Andrey Tarasiuk, a graduate of the University of Manitoba and the National Theatre School of Canada, has been associated with almost every major theatre in this country.  He was the founding Producer of The Dream in High Park, the acclaimed Toronto Free Theatre/Canadian Stage outdoor Shakespeare production, and the director of many radio dramas with CBC-Radio Canada.  He has been a guest director, instructor and lecturer at the National Theatre School of Canada, The University of Winnipeg and the National Arts Centre among others.  As Artistic Producer for Theatre Direct Canada, an award–winning Toronto-based company, he worked with such Canadian authors as Anne Chislett, Tomson Highway and Joan MacLeod in the creation of new dramas for young audiences.  

At the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where he was Associate Artistic Director and Head of New Play Development for eight seasons, Mr. Tarasiuk also directed a number of productions including James Reaney’s The Donnellys: Sticks & Stones which was also presented at the National Arts Centre,  Anne Chislett’sQuiet in the Land, and the world premiere of Anton Piatigorsky’s Eternal Hydra.  Mr. Tarasiuk has served as a board member for numerous Canadian organizations including the Stratford Arts Foundation/Stratford Summer Music, Toronto Alliance for Performing Arts and the Professional Association for Canadian Theatres.  He is a recipient of a number of awards and distinctions including both the Derek. F. Mitchell Artistic Director’s Award and the Tyrone Guthrie Award from the Stratford Festival and the co-recipient of the Kobzar Literary Award for the play Luba, Simply Luba.

John Van Burek

Founder of Pleiades Theatre

John has been a professional theatre artist for over forty years. He has directed well over 100 productions, including plays, operas and special events, and he has translated over 50 plays. He was the founding Artistic Director of Théâtre français de Toronto, which he ran for close to twenty years and through his translations, many in partnership with the late Bill Glassco, he introduced the work of Michel Tremblay, one of Canada’s preeminent playwrights, to the English-speaking world. In addition, he has translated works by Gratien Gélinas, Carlo Goldoni, Suzanne Lebeau, Marivaux, Molière and Carl Sternheim. He is currently working on a translation of Les Justes (The Just Assassins), Albert Camus’ powerful play about terrorists, and on one of the great classics of Spanish literature, Los Empeños de una Casa (The Trials of a Noble House), a delightful comedy written in Mexico City in 1683 by a nun, Sor Juana Ignés de la Cruz.

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John has taught at the National Theatre School of Canada, York University, Ryerson Theatre School, the Nottingham School of the Performing Arts (U.K.), University of Victoria and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. For four years, he was a member of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal and he is a member of l’Ordre de la Pléïade (Paris). He has received many awards and distinctions, including the Toronto Drama Bench Award for Distinguished Contribution to Canadian Theatre, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and most recently, he was given the prestigious Silver Ticket Award by the Toronto Association of Performing Arts. For six years, John sat on the Board of the Toronto Arts Council and is currently an Associate Board member of the Fondation Michaëlle Jean Foundation.

Artistic Producer
Andrey Tarasiuk

andrey@pleiadestheatre.org

416 203 1227

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Associate Producer & Outreach Coordinator

James Graham

james@pleiadestheatre.org

416 203 1227

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Marketing

Laurie Murphy, Marram Marketing & Communications/PR

lauriemurphy@marram.ca

647 883 8460

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Financial Services

Chris Mustard, Young Associates

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Graphic Design

Rami Schandall, Visual Creative

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IT

Eddie Kastrau

Honorary Patrons, The Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean and M. Jean-Daniel Lafond 

Founding Board Members, Retired

Dr. Harry Arthurs

Billie Bridgman

Jennifer Duchesne

Gerry Eldred

David Silcox (Former Chair)