The Flin Flon Cowboy – Program

Welcome to the digital program for The Flin Flon Cowboy

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The Flin Flon Cowboy by Ken Harrower, Erin Brandenburg, Johnny Myrm Spence and the Flin Flon Cowboy Collective

A Flin Flon Cowboy Collective & Theatre Passe Muraille Co-Production in Association with Why Not Theatre

Collage and poster design by Emily Jung | Picture by Colin Medley | Pictured: Ken Harrower

Co-Creator/Performed by
Ken Harrower
 
Co-Creator/Directed by
Erin Brandenburg
 
Co-Creator/Musical Direction/Composition/Sound Design by
Johnny Myrm Spence
 
Performed by
Greg Campbell
 
Artist Support, Ensemble
STARLIGHT
 
Stage Management by
Jules Vodarek Hunter
 
Dramaturgy by 
Debbie Patterson
Set, Costume and Properties Design by
Jung-Hye Kim 
 
Lighting Design by
Echo Zhou 周芷會
 
Projection Design by
Laura Warren
 
Captions Projection Designer
Nicole Eun-Ju Bell
 
Movement Direction by
Monica Dottor
 
Accessibility Movement Consulting/Coaching by 
Frank Hull 
 
Intimacy Direction by
Corey Tazmania
Band Member – Vocals, Keyboards, Accordion
Johnny Myrm Spence
 
Band Member – Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion
Mara Nesrallah
 
Band Member – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Drums, Percussion
Steven Foster
 
Band Member – Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass
Kate Palumbo
 
Production Management by
Carlos Varela
 
Technical Direction by
Nathan Gregory
 
Head of Props and Wardrobe Assistance by
Maria Nguyen
 
Sound Operation/Mixing by
Sam Gleason
Captions Operations by
Kasie Rayner
 
Vocal Coaching to Ken Harrower by
Mara Nesrallah
 
Live Line Assistance to Ken Harrower by 
Mandy E. MacLean 
 
Art Assistance to Ken Harrower by
Razan Azhari Ali and Anne Campbell
 
Ken Harrower’s Osteopathy by
Marinella Nesso
 
Blind Consultation by 
Alex Bulmer, Vivi Dabee
 
Production Therapist
Daniel Martin from Soft Landings Psychotherapy
 
Producing by
Brian Postalian
Production Crew

Install crew:

Rowan Jones
Eric Koski-Harja
Diana Martinez-Barrera
Connor Price-Kelleher
Chris Sutherland
TIffany Yaw
Jordan Paluck
Jadi Darawi 

Install Crew: 

Factory Theatre 

Scenic Painter:

Susanna Feng
Edith Nataprawira

Scenic Paint Assist:

Elisia Evans

Sound Operators/Live Mixers:

Sam Gleason

Lightwalkers:

Priscila Simões Tchorbadjian

Theatre Passe Muraille Team

Artistic DirectorMarjorie Chan
Artistic Producer | Indrit Kasapi
Managing Director, Revenue & StrategyMichelle Knight
Associate Artistic Director | April Leung
Producer
|
Jenn Sartor
Dramaturgy & Accessibility Associate Metcalf Foundation Intern | Mandy E. MacLean
Interim Bookkeeper | John Cabanela
Community Engagement Coordinator | Angela Sun
Marketing and Outreach Manager | Shanae Sodhi
Patron Services Manager | Elizabeth Staples
Fundraising & Development Coordinator | Faizah Syeda
Production and Facilities Manager | Aidan Hammond
Mainspace Technician | David Fisher

 

Why Not Theatre Team

Co-Artistic Director & Founder | Ravi Jain 
Co-Artistic Director | Miriam Fernandes
Executive Director | Karen Tisch
Director of Production and Technical | Crystal Lee
Director of Producing and Creative Associate | Kevin Matthew Wong
Producer & Special Projects | Mary Anderson 
ThisGen Fellowship Producer | Intisar Awisse
Metcalf Foundation Intern Artistic Director | Michelle Mohammed
Researcher-In-Residence | Nikki Shaffeeullah
Finance Director | Sarah Newkirk
Administrative and Development Coordinator | Karishma Bristy
Grantwriter | Erin Brandenburg
Senior Development Advisor | Jessica Kamphorst
Events and Development Manager | Haley Depasqua 

Access Guide

To access the visual story, please click the button below. An Access Guide is a package that aims to support people with communication difficulties, learning disabilities, English as a second language and Autistic People. It can be used to help anyone access and understand the play. The package may include spoilers.

