VOLCANO USA - Board

Ross Manson (Chair) is an actor, director, and translator, the founding Artistic Director of Volcano Canada ("The best independent theatre company in Toronto" - NOW Magazine) and the founder and chair of its sister company, Volcano USA. Volcano specializes in projects that explore compelling social and artistic territories in innovative ways, often inventing multi-disciplinary styles of performance or development tailor-made to the idea at hand. Ross has directed close to 20 shows for Volcano. Prizes/recognition includes the Carol Tambor Foundation Best of Edinburgh award, the Scotsman Fringe First Award (Edinburgh Festival), 33 Dora nominations (Toronto Stage Awards), 11 Dora wins, 2 Governor General award nominations (Canada), the Amnesty International Freedom of Speech Award shortlist (Edinburgh Festival), the NOW Peoples Choice Award (Toronto), the Best Design Award (Dublin International Fringe) and a Chalmers National Play Award (Canada). Ross has been nominated for a Dora award in Directing three times (winning once), and is the winner of both a Harold award for arts community service, and a KM Hunter Award as an emerging theatre artist.

The majority of works Ross has built with Volcano are original and experimental in process (while remaining accessible in performance). Ross has also directed for the Svenska Theatre (Helsinki), CanStage (Toronto), Overall Dance (in Toronto and at the Canada Dance Festival), and the Blyth Festival (Canada).

Ross has translated three plays from German: Woyzeck (staged in 1993); The Third Land (staged in 1994 by Volcano) and, currently underway, The Caucasian Chalk Circle (a project led by Richard Greenblatt, with new music by John Millard).

As an actor, Ross has appeared in film, television, radio, and in leading roles at over 20 theatres across Canada and the United States. He has worked for such directors as Joe Dowling (Ireland), Jonathan Miller (England), Blanka Zizka (USA) and Canadians Richard Rose and Daniel Brooks.

In 1995, Ross founded Go7, the Arts Pass; a subscription and marketing organization for independent theatre, music and dance. Go7 was in place in Toronto from 1995 to 2003, and inspired a host of similar organizations across Canada. From 1994 to 2004, Ross ran an eclectic new works cabaret called Short Stuff at various bars around Toronto. Short Stuff showcased high-level work from local artists in film, fiction, poetry, drama, music and dance. Ross is also the co-founder of the Wrecking Ball, a political theatre initiative designed to bring a political point-of-view more fiercely onto Canadian stages (www.thewreckingball.ca). Finally, Ross was also on the programming team of ARCfest, the first human rights arts festival in Canada.

Ross Manson's photo by Itai Erdal

 

Deanna Downes (Vice Chair) is a Professor of Theater at Eastern University, manages the 80 bed Chamounix Mansion International Hostel in Fairmount Park, and is a licensed Pennsylvania Realtor. She holds an MFA in Theater Directing from Columbia University and directs and produces theater plays, art openings and poetry readings.

 

 

 

Krista Apple (Secretary) is an actor, writer and teaching artist currently residing in Philadelphia. She has appeared onstage recently at Philadelphia's Wilma Theatre (Life of Galileo) and Chimera Theatre (The Penguin) and on screen in The Good Shepherd and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Recent collaborative projects as actor/writer include adaptations of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude and T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland (Available Light Theatre, Columbus, OH). Krista is a frequent contributor to American Theatre magazine and is associate editor of the Teaching Artist Journal. She served as Education Associate at Theatre for a New Audience for three years, and has taught at Northwestern University (Chicago) and Fordham University (New York); she has been recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts for her work as a teacher and mentor. Krista holds a BA in English and Theatre from Kenyon College; additionally, she has trained and performed with Pig Iron Theatre Company, Volcano Theatre, Theatre de Complicite, and the British-American Drama Academy. MFA Acting Candidate, Temple University, Class of 2009.