Studio 58 Faculty & Staff

Image

Jenny has been teaching private voice lessons for over 20 years, specializing in musical theatre, integrated audition preparation and musicianship skills. Several of her students have appeared in professional musical theatre productions across Canada. Her own career has incorporated several facets of the performing arts: as an Equity actor (Gateway, Axis, PSP), choral musician/conductor (Vancouver Chamber Choir, musica intima, Zing!), music/theatre director (Gutenberg, Titus, [title of show]), producer (Impromptu Cabaret Festival), composer (Titus, Where I’m At), freelance singer, accordionist and pianist. She holds a B. Mus. in Voice Performance/Minor in Drama from the University of Calgary and a Diploma in Music Performance from Mount Royal College. Jenny is passionate about fusing together the elements of interpretation, musicianship and vocal science/technique into an authentic, integrated performance.

604.323.5511 ext. 2382 | jandersen [at] langara.ca (jandersen[at]langara[dot]ca) 

Image

Cande is a video editor and media designer born and raised in Mexico and based in Vancouver. As a multimedia designer, Cande has collaborated with many companies in Vancouver like Theatre Replacement, Conspiracy Theatre, Electric Company, Firehall Arts Centre, The Frank Theatre, etc. Recent theatre design credits include Mom’s the Word Talking Turkey (Arts Club); White Girls in Moccasins (The Frank); Six of One: New Play Festival (Studio 58); White Noise (Savage Society/Firehall); Clean/Espejos (Neworld); DYMISH (Theatre Replacement) and Pathetic Fallacy (The Chop). During the pandemic years, Cande edited several productions for Bard on The Beach, The Belfry Theatre as well as the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Misko Way, Mortal Coil/Coastal Wolf Pack, SFU and Tara Cheyenne Performance. Cande is co-artistic director of Rough House Productions, where he has designed several multimedia plays.

604.323.5511 ext. 2586 | candrade [at] langara.ca (candrade[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

David Bloom is a playwright, director, dramaturg, producer, actor and fight choreographer.

He has run the Solo Show program at Studio 58 since 2001, overseeing the creation of more than 400 one-person shows. He has taught Stage Combat, Improvisation, Shakespeare, Scene Study and New Play Creation for educational programs including Theatre at UBC, Studio 58, The Art Institute, Carousel Theatre, University of Victoria, Magnus Theatre, Caravan Stage Company and the Playhouse Acting School. He spent 3 years co-teaching and co-developing Studies in Interdisciplinary Creation and Performance for the Bachelor of Performing Arts program, a program co-created by Langara College, Capilano University, Douglas College and VCC. He is the recipient of an ARC Fund research grant from Langara College.

Directing work for his company Felix Culpa includes co-direction of Palace of the End for Touchstone Theatre/Felix Culpa/Horseshoes & Hand Grenades (Jessie Richardson award, Outstanding Direction, Small Theatre), the North American premiere of Howard Barker’s Und, The Monument (Jessie Richardson Award nomination, Outstanding Direction, Large Theatre) and his play Two in The Morning which was produced in Vancouver and London, England. He has directed shows in Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Kamloops, Thunder Bay, Whitehorse and London.

Bloom’s play Revenge was produced by Felix Culpa, under the direction of James Fagin Tait and was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Award for best original play. His plays have also been performed by Green Thumb, Studio 58, Felix Culpa, Carousel, Axis Theatre, Canadian Phoenix and the University of British Columbia.

He is currently creating two linked pieces, Emergency Mushroom Report (designed to be performed live online) and Learning Fear in Omphalotus (designed to be performed in a tent). Most recently, he performed in Seventeen (Western Gold Theatre), Blackbird (Kestrel Solutions), This, Here (Babel Theatre) and King Charles III (Arts Club Theatre). Other performance highlights include his own one-person show My Holiday Photos from Afghanistan, appearing in Three Sisters with The Only Child Collective, Transmissions for Chrysalis/Proximity Arts, Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read by Geologists for Screaming Flea, The Designated Mourner for Felix Culpa, Apple and the premiere of Governor-General’s Award-winning play Unity 1918 for Touchstone Theatre. Acting and fight choreography have taken him across the country, including work at The Theatre Festival of the Americas, The Shaw Festival, Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Citadel and many companies in British Columbia.

