For the past thirty-six years, Michael has been a cocreator (with John Turner), performer, and producer with the internationally acclaimed clown duo Mump & Smoot.

He is a graduate of the University of Guelph Drama program and has studied physical comedy, clown, mask, improv, and movement with Richard Pochinko, Ian Wallace, Fiona Griffths, Philippe Gaulier, and The Second City.

Michael has taught at the Yale School of Drama, Tel Aviv University, California State University, University of Colorado, University of Guelph, Bishops University, Equity Showcase, The SPACE, the Humber College Comedy program, and is currently on faculty at the University of Alberta.

His directing credits include The Christmas Carol, The Hobbit, and The Wizard of Oz at The Globe Theatre in Regina; The Second City’s Family Circus Maximus and Insanity Fair in Toronto; and co-directing Embryos on Ice in Chicago, Half a Sixpence and Alice Through the Looking Glass at Bishops University, The Hollow (independent) at Berkeley St. Theatre in Toronto, as well as numerous productions at the University of Alberta.

Michael has been recognized for his work with a Dora Award (Toronto), a Sterling Award (Edmonton), a Jessie Award (Vancouver), three Canadian Comedy Awards, a Boston Theatre Award, and a Drama-Logue Award (California).

John is best known as the “Smoot” half of the award-winning Canadian clown duo Mump & Smoot (with Michael Kennard), and until 2020, the founder and Artistic Director of the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance (aka The Clown Farm).

John attended three universities and two colleges but was never inspired to finish. He had jobs as an oil rig roughneck, orderly, painter, construction worker, frying pan and cookbook salesman, waiter, and bartender.

John studied clown, mask, and movement with Richard Pochinko, Ian Wallace, and Fiona Griffiths; bouffon with Philippe Gaulier; physical comedy with John Towsen; and improv at Second City.

Hailing from beautiful Cape Breton Island, he now coaches, teaches, dramaturges, directs, and performs across the country.

Coaching and/or directing credits include:
Justin Miller’s Pearle Harbour, in Distant Early Warning, Christine Moynihan’s Inside Ethel: Outside, Jennifer Dallas’ KittlyBender and Known, Morro and Jasp (multiple shows), Karen Hines’ Citizen Pochsy and Crawlspace, Michael Kennard’s Puzzle Me Red, Sandrine Lafond’s Little Lady, and De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre’s A Trickster Tale and The Gulch.

He has been recognized for his work with a Dora Award, two Canadian Comedy Awards, a Boston Theatre Award, and a Drama-Logue Award (California).

Hines began her career as an underground sketch comedienne and emerged as the director, performer, and author of multiple award-winning productions which have been presented across North America at venues including Soulpepper, One Yellow Rabbit, Tarragon Theatre, Boca del Lupo, Canadian Stage, Alberta Theatre Projects, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Dallas Theatre Centre, Joe’s Pub (Public Theatre NYC), La Jolla Playhouse, and many more.

Chicago-born, Toronto-bred, she is a Dora Award-winning actor and director (she has directed all Mump & Smoot shows since their inception). Her published and prize-winning plays include The Pochsy Plays and ‘rama, both of which were also finalists for Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award; Hines was also a 2020 Siminovitch Prize finalist.

As a director, she has collaborated with Canadian and American theatre artists including Linda Griffiths (Age of Arousal), Michelle Thrush (Inner Elder), and currently, Seattle’s Bhama Roget.

She has appeared in American and Canadian TV and film including three seasons on the PBS/CBC’s Emmy Award-winning Newsroom. Her own short films featuring Pochsy have screened around the world.

Her real estate horror Crawlspace recently toured to micro-theatres across Canada and is currently touring in translation with Théâtre Français de Toronto. Crawlspace now streams on CBC’s PlayME, Spotify, etc.

Website: keepfrozen.org

My first show with Mump and Smoot was Mump and Smoot in Something Else, in 1998. Since then, I have created music and sound for Mump and Smoot in Flux, Cracked, and Anything. I am thrilled to continue that creative adventure with In Exit.

With director Karen Hines, aside from our work with Mump and Smoot, I collaborated musically on her early Pochsy creations. I accompanied live performances, created recorded scores, as well as music for two of the early Pochsy short films.

My roots are with The Second City, where I was Musical Director for the touring company—a job I was fortunate to get after graduating from the Jazz Music program at Humber College in Toronto.

Other notable credits are the songs for the TV series Slings and Arrows, co-written with Lisa Lambert. Also with Lambert, the score for the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, a show that journeyed from the Toronto Fringe Festival to Broadway.

Most recently, I produced and curated A Glimpse into the Creative Process of Rob Gonsalves, an art and music installation exploring the creative process of the late great Canadian painter, Rob Gonsalves.

John is thrilled to be working on this production!

Over a forty-year career, John has worked for the Citadel Theatre, Catalyst Theatre, Edmonton Opera, Mayfield Dinner Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Calgary, Canadian Stage, Centaur Theatre, The Banff Centre for the Arts, and GAL Productions with Hit and Myth.

He has toured Catalyst Theatre productions to numerous regional theatres in Canada, and toured Nevermore to the Barbican Centre in London, England, and the New Victory Theater in New York City.

John is proud to be a Full Professor in the University of Alberta’s Drama Department, where he presently shares coordinating the BFA in Production, and leads Canada’s only BFA specialization in Stage Management.

Victor Snaith Hernandez is a production designer, technician, and actor attending the University of Alberta in his fifth year of a Bachelor of Arts in Drama (Honours). He is incredibly excited about the opportunity to be part of Mump and Smoot’s production of The Exit as the Lighting Designer!

