Our Staff
Simon Malbogat | Artistic Director
Simon Malbogat has been a key player in Canada’s popular theatre scene for over 25 years now. He has studied with the greatest contemporary popular theatre practitioners (Augusto Boal, Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba, Yoshi Oida) and blended Forum Theatre with the Sweet Medicine Teachings (SMT) of the Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society for an innovative theatre and teaching approach.
Simon has directed and acted in over 50 new Canadian works, many of which many are now seen as important benchmarks in the development of Canadian theatre. He has played key roles in numerous plays by the Chalmer’s award winner Rex Deverell; David Fennario’s On The Job, Nothing to Lose, Banana Boots which won the Montreal Gazette’s Best New Play and Joe Beef which won the Pauline Julienne Award; George Walker’s Criminals in Love; and Michael Glassbourg’s Bad Apples.
Simon has provided workshop creation, direction and facilitation for young people ages 14 to 18, resulting in over 40 theatre forums plays. Other youth group projects have involved the Community Initiative Project, Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club, the East End Community Health Centre, the Sears Drama Festival for Youth, the Social Planning Council of Peel and the Toronto West End Community. International workshops for youth have taken him to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Ukraine on three separate occasions.
Teaching credits include The University of Toronto, York University, Humber College, Queen’s and Brock University. In 1997 Simon created The Ripple Effect: 8th International Festival of the Theatre of the Oppressed which presented 450 artists from over 22 countries. He also produced The Open Stage Toronto Theatre Festival, The Canadian Popular Theatre Alliance Festival and From the Ground Up: The National Festival of Canadian Theatre.
Stevie Baker | General Manager
stevie@mixedcompanytheatre.com
Stevie Baker is a producer, director and costume designer based in Severn, Ontario. A prolific theatre creator and artist, she has been a part of innumerable productions in Toronto’s vibrant theatre community over the past 15 years.
Stevie has been the Head of Production at Dauntless City Theatre since its inception. Her work with Dauntless is rooted in queering, subverting and modernizing classics to better reflect the dynamic people of Ontario. She is proud to be the President of Mariposa Arts Theatre and serve as a director on the board for Arts Orillia both based in Orillia, Ontario.
Internationally she has worked with Kansas City’s MET and served as Artistic Director of The Daegu Theatre Troupe in Daegu, South Korea. She orchestrated the DTT’s first touring show and directed South Korea’s first English language production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Stevie centers queer joy, anti-racism and anti-poverty in her work, life and the raising of her two children. She is dedicated to anti-oppression and is a relentless seeker of collective liberation. Uplifting and empowering people and communities through theatre is truly the core of her artistic
practice.
Maranda Tippins | Project Manager
maranda@mixedcompanytheatre.com
Maranda graduated from York University in 2019 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre where she specialized in Devised Theatre and Playwriting. After graduating, she she completed a post-graduate certificate in Arts Administration and Cultural Management at Humber College. A highlight of her studies was co-creating with her classmates a public resource entitled “Let Me be Perfectly Queer: A Guide to 2SLGBTQ+ Inclusion in the Workplace for the Performing Arts.” Though her first passion is theatre, Maranda has worked in other artistic and cultural disciplines such as teaching children’s classes at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, and completing internships with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery and the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre.
Yirou Guo | Digital Administrative Assistant
With a Master’s degree in Digital Humanities from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor’s in Sociology from the Communication University of China, Yirou combines advanced analytical skills with a broad cultural understanding. Yirou’s engagement spans artistic and cultural realms, encompassing roles such as instructing children’s classes at Edmonton Public Libraries and volunteering at fringe festivals. Additionally, she has actively participated in various collaborative environments, undertaking internships at Pfizer and Volkswagen focused on digital administration and data management.