Accessibility

Relaxed Environment (RE) is created for audiences who have various access needs that a traditional theatre environment does not accommodate. Before a Relaxed Environment performance, audiences will get a visual story that gives them all the information they need to know for the performance (directions to the theatre, pre-show warnings, etc.)

During a Relaxed Environment performance an audience member can: enter and exit the theatre, move around throughout the theatre, can make noise or sounds, and those who need to keep their phone on will be able to do so as long as it is on silent or on vibrate. Our Relaxed Environment is a Scent Free Environment. Throughout the show, there will be some light over the audience.

Live Music & Amplified Sound
Live Video & Projection

Strong Language
Described violence, suicidal ideation and self-harm
Sexual Content – including references to Sexual Assault
Mentions of substance abuse and addiction

Masks are still strongly encouraged inside the TPM building. There will be select “Mask Mandatory” Performances for this production which are listed below:

*Sunday October 20th at 2pm
*Friday October 25th at 7:30pm

For more information please take a look at our COVID-19 Protocols

Land Acknowledgment

The Flin Flon Cowboy begins in Treaty 5 territory, on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Anishininew, Denesuline, Nehethowuk, Ininiwak, and Nêhiyawak Nations, in what is now known as Flin Flon, Manitoba. Traveling south, our cowboy spends time in Treaty 1 territory, home to Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. Westward, we journey to Ktunaxa Nation in Elkford, BC, and then onward to the region of Waterloo lands, part of the Haldiman Track Treaty traditional territories of the Anishinaabe, Chonnonton, and Haudenosaunee peoples.

This brings us to this land, home to the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Wendat, and Mississaugas of the Credit, peoples who have been here long before colonial documentation. Toronto, or Tkaronto (the Mohawk word for “trees standing in the water”), is covered under Treaty 13 and the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Covenant. This agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe is a mutual commitment to sharing and caring for the land and its resources.

We are all treaty people, and it’s our responsibility to collectively share and care for our community, neighbors, and land.

Both queerness and disability have been shaped by colonial power structures. These concepts were often used to justify discrimination, marginalization, and control of indigenous populations. Understanding the colonial roots of these concepts is crucial for challenging their continued impact on society today.

We invite you to check out resources to support indigenous voices and education. You will find QR codes in the lobby that will link you to different resources.

Note from Theatre Passe Muraille

Welcome to Theatre Passe Muraille! We are so thrilled to continue our commitment to support collectively-created works to premiere THE FLIN FLON COWBOY by Ken Harrower, Erin Brandenburg, Johnny Spence and the Flin Flon Collective. Inspired by Ken’s life story as a gay disabled man born in the prairies, this work speaks to the heart of our work at TPM. We have always considered ourselves as a home for artists that are not represented elsewhere, and in particular stories in which society often eschews or has outright rejected.

In THE FLIN FLON COWBOY, we celebrate the unique journey and perseverance of Ken, as he navigates growing up in foster care, both empowering and disheartening in parts, and his understanding of his own sexuality. By calling himself a ‘cowboy’ , Ken subverts a stereotypical macho image on its head and invites us to consider masculinity and sexuality in a different way. Through a blend of songs and storytelling, this vulnerable and frank tale will be sure to entertain, provoke and inspire.

This is one of our biggest productions this season, and could not be possible without our many partners including the Flin Flon Collective, Why Not Theatre, Jumblies Theatre, as well as our tireless staff at TPM. Much gratitude for all of their work and support. And thank you for coming out and supporting live theatre!

Welcome to the world of The Flin Flon Cowboy. Enjoy!

– Marjorie, Indrit and Michelle

Note from Ken Harrower

Until I helped to write part of Access Me, I had never considered myself as a writer. Helping to write The Flin Flon Cowboy, I couldn’t do it all on my own. I had to have at least one other person because I have a hard time typing long stuff. I consider myself number one, an actor, and number two a co-writer. I want to recognize Dan Watson, Erin Brandenburg, and Johnny Spence. Without them and the hard work we’ve done I don’t think I could have done it all on my own, no way. I hope that people find it heartwarming but also challenging for their personal lives. I hope they try to think about what consent is and what does it mean, and how can we apply it to our everyday lives?

