OUR TEAM
HELEN-CLAIRE TINGLING
(Playwright)
Ms. Tingling has worked in the entertainment industry, in various capacities, for more than 25 years. Living Will is her first produced play.
JILLIAN REES-BROWN
(Director)
Jillian is excited about directing this compelling drama Living Will. She has had the opportunity to direct, musicals A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline at the Stephenville Festival; farce The Real Meatballs by Debra Hale; Shakespeare Taming of the Shrew; and children’s theatre Kipling’s Just So Stories. In addition to directing, Jillian has choreographed, stage managed, produced and designed for the theatre. All these experiences have enhanced her work as a performer; most recently playing Romeo’s grandmother in Lost, and Gone’s immersive version of Romeo & Juliet. During 2017 Black History month, she was honoured to play Caroline in the musical Dandelions in the Wind at Daniels Spectrum. Other theatrical roles include Grandma u/s in Toronto’s Mirvish Production & the US International Tour of Billy Elliot the Musical; co-writing and performing in Hey! Good Lookin’; Shirley Valentine; Alice in Sexy Laundry; Theatre Beyond Words’ International tours of Potato People & The Boy Who Could Sing Pictures; and as Magenta in Rocky Horror Show. Jillian is proud to have played the role of Baba Nancy in the film Luba which is currently making the festival circuit and won Best Picture Audience Choice and Reel Canada Indie Spirit awards at the Canadian Film Festival and Best Foreign Feature at Idyllwild Festival. TV credits include: Save Me, The Listener and Remedy. Film credits include: Beeba Boys, Harlan County War; Cruel Intentions II; Blues Brothers 2000; virtual reality feature Little Death; and upcoming, will be appearing in Shazam! Jillian is the 2017 recipient of the Cayle Chernin Award - Media Development for her screenwriting project Living Memory. Jillian is a member of the musical trio, Daughters of the Rock and proud grandmother of Michael and Isabella.
GREGORY DIAKUN
(Composer)
Arranger/Composer: Sony BMG, Walt Disney Records, RCA Records. Louise Pitre’s Shattered, with Jimmy Webb. Orchestrator: Leslie Arden's The Princess and the Handmaiden. Keyboard Programmer: Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway. Performer: Mirvish Productions’ Wicked, Annie, Bat out of Hell, Beautiful, The Bodyguard, Matilda, Motown, Les Miserables, The Lord of the Rings, The Producers and more, over 14 seasons. Stratford Festival productions of Crazy for You, Forty Second Street, Kiss Me Kate, Cabaret and more, over 7 seasons. A series of instrumental albums arranged and conducted by Greg, in association with Fred Mollin, have sold millions of copies worldwide. Greg was recently awarded a gold record for his arrangements and performances on the first of this series, Disney's Lullaby Album.
MALCOLM BYRNE
(Stage Manager)
Malcolm is looking forward to another great Fringe Festival and is thankful for the opportunity. Recent stage management credits include “Hey Good Lookin’!” (Hey Good Lookin’ Productions) at the 2015 Fringe Festival, “Women” (Martha Rose Productions) at the 2016 Fringe, and more recently “Closer” (Mortar & Pestle Productions) at Gerrard Art Space. Malcolm is also in his 12th season as the resident Stage Manager for The Civic Light Opera Company.
HAILEE MORROW
(Assistant Stage Manager)
Hailee has worked backstage on many productions across the GTA and is thrilled to take part in Living Will. Past credits include: Twist Your Dickens (The Second City), Tough Jews (Storefront Theatre), Women (Martha Rose Productions). She is also a recent graduate of York University’s Screenwriting BFA program and is currently working on her first novel.
JESS ABRAMOVITCH
Jess is thrilled to be back performing at the Fringe again, and to be included in such amazing company on and off stage. Jess originated the roles of Jules in Yorkville – The Musical, and Patsy in Prairie Nurse in their world premieres at The Blyth Festival. Other selected theatre credits include: the Dora nominated production of Annie (Young People's Theatre); Hair (The Grand Theatre); Old Jews Telling Jokes (Playhouse Prod./Dynamic Edge); The Rocky Horror Show (OCE); Act Now! (Toronto Fringe); The Attic, The Pearls & Three Fine Girls (Toronto Fringe); Kid Cosmic (Summerworks). Selected film/tv: She's The Mayor (Vision TV); The Jon Dore Show (Comedy Network); Dragon's Den (CBC); The Net (Lifelong). Love and thanks to my family and friends, to my agent Craig, and to my partner Aiden. Always, for Danielle. XO
ABRAHAM ASTO
Graduating with Honours from the University of Toronto, Abraham segued back into his love for theatre after winning a placement at the George Brown Theatre School. His recent theatre credits include Reflector for Theatre Gargantua's 25th anniversary production; Raging Dreams (Theatre Gargantua); Commedia Dell’arte's The Amorous Servant with Odyssey Theatre in Ottawa; Test Drive (Lighthouse Festival); The Kite Runner (Citadel/Theatre Calgary); and The Buddy Holly Story (Magnus).
