Controversy @ Noon: Extended Edition (March 27th)

Kenneth Williams

Kenneth T. Williams’ professional path is a “guidance counselor’s nightmare.” He’s been a soldier, rock musician, journalist, First Nations land claims researcher, and door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. As a journalist, he was a member of the very first news team for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. He’s the first Indigenous person to earn an MFA in Playwriting and become an associate professor at the University of Alberta’s Department of Drama. His plays, The Herd, In Care, Café Daughter, Gordon Winter, Thunderstick, Bannock Republic, Suicide Notes and Three Little Birds have been produced across Canada. He also co-wrote Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show. As a dramaturg, he has helped many playwrights at all levels develop their plays. He lives in Edmonton with his partner, Dr. Melissa Stoops, with their cats, Augustus and Drusilla. He is a member of the George Gordon First Nation in the Treaty 4 territory.

Amiel Gladstone

Amiel Gladstone is a playwright and director, who has worked in many theatres across Canada, both too big and too small. He has a passion for new works, and has created and collaborated on new plays, musicals, and operas. In Alberta he has created for the Edmonton Fringe, Citadel, Catalyst, Alberta Theatre Projects, and Theatre Calgary. Since April 2023 he is the Director of Theatre Arts at Banff Centre.

Michaela Jeffrey

Michaela is an Alberta based playwright and graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada. Recent writing credits include: The Extractionist and Incendiary, both commissioned by Vertigo Theatre (Calgary, AB), text creation for Persephone Bound, Imago Theatre (Montreal, QC), WROL (Without Rule of Law), Persephone Theatre (Saskatoon, SK),Wolf on the Ringstrasse, Spirit Fire Theatre (Calgary, AB), The Listening Room, Cardiac Theatre (Edmonton, AB) in conjunction with The Azimuth Theatre & Downstage Performance Society; The Listening Room received its American premiere Off Broadway in November 2019 with Nylon Fusion Theatre Co. (NYC, NY). Always, The Cultch Emerging Artist Festival (Vancouver, BC), Hardscrabble Road, GODHEAD, (Shortlist, Headwaters New Play Festival – Creede, Colorado; The Sunset Theatre, Wells, BC), Sundogs (Holding Hollow Productions; Edmonton International Fringe Festival), and others. Her short play Expanding Concepts of Dislocated Space (And Associated Boundaries) was published in the July 2018 edition of Bare Fiction Magazine (UK Publication).

Michaela was a recent finalist for the international Jane Chambers Excellence in Feminist Playwriting Award (2021) and Alberta Playwrights Network Alberta Playwriting Competition (2019) with her play WROL (Without Rule of Law) as well as a finalist for the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s RBC Emerging Playwright Award for her play The Listening Room and recipient of the national Enbridge Playwrights Award (Emerging Category) for her developing play, Going West.