604.323.5511 ext. 2170 | dbloom [at] langara.ca (dbloom[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

A prolific writer, Aaron Bushkowsky is a Vancouver-based playwright, film-writer, poet, novelist, and educator. His plays have been produced across Canada, the US, and Europe, and have received 9 Jessie Richardson Theatre nominations, more than any other Canadian playwright, winning two for Outstanding Original Play. He has been a resident playwright at The Vancouver Playhouse, Rumble Theatre, and Touchstone Theatre. Aaron has written over 20 plays and received almost as many professional productions across Canada, the US, and Europe. Aaron also spent a year at the Tarragon Theatre playwrights unit in Toronto and is a graduate of the prestigious Canadian Film Centre in film-writing.  

Aaron has several published works, including two books of poetry Mars is for Poems (Oolichan Books) and ed and mabel go to the moon (Oolichan Books) which was nominated for a BC Book Award for Poetry. His published drama includes Strangers Among Us, The Waterhead and other plays, and My Chernobyl all published by Playwrights Canada Press.  His first book of fiction was a collection of short stories The Vanishing Man published by Cormorant in 2005. Curtains for Roy, his first novel, was published in 2014. It's a dark comedy about the Vancouver theatre world which garnered rave reviews from critics and made two Top Ten Book (2014) lists for Vancouver novels and subsequently nominated for the Stephen Leacock Award – Canada’s oldest literary award and only award for humour writing. Aaron received his MFA in Creative Writing from UBC in 2002. His latest novel Water Proof was released to rave reviews in 2021. He's served on many juries including twice on the Governor General’s Jury for Literary in Drama. 

Aaron has been an influential dramaturge, mentor, and teacher to hundreds of new West Coast writers and students. Aaron is represented by Marquis Entertainment, Toronto.  

604.323.5511 ext. 2584 | abushkowsky [at] langara.ca (abushkowsky[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Raes Calvert is a multidisciplinary Métis theatre artist living and working on unceded Coast Salish Territories. After graduating from Studio 58, he became Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Hardline Productions. As a performer he has toured nationally and internationally with such companies as Axis Theatre, Green Thumb Theatre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Urban Ink and Presentation House Theatre. He is a five-time Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominee and two-time recipient. Raes received a REVEAL Indigenous Art Award from the Hnatysyn Foundation in 2017. He also has a BPA degree from Capilano University. Raes looks forward to continuing his work as an A Term Acting Instructor after teaching first term students at Studio 58 back in 2018.

604.323.5511 ext. 2583 | rcalvert [at] langara.ca (rcalvert[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Malcolm is an award-winning composer and sound designer working primarily in theatre and film. His work has been seen and heard on stages all over Canada and he has been fortunate enough to work with some of Canada’s top directors and designers. Specializing in cinematic style composition, unique world building and immersive sound design, Malcolm’s work spans the technical and creative horizons, with an emphasis on collaboration, storytelling and seamless technical integration. In his time away from theatre, Malcolm works recording sound on set for commercials and independent films, mixing and mastering podcasts, projecting films for festivals as well as writing and producing his own music.  

Malcolm studied music production and audio engineering at Douglas College. He has received one Betty Mitchell award (Calgary) and three Jessie Awards as well as several nominations for his work in the Vancouver theatre community.

Select credits include: Harlem Duet, Pericles, Comedy of Errors (Bard on the Beach); Beneath Springhill, Perestroika, The Graduate (The Arts Club); Strangers on a Train, Murder in the Studio (Vertigo Theatre); Equivocation (Persephone Theatre); S’effondrent les vidéoclubs, Le Soulier, (Théâtre la Seizième); Starman (Sound the Alarm); Angels in America, Mortified (Studio 58); After Jerusalem (Solo Collective).

604.323.5511 ext. 2341 | mdow [at] langara.ca (mdow[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Stephanie is a London/Vancouver actor, puppeteer and puppet maker/director. As a puppet maker, she has worked for Wilton’s Music Hall, The Old Vic, Birmingham Rep, and Nick Barnes Puppets (UK), as well as The Cultch, Brock University, Ghost River Theatre, Carousel Theatre and the National Arts Centre (CA). As a puppeteer, she studied with puppetry icons such as Sue Buckmaster, Mervyn Millar, Sandglass Theatre, Pickled Image, and Blind Summit, and has puppeteered for companies across Canada and the UK. This work has taken her into puppet directing and puppetry movement coaching, specializing in three person puppetry and object puppetry. She is now mostly based in Vancouver where she builds and directs puppets for theatre. Stephanie is a Studio 58 graduate. stephelgersma.com

