hearing her describe its journey from a single translated sonnet to a fully staged musical is genuinely thrilling. This episode explores: How a single translated Shakespeare sonnet launched a decade-long project Why A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Jazz Age are a perfect match Silent film, vaudeville, and the Marx Brothers as creative inspirations The challenge of writing dense, heightened language that audiences can actually follow What it means to finally relinquish control and trust your cast and director And much more! Guest: ✍️ Natalie Kaye Natalie Kaye (she/her) Playwright. Natalie is an award-winning playwright and a published poet. She is also a dancer, choreographer and aerial silks performer. A graduate of York University and the University of Toronto, Natalie has a Masters' in Drama. She has worked in theatre as a producer, director, playwright, actor and dramaturg. Her one-act play, Mood Swings, won first place in the Pat the Dog's 24-hour play contest. The play was workshopped by Pat the Dog in February, 2014 and received a full production at Toronto Fringe in 2016 where it was called "beautiful" "well-executed" and "poetic" by Mooney on Theatre. Her short plays, Universe Inc. and A Toast were produced by Newborn Theatre at the Odds and Ends Festival. She is a member of the Vault Creation Lab's writer's group. She co-wrote #1 Clown Comedy With Victor & Priscilla at Toronto Fringe in 2025. Connect with Natalie Kaye: 🌐 Website: unspokentheatrecompany.weebly.com 📸 Instagram: @unspokentheatrecompany Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

    56 min

  2. Jun 30

    Your Guide to the 2026 Toronto Fringe, with Four of Toronto's Essential Theatre Voices

    About This Episode: As the Toronto Fringe Festival prepares to launch, Phil Rickaby gathers four of Toronto's most dedicated theatre content creators (Janine Marley from A View from the Box, Ryan Borochovitz from The Cup Podcast, Alexandra Lean from Being Dramatic, and Ryan McCollom from Plates & Playbills) for a lively live stream preview of the 2026 festival. Together they dig into what makes Fringe such a unique and exciting event, share their personal histories with the festival, and break down what their coverage will look like across podcasts, written reviews, and social media throughout the run. This episode explores: Each panelists Toronto Fringe Top 5, must see shows, plus a wildcard selection largely based on title alone. A breakdown of how each content creator covers Fringe, from roundup podcast episodes and daily written reviews to short-form TikTok recaps Practical tips for navigating venues, surviving the heat, eating on a budget, and planning your Fringe days geographically And much more Connect with Janine Marley, Ryan Borochovitz, Alexandra Lean, and Ryan McCollom: 🎙️ Ryan Borochovitz: The Cup Podcast 📺 Youtube: @cupofhemlocktheatre2934https://www.youtube.com/@cupofhemlocktheatre2934 📝 Alexandra Lean: Bad Reviewer and Being Dramatic ✒️ Bad Reviewer: badreviewer.substack.com 🎙️ Being Dramatic: https://open.spotify.com/show/04EUsQsiw1wrUMNLjdqDmy 📸 Ryan McCollom: Plates and Playbills on Instagram 🤳 Instagram: @platesandplaybills_ 📹 TikTok: @platesandplaybills_ 🌐 Janine Marley: A View from the Box ✏️ Website: aviewfromthebox.net 📹 Tiktok: @aviewfromthebox 📸 Instagram: @avuefromthebox Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

    1h 18m

  3. Jun 25

    Marla Torgerson is Bringing her Show about Breaking Up with White Jesus to Toronto Fringe

    About This Episode: In this episode, Phil sits down with Marla Torgerson, a Calgary-based singer-songwriter and classically trained vocalist who has written and performs her debut theatrical work, Sinner, a one-woman musical tragic comedy about growing up in the evangelical Bible Belt of central Alberta and the long, often painful process of leaving fundamentalist religion behind. What starts as a conversation about a show becomes a wide-ranging, deeply personal discussion between two people who have both done the hard work of deconstructing their faith and are still finding new layers to unpack. This episode explores: How Marla went from singer-songwriter and opera graduate to writing her debut solo theatrical work over eight years The specific moment that cracked open her deconstruction, and why she frames Sinner as breaking up with white Jesus rather than religion broadly Why evangelical culture treats men and women differently, and how the Proverbs 31 woman ideal is actually a subversive power structure The prosperity gospel, megachurches, and why Marla argues that being rich is evidence of a lack of faith And much more! Guest: 🎤 Marla Torgerson Marla Torgerson is a Calgary-based singer-songwriter, performer, writer, and comedienne. Originally trained in classical voice, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and has performed throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, and South Korea. Her work combines soaring vocals, sharp humour, and deeply personal storytelling. Drawing from her experiences within North American evangelical culture, Marla creates work that examines faith, identity, belonging, and transformation with honesty, nuance, and compassion. Outside of theatre, she works professionally as a vocalist and songwriter, having been a background vocalist for legends like Sarah Mclachlan, and lived and recorded in Nashville, Tennessee alongside Grammy winning musicians, Marla has built a career that spans music, comedy, and live performance. SINNER. is her debut solo theatrical work. Get tickets to SINNER: https://fringetoronto.com/fringe/show/sinner-musical-tragicomedy-about-breaking-white-jesus Connect with Marla: 📸 Instagram: @sinner_the_musical 🎥 TikTok: @Sinnerthemusical Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