– Ken Harrower, Co-Creator and Performer

Note from the Director

The Flin Flon Cowboy started when a group of us listened as Ken told stories about his life – these were tragic, hopeful, funny, disturbing and as we went on more and more complicated. He’s had a wild life.

The show was created as an opportunity for Ken to share his story on stage. It is a musical because while Ken has a stutter when he speaks, he doesn’t when he sings, and he loves country music. Every artistic choice from the form of the scenes to the rehearsal schedule to the design was made to support his story and him telling it.

Over the years the project developed the story grew. What we have in this production is the culmination of 6 years of writing and working together and living with Ken’s story. In it we learn that we all make mistakes, we are all worthy of grace and love, and it’s important to talk about.

What a wild ride it has been and we are so pleased to welcome you to join us on the journey. Thanks to all who have helped along the way and especially to Andrew, Jack, Sam and Winston.

– Erin Brandenburg, Co-Creator and Director

Cast

Ken Harrower (Lead Performer/Co-Creator) is the heart and soul of the Flin Flon Collective. As a multidisciplinary artist and a passionate advocate for the disabled and LGBTQ communities, Ken uses his experiences and unique voice to shape the narrative of The Flin Flon Cowboy. A graduate of the Toronto Film School, Ken has earned multiple Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for his work with Ahuri Theatre and Boys in Chairs Collective and has starred in critically acclaimed films like HOLE and Luk’ Luk’i.

Greg Campbell (Narrator, etc.): has been an actor, writer, director, and theatre creator for 40 years. He has been a long-time company member with VideoCabaret, featured in plays such as The Cold War, The Confederation Project, Trudeau and the FLQ, Life and Times of Mackenzie King, The Great War, and The War of 1812 (co-production with the Stratford Festival) and has been nominated four times for a Dora Award for Best Ensemble. Other theatres: Mary Poppins, The Secret Garden, and Man In Chair in The Drowsy Chaperone (Globe Theatre); The Drawer Boy (Bruce County Playhouse), Heart Of Steel (Next Stage); Dial “M” For Murder, Wait Until Dark, An Inspector Calls and Sleuth (Classic Theatre Festival); Firebrand (Single Thread); Ballad of Weedy Peetstraw (Summerworks); Twelfth Night (Direct Flight/Gromkat); Educating Rita and Oleanna (Theatre and Company). He wrote, produced, and starred in his critically acclaimed one-man show, OUT, at Buddies In Bad Times, and is working on a sequel, Here’s a Skull Now. Film and television: Murdoch Mysteries, Cross, Mrs. America, American Woman, Departure, Mayday, American Gods, Cardinal, Reign, The Strain, The Kennedys.

STARLIGHT is a dancer, theatre creator and party maker. She’s half of the pop art performance duo xLq (upcoming: premiere of the musical gameshow ARE YOU THE ONE? at Downstage Theatre in Calgary). STARLIGHT played a similar support role on Access Me in 2023, and is the artistic director of the neurodiverse theatre company The Purple Stage (recently premiered Mind the Umbrellas! at the Toronto Fringe). STARLIGHT is a cosmic club kid witch from beyond, host of the queer danceparty WISHING WELL and all-around fun time faerie.

Johnny Mrym Spence (Composer/Co-Creator) rounds out the collective with his extensive experience as a composer, musician, and arts facilitator. With over 15 years of international touring and composition work for theatre, dance, film, and TV, Johnny‘s music adds depth and emotion to the story of The Flin Flon Cowboy. He has been nominated for 3 Dora awards, and is a member of numerous Juno Award and Polaris Prize winning ensembles.

Mara Nesrallah (she/her) is a Lebanese-Canadian vocalist, pianist, composer, writer, producer and educator, living in Tkaronto. At any given moment, you can find her on a new creative adventure, bouncing between her personal projects merah & thom and Sun Milk (formerly Decoration Day), and collaborating with her favourite music-makers: Dorothea Paas, Alex SamarasGREX and Tryal, and The Queer Songbook Orchestra, to name a few! A long-time vocal and piano teacher, Mara is honoured to have spent the past few years supporting The Flin Flon Cowboy himself on his vocal journey, and is thrilled for Ken’s story to be shared on the Theatre Passe Muraille stage.

