"A CAMEL IS A HORSE DESIGNED BY A COMMITTEE"

Owen Fawcett is a Toronto-based actor, director and theatre creator and a founding member of Theatre by Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Theatre and Drama Studies program and a member of Straight Camp, a queer theatre collective. Past credits include (For TBC) Family Debts, Lion in the Streets, A Tournament of Lies, ‘Dentity Crisis. (Other): Nocturne, Red Winter (Pure Carbon), Here After (Upstart Theatre), Stumble, Topple and Stand, Spoon (Straight Camp), December 1917: The Halifax Explosion (Well Fought Theatre), Macbeth, Semi Monde, Stage Door, 1917: The Halifax Explosion (Theatre Erindale). Past directing credits include: Lion in the Streets (TBC), Arcadia (UTMDC), Piece (UTMDC)

My worst on stage moment as an actor would have to be in A Christmas Carol the Musical in high school. I was blessed with the jolly role of the Ghost of Christmas Present and had a big song at the end of Act 1 that picked up in an even bigger reprise at the top of Act 2. As the curtain went down for intermission, I stumbled through the backstage darkness and some how walked into a door. My nose started bleeding profusely. With great care, I managed to avoid bleeding all over the many white parts of my costume but as intermission ended, my nose bleed had not. So I shoved wads of toilet paper up my nose and sashayed onstage. It wasn’t certainly didn’t sound pretty but the show must go on. Lesson learned: wait for the backstage lights to turn on.     

Brandon is a Toronto-based actor, director and theatre creator. Originally from Hamilton, Brandon is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Sheridan College’s joint Theatre and Drama Studies Program, and a co-founder of the seven member Theatre By Committee. Credits as director include; Faith (TBC, Hamilton and Toronto), Lovelash (Entr’Acte), Offers of Home (Panfish), and The Contract (Pandora’s Box). Acting Credits include Comme Ci, Comme Ca (TBC), Boeing Boeing (Hart House), Lion in the Streets (TBC), Grapefruit (Theatre Hera), Tournament of Lies (TBC), The Census (NewTeatro), Our Country’s Good (Theatre Erindale), Sure Thing (Beck Festival). He is also a pretty stellar DM.

My worst onstage moment was the first professional production I was ever in; “Who Has Seen the Wind” by W. O. Mitchell at Theatre Aquarius. There was a scene set in a prairie classroom where I needed to threaten my teacher with a knife to protect another student. One night, the scene was running smoothly, and I reached into my pocket to get my knife before the big moment and realized that I had forgotten to grab it off the props table. I had to threaten the teacher with my fist, which was decidedly un-knifelike. I have never again forgotten a prop.

Ben Hayward (writer/actor) Ben Hayward is a Toronto-based actor and writer. He is a founding member of both Theatre By Committee and Fail Better Theatre. With those companies he has appeared in Faith, Lion In The Streets, Comme Ci Comme Ca, The Dinner Table and Andy Warhol Presents: Valerie . As an actor he has appeared in The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia (ATIC Productions); Marianne, Are You Asleep (Beck Festival), December 1917: The Halifax Explosion (Well Fought Theatre). He has directed for the Toronto and Atlantic Fringe Festivals and Assistant Directed on Brantwood (Sheridan Musical Theatre, Mitchell Cushman/Julie Tepperman). He is the author of the plays Kink, Faith, Pathetic, Sometimes and Think Tank. He is a graduate of the Theatre and Drama Studies Program at the University of Toronto.

My worst onstage moment was when I forgot my next line, just blanked completely, and instead of ad libbing or trying to get to the rest of the scene, I said "Well, I have to go now." and abruptly walked off. I wasn't an important character and a grand total of one person noticed.

Lindsey Middleton hails from the teeny town of Ridgeway, Ontario. Lindsey is best known for playing Vanessa on the internationally award winning, Toronto based web series, Out With Dad. Lindsey also co-produced her own spin off series called Vanessa’s Story and recently won the 2015 IAWTV Award for Best Female Performance in a Drama for her role. Lindsey has also worked on international best selling writer Linwood Barclay’s book trailer Tap at the Window and you can find her in the horror feature Red Spring. In 2016 Lindsey reprised her role as Vanessa in the new series Counselling Vanessa.

Lindsey is a very active member in the Toronto theatre community. Lindsey is a graduate of University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College Theatre and Drama Studies Program, a co-funder of Well Fought Theatre Company and Theatre By Committee. Upcoming in 2017 you can find Lindsey in Deelen with Trouble’s Rabbit Hole, in Theatre By Committee’s site specific fringe piece The Food Project and shooting season two of HappyHer, a documentary web series focused on sharing women’s stories about happiness from all over the world co-created by Lindsey Middleton and Cornelia Audrey.

My worst on stage experience was during 'Dentity Crisis when an audience member was holding a knife to us...true story.

Jonathan Walls is a Toronto based theatre performer. Selected recent work includes a reading of Alexander Kentris’ new play Kairos (produced by Pure Carbon), Theatre By Committee’s Lion in the Streets, Messy Kween Collective’s then, then. by Kyle Capstick, and Mixed Company Theatre’s touring production of Frenemies by Andrea Scott.  Jonathan attended the Theatre and Drama Studies program at the University of Toronto and Sheridan College. 

My worst onstage moment was a Grade 12 Sears' Drama Festival production at Hart House. A toaster caught fire on stage and began to spew smoke. Quickly unplugged the toaster in time before it really started to burn. The adjudicator thought we had the coolest special effects…