    1h 10m

  4. Jun 23

    Chris Cracknell is Making Theatre About Online Community, Identity, and Finding Your People

    About this episode: Chris Cracknell is a Hamilton-based composer, musician, performer, and web series creator who has channelled a pandemic-era creative crisis into something genuinely extraordinary: a non-canonical musical adventure called Pookumhura Mistress of B-Roll, playing at Theatre Passe-Muraille as part of the Toronto Fringe's Musical Theatre Hub. The show draws on Chris's nearly two decades as a World of Warcraft player, but don't let that fool you into thinking you need to know anything about the game. At its heart, this is a show about how people use online spaces to find community, explore identity, and connect with each other across the divides that increasingly define our world. Chris and Phil dig into the origins of the Pookumhura web series, which Chris created as a way to climb out of pandemic-era depression one tiny creative act at a time. What started as the bare minimum (taking a gummy and ad-libbing awkward conversations with in-game NPCs) eventually snowballed into a full eleven-episode season and then a stage musical. It's a story about the power of low-stakes creative momentum, and the surprising places it can take you. Guest: 🎮 Chris Cracknell Chris Cracknell, a former webcomic artist and fixture of the Hamilton music and theatre communities has employed his talents in a wide variety of productions. He has performed in such diverse roles as Doctor Frank N. Furter in the Waterdown Village Theatre's 2012 production of "The Rocky Horror Show" and Mr. Kurlansky in the 2017 film "Chewed" by Mike Trebilcock and far too many Hamilton Fringe Festival productions to list. Tickets to Pookamhura: https://fringetoronto.com/fringe/show/non-canonical-musical-adventure-pookamhura-mistress-b-roll Connect with Chris: 🌐 Website: www.pookplay.ca 📸 Instagram: @pookamhura Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

    1 hr

  5. Jun 18

    Victoria Sullivan is Forcing Ontario's Premier to Live on Minimum Wage at Toronto Fringe

    Read transcript About This Episode: What would happen if a newly elected Premier of Ontario was forced to live on minimum wage? That's the provocative (and deeply funny) question at the heart of Minimum, the political satire written and performed by Victoria Sullivan. After winning Best in Venue at the 2025 Hamilton Fringe Festival, Victoria is bringing the show to Toronto Fringe, and the timing couldn't feel more apt. Victoria is an actor, playwright, and producer based in Hamilton, working under the banner of Be Victorious (and sometimes the Intergalactic Federation of Space Beers - it's a long story). She holds a master's degree from TMU, where her Dante-inspired thesis project Daniel T's Inferno Latte became a critically lauded Fringe hit. With four consecutive Fringe runs under her belt, she knows what it takes to make a show land; and she's ready to find out how Toronto audiences respond to political absurdism in the current climate. This episode explores: How the experience of moving to Toronto and working for minimum wage sparked the idea for Minimum Why Victoria chose a fictional premier over the actual Premier and what creative freedom that decision unlocked Returning to a show with the same cast but a new director, and what that reinvestigation revealed The changing landscape of Fringe marketing - from flyering lineups to social media ads - and what actually works And much more! Guest: 🎭 Victoria Sullivan Victoria Sullivan is an award-winning scriptwriter, producer and actress who currently resides in Hamilton, Ontario. Victoria completed an MFA in Scriptwriting and Story Design at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023. Her thesis project is a female-led, television adaptation of Dante’s Inferno, with a modern-day interpretation of the entry requirements into Hell. Victoria produced and starred in a stage adaptation of Danielle Tea’s Infernal Latte on Tarragon Mainstage for the Toronto 2023 Fringe Festival to rave reviews and critical acclaim. She has co-written and produced It’s Always Hazy in Hamilton for the 2024 Hamilton Fringe Festival and wrote, produced and starred in Minimum for the 2025 Hamilton Fringe Festival, both of which won ‘Best in Venue’ at the Player’s Guild of Hamilton. Victoria is passionate about astronomy, the environment, animal rights and has an avid green thumb. She is currently entrenched in a war with fungus gnats over her indoor plants. Her favourite planet is Saturn. Get tickets to Minimum at Toronto Fringe: https://fringetoronto.com/fringe/show/minimum Connect with Victoria 🌐 Website: www.spacebeers.ca 📸 Instagram: @vicsullivahttps://www.instagram.com/vicsulliva Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve

