PRODUCTION CREDITS

Director: Erin Brandenburg

Playwrights: Cedric Martin, Lindsey Middleton and Kimberlee Walker

Dramaturge: Sukhpreet Sangha

Production Manager: Cedric Martin

Podcast Audio Editor: Michal Heuston

Original cast

Duncan Gibson-Lockhart, Frances Loiselle, Lindsey Middleton, Calvin Petersen, and Yusuf Zine

Press for the show!

UNMUTE on Rogers TV KW, CBC, Waterloo Record, Imprint, Network, Cascade, Mennonite World Conference, Canadian Mennonite and in the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement news.

UNmute: The Impact of a Pandemic on Gender-Based Violence

UNMUTE premiered in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness month in November 2020. ​UNMUTE​ is a forum theatre piece that addresses the rise of domestic violence and gender-based assault during COVID-19.

While a family’s life may seem normal from the other side of the screen, abuse is lurking behind closed doors. Immerse yourself in this important and timely piece that gives audience members the chance to rehearse scenarios for real life. Audiences are invited to participate in the story, contributing their own experiences and changing the outcomes of the scenes. By using the forum theatre model, audiences will learn skills and resources for how they can make a difference.

Content Advisory: UNMUTE deals with abuse, and assault. Not recommended for audiences under the age of 13. 

UNMUTE was commissioned by: DART (Domestic Assault Review Team of Waterloo Region), Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council and Keeping Families Safe and special thanks to MCC and Martin Counselling and Mediation.

Listen to the unmute podcast!

Join social worker, applied theatre creator and host of the show, Kimberlee Walker, as she discusses the UNMUTE story with Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region staff members Trish Sabourin and Jenna Mayne. They dive into the story and look for the missed opportunities and moments where our characters could have intervened. Available on all major podcasting platforms.

Duncan is incredibly excited to be joining Theatre Of The Beat as Scott in Unmute. Select theatre credits include Tempting Providence, The Valley, Mary’s Wedding, Armstrong’s War (Theatre On The Ridge), Any Night (Mansfield’s Cabaret), The Caucasian Chalk Circle, You Never Can Tell, Monsieur d’Eon is a Woman (George Brown Theatre School), and My Mother’s Feet (Bare Theatre Collective). Duncan is also a founding member of Theatre Foolscap. Duncan would like to thank his friends and family for their continuous support.

Lindsey Middleton hails from the teeny town of Ridgeway, Ontario. Lindsey is an internationally award-winning actor, a writer and director, focused on elevating the female voice through an unfiltered, authentic lens. Lindsey is one of the co-creators and writers of the IGTV show Just Hysterics, a collective creating female-forward comedy sketches that has been recognized at both Stareable Fest in 2020 and TO WebFest in 2019. Lindsey workshopped her first play entitled Session at the Paprika Festival in 2019. Lindsey is a graduate of the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College Theatre and Drama Studies Program. She is a co-founder of Theatre By Committee, a collective of Toronto-based theatre artists creating contemporary work in found spaces.Theatre by Committee has produced ten productions since 2014, with 7 of them being collectively written and devised. She is also the co-creator of HappyHer, a documentary web series focused on sharing women’s stories about happiness from all over the world.

Frances Loiselle is an actor/ theatre artist currently based in Toronto. She has performed in two summer repertory seasons at Theatre on the Ridge (select credits include Tempting Providence, The Drowning Girls, The Melville Boys, Peter Pan). She has also appeared at 4th Line Theatre (Bombers), and has choreographed for Theatre Malcontent (The Bartender). Frances is a recent graduate of George Brown Theatre School. This is her first project with Theatre of the Beat, and she is very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of a project focusing on an important social issue.

