Described by The Georgia Straight “one of the city's best artists,” Tetsuro Shigematsu tells stories across an array of media. He is an author, playwright, actor, scholar, broadcaster, and filmmaker. A former writer for CBC Television’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, in 2004 he became the first person-of-colour to host a daily national radio program in Canada when he took over The Roundup on CBC Radio. His most recent theatre work, 1 Hour Photo, garnered five Jessie nominations, winning for Significant Artistic Achievement, and was recently named as a finalist for the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Drama. He completed his PhD studies as a Vanier Scholar. His thesis play, Empire of the Son, has played in 18 cities to over 20,000 people, and was described by Colin Thomas as, “one of the best shows ever to come out of Vancouver. Ever.” He recently signed a book deal with Penguin Random House to write a memoir. Support his work at patreon.com/tetsuro
Donna Yamamoto is the Artistic Director of Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre.
Professor of English and Theatre at the University of British Columbia and a professional actor, Jerry Wasserman has written and lectured widely on Canadian theatre, dramatic literature, theatre history, modern fiction, and blues music; publicly interviewed writers and theatre artists ranging from Margaret Atwood to Stephen Sondheim; and served for over fifteen years as a drama critic on CBC Radio. He is currently theatre critic for The Province newspaper and editor of Vancouverplays.com, an informative Web site that provides up-to-date listings and reviews of local theatre performances. Wasserman grew up in New York and attained an M.A. in English from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Cornell, specializing in twentieth-century literature and drama. He started teaching at UBC in 1972; though his initial research focus was on fiction, his work in the theatre as an actor soon led him to teach mainly drama courses, eventually creating a course in Canadian drama.
In addition to his scholarly accomplishments, Wasserman continues to maintain a busy career as an actor. A seasoned veteran on the Vancouver theatre scene, he has also made over two hundred appearances on film and television.