HELLY CHESTER
Helly trained in New York City at the HB Studios with Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghoff and at The Sonia Moore Studio Theatre with Sonia Moore. She has also worked with youth and adults as a theatre arts teacher and as an arts education consultant. Selected theatre credits: New York - Edna in Butley (The Courtyard Playhouse), Louise in The Channeller (Samuel Beckett Theatre), Jill in Orient Beach (American Playhouse Theatre). Toronto – Mme. Maute and Eugenie in Total Eclipse (TSP Studios), Beatrice in Servant of Two Masters (Columbus Centre Theatre), Mrs. Bradman in Blithe Spirit and Cissy in Quartet (Village Playhouse), Nora in Escape from Happiness, Damienne in I am Marguerite, and Dr. Vera Peters in Radical (Alumnae Theatre), Dolly in Kitchen Witches (Bruce County Playhouse), Mrs. Boyle in The Mousetrap (Lower Ossington Theatre), Lauren in Hazel (Red Sandcastle Theatre), multiple roles in Newmarket National Ten Minute Play Festival. Recent directing credits: Murder in the Cottonwoods, by Colin Sharpe (Toronto Fringe), The Creepy Cabin Project by Cathy Shilton (Alumnae Theatre) and Moving on by Elmar Maripuu (Alumnae Theatre).
ANDREA DAVIS
Andrea is thrilled to be a part of this very special production and to be back at the Toronto Fringe for the first time in many years. Highlights from Andrea’s work in the theatre include The Nurse in Romeo & Juliet/Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Mrs. Dickson in Intimate Apparel/Grand Theatre, Reynaldo and the Player Queen in Hamlet/CanStage Berkeley, Lenore in The Ventriloquist/Factory Theatre, and the Daughter in Recent Experiences, which started in Toronto and toured to Montreal, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Frankfurt, Bonn, Belfast, Hong Kong and Melbourne. Andrea recently played the lead in the BravoFact short film Screen Thru and has appeared in Mary Kills People, Orphan Black, The Girlfriend Experience, Ransom, Crawford, 12 Monkeys, Rookie Blue, The Firm and Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures amongst others. She hopes that Living Will will help open a kinder, gentler dialogue for people struggling with health issues in their families.
BILL MACDONALD
Bill has enjoyed a 40-year career as an actor. A Montreal native, Bill arrived in Toronto in 1984 and has focused primarily on film and television since. TV credits include recurring roles in Traders, Paradise Falls, Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, and the short lived Witchblade; as well as many movies of the week. Film credits include A History of Violence, Triggermen, and Men with Guns. A graduate of John Abbott College, Bill spent the first six years of his career at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton in roles such as Catesby in Richard The Third, Hotspur in Henry IV Part One, Edmund In King Lear, and Malcolm in The Scottish Play. It has been twenty years since Bill’s last appearance on stage at the Poor Alex in Dance Land, and he's delighted to create the title role in Living Will.
JORIE MORROW
Jorie is delighted to be a part of this heart-felt, beautiful play about a family, like many, struggling to keep up with 'systems' that are full of amazing technology but can often miss the real impact on people, forgetting the 'human' element. Families are often fragile, vulnerable and messy -- however loving and supportive at the same time -- its very complicated. Thank-you to Helen Claire Tingling for giving me the words and to Jillian Rees-Brown for giving me the good guidance and direction. Other Toronto Fringe shows include: Hey Good Lookin' (2015), Women (2016) and SNAP (2017). Upcoming: Between the Sheets by Jordi Mand, playing the role of Marion at the Artscape Youngplace here in Toronto- November 8th-18th, 2018.
PETER NELSON
Peter graduated from engineering at U of T, but found he preferred building characters rather than bridges. He has worked on many GTA Theatre productions. Most recently he portrayed the Character Paul in Paul and Petandra at the Theatre Passe Muraille studio space. Previously he was Mother Courage in The Lavender Railroad and was Ralph in Frozen, (not the Disney musical) in which he played a serial killer. In an upcoming film he will be playing the ultimate Dad in a film based on Andrew Weir’s (The Martian) short story called The Egg. He has also appeared on television in shows such as Mayday, Man Seeking Woman and a recurring role in the series Dark Rising. Peter also travels throughout the GTA doing Improv workshops at schools with children of all ages. Peter is delighted to play Jake as in the Fringe Premiere of Living Will.
JILL NIEDOBA
Jill Niedoba (Dr Dyer) Theatre (selected): Dangerous Liaisons (Segal Centre); The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Unit 102); The Journey (Soundstreams/Jane Mallett); Not Wanted on the Voyage (theatre@york). Jill is very pleased to be involved in this production of Living Will in the Fringe Festival this summer. Upcoming: look for her as Dr. Eliza Saunders in BET’s series In Contempt directed by Sudz Sutherland.
ASHA VIJAYASINGHAM
Asha is an actor, voice performer and singer. Select Theatre credits: Enchanted Loom (Cahoots/Factory); Free Outgoing (Nightwood); Rice Boy, Macbeth, Julius Caesar (Stratford Festival); Funny Boy (CBC, directed by Deepa Mehta); La Ronde (Theatre Onslaught, directed by Lewis Baumander). Select Film/TV credits: In Contempt, Workin’ Moms, Remedy, Lucky 7, XIII, King, Flashpoint, The Dating Guy, Karma, Dirge. Upcoming: Other People’s Children (Imago Theatre). Asha would like to thank her parents for their love and support.