On behalf of the Board of Directors, it is my pleasure to announce the incoming leadership of Shakespeare in the Ruff: Patricia Allison, Christine Horne, Kwaku Okyere, PJ Prudat, and Jeff Yung. These incredible leaders have experience on stage, behind the scenes, and in the audience of Shakespeare in the Ruff. Their creativity, community-mindedness, and compassion make them the undeniable leaders of this company.
Since the announcement of Kaitlyn Riordan and Eva Barrie stepping down as Ruff’s leadership, the Leadership Search Committee has worked diligently and embedded Ruff’s five key values (creative audacity, anti-racism & decolonized practice, accessibility, education & mentorship, and respect) into the entire search and hiring process. The Leadership Search Committee consisted of of board members Dasha Peregoudova, Cecile Peterkin, and Joseph Zita, and Ruff community members Rachel Forbes and Miquelon Rodriguez. For their dedication to the future of this company, we thank them.
The board is excited for the new leadership to take the reins of Shakespeare in the Ruff in November 2021. We have had ten amazing years, where Kaitlyn and Eva have taken the company from inception to an institution in Withrow Park. There is no doubt in my mind, and in my heart, that the new leadership will continue the creative audacity to rediscover the work of Shakespeare that will break boundaries and move the community forward
— Fernando Alfaro, Chair of the Shakespeare in the Ruff Board of Directors
Patricia Allison (she/her) is a queer/ disabled choreographer and movement director. She comes from a contemporary dance background and spent a significant time studying canonical-counter discourse. Patricia lives with her wife and two birds named Larry and Wilbur who enjoy sitting on her shoulder while she types (the birds, not her wife).
Christine Horne (she/her) is a mother and actor, last seen on stage as Hamlet in Why Not Theatre’s Prince Hamlet. She’s a fledgling gardener, excitable bird watcher, and avid reader aloud of children’s literature. Christine has received several awards for her work in theatre, television, and film, but she holds none so dear as when she was crowned The Queen of Weird Shakespeare by a passing cyclist while rehearsing Ruff’s Portia’s Julius Caesar.
Kwaku Okyere (he/him) is a queer Ghanaian-Canadian multidisciplinary theatre artist. Most recently, Kwaku played Oberon in the Dora-nominated ensemble of Theatre Rusticle’s acclaimed swan song production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, which recently presented Kwaku with the 2020 Queer Emerging Artist Award. Kwaku is also an emerging director, most recently having co-directed the 2nd Year Period Study Project at George Brown Theatre School with veteran director Jeannette Lambermont-Morey, and will return to GBTS this summer to co-direct the 1st Year Shakespeare Scene Study with the visionary Allyson McMackon.
PJ Prudat (she/her) is a Treaty 6 born, proud Michif/Métis/Cree (roots to Batoche, Red River, Qu’Appelle) & French/Scandinavian actor and writer. She holds residencies with the Theatre Centre and Nightswimming and recently with Canadian Stage. PJ has performed as a company actor at the National Arts Centre (English Theatre), the Shaw Festival and in Indigenous~Creative-Led shows extensively across the country. Her maternal 3rd great-grandparents were Buffalo hunters; she loves cake, hats and poetry; and she’d prolly leave it all for the love of a horse.
Jeff Yung (he/him) is a settler on Treaty 13 territory. He is an actor, martial artist, and sometimes poet. Pre-pandemic Jeff appeared in Monday Nights as a member of the 6th Man Collective and in Hong Kong Exile’s Room 2048. Jeff is an avid gamer, anime watcher, movie/tv junkie, basketball fan, and bubble tea lover.