Yusuf Zine is a Moroccan and Pakistani actor born and raised in Toronto. He is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with an MA in Social Justice & Community Engagement, and also pursued theatre training at the University of Waterloo. He has had the privilege to work and train with Canadian artists such as Julian Richings, Rafal Sokolowski, and Sophie Ann Rooney. Some of his recent theatre credits include productions of Lysistrata, The Second Woman, and Portia's Julius Caesar. In 2016, he wrote and directed a play featuring Rohingya youth refugees who re-enacted their stories and experiences from the genocide in a live theatre production entitled I Am Rohingya. The play went on to win multiple awards and has been turned into a feature length documentary produced by Innerspeak Media. He is currently writing and hosting an investigative podcast for TVO to be released in early 2021.

Calvin Petersen is a performer, director and clown from Aotearoa, New Zealand and currently based in Toronto. He trained at Toi Whakaari: The New Zealand Drama School, where he earned his Masters (MTA: Directing) specialising in creating collaborative devised theatre. Drawing from physical theatre, clown and bouffon training, Calvin has directed, created and toured multiple productions around New Zealand. His highlights include, DOGS, a clown-run secret eating society, A Smidge of Pidge, a one-pigeon show about an existential crisis, and txt if you get lost, a 70 minute non-stop poetic party. Since moving to Toronto in November 2017, Calvin has performed in Outside the March's production of Jerusalem, at Crows Theatre, assistant directed Hand to God at the Coal Mine Theatre and I,Malvolio in the Toronto Fringe, and directed two shows for the Toronto Festival of Clowns, Grave and Sharon and Steve.

Erin Brandenburg is a theatre artist, director and playwright originally from Essex County, Ontario. Based in Toronto, she works with a collective of artists under the company name Kitchenband. Erin is a graduate of the directing program at the Soulpepper Academy, winner of the Enbridge Emerging Playwright’s Award, a finalist for the Gina Wilkinson prize, participant of the Stratford Playwright’s Retreat, and The Banff Playwright’s Lab. Most recently, she was an artist in residence at the Toronto Public Library through Artists in the Library, where she created the Albion VR Project in collaboration with Toasterlab. Selected directing credits include Flin Flon Cowboy (Flin Flon Cowboy Collective), Selah’s Song (Theatre of the Beat), Remembering the Winnipeg General (Zeitpunktheatre), Everything I Couldn’t Tell You (Riser/Spiderbones), Blood Wedding (Soulpepper), This Will Lead to Dancing (Theatre of the Beat), Petrichor (Summerworks), Deceitful Above All Things (Favour The Brave) The CNR, Route 66 (Soulpepper Concerts), A Good Man is Hard To Find (Soulpepper Academy). Her plays include BOBLO (Theatre Centre/Kitchenband - Dora Nominated for 5 awards, winner of 2), The Great Lakes Project (Kitchenband), Petrichor (Summerworks), Drive (Kitchenband/Edge of the Woods Theatre), Detroit Time Machine (Rhubarb), Pelee (SummerWorks) and Reesor (Best of the Fringe, Next Stage - co-written with Lauren Taylor).

Cedric is a Toronto-based actor, director, producer and playwright. Cedric is the Artistic Director of Theatre of the Beat, as well as Co-Artistic Director of Don't Look Down Theatre Company. Recent credits for Theatre of the Beat: Rudy in Yellow Bellies, and Stage Manager of Selah's Song. Don't Look Down credits: Brian in Skyline, Dan in The Valley, Frank in Never Swim Alone, John in Rose of Youth. Directing credits include: The Ends of the Earth, Criminal Genius, Not Good, and Local Man Ruins Everything, as well as Dramaturge for Here lies Henry. Film work: Winterbourne: A Horror Anthology, (Stained Glass Media,) Bourne Obstruction, (Kevin O’Connor,) Frost, (Heather McDowell.)  Cedric also likes to spend time working with the youth at his church, and spending time with his wife, Alyse.

