March 22, 2024

DIRECTOR

Pedro Chamale (he/him) was born and raised on treaty 8 territory, colonially known as Chetwynd, BC and now creates on the unceded and traditional lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. He completed the acting program at Douglas College and then received his BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. He then went on to form rice & beans theatre with Derek Chan for which he is currently the artistic director of. Pedro is a director, playwright, performer & co-founder beans theatre. He was the Artistic Resident at Neworld Theatre in 2014, guest curator of the 2018 rEvolver Festival and one of the playwrights in the 2019 Playwright’s Lab at the Banff Centre. Pedro was part of the second cohort of Banff's Arts and Culture Leadership, is a co-founder of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition, sits on the Latinx Theatre Commons steering committee and was part of Director's Lab North in 2020. He was also awarded the young alumni excellence award in 2021, along with Derek Chan, for their work with rice & beans theatre from Simon Fraser University's FCAT department. In 2023 Pedro was a nominee for the BC multicultural and anti-racist “Breaking Boundaries” award for which he is grateful to be recognized for the work he has done both personally and at rice & beans.

Marissa Sauvé is a Vancouver B.C performer; she is a former Alumni of Vancouver Acting School. Some of Marissa's work includes playing Maria Romanov in DC's Legends of Tomorrow as well as showing off some awesome sparkly Doc Martens in a Famous Footwear Christmas commercial. She has put up 4 plays in her term 3 with her intensive Conservatory group as of 2023, including a sitcom that was entirely written by the Mirren Conservatory class called Klub Kacti.

Gabriel Vill is a local actor, producer, drag performer, dancer, and writer. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, to a very strict father opposed to letting his son near a stage. They knew one day nobody would be able to stop him from standing on those boards and living their dream in full color. Here we are now.

Ava Albaisa is a student at the University of British Columbia studying acting. She is originally from San Diego, California. In her most recent project she played Amy in The Theory of Relativity with UBC’s Musical Theatre Troupe. She has additionally been in shows such as The Addams Family as Morticia, and Open Bar Confessional which premiered at San Diego City College’s Festival of New Plays.

Tamara Escamilla (tah-mah-rah) is thrilled to be part of the Brave New Play Rites Festival for which she is making her theater debut in Vancouver. Tamara studied the BA in Theatre and Acting in Mexico City, and is a graduate of the Acting for Film and Television department at Vancouver Film School. Born originally in Mexico City, Tamara has pursued art from a young age from singing and tap dancing to receiving formal actor training

Araceli Ferrara is a non-binary Canadian theatre artist. They graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2023 with an MFA in Creative Writing and Theatre, and graduated from York University in 2021 with a BA in Theatre, specializing in Dramaturgy and Devised Theatre, with a minor in History. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, she is the daughter of a refugee and celebrates both her Chilean and Italian heritage. Araceli is a lover of theatre; you can often find her working on her own play or helping with someone else's.

Hannah Mitchell is a Vancouver-born actor and recent graduate of the UofT/Sheridan College Theatre and Drama Studies program. Past credits include Lady Macbeth in the Scottish Slay’s Macbeth as well as Tartuffe in Tartuffe, Death in Everybody and The Dog in The Witch of Edmonton with Theatre Erindale.