Harabogee & Me
Shakespeare in Action is so excited to continue programming fun, family-friendly, and free outdoor artistic programming this summer in and around the Weston community!
This year we’re thrilled to invite you to the Weston Folktale Festival: two simultaneous events that explore stories passed along through our families and ancestry. Come by the Humber River in the daytime to walk through an exhibit created by local youth, grab a bite on Weston road, and stay for a free outdoor performance under the stars!
BEYOND MY SKIN
Photography Exhibit
Raymore Park (93 Raymore Dr, Etobicoke, ON M9P 2S4)
10:00 – 3:30PM (Aug 16-21)
1:00 – 3:30pm (Aug 23-28)
In partnership with Scarlettwoods Warriors for Change and Arts and Creative Skills Collective, we are excited to work with local youth in creating a photography and poetry exhibition in Etobicoke’s Raymore Park around the theme of cultural folktales and important family stories.
Artists:
- Breanna Lewis
- Tysome Hernandez-Montague
- Jason Agyei
- Carmelle Manu
- Nyla and Nadia Vanhanegin
Under the guidance of Arts and Creative Skills Collective Director Aroop Rayu.
HARABOGEE (할아버지) & ME
Little Avenue Memorial Park
(22 Little Avenue, York ON M9N1K6)
7:00PM
Directed by Brenda Kamino
Helen is an energetic and impatient six-year old whose family moved to the Mount Dennis community from South Korea. She wants to play with her Harabogee (grandfather), but Harabogee would rather tell Helen Korean stories he grew up learning. “Harabogee (할아버지) & Me” is a fun, family-friendly, and imaginative story that follows Harabogee recounting Korean folktales to his grand-daughter. Over one hour, four actors embody tigers, deer, frogs and seeds as Harabogee seeks to instill in Helen a deeper appreciation and understanding of where she comes from.
Bring your own blanket / chair and join us for another year of theatre under the stars in Weston!
Cast and Creative Team
M.J. Kang
(she/her)
WRITER
Brenda Kamino
(she/her)
Director
THEATRE: Directing: Restless Night (Shadowpath); Once is Never Enough (Canasian); Servant of Two Masters, A Secret Garden and Naomi’s Road (Asst. Dir. YPT) Present Laughter and Who’s Pooh? (YWP). Acting: Her2 (Nightwood Theatre) Ching Chong Chinaman (fu-Gen Theatre), At the End of the Day (Toronto Fringe); Nisei Blue (Alberta Theatre Projects); suicide
notes (Summerworks – NOW Magazine’s Outstanding Performance); Rashomon (Shaw Festival), dreams of blonde and blue and Bachelor Man (Theatre Passe Muraille), Naomi’s Road (YPT ).
FILM: The Glass Castle, Zero Patience.. TV: Two Seasons of CTV’s Carter, one season of Warigami, Lost Girl, Train 48, Hotel Babylon, Forever Knight, Kung Fu, Street Legal and Mr. Dressup
Hunter Kennedy-Rullo
(he/him)
Production
Manager
I am thrilled to be joining the Shakespeare in Action team as the Production Manager for Harabogee & Me. I am currently finishing up my degree in Performance Production at Toronto Metropolitan University where I’ve specialized in Production Management and Technical Direction. I’d like to take this chance to formally spite my parents who got a dog as soon as I fully moved out… And specially thank my parents dog for being wonderful and supportive of my endeavors.
Fun Fact about me – I am actively known at school as “The Rat King”
Annasofie Jakobsen
(she/her)
Stage
Manager
Annasofie 诗慧 Jakobsen is a Toronto-based stage manager who is going into her final year of Performance Production at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is thrilled to be making her Shakespeare in Action debut as the stage manager of Harabogee & Me and is looking forward to working alongside such a talented cast and crew! Much love to her parents and Celeste for their unwavering support.
When not sending out dailies, she can be found hanging out with her roommates, drinking a blue Powerade® (looking to be sponsored) and planning her next tattoo. (Usually done all at the same time).
Jung A Im
(she/her)
Scenic/costume
designer
Jung A Im is a set and costume designer from Seoul, South Korea. She graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2021.
Before moving to Canada, she studied Industrial design at Hong-Ik University and had accumulated more than 10 years of experience as a Visual Merchandiser in Seoul.
She can see through the essence of a play, reinterpreting its story’s inspiration from her perspective, which she communicates to the audience through her unique artistic sense.