Steven Foster is a Toronto multi instrumentalist with long curly hair. He splits his time between touring with various artists, most recently Charlotte Cornfield, writing and releasing his own music under the name Omhouse, and playing in pit orchestras. A man of simple pleasures, Steven also enjoys reading books, playing chess and discussing politics with his friends over a seltzer or a cup of tea.

Kate Palumbo is thrilled to be joining The Flin Flon Cowboy collective on bass. Kate maintains an active presence in the Toronto music scene, performing regularly with artists such as Charlotte Cornfield, Dani Nash, and as a founding member of the queer pop-country cover band Shania Twink. She is also a practicing lawyer.

Creative Team

Erin Brandenburg is a director and writer for film and theatre who is originally from Essex County, Ontario. Based in Tkaronto, her work engages with social questions and creates space for conversation. She recently directed the audio play Deceitful Above All Things (Favour the Brave/Stratford at Home) and was the writer on Detroit: Music of the Motor City (Soulpepper Concerts). She was an Artist in Residence with the Toronto Public Library creating the Albion VR Project (Toasterlab). Other Select writing/directing credits include Selah’s Song (TOTB – US/Canadian Tour), HOME DAY (Necessary Angel/Resilience Project), UnMute (Zoom Play/Podcast – TOTB), Remembering the Winnipeg General (Zeitpunktheatre), Everything I Couldn’t Tell You (Riser/Spiderbones), Blood Wedding (Soulpepper). She is currently in post-production for her first short film, Retreat, which was filmed on location on Pelee Island.

Jules (they/them) is of Slavic and Scottish ancestry and a settler living in Tkarón:to. Jules is an organizer, facilitator, stage and production manager. They are the Co-Creative Director of The AMY Project and co-creator of Fat Fables, a program for Queer & Fat folks to gather together to make art and tell their stories. They have worked in various roles across the non-profit arts sector, including at The Toronto Fringe, Workman Arts, Summerworks Festival and more. Jules is dedicated to bringing care, compassion and empathy into theatre and creative spaces. Jules advocates for mental health justice, fat liberation and creating spaces for shared experiences and support. They are currently going into their third year of training at the Centre for Training in Psychotherapy. They have been a part of the Flin Flon journey since 2018 and are thrilled to be a part of the premiere at TPM.

Debbie Patterson is a Winnipeg playwright, director and actor. Trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, she is a founding member of Shakespeare in the Ruins, served as Artistic Associate at Prairie Theatre Exchange from 2012 to 2018 and was a member of the PTE Playwrights Unit. She is in demand across the country as a consultant on crip aesthetics/accessibility and as a theatremaker working in disability aesthetics. She was honoured with the United Nations Platform for Action Committee’s 2014 Activist Award and the City of Winnipeg’s Winnipeg Making a Mark Award in 2017. She was twice shortlisted for the Gina Wilkinson Prize. She is the matriarch of a family of artists. She is a proud advocate for disability justice through her work as founding and current Artistic Director of Sick + Twisted Theatre. She lives a wheelchair-enabled life in Winnipeg (Treaty 1) and in a cabin on the shore of Lake Winnipeg (Treaty 2) with her partner and collaborator, Arne MacPherson.

Jung-Hye is a Toronto based set and costume designer. Her recent design credits include Mary Poppins (Theatre Sheridan), Guilt a love story (Tarragon Theatre), Lady M (1S1 Theatre), The Chinese Lady (Studio 180, Dora Award for outstanding costume design), The Nightingale of A Thousand Songs (CCOC), Jesus Christ Superstar (Theatre Sheridan), Hamlet-911 (Stratford Festival), An Imm-Permanent Resident (Why Not Theatre), Hilot Means Healer (Cahoots Theatre), Dry Powder (Evermore Theatre), Now You See Her (Quote Unquote Collective, Dora nomination for outstanding costume design)

