DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Welcome to Hope in Hot Times. We created this show from scratch over the past few months, rehearsing together in Toronto, where our collective is based. Using a devised physical theatre improvisation method, we create scenes based on prompts and ensemble work. This is a method I learned from the MT Space in Kitchener, and developed through years of clown training. The actors are co-creators in the room. We bring our own stories, bodies, memories and thoughts as an archive from which we draw inspiration. Each person is invited to be fully themselves in the room. There is no neutrality, there is no objectivity. We are interested in authenticity, truth and heart.

I started Play Play as a drop-in clown theatre school two years ago at Sweet Action Theatre, a venue that hosts a lot of alternative comedy, clown, bouffon and shenanigans. I wanted to curate and design a space that was socially and politically aware, accessible financially and physically, and that was a welcoming space for racialized and queer folks. 

We can create theatre in ways that liberate us as artists and human beings. I am interested in listening in the rehearsal room, inviting audiences into theatres who have been historically ignored, and centering joy, community and listening. I think we can do all these things while creating culturally-relevant, entertaining and high-quality art. Times are bad. Life is hard.  Don’t give up. You’re doing great.

Janice Jo Lee

Director, Producer, Co-Writer, Sound Designer

BIOS

Chantal Bassous - Actor, Co-Writer

Chantal is an active member with ACT 2 Studio at TMU and the Nags Players Community Theatre, where she has had many wonderful opportunities to perform and direct. She has been part of Play Play for two years, and this will be her third devised show. She is very excited to be part of the Hamilton Fringe. She feels the creation of Hope in Hot Times has been a beautiful and wonderful process of creation of group synergy and collective energy. When she’s not acting, clowning or taking classes, you can find her clearing her chakras or walking on the beach looking for dogs to pet. 

Sivert Das - Actor, Co-Writer

Sivert is a Canadian Screen Award-nominated actor, writer, musician, comedian and activist. Recognized as a pioneer in disabled advocacy and arts, he is the first visibly disabled person of colour to graduate from both the University of Victoria’s acting program and the Second City Conservatory program. His Intermission articles, “Tales From a Disabled Theatre School Grad” and “Why I’m Tired of Cripface in Toronto Theatre”, received international acclaim. He is currently writing his one-person show, “Tales From The Crip”. He has been seen on stages across Canada as well as in film and television. Select theatre credits: A Winter’s Tale, Death: A Love Story (Dandelion Theatre), 7 Stories, Othello (Phoenix Theatre), Two Gentlemen of Verona, Julius Caesar (Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival) and Passport to Madville (Workman Arts Theatre, Toronto Sketchfest). Selected Film/TV: In Camera (RealWheels Theatre), The Squeaky Wheel (AMI). 

Michael Higginson - Actor, Co-Writer

Michael Higginson (he/him) is a Toronto-based actor, writer and clown. He is a regular performer at Toronto’s Sweet Action Theatre. Select screen and stage credits include Chrisanne: Toronto’s Longest Escalator (short film, 2007), Being in the Way (Trampoline Hall lecture, 2009), and The Last Signal (short film, 2025). Michael has been a creative or technical contributor to all previous Play Play shows.

Sue Carroll - Actor, Co-Writer

Sue writes: “How far back should we go? I first took the stage as an Angel (complete with tidings of great joy) in the Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Play, sometime in the latter half of the 20th century. Fast forward to 2019, I found myself in the festive mayhem of Santa Survivor at the Staircase Theatre, Hamilton. In between, I had the pleasure of performing in productions including Dancing at Lughnasa (Players Guild), Who Shot the Butler (Aldershot Players), Animal Farm (Village Theatre), and One for the Road (Dundas Little Theatre). I also enjoyed a few stints making things up on the fly with an improv troupe at Yuk Yuk’s in Niagara Falls. During and after the pandemic, I’ve kept busy playing weekly with online improv troupes Get a Room and Brick and Mortar through Vintage Follies and Highwire, among others. Occasionally, we even perform in person at places like Ferry Beach in Maine and Sweet Action in Toronto. My clowning journey began at Oakville Improv, and these days I continue to clown around at Sweet Action Theatre, performing regularly in Sweet Action and Play Play shows. I am very happy to be playing with PlayPlay friends in my hometown. :)”

Kendra Leigh Ward - Actor, Co-Writer

Kendra Leigh Ward (she/her) is a Toronto-based physical theatre artist who has appeared on stage and in film. Performing highlights include a plum role in Sylvia Hosie’s 1986 musical production of Jack and the Bean Stock in Victoria, BC; a (daring??) straight-out-of-high-school production of The Stonewater Rapture at the 1992 Vancouver Fringe Festival; an all-night stint in choreographer Ame Henderson’s piece Open Field Study (all together now) (Nuit Blanche, 2007); and playing Cathy in Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller’s short film Feeling Fine (2021). Hope in Hot Times is her fourth original production with her Play Play pals and her first time at the Hamilton Fringe.

DIRECTOR

Janice Jo Lee - Director, Producer, Co-Writer, Sound Designer

Janice Jo Lee (she/they) is a queer, Korean multidisciplinary artist born and based in Tkaronto, Ontario. She is a theatre maker, clown, musician, sound designer, spoken word poet and educator. She is interested in using art to build flourishing communities based in justice and joy. Her work explores gender justice, antiracism, friendship, community, ancestry and the Earth.

She has directed workshops and creation labs with her project Play Play Clown Theatre since Fall 2022 at Sweet Action Theatre. She has facilitated arts and anti-oppression programming professionally for 15 years. Janice is a touring performer and has released three albums of music, two poetry chapbooks. She also works as the DEIA Coordinator for Folk Alliance International. 

Janice studied theatre creation with: Musical Stage Company’s Noteworthy, MT Space, fu-GEN. Clown: Pig Iron Theatre School, Adam Paolozza, Deanna Fleysher. Bouffon: Nathaniel Justiniano, Adam Lazarus. Spoken Word: d’bi young anitafrika, Lillian Allen.

Sound Design/Music Composition Credits: Late Company by Jordan Tannahill (Green Light Arts 2024), Three Fingers Back by Donna-Michelle St Bernard (Tarragon 2024), Forge Futures, animations produced by lemonTree Creations (2023), This Is How We Got Here by Keith Barker (Green Light Arts 2022), Shaded by Nada Abousaleh (Cosmic Fishing Theatre 2021), I Don’t Know by Ahmad Meree (MT Space 2021), Suitcase by Ahmad Meree (Theatre Passe Muraille 2020), Will You Be My Friend by Janice Jo Lee (Green Light Arts, 2018). Coming up in August her band Janice Jo Lee and the QTs perform in South Korea. In October Janice acts in Dead Korean Girl Comedy Show (Aluna Theatre) written by Emily Jung and Jenn Park, directed by Bea Pizano.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Emily Jeffers - Associate Producer

Emily Jeffers (she/her) is an actor, clown and producer known for characters like Bitty-Bat, Sheonardo DiCaprio and The Mathemagician. She has performed at Edinburgh Fringe, Toronto Sketchfest, Toronto Fringe, Montreal Sketchfest and the Montreal Clown Festival. She has trained with clown masters like Philippe Gaulier, Aitor Basauri, Deanna Fleysher, Phil Burgers (Dr. Brown), Pedro Fabião, and instructors from the Idiot Workshop LA. Often working out of Toronto’s Sweet Action Theatre, she produces shows and workshops to support the professional development of clowns in the Toronto community.

Aurora Andrews - Stage Manager

Aurora Andrews (she/her) is an artist from Winnipeg making her stage management debut at Hope in Hot Times. She is also working as an assistant stage manager in another clown show at this Fringe, Raccacloon (Playdough Productions). Her other recent adventures include being an assistant technical director for People, Places and Things, wardrobe head for She Kills Monsters, assistant stage manager for Radium Girls, and wardrobe assistant for Bakkhai (Theatre@York), as well as a set designer for Funeral of the James Street Taco Bell (playGround Festival). Aurora has also pursued other artistic avenues in music, film, and arts administration. She would like to extend her thanks to the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre for assisting emerging Manitoban artists, allowing her to study theatre at York University.

Angelic Goldsky - Co-writer, Associate Producer, Assistant Sound Designer

Angelic Goldsky is a transmasc artist, poet, and performer whose work blends ritual, clowning, and queer futurism. A former poet-in-residence at Vancouver’s Roundhouse Community Centre (2021), they were shortlisted for the Canadian League of Poets’ Spoken Word Award (2023, 2024) and represented Canada at the international LGBTQ+ showcase in Brussels (2022). Angelic is a founding member of Queer Soul Poets, co-creating GAY ANCESTORS, a clown poetry ritual that premiered at STAND Festival (2024). They’ve opened the Vogue Theatre for Shane Koyczan with their former trio Tiny Tricycle Poets, and performed internationally—from sharing stages with rabbis and politicians to queers and clowns across Turtle Island and Europe, including at Switzerland’s Lila Queer Arts Festival. @angelic.unt 

Micah Franklin - Props Master, Lighting Designer,  Assistant Stage Manager

Micah Franklin is a multidisciplinary artist driven by exploration and curiosity, currently studying Drama and Education at the University of Windsor. With a deep love for all things theatre, they are passionate about storytelling through acting, dance, design, and direction. Their theatre credits include assistant stage manager for The Glass Menagerie, stage manager and lighting operator for Still Stands the House, and stage management roles for cabarets, student festivals, and improv shows. They make their design debut for this production, Hope In Hot Times as props master and lighting designer, while also serving as assistant stage manager. Looking ahead, they are thrilled to be directing a production of Mustard at the University of Windsor this winter and are excited to continue growing as a leader and artist in the theatre scene.