604.323.5511 ext. 2076 | selgersma [at] langara.ca (selgersma[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Brad Gibson is a voice and speech teacher at Studio 58, Langara College, and founding faculty of the Moving Voice Institute (previously Canada’s National Voice Intensive).  Brad also works as a professional voice and dialect coach for theatre, film and TV. Recent projects have included: Godzilla (Legendary Productions), Warcraft (Legendary productions), The Stand (Vertigo Entertainment / CBS), Never Steady, Never Still (Christie Street Creative), Anywhere But Here (Electric Company), Unrinetown and Tomorrow Love.  In recent years Brad has voice coached or designed and coached dialect for approximately 10 shows per year on stage and in film and TV. Research interests include: the neurobiology of emotion and embodied experience applied to creating trauma informed practice and emotional first aid from studio to stage; a Taoist approach to Shakespeare’s humours and contemporary type theory; and the development of a practice that explores voice, movement, text and the actor’s process based in neurobiological realities and somatic principles.

604.323.5273 | bgibson [at] langara.ca (bgibson[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Wendy is an actor, choreographer and teacher, garnering six Vancouver Jessie Awards. She co-created, with Morris Panych, The Overcoat, which toured internationally. She has choreographed movement for Moby Dick, Trojan Women (Stratford Festival), Equus (Vancouver Playhouse), Verdi’s Macbeth (Pacific Opera and Opera Quebec), Susannah, Sweeney Todd, The Overcoat – A Musical Tailoring (Vancouver Opera), Pericles, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter’s Tale (Bard on the Beach), The Waiting Room (Arts Club), Peter Pan (Carousel)and One of a Kind (Children’s Festival). A graduate of Ecole Lecoq, she was inducted into British Columbia’s Entertainment Hall of Fame. She was featured in the book, Theatre Without Borders. Most recently she was the movement choreographer for Stratford Festival’s Frankenstein Revisited.

604.323.5511 ext. 2582 | wgorling [at] langara.ca (wgorling[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

A regular faculty member at Studio 58 since 2006, Mara is a co-founder and resident costume designer for Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival where she has designed over 75 productions since its inception. Her designs have graced the stages of numerous Canadian theatres and various opera and dance institutions. As well as winning multiple national awards for “excellence in costume design”, her costumes have been featured internationally at several World Stage Design exhibitions. Her work has also appeared in several of Robert Lepage’s productions for Ex Machina, including Le Rossignol, co-produced by Lyons Opera/Aix en Provence Festival/Canadian Opera Company (staged internationally); La Tempête, co-produced with the Huron-Wendat Nation (Quebec City, Canada); Coriolanus at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Stratford, Canada); and Coriolan at Théâtre de Nouveau Monde (Montreal, Canada).

604.323.5511 ext. 2585 | mgottler [at] langara.ca (mgottler[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

David Hudgins is a founder of the internationally acclaimed Electric Company Theatre in Vancouver. After more than two decades with this innovative company he has won numerous Jessie Awards. David received his BA Honours in English Literature at McGill University, a diploma in Acting from Studio 58 and a PDP Diploma in Education from Simon Fraser University. He teaches acting at Studio 58 and has directed nine shows there, including two Ovation-Award winning productions: Guys & Dolls (2007) and Spring Awakening (2012). The homegrown musical The Park (2010) which he directed and helped to dramaturge, garnered it five nominations. His 5-year orchestral/physical-theatre hybrid experiment odyssey called Flee, with composer Peggy Lee, found its legs at the Fox Cabaret with Electric Company and Studio 58 in 2016. He has written song lyrics for a variety of Hollywood movies. David is also a father, musician and sailor. 

