Bios:
Matt Damon
Emily Smythe moved to Nanaimo in 2007 to begin a BA in creative writing at Vancouver Island University. As a theatre minor she has been involved in several VIU productions, as well as participating in the 2008 Chilliwack Director's Festival. Last year she played Lady Macbeth in VIU's production of Macbeth, and this year she is very excited to be playing Matt Damon in Western Edge's production of Matt and Ben.
As well a working as the student coordinator for the Poets on Campus reading series, Emily also sings and plays guitar in the two person band Fragments.
Ben Affleck
Carolyn Westberg has been a student in the Vancouver Island University theatre department since 2004. She also has a Makeup Artistry Diploma from the Blanche Macdonald Academy. Carolyn has a love for all kinds of theatre -- especially comedy. Her goal is to go back to the Yukon to be a drama teacher and explore her interest in makeup, acting, directing, and scriptwriting.
Director
Eliza Gardiner completed her B.F.A in Film at York University in 1998. After traveling to Spain, taking courses in Film and Theatre at UCLA and Classics at Laurentian University, she embarked on her post-graduate studies in drama at the University of Toronto. M.A. in hand, Eliza moved to British Columbia in 1995 and began directing plays for young performers. She ran her own touring theatre company, Earth Muffin Productions, from 1997 until 2005. This summer, Eliza directed her version of Shakespeare's The Tempest in Nelson, Castlegar, and at MacKenzie Camp.
A lover of ancient Greek tragedy and comedy, Eliza currently teaches first year theatre history at Vancouver Island University, where she wrote and directed Oresteia. Eliza has also performed in and directed The Vagina Monologues, and her team won the 2005 Blue Peanut Productions' 24-Hour Playwriting Competition. Other directing credits include Aesop's Fables: A Moral Comedy for Red Room Studio, and, at Western Edge, Shakespeare's Will and Dreamland Saturday Nights.
