Brian Cumberland
After completing the prestigious but now sadly defunct Technical Theatre certification at Niagara College, Brian Cumberland worked with theatre and opera companies across Canada. For many years he also worked as a Project Manager involved in creating touring Broadway shows, international special events and museum installations. Brian joined Brock University for the design and build phase of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and continues as the Production Manager for the Department of Dramatic Arts.
Gavin Fearon
Gavin Fearon is a stagehand, designer, and maker who holds a B.A. in Drama from Bishop’s University. As a stagehand focused mainly on sound, lighting, and projections, he has worked at Tarragon Theatre, Young People’s Theatre, Soulpepper, The Shaw Festival, and many others in Ontario and Québec. As a designer, his work has played across Canada as well as in New York City, London, and Edinburgh. He has designed shows for Young People’s Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Théâtre français de Toronto, local companies Essential Collective Theatre and Carousel Players, and many others. Gavin is the Technical Director for the Department of Dramatic Arts. His heart is in the North Atlantic.
Halle Figliomeni
Halle Figliomeni is the Academic Advisor for students inDramatic Arts, Music, Visual Arts, Arts Leadership and the General Humanities program. Halle has extensive experience in student-focused professional roles, as well as interpreting academic policies and program requirements across campus. Halle attained a BA in French and Italian Studies at Brock, a BA in the History of Art and Visual Culture, and an MA in Art History and Visual Culture at University of Guelph. As alumna of the Marilyn I. Walker School and the Faculty of Humanities, she is thrilled to be working with students in the arts and humanities.
Students can contact Halle by emailing [email protected] or by booking an appointment using this link.
Ed Harris
Ed Harris has been Head of Scenic Construction for Dramatic Arts since 2014. He was previously a Scenic Carpenter and built scenery, special effects, construction electrics and automation for The Shaw Festival Theatre and has been a Professional Stage Technician since 1992, touring most of the East Coast in the 1990s and 2000s. Ed also teaches the Carpentry section of 1F40 Scenography and Stagecraft, 3Y49 Scenic Carpentry, as well as 2P42 Stage Production and 2P43 Stagecraft.
In harmony with being a carpenter, Ed is also an arborist, sawyer, turner and drummer. Creating with wood is his passion, and stresses the need for tree preservation, planting, sustainable forestry and re-using, re-purposing and recycling. He feels that passing on this awareness to the students can be as important as the building techniques themselves.
Melissa MacAulay
Melissa is the Administrative Assistant at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. Melissa has spent a lot of time in and around universities and has a passion for higher education and the humanities. Starting as a university student herself, she eventually went on to earn her PhD in philosophy, writing about the metaphysics of time. A card-carrying grammar nerd, she has also worked as a freelance academic/non-fiction editor for the last decade, in addition to various university administration roles in both Canada and the UK. In her spare time, Melissa is most likely spending time with her kids, reading, writing, or making music — she plays the guitar, the mandolin, and the piano.
Sandra Marcroft
Sandra Marcroft is an award winning lighting designer, theatre technician and educator. With 30 years experience as a lighting designer for theatre and dance, the work that has been the most interesting and rewarding to her is being part of developing new work. Sandra has spent several years lighting new shows for new works including at the Rhubarb Festival (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) with Hillar Liitoja (DNA theatre) as well as many, many independent productions. Her work has appeared in theatres and theatre festivals around the world, including Dailes Teatris (Riga, Latvia) and the Dialog Festival (Wroclaw, Poland). In 2021 Sandra joined the Department of Dramatic Arts as the staff Theatre Technician. Soon after, she started formally teaching courses about theatrical lighting and projection.
Bobbi Pidduck
Bobbi Pidduck was 10 years old when she first experienced professional theatre. Her family drove through a thunderstorm to see a production of Peter Pan at the Shaw Festival Theatre, only to have Captain Hook inform them that, due to power outages, the theatre would be using a back-up generator and Tinker Bell would not be able to fly in the show. This did not dampen her enthusiasm or delight at the magic happening on stage, especially when — despite the circumstances — Tinker Bell did fly that night! She likes to think that’s when the seed was planted for her future career.
For over 20 years working in theatre, Bobbi has had the great privilege of learning from many talented people in Wardrobe Departments across Ontario and as far as the Prairies. Her many roles have included Costume Sewer, Cutter (Pattern Drafter), First Hand, Dresser, Assistant Milliner and Head of Wardrobe, a position she now holds for the Department of Dramatic Arts. It’s such a pleasure to pass on this knowledge to the next generation of Peter Pan enthusiasts.
For more insight about the people at DART, see Five Minutes with DART Faculty & Staff!