About This Episode:

In this episode, Phil sits down with Miriam Cummings, a playwright, performer, and educator who creates deeply personal solo theatre. Miriam shares how a tongue-in-cheek suggestion at Canada's National Voice Institute led her to write and perform her first solo show, The One, and how that experience opened up new ways of being vulnerable on stage. She reflects on the protective barriers she built as a young actor after experiencing profound loss, and how solo performance helped her dismantle those walls and get closer to herself as an artist.

Miriam also discusses her second solo show, Wide, which pushed the boundaries of audience participation and co-creation, and how moving from Montreal to BC transformed both her body and her art. As an educator, she believes everyone has inherent presence and that actor training is about uncovering the joy of play we all had as children. This conversation explores grief, presence, the writing process, and the courage it takes to be honest on stage.

This episode explores:

• How a casual suggestion led Miriam to create her first solo show
• The terrifying vulnerability of hearing your own writing read aloud for the first time
• Navigating grief and loss in theatre school and building protective barriers as an actor
• The difference between creating The One and Wide, and the role of movement in Miriam's writing process
• Teaching presence, play, and helping adults reclaim what they loved as children
• And much more!

Guest: 🎭 Miriam Cummings

Miriam (she/her) is an artist, actor, and educator who creates on the ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. Playful improvisation that connects breath, body, and voice to image is at the core of Miriam’s practice. She holds an MFA (Performance & Creative Writing) from UBCO and a BFA (Acting) from Concordia University. Based in Tiohtià:ke / Montréal for more than a decade, Miriam performed with local companies such as Repercussion Theatre, Montréal Improv, and co-founded Hopegrown Productions, an incubator for new plays. Her solo performance and research of psychologically safe actor training methods have been selected for residencies in Ontario, Québec, and British Columbia. Miriam has instructed adults across the country for more than a decade, teaching acting, devising, and creative writing classes as Part-Time Faculty at Concordia University and workshops at Sheridan College, Okanagan College, Geordie Theatre School, Tempest Theatre, Kaleidoscope Theatre, Rosebud School for the Arts, and more. Miriam offers accessible classes for everyone that boost confidence, creativity, and self-expression through actor training techniques and coaches people one-on-one.

Connect with Miriam:

📸 Instagram: @mcummings___

Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20.

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About This Episode:

Creative producer Alexis Eastman joins Stageworthy host Phil Rickaby to explore what it really means to be a creative producer in Canadian theatre. From her early days making work at the Toronto Fringe to her current role supporting artists through long-term development processes, Alexis shares insights into how she bridges the administrative and creative aspects of theatre-making. She discusses her collaborations with artists like Adam Lazarus on shows including Daughter and the upcoming Versus, and how her approach to producing integrates her into the creative process as a true collaborator. Alexis also opens up about how becoming a mother profoundly changed her perspective on producing, the importance of failure in the creative process, and her journey from devised theatre to discovering she's actually a novelist. She reflects on growing up in an evangelical church and how that shaped her artistic practice, the necessity of boredom for creativity, and why long-term relationships between artists and producers lead to deeper, more rigorous work.

This episode explores:

• What a creative producer actually does and how it differs from traditional producing
• The importance of long-term artist support and development in theatre
• How motherhood transformed Alexis's approach to producing and collaboration
• Working with Adam Lazarus on Daughter and the new show Versus
• Why failure and time are essential ingredients in the creative process
• And much more!

Guest: 🎭 Alexis Eastman

Alexis Eastman is a writer and creative producer based in Toronto. A graduate of York University's Creative Ensemble program, she learned her producing craft at the Theatre Centre under Ashlyn Rose, where she served as producer from 2018. Alexis works as a creative collaborator integrated into the artistic process from idea through development to premiere and beyond. She has collaborated extensively with artists including Adam Lazarus on Daughter and the upcoming show Versus. Beyond producing, Alexis is also a novelist, having discovered that novel writing is her true creative practice. She brings her experience as a mother and her background growing up in an evangelical church to inform her thoughtful, emotionally intelligent approach to supporting artists.

Connect with Alexis Eastman:

📸 Instagram: @alexis_leanna

Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20.

Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell!

About This Episode:

What happens when three goblins discover the complete works of Shakespeare and decide to stage Macbeth? Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak, the creative minds behind Spontaneous Theatre and the Goblin Empire, join Phil to share the wild origin story of Goblin:Macbeth; from a rushed eight-day creation to becoming a phenomenon at major Canadian theatre festivals. They discuss the challenges of performing in Hollywood-grade silicone masks, the art of caring for audiences while embodying creatures, and how they've managed to sneak improvisation into prestigious Canadian theatre companies like the Stratford and Shaw Festivals.

This episode explores:

• The serendipitous eight-day creation of Goblin Macbeth and performing in expensive silicone masks
• How mask work, clown technique, and bouffon influence the goblins' relationship with audiences
• Sneaking improvisation into mainstream Canadian theatre at Stratford and Shaw Festivals
• The legacy of Keith Johnstone and Loose Moose Theatre Company in shaping Canadian improv
• Why live theatre is the antidote to artificial intelligence and isolation
• And much more!

Guests: 🎭 Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak

Rebecca Northan is a "Jill-of-all-trades": actor, director, playwright, improviser,producer, and sometimes-prop-maker. She is the Artistic Producer of Spontaneous Theatre, known for its audience-centered creations that almost always break the fourth wall. Rebecca has worked across Canada as an actor and director. Most recently she co-created Murder-on-the-Lake for the Shaw Festival, which played to 87% houses in the 2025 season. In 2026, Rebecca will travel to Bard on the Beach, in Vancouver, to direct the Merry Wives of Windsor, and will then remain perform in Goblin:Oedipus. Rebecca, and co-creators Bruce Horak & Ellis Lalonde continue to expand the "Goblin Empire", with several future Goblin projects in the hopper. Rebecca is a Canadian Comedy Award Winner, and has also starred in two Canadian TV series ("Alice, I Think", and "The Foundation"). She also teaches improvisation occasionally, and hopes to someday launch a training facility. Rebecca's hit show, Blind Date, has toured across Canada, parts the US, off-Broadway, and in London & Oslo.

Bruce Horak is originally from Calgary, Alberta where he trained in Theatre and Improvisation at the prestigious Loose Moose Theatre. He has worked professionally in Canada and abroad for over 25 years. He can be seen onscreen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for Paramount Plus as the Chief Engineer, Hemmer. When not creating new works and performing onstage, Bruce devotes his time to painting, composing, and writing.

Connect with Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak:

🌐 Spontaneous Theatre: spontaneoustheatre.com

📸 Instagram: @spontaneoustheatre

📸 Instagram: @rebeccanorthan

📸 Instagram: @brucehorak

Support Stageworthy: If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy Patrons get early access to episodes, participate in conversations about topics to cover, and more. With three backer levels: $2, $7, and $20.

Subscribe & Follow: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio 📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell!