Emily is a founding member and the Artistic Executive Director of Bygone Theatre. She has been a producer on all of Bygone's shows, and has designed and directed the majority of their productions. She heads Bygone's marketing and outreach program, as well as taking the lead on most fundraising initiatives. Emily moved to Toronto in 2008 to earn her Honours Bachelor Degree in English, Cinema Studies & Drama from the University of Toronto. Since then, she has worked as a producer, director, stage manager and designer with numerous Toronto theatre companies. Emily has worked as Assistant Producer at Tarragon Theatre, Producer for Theatre 20, and at Crow's Theatre as their AXTP Producer. She founded the Toronto Independent Theatre Coalition (TITC), in 2019. Emily was awarded the 2019 Broadway World Toronto award for Best Direction for her work on Bygone's production of The Rear Window (a production that received 11 nominations and 4 wins). In addition to her work in theatre, Emily has worked in film and tv, is a freelance photographer, vintage lover and avid collector, and recently took the Accelerated Paralegal Program (PLEA) at Seneca College. See her portfolio at emilydix.com.

Since moving to Toronto from Alberta four years ago, Conor has worked consistently in film, television, and theatre production. With extensive experience with feature films, documentary, television, stage, and commercial production, Conor is a leader in arts management. The feature film, Road To The Lemon Grove, on which he was an Assistant Producer, is currently in the festival circuit and has won 3 awards. Being involved in development, production, and sales has given him a rounded view of the creative industry and he brings this extensive business experience to Bygone Theatre. Conor is currently pursuing a joint MBA/law degree at York University with a focus on Arts, Media, and Entertainment.

Mark’s theatre background goes back to the 1970s when he performed on stage in several high school productions throughout Toronto. In the 1980s he bought Toronto’s Bayview Playhouse theatre saving it from demolition. After an extensive restoration, Mark produced live theatre there until 1993.

Mark’s theatre productions outside Canada include a five-year run of The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: An Evening with Charles Dickens in London’s West End. He co-wrote the one-man show with venerable London stage actor, Robert Russell. Mark also produced Canada’s first Broadway production of a Fringe play, Caged, at New York’s Astor Place Theatre in the early 1990s. The production received rave reviews from New York’s demanding theatre critics and received a special citation from then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney for its pioneering achievement.

Today, Mark has turned his sights on playwriting having written the dark comedy Interview with a Demon in 2015. The play premiered at Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre and opened to unanimous positive reviews. Mark is pleased to be part of the Bygone Theatre Company.

Elizabeth Rose Morriss has degrees in Music Theatre (Acadia University) and Education (Nipissing University). A frequent performer in Bygone Theatre’s Retro Radio Hours, Elizabeth has appeared in their mainstage shows as Mrs. Thorwald in The Rear Window, Gertrude in His Girl Friday, Miss Kentley in Rope, and as a singer in their Vaudeville Revue. Other recent theatre roles include Josephine Strong (Urinetown, We Are Here Productions), Emma (Tell Me On a Sunday, Civic Light Opera Company), and Olive Redmond (Harvest Moon Rising, Women of Musical Theatre Festival). A dedicated “Fringer,” Elizabeth has appeared in seven Toronto Fringe Festival productions—most recently Back and Forth: in Concert in 2020’s online Fringe Festival. On film, Elizabeth played the Mother in A Single Bound (2018 Toronto Short Film Festival) and appears in the webseries Here’s Ginger. In the world of audio fiction podcasts, she plays a raccoon in The Familiar (Episode 2: Tailless), appears in The Heap: Mount Oblivion (Episode 1), and performs in episode 4 of Streams & Variations. 

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Keep up with Elizabeth online! Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok @lizrosemorriss; Facebook, Youtube.

Vinay Sagar has been moonlighting as an improviser for over 3 years and recently graduated from the Second City Conservatory Program (Guardians of the Fallacy). He regularly performs improv with his troupes, Napoleon Ice Cream and Hot Doggies and has performed in various shows like the $15 Beer Beer show, Bedpost and Rapp Battlez. He also performed at the Baltimore Improv Festival and the Palm Beach Improv Festival with Hot Doggies. During the day, Vinay works as a marketing analyst and also has a degree in engineering from the University of Waterloo (Nanotechnology Engineering).

Charles is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and producer. He founded PATIO Interactive in 2104, a design agency focused on leveraging disruptive technology. In 2021, the agency was acquired, and by 2023, Charles had fully exited. Since then, he's delved into various entrepreneurial ventures.

Charlie is passionate about human experiences, particularly those blending cool tech and humour. He believes responsible tech use can enhance our world, creating immersive experiences and cutting-edge tools. He's also a board member at Cognitv, a VR therapy startup aiding trauma recovery.

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In his free time, Charlie enjoys kite surfing, playing ultimate frisbee, and is a two-time national champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

BIO: Shreya Patel is a multifaceted individual, who has made a significant impact in the worlds of entertainment, activism, and mental health advocacy.

Model-turned-actress, filmmaker and mental health advocate, Patel is the honoree of Top 100 Most Powerful Women of Canada, Forbes 30 Under 30, Women's Achiever Award, Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award and Emerging Leader Under 35. Patel has been acknowledged for her efforts in advancing equity in her community, with an honorable mention from the City of Toronto. She was also listed among DissDash's "Top 50 Coolest South Asians of 2021" alongside notable figures such as Priyanka Chopra, Kamala Harris, and Hasan Minaj.

She has also graced the pages of fashion magazines like Vogue and Grazia. As an actress, she has brought raw emotion and depth to her roles in films like Strangers In A Room, Vivid, and The Intersection, which explore themes of mental health.

Patel's debut documentary, ‘Girl Up’, is an unflinching look at the reality of domestic human trafficking and was partnered with the Toronto International Film Festival and the Civic Action Summit. Her music video directorial debut, Freedom Dance, which featured famous personalities from 7 countries, has over 1.2 million views on YouTube.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, she rallied 66 countries to come together for Unity- #LOVESPREADS Faster Than Virus, a documentary that showcases the plight of the human spirit, which was the closing film at the Munich Film Festival.

As one of the faces of the Canadian Screen Award-winning national mental health awareness campaign “Bell Let’s Talk”, Patel is committed to raising visibility and breaking the silence around mental illness and support.

Currently, she is working on a comedy series, Layla is Relevant and writing a film about trafficking while also producing various projects under her company, Window Dreams Productions.

Matt McGrath is a Writer and Actor from Toronto. He has appeared in Bygone Theatre and Hart House Theatre productions and performed in the Toronto Fringe Festival on two occasions. He has written short comics for anthology publications, such as Strange Romance, A Soul Divided/Caged in Flesh, and Called into Being: A Celebration of Frankenstein. He lives in Toronto with his partner, their son and daughter and their dog and two cats.