Echo is an award-winning, proud Chinese immigrant and Tkaronto-based scenographer. She has designed for many art organizations nationwide, including the National Art Centre, Stratford Festival, Tapestry Opera, Tarragon Theatre, Buddies in the Bad Times, Theatre Passe Muraille, Thousand Island Playhouse, and many live performance festivals. Her designs have been presented in Japan and China. Her favourite recent credits are Cymbeline (Stratford Festival), Shaniqua in Abstraction (Crow’s Theatre), Rocking Horse Winner (Tapestry Opera), A Poem for Rabia (Tarragon Theatre), The Chinese Lady (Studio 180); Benevolence (Benevolence Collective); Between a Wok and a Hotpot (Cahoots Theatre); The Year of the Cello (Theatre Passe Muraille); HMS Pinafore (Vancouver Opera); Every Brilliant Thing (Thousand Island Playhouse); White Girls in Moccasins (Manidoons Collective); Mr.Shi and His Lover, and I Swallowed Moon Made of Iron (Music Picnic). Echo is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada. For Grandpa, 獻給敬愛的嗲嗲。 www.echozhoudesign.com

Laura Warren is a Saskatchewan-raised, Ontario-based, designer for theatre, dance, live music, and opera. Selected Credits: Qalb: A Journey of the Ego (1S1 Theatre); Aportia Chryptych (COC); seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Obsidian Theatre); Shaniqua in Abstraction (Crow’s/paul watson productions); Zahhak (CCSD/Tirgan); No Save Points (Outside the March/Starvox); Of the Sea (Tapestry Opera/Obsidian Theatre); #34 (Globe Theatre); The Queen in Me (COC, Nightwood Theatre, Amplified Opera, Theatre Gargantua); Is God Is (Canadian Stage, Obsidian Theatre, Necessary Angel); 21 Black Futures (Obsidian Theatre/CBC Arts); Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (Tarragon Theatre); In Absentia (JDdance); Pomegranate (Pomegranate Opera); The Black Drum (Deaf Culture Centre/Soulpepper); Grace (Nightwood Theatre/Crow’s Theatre); Unholy (Nightwood Theatre); Oraltorio: A Theatrical Mixtape (Obsidian Theatre/Soulpepper); Bearing (Signal Theatre/Luminato)

Nicole Eun-Ju Bell is a Toronto based, Korean-Canadian, multidisciplinary artist with a passion for performance and technology. Among other things, she is a projection designer, XR Artist, and production manager. In the theatre world she works with various Toronto-based theatre companies and has curated and presented work at local and international festivals including: Prague Quadrennial 2019 and 2023, Summerworks, Luminato, and Toronto Fringe. In the XR world she has recently performed in Uncanny Alley: A New Day by Ferryman Collective at the Venice Film Festival. She currently works as the Venue Producer for the PXR conference.

MONICA DOTTOR MFA – Master of Fine Arts Theatre – Performance/Creation/Directing Monica Dottor is a 12 time Dora Mavor Moore* award nominated artist and 3 time recipient in 5 different categories including Actor(5X), Choreographer(5X), Director (1X) and Costume Designer (1X) DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER: The 39 Steps (County Stage), JANICE ALMIGHTY (Company Blonde), In The Fire, (Femmes du Feu Circus) Beauty and the Beast (UofWindsor), A Blow in the Face (Nightwood), Big Love (UofWindsor) BEARS* (Punctuate Theatre/Alberta Aboriginal Arts, Theatre Centre, Factor, Belfry) THE OTHER (Pyretic/Company Blonde/TheatreFront/Soulpepper), The 94 Club (Crave), MALARIA LULLABY (Company Blonde), TWEET TWEET (Femmes Du Feu/SOULPEPPER), Flora & Fauna, Circus Sessions (Femmes Du Feu), Something Rotten, Urinetown, IF/THEN (Sheridan Musical Theatre), ROSE*, Idomeneus, Sisters, The Chopin Project, Eurydice, Glenn, A Tender Thing, MARAT/SADE* (Soulpepper), The Penelopiad*(Nightwood), Craigslist Cantata* (Acting UpStage) Monica is represented by Gary Goddard and Associates