    1h 3m

  6. Jun 16

    Kathleen Welch is Bringing Dark Celtic Mythology to the Toronto Stage with Siofra

    Read transcript About This Episode: Kathleen Welch is a playwright, composer, director, and actor, and one of the founding members of The Spindle Collective; the Toronto-based company making some of the most compelling horror theatre in Canada right now. She joined Phil to talk about Siofra, Spindle Collective's latest show, which opens at the Red Sandcastle Theatre on June 17th. Rooted in the Irish mythology of changeling babies, Siofra is the second in a trilogy of folklore-inspired horror plays that Kathleen has written with Spindle Collective co-founder Natalia Bushnik. The conversation moves through the rich terrain of folklore and what makes it such fertile ground for original storytelling — from Romanian demons to Germanic winter witches, and now to the west of Ireland in the 1860s. Kathleen talks about the collaborative writing process she and Natalia developed during COVID, why writing with a trusted partner makes all the difference, and how Siofra surprised even its own creators when the humor started emerging in rehearsal. Kathleen also talks about the Dead of Winter Festival, the horror theatre festival she and Natalia launched in partnership with Eldritch Theatre, why genre theatre is a powerful way to bring new audiences into the room, and what she believes makes horror such a naturally feminist form of storytelling. This episode explores: The mythology of Irish changeling babies and how it shapes the story of Siofra How The Spindle Collective was born during COVID from a shared love of folklore and horror The Dead of Winter Festival: what they learned in year one, including surviving a polar vortex Why horror is uniquely suited to feminist storytelling and bringing new audiences to theatre And much more! Guest: 🎭 Kathleen Welch Kathleen Welch is a playwright, composer, director, and actor. She is a founding member of spindle collective, which focuses on the creation of horror theatre and dark folklore epics. With Natalia Bushnik, she co-wrote and composed the music for their Dark Mother Trilogy, made up of the plays SAMCA, síofra, and spilleHOLLE. SAMCA received numerous grants and accolades and, for its Toronto production, Kathleen was nominated for a Toronto Theatre Award for her role as Prava. Kathleen and Natalia recently completed their full-length version of spilleHOLLE after the ten minute version won “Gold” at the Grand River 10-minute Play Contest. Apart from their trilogy, spindle collective also created Dead of Winter: The Toronto Horror-Theatre Festival in association with Eldritch Theatre. The festival had a sold out run this past winter and will continue as an annual event! Kathleen's play, Bluebeard's Wives is currently being developed by spindle collective with guidance and support from The Vault Creation Lab. Apart from her work with spindle, some select credits include performing as the Creepy Musician in Eldritch Theatre’s production of The Strange and Eerie Memoirs of Billy Wuthergloom, directing Riot King’s Dora Award winning production of Suddenly Last Summer, and composing the music for Just Across the Causeway (a radio play supported by the CBC Digital Strategy Fund). Kathleen holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor and is passionate about multidisciplinary theatre and plays that feature dangerous, amoral womxn. Learn about Siofra and buy tickets: https://natbushnik0.wixsite.com/spindlecollective/about-3 Connect with Kathleen and the Spindle Collective 📸 Instagram: @spindlecollective Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve

    54 min

  7. Jun 11

    Taylor Trowbridge is bringing DADS to Toronto Fringe

    About This Episode: What do we really know about our dads — and what have we never been able to say out loud? Taylor Trowbridge joins Phil to talk about her new solo show Dads, playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Part stand-up, part storytelling, part audience game, the show invites people to sit with the full range of their experiences with their fathers: the funny, the complicated, and the quietly unresolved. Taylor and Phil dig into the generational forces that shaped so many dads — wartime trauma, boomer expectations, the rigid masculinity that made emotional connection difficult — and how those patterns echo forward into all of us. Taylor also shares how her brother Dylan is directing the show, why the family collaboration just makes sense, and what it was like to turn questions about her own dad into a piece of theatre. This episode explores: What Dads is — and why Taylor wanted to build a show around audience interaction, games, and stand-up The generational and emotional weight fathers carry, and how masculinity shapes the father-child relationship Working with her brother Dylan Trowbridge as director, and why no chemistry test was needed Tool for Rebellion: Taylor's verbatim theatre piece on incel culture, the Toronto van attack, and the limits of empathy And much more! Guest: 🎭 Taylor Trowbridge Taylor Trowbridge (she/her) is an actor, educator, and award-wining playwright. As an actor, she has performed for theatre companies such as Canadian Stage, The Shaw Festival, Nightwood Theatre, Bard on the Beach and SummerWorks Festival, and for TV shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale, Upload, SKYMED, Orphan Black, Murdoch Mysteries and Copper. Taylor’s documentary play Tool for Rebellion was part of Studio 180's IN DEVELOPMENT program in 2022 and 2023 and received the Equity Showcase Cayle Chernin Award for Theatre. Her new play DADS – a playful, interactive solo show – will be at Toronto Fringe from June 30th to July 12th. Get Tickets to DADS: http://fringetoronto.com/fringe/show/dads Connect with Taylor: 📸 Instagram: @taylorbluetrowbridge Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve Read transcript

    51 min

  8. Jun 9

    Stephen Drover is Directing the Macbeth He's Been Thinking About for Twenty Years

    Read transcript About this episode: Stephen Drover has directed Macbeth before; twenty years ago, the day after it closed, he wanted to do it again. Now, as both adapter and director for Bard on the Beach in Vancouver, he's finally getting that chance. In this rich conversation, Stephen talks about approaching Shakespeare not as a sacred text to be served but as a living collaboration, asking not what the words inherently mean but what meaning is being created in this specific theatre, for this specific audience, right now. The conversation covers the challenge of stripping away cultural baggage around the witches, to building a post-environmental dystopia as the world of the play, to why Stephen leans into the brutal, blood-soaked reality of the play rather than sanitizing it for comfortable consumption. He also reflects on how becoming a parent has changed the way he receives Macbeth's deeply embedded anxieties about children and grief. This episode explores: Approaching Shakespeare as a collaborator rather than a proprietor — and what that means in practice for this production The concentric rings of Stephen's career: actor to director to artistic director to dramaturg How a late diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and ADHD illuminates why theatre suits his brain so well New play development at the Arts Club and the 'one size fits one' philosophy And much more! Guest: 🎭 Stephen Drover Stephen is a dramaturg and director originally from Newfoundland and presently based on the lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples (Vancouver, British Columbia). He holds a BFA in Theatre from Memorial University of Newfoundland, an MFA in Directing from the University of British Columbia, and an MA in Theatre Theory and Dramaturgy from the University of Ottawa. Since 2018, he has served as Head of New Works and Professional Engagement at Arts Club Theatre Company, where he leads the commissioning and development of new plays. His dramaturgical work there includes projects such as Forgiveness (Hiro Kanagawa), Redbone Coonhound (Amy Lee Lavoie & Omari Newton), and The Cull (Michele Riml & Michael St. John Smith). For Bard on the Beach, he has worked as a production dramaturg for Harlem Duet, he adapted the script for their celebrated production of Julius Caesar, and he directed Hamlet in 2024. He is a four-time recipient of a Jessie Richardson Award for directing, has worked as a director or dramaturg on over 60 professional theatre productions across Canada, and has published research on Shakespeare adaptation process analysis in Shakespeare Bulletin. Stephen has taught and directed at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Douglas College, Neptune Theatre School, and the University of British Columbia. He sits on the board of LMDA Canada. 🪶 Check out MacBeth at Bard on the Beach: https://bardonthebeach.org/whats-on/macbeth/ 📸 Bard on the Beach on Instagram: @bardonthebeach Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell! Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20. Thank you to my Patrons: Chris, Georgia, Heather J, Tanisha, Aisling, Cassie, Heather, Jeanette, Steve

    1h 1m
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About

Now in its 10th year, Stageworthy is Canada’s theatre podcast, bringing you in-depth interviews with theatre artists, panel discussions, and more. Each week, host Phil Rickaby sits down with the people who make theatre happen: from household names to artists you should know. Whether you're an audience member, a theatre maker, or just plain curious about Canadian theatre, Stageworthy offers a front-row seat to the conversations shaping the industry. New episodes every Tuesday.

Information

  • Creator
    Stageworthy
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    473
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2016-2026 Phil Rickaby
  • Show Website
    Stageworthy

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