Urban Curvz Staff

Jacqueline Russell – Artistic Director

Jacqueline is a Calgary based director, performer, playwright and producer. After graduating from the University of Alberta with a BFA in Acting in 2006, she gravitated towards the joy and freedom found in the genre of Theatre for Young Audiences, working as a performer, playwright and director. She was the Artistic Producer for Evergreen Theatre from 2008-2013. Over the past 8 years she has been exploring her passion for devised theatre, experimenting with both solo and ensemble creation projects. Jacqueline has worked extensively as a performer/creator with Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre, including the creation of Into the Abyss, a full-length freak show spectacular at the High Performance Rodeo in 2011. In 2010 she was commissioned by the Town of Morinville to write and direct a verbatim theatre piece to commemorate the town’s 100 year anniversary. In 2009 Jacqueline co-created a feminist satire Raunch (with Alice Nelson) which subsequently had a sold-out tour across the Western Canadian Fringe circuit, and was performed at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in 2012. Her passion for feminist theatre lead her to create the GIRLS GONE WILDE festival, a yearly cabaret event that generates opportunities for female performers, directors and playwrights. In 2011 Jacqueline became the Artistic Producer for Urban Curvz Theatre, and in 2014 took on the role of Artistic Director. Jacqueline was the 2013/2014 RBC Emerging Director at Lunchbox Theatre. Favorite directing credits include: One Good Marriage (Lunchbox Theatre), Weaving Yarns (Calgary Young People’s Theatre), Peg and The Yeti, Munsch-o-rama (New West Theatre), Invasion of the Pine Beetles (Evergreen Theatre), The Underpants (Theatre BSMT) and Elephant in Zulu (Fringe Tour).  Jacqueline has studied clown with John Turner and Michael Kennard at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance where she was an artist in residence in the summer 2014, while she created The Sama Kutra (with Jed Tomlinson). As a theatre instructor/facilitator Jacqueline has worked in artist-in-residence programs province wide, as well as in many Aboriginal communities.

Ann Galbraith – Managing Producer

Ann is a performer, writer, designer and life-long lover of theatre. She holds a BFA in Drama from The University of Calgary and has also studied theatre at Mount Royal College and comedy writing with The Second City. Over the past few years Ann has divided her time between writing, designing, performing, digital marketing and communications and hanging out with her two incredibly energetic, quirky and adorable children. Recent productions include In the Heat of the Night (Vertigo Theatre), i-Robot Theatre (Swallow a Bicycle), Kit and Kaboodle Circus, A Little Princess (CYPT), Eurydice, Fair Liberty’s Call and Risk Everything (U of C). Ann also performs regularly with The Kinkonauts long-form improv house team and their all-female improv troupe Fatale.

Lindsey Zess-Funk – Artistic Associate

Lindsey Zess-Funk is a Calgarian director, designer and drama educator. She holds an MFA in Directing from University of Calgary and a BFA in Performance from the University of Lethbridge.  She is also a mask maker, puppet enthusiast, and sartorialist. Lindsey’s theatrical obsessions include gender, myth, ethnomasqurade, and animated objects. She is passionate about the status of women, sustainable living, and letting it all out on the dance floor. Recent projects include The Kitchen Witches and Routes (New West Theatre), i-ROBOT (Swallow-a-Bicycle) FUGLY (The Janes), The Hudson Bay Epic (Frivolous Fools), and That Men May Fly (Empress Theatre).

Meg Braem – Artistic Associate

Meg Braem’s plays have won numerous awards including Playwright Theatre Centre’s The News Competition, the Alberta Literary Award for Drama and the Alberta Playwriting Competition. She was part of 2012 Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s Playwright Retreat and the 2013 Banff Playwrights Colony. Meg is a current member of the Citadel Theatre’s Playwriting Forum where she is working on her new play The Cut Grass Carnival. Meg has taught at the University of Lethbridge and the University of Calgary. Her play, Blood: A Scientific Romance was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2013 and nominated for a Governor’s General Literary Award. Meg’s new play A Worthy Opponent will premiere as part of Lunchbox Theatre’s 2014/15 season.