Author: Phil Rickaby
-
Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak Are Sneaking Improv into Mainstream Canadian Theatre
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 Stageworthy host, Phil Rickaby to share the wild origin story of Goblin:Macbeth.
-
Tika McLean is Building Community in Art and Every Day
This week on Stageworthy, Phil Rickaby is joined by the vibrant and multifaceted Tika McLean. In a conversation that is as funny as it is profound, Tika reflects on her journey from a self-described "shy kid" who once froze during a church solo to becoming a bold, multidisciplinary artist who uses her voice to challenge the status quo.
-
Emily Jeffers is Making Theatre on Her Terms
This week on Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby sits down with Emily Jeffers for a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation about artistic identity, collaboration, and carving out a sustainable life in theatre.
-
Virginia Woodall is Building Community at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival
In this episode of Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby speaks with Virginia Woodall, producer at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. With the festival entering its 21st year, Virginia shares the story of how she moved from volunteer to producer, how 164 submissions become a 12-day lineup of 78 troupes, and why sketch comedy deserves recognition as its own artistic discipline.
-
Anusree Roy Writes in Service of the Story
In this episode of Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby speaks with acclaimed playwright, actor, and screenwriter Anusree Roy about her newest play, Through the Eyes of God, now onstage at Theatre Passe-Muraille. The conversation explores Roy’s evolving artistic process, the deeply personal roots of her storytelling, and her journey between theatre and television writing.
-
Scholarship Meets Theatre and Art with Dienye Waboso Amajor
In this episode of Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby sits down with Dienye Waboso Amajor — a Dora-nominated Nigerian actor, writer, and interdisciplinary artist living and working in Ontario. With an academic background in theatre and performance studies and ongoing doctoral research, Dienye’s practice bridges performance, scholarship, and cultural storytelling.
-
Tim Porter Makes Theatre Work Outside the Big City
In this episode of Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby sits down with Tim Porter, founding Artistic Director of Tweed & Company Theatre, to talk about what it means to build a sustainable professional theatre company outside of major urban centres.
-
Jack Burrill Makes Shakespeare Feel Dangerous Again
In this episode of Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby speaks with Jack Burrill, actor, director, acting coach, and Artistic Director of Unchained Theatre. What begins as a shared nerd-out over Shakespeare quickly becomes a wide-ranging conversation about why these 400-year-old plays still matter - and how indie theatre is often where their most exciting reinventions happen.
-
The Arts Are a National Defence Strategy
In this solo Stageworthy episode, host Phil Rickaby takes a deep dive into the idea of “nation-building” — and why Canada keeps getting it wrong. Sparked by post-election rhetoric around pipelines, railways, housing, and AI infrastructure, Phil argues that these are construction projects, not nation-building ones. Part rant, part cultural history lesson, and part call to action.
-
Gabrielle Martin is Programming the World for Local Audiences
In this episode of Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby sits down with Gabrielle Martin, Artistic Director of Vancouver’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Gabrielle discusses her unconventional path into arts leadership, the realities of curating large-scale interdisciplinary work, and the responsibility of presenting challenging, global performance within a local context.