604.323.5511 ext. 3911 | dhudgins [at] langara.ca (dhudgins[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Shelley Stewart Hunt has been continuously active in the performing arts since childhood, with extensive television, film and theatre credits as an actor, dancer, singer, choreographer and educator. Shelley played the role of Rumpelteazer in the national touring production of CATS and had a featured role in ABC-TV’s Bye Bye Birdie. She is very proud to have tap-danced up a firestorm, literally, as a featured “Hero Tapper” in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Over the past 30 years, Shelley has become a sought-after choreographer and has dazzled audiences with her stage creations in dozens of acclaimed shows across the lower mainland and farther afield, including productions for the Arts Club Theatre Company, Gateway Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Western Canada Theatre Company, Thousand Islands Playhouse and numerous musicals at Studio 58 since 2004. She has worked for the USA Network; conceived dance sequences in Eve and the Firehorse, winner of the Sundance Film Festival special jury prize; set motion-capture choreography for Mattel’s animatronic feature, Barbie: The Princess and the Pauper; and choreographed the multimedia spectacle Winter Sport for the District of West Vancouver’s official Olympic celebration site. For the past 17 years, Shelley has been an esteemed faculty member in Capilano University’s Musical Theatre Diploma Program, where she serves as an instructor and choreographer. Shelley joined the faculty of Studio 58 at Langara College in 2016, teaching tap and movement. Recent projects include choreography for The Sound of Music for the Arts Club and Elf, the Musical for Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon. Shelley was thrilled to be a core ensemble dancer in the new Apple TV musical series Schmigadoon, in production for two months in fall 2020.

604.323.5511 ext. 2171 | shelleyhunt [at] langara.ca (shelleyhunt[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Shizuka is a multidisciplinary theatre artist with a focus on set design and puppetry, with some work in tv/film puppeteering, illustration and graphic design, directing and jewelry making. She has worked with many theatre companies such as Arts Club, Neworld, Théâtre la Seizième, Carousel Theatre for Young People, Electric Company, Rumble, Green Thumb, Boca del Lupo and many more. Shiz is a five-time Jessie Richardson Award winner with multiple nominations, Ovation Award winner, the recipient of the Bill Millerd Artist Fund and Steven B Jung Award. She is a graduate of the production program at Studio 58 where she was awarded the Earl Klein Memorial Scholarship for demonstrating generosity with peers and a contribution to the ensemble.

604.323.5493 | skai [at] langara.ca (skai[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Rachel Kane is an internationally recognized experiential designer, with a focus on live events. She has designed exhibits, festivals and events across North America, and has worked on live and televised productions for over twenty-five years. Her expertise is in Vectorworks, which she relies on to provide the visualization and communication tools necessary to accomplish these projects. She is a graduate of the Design Formation program at Langara College, where she was first introduced to Vectorworks, and credits that education with a significant advantage in her field. She is pleased to bring her experience back to the classroom, where she can share her knowledge with new generations.

604.323.5511 ext. 2342 | rkane [at] langara.ca (rkane[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

From 1990 to the present Kathleen has been a performer, teacher and choreographer within the Vancouver dance community. As an independent dance artist she worked with Anatomica, Battery Opera, Cori Caulfield, Dancecorps, DanStaBat, EDAM, Holy Body Tattoo, Jumpstart, Karen Jamieson, Lola Dance, Crystal Pite, Olivia Thorvaldson and Trial & Eros. From 1995 onwards Kathleen has been teaching dance to the professional community. In addition she was a faculty member of Main Dance, Ballet B.C. Mentor Program, guested at UBC and a sessional at S.F.U. In 1999 Kathleen opened a studio to teach the Gyrotonic® Method, a practice she was introduced to in 1995 and through study abroad became the first certified teacher in western Canada. Kathleen has presented her work locally and last year in St. John’s Nfld.’s New Dance Festival. Kathleen is the 2003 recipient of the Isadora Award that recognizes an outstanding contribution to the art form of dance. She is also a founding member of the Canadian Alliance of Arts – B.C. Chapter.

604.323.5511 ext. 2579 | kmcdonagh [at] langara.ca (kmcdonagh[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Born and raised in Vancouver, Andrew McNee has been working in theatre, film and television for the past 20 years. Theatre has taken him across Canada, to Europe and the UK. Some recent theatre credits include Buffoon, Noises Off, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Boeing Boeing, One Man Two Guvnors, Misery and Mustard. Select film and television credits include being murdered and blown up in all sorts of locally filmed shows and movies. Your kids may have heard him as some pony, robot or alien in one of their cartoons. Andrew is a graduate of Studio 58.

604.323.5511 ext. 2116 | amcnee [at] langara.ca (amcnee[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Along with a long and varied career as a film, television and theatre actor, Colin has voiced countless radio and TV commercials, and created the voices for hundreds of cartoon characters in shows like Beast Wars, Tom & Jerry, Inspector Gadget, Mr Magoo, Littlest Pet Shop, Barbie, 1001 Nights, Megaman, Inuyasha, League of Super Evil, Dinosaur Train and Ninjago, to name just a few. He was nominated for a Gemini for voice acting and won a Leo Award for Best Performance in an Animated Film for his character Lars in Disney’s Rated A for Awesome series.

Colin is also an award winning writer/producer/director with more than 200 films, TV documentaries, educational films, music videos and commercials to his credit.

He has been teaching Voice Acting at Langara Film Arts and Studio 58 since 2013.

604.323.5511 ext. 2073 | cmurdock [at] langara.ca (cmurdock[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Michelle Olson is a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation and the Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance. She studied dance and performance at the University of New Mexico, the Aboriginal Arts Program at the Banff Centre and was an Ensemble Member of Full Circle First Nations Performance.  Michelle works in areas of dance, theatre and opera as a choreographer, performer and movement coach and her work has been seen on stages across Canada. Selected choreography/theatre credits include Gathering Light (Raven Spirit Dance), Salmon Girl (TYA - Raven Spirit Dance),Shawnadithit (Tapestry Opera),  Map of the Land, Map of the Stars (Gwaandak Theatre), Frost Trees Exploding Moon (Raven Spirit Dance), Mozart’s Magic Flute (Vancouver Opera), The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (Western Canada Theatre/National Arts Centre), Death of a Chief (Native Earth Performing Arts/National Arts Centre) and Evening in Paris (Raven Spirit Dance). She was the recipient of the inaugural Vancouver International Dance Festival Choreographic Award. She graduated as a Certified Movement Analyst from Laban/Bartenieff and Somatic Studies International.

604.323.5511 ext. 2591 | molson [at] langara.ca (molson[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Kerry Sandomirsky is the instructor for Acting for Film and Television. She has over 150 credits on stage and screen and brings her decades of experience and professional connections to inspire students with her love of acting.

She has received recognition for her work at the Jessie’s, UBCP/ACTRA and People’s Choice Awards and has worked with top international directors such as Christopher Nolan and Gus van Sant.  

She is a graduate of UBC, the SFU Writers Studio and the Banff Playwrights Colony. As well as acting and writing, Kerry is an in-demand corporate performance coach, the Artistic Director of her new company, all day breakfast theatre, and a world traveler.  

Kerry’s approach to teaching combines strong technique with deep compassion, empowering her students to be creatively curious and courageous.  

Her favourite credits include Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (Bard on the Beach), Paulina in A Winter’s Tale (Bard on the Beach), The One That Got Away (Electric Company Theatre/National Arts Centre) and Morgana in King Arthur's Night (Neworld Theatre/UBC’s Department of Theatre and Film at PuSH).

604.323.5511 ext. 2090 | ksandomirsky [at] langara.ca (ksandomirsky[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Sophie Tang is an award-winning lighting and set designer working in theatre, opera and dance. She has worked with companies including Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Electric Company Theatre, Vancouver Opera, Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach, Citadel Theatre, Canadian Stage, Theatre Replacement and so on. Recent credits: The Apple Cart (Shaw Festival), Henry V (Bard on the Beach), The Legend of Georgia McBride (Arts Club Theatre Company), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Vancouver Opera), An Undeveloped Sound (Electric Company Theatre), Choir Boy (Canadian Stage and Arts Club Theatre Company), The Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera), Romeo and Juliet (Bard on the Beach), 9 to 5 (Citadel Theatre). Portfolio website: sophieyufeitang.com

604.323.5511 ext. 2501 | sophietang [at] langara.ca (sophietang[at]langara[dot]ca)

Image

Kathryn Shaw was the Artistic Director of Studio 58 from 1985 until she retired in December 2020 and taught acting in the program for 46 years. She received her B.A. in Dramatic Art from Whitman College and an M.F.A in Acting from New York's Columbia University School of Arts. She did further physical theatre training with Monika Pagneux and Philippe Gaulier in France. For over 50 years, Ms. Shaw has directed for theatre companies across Canada and BC including Bard on the Beach, the Richmond Gateway Theatre, the Vancouver Playhouse and the Belfry Theatre. She has taught acting for professional and community groups in British Columbia, Winnipeg and Halifax. She has also been a guest instructor at the National Theatre School in Montreal. 