Recent technical credits include Head Lighting Designer for DRAMA 457’s Marat/Sade, Technical Director/Assistant Production Manager for the New Works Festival 2024, Lighting Design for ABBEDAM’s Love and Information, and Lighting Design for Dogbite Theatre’s Your Heart is Gushing Lavender at NextFest 24.

Recent acting credits include Marat/Sade (The Marquis de Sade, DRAMA 457), …and others (Liam, Fringe 2023), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Zebulun, ELOPE), and Brigadoon (Harry Beaton, ELOPE).

Victor would like to thank Mike Kennard and Jeff Osterlin for their trust, support, and encouragement—without which he would not have made it this far!

Andraya Diogo (she/her) is an emerging artist from amiskwaciwâskahikan. She works as a freelance stage/production designer and manager, most interested in abstract, conceptual stage design, and colour-coded, clean paperwork.

Previous credits include Brick Shithouse (Fenceless Theatre) as Costume Designer, Is My Microphone On? (The Citadel Theatre Young Company) as Stage Manager, and Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (Theatre Network) as Associate Production Designer.

Upcoming credits include Cinderella (Festival Place Players) as Set Designer and A Christmas Carol (The Citadel Theatre) as Apprentice Stage Manager.

Headshot credit to Kaylin Schenk. Love to Mom & Jay.

Portfolio: @andrayadiogo on Instagram.

Lauren Brady is an award-winning creator & performer based in Amiskwacîwâskahikan. Brady has trained in various styles of dance since age 3. She is an alumnus of the University of Alberta’s BFA in Acting Program (2021). Since then, she has excelled in clowning and physical theatre through various programs including One North Clown & Creation, Spymonkey Physical Theatre, Denise Clarke’s One Yellow Rabbit’s BYA Ensemble, and mentorship through Michael Kennard.

Recent performance credits include Middlemarch, She Sat Down & Wept (One Yellow Rabbit BYA Ensemble), Jungle Book (Alberta Theatre Projects), Comedy of Errors (Theatre Calgary), and White Christmas (Opera NUOVA).

Brady founded HEYwire Theatre, an internationally recognized physical theatre company producing works known for their ominous yet comedic themes. Recent works include OWEaDEBT (5 Stars TheLISTuk Adelaide, 5 Stars The Edinburgh Theatre Critic, Edmonton Fringe Official HOLD OVER Series 2024), and @interWEBBED (5 Stars Edmonton Journal).

Instagram: @heywire_theatre

(ZIRCO FISH, James Fisher) is an established Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist who explores the whimsical and macabre through public art murals, international festival installations, and as organizer of the annual Krampus and Mermaid Balls. His work is characterized by layered and detailed linework with favored textural blue & amber flourishes, using ink, aerosol, and traditional brush techniques to create continual movement and wonder.

Fish has been the illustrator for Mump + Smoot for over 20 years, which has included multiple show posters, shirts & hat designs, stage signs, custom font design, and an inked-out comic book version of Caged, which is very close to being published.

Find the latest examples of Fish’s work on Instagram via @zirco.fish. Check out his band’s graphic novel work-in-progress at squidlid.com/comic.

Ashley (She/Her) has been a full-time Theatre & Live Event Technician since 2019, though her journey started much earlier when she joined her high school tech club. Working on events such as concerts, conventions, galas, festivals, and live theatre, she finds joy in representing, creating, and bringing to life all forms of live arts. Having come to the Roxy Theatre in Season 48, she is honored to be a part of the incredible Theatre Network team!

Ashley believes that art, in all of its forms, is and should be a place of community, expression, and acceptance. Anybody anywhere, no matter their age, language, orientation, experiences, or tastes, can find art that speaks to them, and that’s the way it should be.

As a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Ashley hopes to continue the work this industry has done to create spaces that are inclusive, welcoming, and safe to all members of all communities, by incorporating the Métis values of Unity and Harmony, as well as honoring Tatawaw, the Cree phrase meaning “Welcome, there is room”.

Nico was a 2017 graduate of the Theatre Production program at MacEwan University. Since then, he has had the opportunity to work on many corporate events, including concerts, AGMs, and conventions, as well as at many of the great festivals here in the province, including Westerner Days, Heritage Days, Thousand Faces Festival, Edmonton International Fringe Festival, and Theatre Network’s own NextFest!

While lighting has been his main focus, Nico enjoys many aspects of the technical theatre world.

Will Chichak is a stage carpenter and technician based in Edmonton, Alberta. Graduating from Grant MacEwan University’s Theatre Production Program in 2017, Will took part in Nice Work if You Can Get It and The Drowsy Chaperone among other great shows.

Will has moved on to working with a multitude of festivals and theatre companies in the region, having the opportunity to build sets on stages all over the city and beyond. Recently, he has built for Theatre Network’s productions of Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes and With Bells On: The Musical.

Lou is a seasoned technician and proud member of IATSE with skills in lighting, sound, video, and set carpentry. His many credits include the Edmonton Fringe Festival and Flying Canoe Volant as a house technician and programmer, and as a high rigger and operator for dozens of concerts featuring some of the world’s greatest touring bands.

Lou loves doing his part to entertain lovers of music and live theatre and is pleased to return to Theatre Network to prepare the stage and spotlight for the hilarious antics of Mump and Smoot.

Ethan Stevens is a dedicated theatre technician who thrives on the energy and creativity of live performance. With a love for the behind-the-scenes magic that brings stories to life, he has worked at venues such as The Roxy Theatre and the Edmonton Fringe Festival, always ensuring the technical aspects run smoothly.

Passionate about sharing his craft, Ethan enjoys mentoring aspiring technicians, helping them develop their skills and grow in confidence. Whether it’s introducing new technologies or problem-solving during a production, he finds joy in collaboration and learning alongside others.

Committed to both the art and the craft of theatre, Ethan brings heart, skill, and a love for community to every project he’s part of.