The audience may enjoy it in the form of new art through space and costumes, and it is that entire process that is most fulfilling for Jung A.
Sabrina Mei
Ling Pye
(she/her)
Design
Assistant
I’m thrilled to be joining the team at Shakespeare in Action as the Design Assistant for Harabogee & Me! Having spent 3 years completing my BFA in Performance Production at Toronto Metropolitan University, with one more year to go, I am so excited to use what I’ve learned in school (and out!) to create the worlds where stories live and breathe.
A couple things about me: Vinyasa yoga is my go-to workout, I used to be a classical and jazz vocalist, and my childhood self would be very upset that I’m not a marine biologist!
Gabrielle
de Manuel
(she/her)
Sound Designer/
production assistant
Gabrielle de Manuel is excited to be the sound designer and production assistant for Harabogee & Me. She is a third year Theatre Production and Design student at York University. Some of her past works in theatre include being assistant stage manager for Theatre@York’s Everybody (2022); as well as co-writer, co-director and sound designer for Monster Nightclub (2022) and co-writer and co-director of Break-out! (2021) in the York University playGround Festival. She hopes that everyone enjoys the show!
@gxbitha / @scarberiaproductions
Francheska Libao
(she/her)
Production
Assistant
Francheska is a Southeast Asian artist based in Toronto and is a graduate of Humber College’s Theatre Production program. Credits: Humber’s The Humans 2.0 (SM) and A Song of Class and Dirt (ASM). She was the stage manager for Felt Cute (Might Delete Later) at Toronto Fringe and It Happened During the Quarantine at Hamilton Fringe. She is thrilled to be in this show and is thankful for the opportunity!
Saharla Ugas
(she/her)
production
assistant
I’m stoked to be back with my Shakespeare in Action family this summer as a Production Assistant! Last year I had the opportunity to be a shadow for production where I gained so many memories and such an amazing time. Another passion of mine aside from theatre is film! I was a part of the TIFF Next Wave Committee from 2020-2022 where I had the opportunity to program films and events that highlight diverse and inclusive stories. I also plan on heading to University of Toronto in the fall where I hope to continue my passion for the arts.
Jayson
Lee
Actor
Jayson dreamed of playing baseball. Although his desire to perform on the field did not come to fruition, he has found another outlet to perform. Jayson made the leap to pursue acting during the pandemic after he lost his job, realizing that life was too short to be doing something he didn’t like. As a Korean, he is very excited and proud to be part of this play as it is a telling of stories from his parents’ birthplace of Korea.
Renée Wong
(she/they)
actor
Renée Wong (she/they) is an actor, playwright, and arts administrator based in Toronto. She received her training at Humber College in their Theatre Performance Program and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, specialized in Strategic Management with a minor in Theatre Performance. Renée is interested in creating work that explores marginalized stories, inspired by her personal experience being raised in both Hong Kong and Toronto. She is extremely excited to join the production of Harabogee & Me! You can follow more of her work on Instagram, @reneeewcs
Nicholas Eddie
actor
Nicholas Eddie is an actor, director, and theatre maker, with a focus in physical theatre. He completed his training at George Brown Theatre School in 2018. This is Nicholas’ first time working with Shakespeare in Action.
Selected theatre acting credits include: Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Rusticle), Clown (Italian Mime Suicide, Bad New Days), Drosselmeyer (The Nutcracker, Niagara Ballet School), Storyteller (The Monkey Queen, Red Snow Collective), Bingo (Pirate Life Productions), Timothy (Freda and Jem’s Best of the Week, Summerworks Festival). Nicholas was nominated for a Dora award as a member of the ensemble in Theatre Rusticle’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Nicholas is developing a new musical as part of Bad Hats’ Bad New Ideas program.
Angela Sun
actor
Angela Sun is a Mad/ Dis, plus size, settler actor, theatre creator, and arts administrator of East Asian descent. Her multidisciplinary, multilingual artistic practice focuses on cultural dissonance and mental health. She is known for her advocacy for cultural diversity, size inclusivity, and access for the non-visibly Disabled community. Angela has worked with many emerging and established artistic organizations including: Workman Arts, ReDefine Arts, Cahoots Theatre, Political Movement, Bad Hats Theatre, The Bentway, Factory Theatre, Gardiner Museum, Durham Art Gallery, and Broadleaf Theatre. She is currently developing a one-person show on trauma, representation, and storytelling entitled The Glass Eye.