Kathryn was honoured with Life Membership in Canadian Actors Equity Association 2016. In 2010, Kathryn was listed by the Vancouver Sun as one of BC’s 100 Most Influential Women. The same year she received the Career Achievement Award from the Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance and the ACCC Bronze Medal for Excellence in Teaching. In 2005, Kathryn was elected into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. She is a recipient of the 1996 Sam Payne Award given by UBCP/ACTRA in recognition of “humanity, integrity and the encouragement of new talent.” She has served as the Festival Adjudicator for Theatre BC’s Mainstage 1991, 2004, 2014 and 2023 as well as adjudicating regional festivals. Ms. Shaw has been nominated for four Jessie Richardson Awards for her directing work and has received two Jessie Richardson Awards for Direction and Best Production. 

In retirement Kathryn has rekindled her acting career appearing in the United Players production of The Thursday Night Bridge Club as well performing in police training scenarios at the BC Justice Institute and a short film Mess I Made. Her latest venture is as a playwright. Super Seniors, a comedy about three women over the age of 105, has had three successful public readings around BC. 

Image

Jane Heyman is a Jessie-award winning director who taught acting at Studio 58 between 1985 and 2005. She served as the department’s first Associate Director from 1991 until her retirement and was instrumental in building Studio 58 into a nationally renowned program. She remains deeply connected to the department as co-chair of the Theatre Arts Advisory Committee as well as collaborating with faculty and students to develop Parallel Play, a database of culturally diverse plays and playwrights.

Throughout her career she developed new plays and created opportunities for women in the performing arts, including co-founding the Women in VIEW Festival. Together with Joy Coghill, she co-founded Vancouver’s Performing Arts Lodge (PAL) a unique social housing and theatre complex in Coal Harbour providing affordable homes―and much-needed creative opportunities―for senior performing arts professionals. For four terms she was elected to represent BC on Canadian Actors’ Equity Association National Council, helping develop the Not in Our Space anti-harassment initiative and receiving the Larry McCance award recognizing her service to the profession.

She was particularly proud to receive the Order of Canada for long-lasting contributions to Vancouver's cultural landscape as well as the GVPTA Career Achievement Award; YWCA Woman of Distinction for Arts, Culture & Design; UBCP Sam Payne Award for humanity and encouragement of young talent; and a BC Entertainment Hall of Fame “star in the pavement”.

Image

Antony Holland, one of Canada’s most acclaimed actors, was the founder of Langara’s nationally-recognized theatre arts program, Theatre Arts at Studio 58. Holland officially retired in 1985, but continued to support Studio 58 operations by acting, directing and mentoring students until he passed on in 2015. In his exceptional career he earned three Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards (two for Best Performance as a Lead Actor and Lifetime Achievement distinction), the Sam Payne Award for Humanity, Integrity and Encouragement of New Talent and the Union of BC Performers Award of Excellence. Holland was an inductee of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame and was named as a member of the Order of Canada in 2014.

Image

Courtenay Dobbie, a cherished figure in Canadian theatre, passed away on November 22, 2024, leaving behind a legacy of innovation, passion, and dedication to the arts. She served as the Artistic Director of both the Caravan Farm Theatre in Armstrong, BC, and Studio 58, Langara College’s prestigious theatre program. A graduate of Studio 58 herself, Courtenay’s artistic journey was shaped by her love for collaboration and her commitment to storytelling in harmony with nature and community. 

At Caravan Farm Theatre, Courtenay directed and performed in productions that married theatrical artistry with the natural environment, celebrating the unique outdoor settings that defined the company’s work. Her tenure as Artistic Director was marked by a seamless blend of tradition and creativity, as she brought new life to productions while honouring the land’s inherent magic. 

At Studio 58, Courtenay became a vital mentor to a new generation of theatre professionals, fostering a spirit of creativity and resilience. Her work as an educator and director was distinguished by her dedication to creating meaningful art that resonated with the challenges of the times, including navigating the pandemic’s impact on live theatre. 

Courtenay’s influence extended beyond her roles. She wrote and co-wrote plays, founded a theatre company with collaborators (Theatre Melee), and pursued a master’s degree in directing (UBC). Her colleagues and students remember her as a beacon of inspiration, whose passion for the arts transformed those around her. 

Her loss is deeply felt across the Canadian theatre community, where her contributions will continue to inspire future generations. May her memory be a blessing.