Frank Hull is an established, professional artist who proudly lives with cerebral palsy and madness, embraces his Mi’kmaq heritage, and celebrates his gay identity. Hull has distinguished himself as one of Canada’s most prominent power wheelchair choreographers and dancers. He more recently expanded his repertoire to include live and digital performance. Hull‘s artistic practice is multidisciplinary, consisting of varied, vibrant works in dance, theatre, music and media arts. His artistic vision is to reveal the impacts of trauma and oppression on the body while positioning “deviant” bodies as a source of aesthetic appreciation, beauty and enrichment. Hull‘s dance works have been presented several times at ART WITH ATTITUDE (Toronto) His most recent work includes a film currently in production entitled, “Own Kind of Beautiful,” directed and created by Sarah Jones. He has also contributing to “Access Me.” A play developed by the Boy’s in Chairs Collective Toronto. Frank has also been instrumental in the Rolling Dance Chair Project™ serving as a “test” dancer/research participant and providing input for the new wheelchair technologies for dance being developed at the University of South Florida.

Corey Tazmania (Intimacy Director): Credits include: Jim Watts: Girl Reporter- 4th Line Theatre; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change- Lake George Dinner Theatre; Angel’s BoneHarbourfront Center; The Hooves Belonged to the DeerIn Arms Theatre Collective, Edmonton Fringe (Sterling Nominee); HeartlessAki Studio; Intimate ApparelThousand Islands Playhouse; The Hooves Belonged to the DeerThe Tarragon; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Crow’s Theatre. Corey also serves as an Intimacy Consultant for Hart House Theatre and as an Intimacy Professional for academic theatre throughout the GTA. MFA York University.

Carlos Varela Carlos began his career in his native Mexico, where he worked for 8 years with the TJMTC and Spotlight Foundation AC. touring local and internationally. He has also worked with OCESA, production managing tours of major Broadway productions. Since moving to Toronto in 2015, he has focused on work with theatre companies and festivals such as Summerworks, Rutas, The Fringe Festival, Riser Festival, The Theatre Centre, Crow’s Theatre, UofT, Obsidian, Tapestry Opera, The Royal Conservatory, among others. Selected theatre credits include: 21 Black Futures, Dixon Road, Take The Moment: Cynthia Dale, Broken Shapes, YERMA, Manman La Mer, Treemonisha, Appropiate (Dora award winner) Rocking Horse Winner, Universal Child Care, Dialogues Des Carmelites, Hedda Gabler, Luminato Festival. Upcoming productions: Case Existence of God, In my own little corner.

Having just finished his fourth year of Performance: Production at TMU’s School of Performance, Nathan works in the realms of upper management, in Technical Direction, and Production & Stage Management. Nathan works freelance in the theatre industry as a technician, stagehand, and driver of large trucks. Past credits include Producer for Toronto Metropolitan Theatre Company (2020-2024), Assistant Production Manager for ACCESS ME (Boys in Chairs Collective), Apprentice Production Manager for THE CANADIAN FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS (Musical Stage/Canadian Stage) and Production Manager for a double bill of workshop productions in Fall 2023 for Tarragon Theatre and TMU. Upcoming credits include Production Manager for JOB (Coal Mine Theatre).

Sam Gleason is a multi instrumentalist, engineer and producer living in Toronto, Ontario. Since moving to the city to attend the Humber College music program Sam has worked with musicians from across the spectrum of North America’s music scene. In addition to his time at Humber College Sam attended the School for Improvised Music at NYU in 2012. Whether playing guitar and keyboards with Tim Baker, Jeremy Dutcher and more on festival stages, producing and engineering records for Dana Gavanski and Charlotte Cornfield, flying to Sweden to improvise soundscapes behind poet robertalanfuturehearts, or crafting new uses of traditional dance music language and giving it new life Sam is in constant demand for his creativity and skill.

