FIJI

Chris is beyond excited to have the opportunity to work with Theatre by the River and all the amazing artists involved. Chris is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s acting honours program. His recent credits include The River at Winnipeg fringe 2024, The Piano Teacher at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, and The Paper Bag Princess at Prairie Theatre Exchange.

Chase is a proudly queer actor, singer, dancer, director, acting coach and intimacy director in training based in Winnipeg. He’s worked on productions across Canada with Royal MTC, MTYP, Dry Cold Productions, Rainbow Stage, WST, Theatre Calgary, Mirvish, Bad Hats Theatre, the National Ballet of Canada, Dauntless City Theatre and Diversified Theatre. As a vocalist he’s sung with the Toronto Jazz Orchestra, WSO, Juno award winning vocalist Stacey Kay and has toured internationally overseas with Oceania Cruises. On screen he’s played supporting roles in 6 Hallmark Channel movies, guest starred on ‘SkyMed' (CBC/Paramount+) and the Emmy nominated series ‘The Porter’ (CBC/BET+) and has appeared in numerous commercials with MPI. Chase is a graduate of Randolph College for the Performing Arts, and the Intimacy Professional Accelerator Program with Intimacy Directors & Coordinators (IDC).

Derek is a theatre artist and musician from Winnipeg. He is a founding company member of Theatre By The River (TBTR) as well as the acappella group Those Guys.  He has appeared on stage in productions with TBTR, MTC, SIR, Rainbow Stage, Dry Cold, and others. He last directed a show for TBTR’s 2019 production of A Man Walks Into A Bar, and he was Music Director for TBTR’s Billy Bishop Goes to War. He studied Theatre and Film (BAH) at the University of Winnipeg.

Lara is a playwright and comedian. She has taught at the University of Winnipeg and for twenty years at McNally Robinson Community Classroom on topics ranging from Gertrude Stein to Modern Opera. She was the theatre and opera reviewer at CBC Manitoba and in 2022 received an honorary doctorate from U of M (Literature) for her 40 year passion for literacy, social justice and the performing arts in Canada.

Mel Marginet is a co-founder and artistic director of Theatre by the River. She has performed in many theatre productions around the city, been in some fun movies and TV shows, and brought to life countless shows, events and projects. By day, Mel is the Publisher at Great Plains Press and she’s part of the Sustainable Transportation team at Green Action Centre.