Meet the The Director – Liz Best :
Liz is an actor, director, producer and playwright.
Acting credits: The Pigeon, (FireWorks Festival), Surrender, Dorothy (FireWorks Festival), Inked Heart, (FireWorks Festival), Meet the Family (City TV).
Playwright credits: The Bay (Big Ideas Festival, PAL). Surrender, Dorothy (FireWorks Festival, Procunier Hall, Palace Theatre in London).
Directing credits: Outward, (Toronto Queer Theatre Festival), The Dining Room, (Marion Abbott Productions), Crossing Delancey (Encore Entertainment), The Goodbye Girl (Scarborough Players). Producing credits: Fireworks Festival, Women of Musical Theatre Festival, General Manager, Marion Abbott Productions. Email: lizbest@rogers.com
Meet the Cast:
Vivien Shepherd is a triple threat performer who started acting early. Her love for dance in nursery school led to her debut musical performance in kindergarten in Tarzan The Musical where her passion for storytelling and music was discovered. She received the Vocal Music Award at KKSA (Karen Kain School of the Arts) and graduated with Honours as an Ontario Scholar from ESA (Etobicoke School of the Arts). There she majored in Musical Theatre and travelled around North America as a member of their award winning female show choir, GLO. At ESA she also acted in several student films, and began a love for that medium as well, which grew when she attended Randolph College for the Performing Arts, from which she recently graduated. Vivien has experience in voice over and as a vocalist on soundtracks. As a singer she has sung solo in local music venues around the city since she was 16. In addition to performing, she has a keen interest in dramaturgy, writing and painting and is passionate about creating from a modern, feminist viewpoint.
Victoria Shepherd is an award-winning theatre Director. She has helmed numerous productions at the Toronto Fringe festival, the Alumnae theatre company, the Bloor West Village players, as well as many independent theatre companies. She last trod the boards when seven months pregnant with Vivian Shepherd and is delighted to have the opportunity to mark her return to acting by playing …..Viv’s mom! Email: victoriashepherd@hotmail.com
MATEO CHAVEZ LEWIS (Joseph) is an actor, singer, pianist and songwriter from Toronto. He wrote, produced and starred in Boys Don’t Cry, a new musical which premiered at the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he began working on Quarantine Songs, a series of songs about different characters dealing with the pandemic in unique ways, which premiered on YouTube featuring top talent from the Stratford, Mirvish, and Charlottetown stages. He has also contributed music + lyrics to #Hashtag: A New Musical (Bravo Academy), Babble (Beats + Intentions) and CanMo 2.0 (StreamStage). Performance career highlights include: Mark Cohen in Rent (Papermill Theatre), Jack in Into the Woods (Toronto Centre for the Arts), Dickon in The Secret Garden (Factory Theatre), and Frankie McDonald in Parade (First Act Productions). This summer, you can catch him in CanJams (Garner Theatre Productions), as Joseph in Love As A Virus (2021 Toronto Fringe Festival) and as Warren in Ordinary Days (The Flare Productions).
Trevor Cartlidge is thrilled to be part of this production. Trevor studied theatre at the University of Waterloo. Past credits include Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew (Rose Theatre), Giles Ralston in The Mousetrap (Toronto Truck Theatre) and other various Fringe shows and productions around Toronto. Trevor would like to thank his family for their continued love and support.
This is the newest Mark My Words-Ink work to be produced and presented for the 2021 Digital Toronto Fringe Festival – AVAILABLE to View from July 21st, 2021. The play will be a pre-recorded staged production . Please use the CC – Mark spent more than 70 hours working on this (as it was required for this medium) and it may compensate for some sound and volume issues, while being true to the dialogue.
The story: Hannahbelle and Joseph meet by accident during a pandemic – but when the masks come off….
We are proud to present a song – Find the light – with lyrics and music written, produced and performed specifically for this play.
Trailer preview:
Here is the link to the promo video on YouTube! https://youtu.be/1CU-SciiLpk
Patrons are invited to visit the Fringe Festival – launchpad website and select tickets to view Love as a Virus
or click on the poster/icon
Beginning July 21st you will have option to use your access ticket to view this selection on-demand at your convenience any day or time over, at least, until the end of the Festival run.
Mark My Words-Ink 