Trish has worked as the Outreach Manager at Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region since 2017. In her role she oversees the Outreach Program, which serves clients in the community who are experiencing intimate partner or familial violence, in addition to participating in awareness-raising opportunities. She really enjoys connecting with the community in her role. Trish graduated with a Master of Social Work degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2010 and she has worked in various roles since then, building community, safety, and educating the public in Alberta and Ontario. For Trish, Unmute is an exciting project that gives her the opportunity to raise awareness about domestic violence in a unique and creative way.

A recent graduate from the RTA School of Media, Michal Heuston is a filmmaker and editor currently based out of Toronto with an enthusiasm for exploring different ways of storytelling. In everything they do, Michal aims to create accessible content that people can connect with, while promoting inclusivity and diversity in their work. Most recently, Michal has worked as the editor on Body So Fluorescent, a short film adapted from the award-winning theatre production that premiered at the Inside Out Festival in 2020. They've also recently worked as a co-editor and the post-production supervisor on Nancy's Workshop, a short documentary film for the CBC Short Docs program that was an official selection at the Hot Docs Festival in 2020. Other recent works include creating an artist feature short for CBC Arts, as well as working as an editor and social media content creator on BA Johnston's Ham Jam, a Bell Fibe comedy documentary webseries. On days off, Michal can be found painting or on a hiking trail with their partner, Matt.

Lindsey Middleton hails from the teeny town of Ridgeway, Ontario. Lindsey is an internationally award-winning actor, a writer and director, focused on elevating the female voice through an unfiltered, authentic lens. Lindsey is one of the co-creators and writers of the IGTV show Just Hysterics, a collective creating female-forward comedy sketches that has been recognized at both Stareable Fest in 2020 and TO WebFest in 2019. Lindsey workshopped her first play entitled Session at the Paprika Festival in 2019. Lindsey is a graduate of the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College Theatre and Drama Studies Program. She is a co-founder of Theatre By Committee, a collective of Toronto-based theatre artists creating contemporary work in found spaces.Theatre by Committee has produced ten productions since 2014, with 7 of them being collectively written and devised. She is also the co-creator of HappyHer, a documentary web series focused on sharing women’s stories about happiness from all over the world.

Jenna is the Communications and Fund Development Manager at Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region. She is responsible for building and sustaining donor support and enhancing public awareness of the organization. Jenna completed her Masters in Journalism and Communications at Western University. She has a passion for storytelling and she enjoys the opportunity to bring this into her work. In 2019, she led the creation of the She Is Your Neighbour awareness project and storytelling series, designed to highlight the prevalence of domestic violence in Waterloo Region. Jenna also hosts the She Is Your Neighbour podcast.

Sukhpreet Sangha is a theatremaker, lawyer, poet, and barfly. After studying theatre and English at the University of Waterloo, she studied law at Osgoode Hall and questions that decision regularly. She spends her days working in legal education at a non-profit dedicated to youth and her nights, well, wouldn't you like to know. She is co-Artistic Director of Informal Upright Theatre Collective.

Kimberlee Walker is a social worker, actor, and Applied Theatre facilitator. After graduating from the University of Waterloo’s Peace and Conflict Studies program with a Drama minor, Kimberlee became a founding member of Theatre of the Beat in 2011 and has been involved in the company in some way ever since. She performed in nearly all of the company’s major touring productions; selected credits include the roles of Sue Steiner in Gadfly, Robyn in Forgiven/Forgotten, and Alex in This Will Lead to Dancing. After receiving a Master’s of Social Work degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, Kimberlee developed TOTB’s “Restorative Justice Theatre Program” at Grand Valley Institution for Women. This program marks the first time that a professional theatre company has collaborated with federally incarcerated women in Canada, and has been the subject of a recent academic publication. Kimberlee is passionate about using the arts as a tool for personal and social change, and is thankful to have many opportunities to do so. In addition to her theatrical pursuits with TOTB, Kimberlee has held a number of social work positions and now works as a therapist at Transformation Counselling. In her spare time, Kimberlee enjoys training on the aerial hoop and eating rainbow sherbet.