The Malicious Basement
T h e a t r e C o m p a n y
Marissa Blair -- Director
Marissa Blair is a Theatre-maker from Mont Clare, PA. She worked as a performance artist for many years in New York City in 2005, earning a bachelor’s from The New School and an MA in Performance Studies from NYU. A director, playwright, and producer in Montreal, Marissa is also an administrator at Espace Freestanding Room, an organizer of Freefalling Monthly, and Artistic Director and co-founder of Mad Paradox.
Xander Barth -- Playwright, Executive Producer
Over his short career, Xander has quickly amassed a number of backstage credits. As stage manager, Xander was involved in The McGill Savoy Society’s production of Iolanthe and Ruddigore, Magjusjen Entertainment’s The Chain (ASM) and Snowglobe Theatre’s production of Hamlet and the Pillowman. As Producer, Xander had the privilege to help The Opportunity Theatre Company’s debut show Before It’s Too Late become a reality. Making his official debut as a playwright in 2020’s Festival de la Bete Noire with his work Maintenance, he will be resurfaced again with two new pieces for the Festival’s 2021 digitial edition with his piece Wretch and Red Paper.
Elisabeth Nyveen -- Technical Direction, Design
Elisabeth Nyveen is an interdisciplinary technician, designer, writer, performer, producer, etc… who has spent the last year and change making a podcast, “October Jones & Fish with Legs”, which was recently nominated for two Canadian Podcast Awards. On the theatre side, Elisabeth worked with Malicious Basement on two Festival de la Bête Noire shows earlier this year and for obvious reasons not much else. Until now! Theatre time, baby. Favourite past production credits include stage managing Hedwig & the Angry Inch for Pride MTL, puppeteering Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, and co-stage-managing and costuming The Riot Ballet, an immersive and interactive theatre/game hybrid.
Attachments area
Jordan Prentice -- 1
Director, Truculentus (McGill Classics); Composer, This is a Play (Players' Theatre); Mr Hyde, The Curious Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Actus Reus); Director, The Goat (Players' Theatre)
Student, McGill Faculty of Law
Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Lila Bata-Walsh -- 2
Lila Bata-Walsh is a queer performer and creator from Montréal. She began her career in film and TV at the age of 6, and was introduced to the world of live theatre with a role at the Shaw Festival in 2005. She is a recent graduate of George Brown College’s conservatory Theatre Program and has since written and performed a variety of her own short plays, hosted cabarets, performed comedic striptease, and is currently falling absolutely in love with clown and dance. She is inspired by all things weird, scary, gross, funny, and sexy. Lila would like to thank to the whole Wretch team for making her first theatrical experience since returning to Montréal so special! Can’t wait to get back to it! See you all on the web!
Jacqueline Van De Geer -- Mother Bliss
"Originally from Netherlands, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 to live and work at Montreal. I have a bachelor's degree in visual arts and performing arts. I draw inspiration from universal themes such as heritage, family, democracy, war and exclusion policies. I work with various disciplines: performance, movement, monologue, manipulation of objects, improvisation and visual art.
It's important for me to surprise myself during my process and share with
Participants this exciting feeling that the unexpected is. Creating privacy, maintaining confidence and revealing what bothers are essential to my practice."