Mandy E. MacLean (she/her) is a theatremaker and proud Maritimer, now based in Toronto. She is the Dramaturgy & Accessibility Associate (Metcalf Performing Arts Foundation Intern) at Theatre Passe Muraille. A member of the Mad community, she has experienced traumatic brain injury and has a Cocker Spaniel named Mulder. Mandy has been thrilled to participate in many projects at TPM. Upcoming: Associate Dramaturge & Access Support for “Blind Dates” (in development, TPM, dir. Majorie Chan) and “The Concussion Play” (in development, supported by Tangled Arts, Why Not Theatre, Theatre Gargantua and the OAC). As a performer: “Don’t Go Into the Woods” (Tarragon, dir. Courtney Chg’ Lancaster, in development) and “hiraeth” (SummerWorks). Mandy coordinated an access-based project with W. Ross School for the Blind and was the Arts Activation Coordinator for Frog in Hand’s Art Shelter. She believes that considering access in all forms can lead to exciting work and experiences for everyone.

Razan Ali (b. 1999, Khartoum, Sudan) is an experimental artist whose practice spans mediums including painting, sculpture, and nail art. Exploring forms of self and collective expression, Ali’s work highlights the Black diaspora through painting and installation. As a Black queer immigrant from Sudan, Ali strives to create work for people of aligned identities and lived experiences. Her practice and body of work incorporates themes of community justice, bravery, and memory within and beyond the Black experience. In 2022, Ali worked with architect Michael Lee Poy, doing environmental sustainability work rooted in the community in Trinidad and Tobago. She is based in Tkaronto, and is currently completing a degree in Fine Art at OCAD University in Drawing & Painting.

Anne Campbell is an artist who works in ceramics and sculpture.

Brian Postalian (Բրայն Փոսթալյան) is a performance creator, educator, and producer born and raised in Toronto/Tkaronto by way of Armenia (via Lebanon and Turkey), Ireland, UK, and the Czech Republic. With their company Re:Theatre, they make work that reconsiders how we share space together in communal places, blurring the divide between audiences and performers. Their work New Societies used immersivity and interactivity with a focus on game theory and social engagement to create idyllic societies. It has been presented across Canada and internationally, where it has been translated into Mandarin with the National Theatre of Taipei. Brian was a co-creator of the Dora Award-nominated Access Me with the Boys in Chairs collective, which was published by Playwrights Canada Press as part of Interdependent Magic: Disability Performance in Canada. They hold a Master of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University and are a certified facilitator of Liz Lerman‘s Critical Response Process. www.brianpostalian.com

Flin Flon Cowboy Collective

The Flin Flon Cowboy Collective is a dynamic group of award-winning theatre artists and musicians who came together in 2018 to bring to life the powerful, autobiographical story of Ken Harrower in the new musical, The Flin Flon Cowboy. United by a commitment to exploring the intersections of disability, identity, and community, this collective has worked tirelessly to develop and produce a piece that speaks to the experiences of those often left unheard. The collective is led by creators of the titular show Ken HarrowerErin Brandenburg, and Johnny Spence. The collective also includes Debbie Patterson and Jules Vodarek Hunter.

Special Thanks to...

Workman Arts
Sick & Twisted Theatre
Vivi Dabee
Dan Watson
Ahuri Theatre
RP Dynamics
Crow’s Theatre
JT Pickering
The Toronto Fringe
Daniel Lei
Nolan Cortes
Hannah Dulong
Factory Theatre

The Flin Flon Cowboy Collective would also like to thank the artists who helped in the development of the show and music including: Sonja Rainey, Dan Watson, Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, Xavier Lopez, Michelle Tracey, Nazerah Carlisle, Kenneth Ignatio, Andrew Penner, Alex Samaras, Christine Bougie, Kejd Kuqo, Lisa Bosikovitch, Claire Maclean, Heather Kirby, Kat McLevey, Joshua Van Tassel, Ben Whiteley, Maddy Wilde, Liam Russell, Joseph Shabason, Shaun Brodie, Ruth Howard and Elizabeth Rucker.

Support Resources

Up Next!

Up next at Theatre Passe Muraille:
Erased by Coleen Shirin MacPherson
Nov. 20th – 30th, 2024
More info here!

Graphic design by Emily Jung
Photo by Simone Matheson
Pictured: Ericka Leobrera

Sponsors:

The Flin Flon Cowboy is made possible with the support of Toronto Arts CouncilOntario Arts CouncilCanada Council for the Arts and Community One Foundation.

TPM Season Sponsor:

Thank you!

You make it possible! Thank you so much for coming out to watch the world premiere of The Flin Flon Cowboy as part of our 24.25 season.

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