Shelley MacDonald
Shelley MacDonald began her stage and film career in Toronto after receiving a Bachelor of Theatre degree from Brock University in St. Catharines Ontario.
In August 2001, Shelley won best actor in Vancouver for the short film she co-wrote, Such a Fine Girl. The film also placed second for best film as part of the Reel Fast 48 hour film competition. Shelley has written plays and performed for the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the Beaumount Playhouse, and the Vancouver Theatre Sports League. She will be seen in the upcoming television series for ABC television, Masters of Science Fiction, and recently finished filming the television comedy Snug as a Bug for DB digital TV.
In addition to her acting career, Shelley has taught for the Shadbolt Centre, Learning Through the Arts and various schools throughout Metro Vancouver. She also developed CineKids, a 10-week film production program. CineKids films have been shown at film festivals across Canada including the Halifax Children’s Film Festival and Vancouver’s Cineworks.
Linda Vespalec
Linda Vespalec received her LTCL Licentiate Teachers Diploma – Trinity College of London in 1995. Her extensive teaching experience includes teaching workshops and classes for Tarlington Talent, Vancouver Youth Theatre and The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa. Linda is currently teaching Speech & Drama at The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. She feels that her experiences gleaned from her years in Canada and South Africa not only reinforced her love of theatre, but also revealed to her that her heart and passion lives in teaching.
Sharon Heath
Sharon’s teaching began directly after graduation from The National Theatre School of Canada in 1987 and has continued ever since. She teaches from a trained theatre and improvisational background with the specialty of working with 7–12 year olds building and rehearsing short scripts for presentation. She has also taught stand-up comedy, clown, improvisation, Shakespeare text, scene and monologue study, acting for camera, auditioning, and directing. With 20 years of experience, she has an excellent balance of leadership and guidance that helps to maintain a confident and creative work space for both adults and children.
Sharon also takes pleasure in acting in film, television and theatre, as well as portraying various patients for Douglas College Nursing. Presently, she is writing The Kitchen Sink Musical, a jaunty play about a woman’s fear of life. And finally she is a very proud mother and stepmother to Logan, Teaka and Josh.
Laura Di Cicco
Laura is a professional actor, singer and producer. She is a graduate of UBC and has worked professionally in both Ontario and BC on stage, film, television and radio for over 20 years. Most recently, Laura is the Artistic and Managing Director of Fugue Theatre, a company dedicated to the production of original Canadian musical works and operetta. As an instructor, Laura has taught both in Ontario and BC. Laura has been an instructor at the Shadbolt since 1998.
Darcey Johnson
Darcey has been a professional theatre artist since 1999 as well as a dedicated member of the sketch comedy troupe Assaulted Fish since 2005. Before being "caught in the net" of Vancouver's premier sketch troupe, he ran his own theatre company and toured as a performer and manager all over North America. Darcey continues writing, performing and building a popular teaching practice at Arts Umbrella and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
Ruth McIntosh
As a professional actor for over 20 years, Ruth has taken contracts across Canada between Victoria and Toronto in regional and small scale theatre companies, as well as theatre for young audiences. She has performed with numerous Vancouver companies including the Vancouver Playhouse, Arts Club Theatre, Sea Theatre, Rumble Productions, and Green Thumb Theatre. A drama instructor at the Shadbolt Centre since 2001, Ruth loves the fact that training in the craft of acting never stops — we can keep learning even after years of performance — there's so much to discover!
Jeremy van den Driesen
Since the early ’90s Jeremy has pursued an acting career both in Film & TV and stage. Having competed in many speech & drama competitions, he then turned his attention to teaching what he learned through the years, and continues to learn as a working actor. In 1992 he was awarded the Jean Campbell Trophy for the performer with the highest score in the Speech & Drama category of the Coquitlam District Music Festival. Having also received a distinction in the Performance Certificate of Trinity/Guildhall's programme of examinations, Jeremy continues to teach and has found it very rewarding and enjoyable teaching children at Shadbolt.
Paul Moniz de Sa
Apart from teaching, Paul has worked as an actor and sound designer/composer in theatres across North America. He has received two Jessie Richardson Awards for his performances in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe for Pacific Theatre and The Overcoat at The Vancouver Playhouse. He received a nomination for his sound design of One in a Million for Green Thumb Theatre. Paul is a graduate of Studio 58. His teaching experience includes a variety of classes at Douglas College, Bard on The Beach, Learning Through the Arts, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, and Arts Umbrella. Paul is currently on leave from the Shadbolt celebrating the arrival of his new son.
Melanie Yeats
Melanie is a theatre actor, director and designer; as well as a film actor. She has worked with theatre companies such as boca del lupo, Pi Theatre, Rumble Theatre and Proximity Arts, among others. She has appeared in television series such as Godiva's and Saved and in various feature and independant films, as well as in several television commercials. Melanie is a graduate of the Theatre Performance program at Simon Fraser University and enjoys teaching at all age and experience levels, both at the Shadbolt Centre and in after-school programs throughout the City of Burnaby.
“My classes are filled with a fascinating cross section of adult students, but I gain much delight from seeing (and hearing!) the enthusiastic children’s classes cranking out their pottery pieces on Saturday mornings.”
- Ralph
