TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE EXPERIENCE THEATRE
Tom Rooney in Uncle Vanya at Crow’s Theatre. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
“Do you want to experience that play everyone’s been talking about, but don’t have time to organize tickets, pay for babysitting and navigate your way through traffic to get to the theatre?
Not to worry. Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley have your back.”
LAURA MULLIN
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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Laura Mullin is a published playwright and writer, a director, producer, and the Co-Artistic Director of the award-winning Expect Theatre. She is also the Co-Host and Producer of CBC’s PlayME Podcast, transforming plays into binge-able audio dramas. PlayME won Gold at the New York Festival Radio Awards and is a Webby Award Honoree.
Laura has worked in film, TV, radio, and theatre and has regularly contributed to CBC.ca. Her short story “History of Visual Sources” won the Open Book Short Story contest, and her play of the same name received an Honourable Mention for the National Voaden Playwright Prize. She recently wrote the seven-part original audio drama series Tunnel Runners, which she co-created with Chris Tolley and will be released in October 2024. It ranked in the top 10 fiction podcasts on Apple
Her work with Expect Theatre has been nominated for five Dora Awards in the General Category and shortlisted twice for the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. Notable works include Romeo/Juliet Remixed; The Tunnel Runners (originally a CBC Radio commission); STATIC (Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Festival); AWAKE (Next Stage Festival); Awake The Film (film festivals across North America and Europe); Rapid Eye Movement, Profile, Relay (Nuit Blanche); One Sleepless Night (International Festival of Authors); Burusera (national 21-city tour commissioned and produced by Watermark Theatre) which was developed into a pilot for CBC TV, and the CBC Kids series Mini Makeover.
CHRIS TOLLEY
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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Chris Tolley is the co-host and producer of CBC Radio’s PlayME, the show that turns Canada’s top theatre plays into bingeable audio dramas. PlayME won the Gold Medal for Audio Drama at the 2020 New York Festival's Radio Award.
He is also the President of the Playwright’s Guild of Canada, and has also run twice for Canadian Parliament on a strong arts-based platform.
Together with Laura Mullin, his work as a playwright and director has been produced in every province and territory, and recognized with multiple awards and nominations within Canada and the US. He is also the co-Artistic Director of EXPECT Theatre.
Working in partnership with Laura Mullin, his work has been nominated for five Dora Awards in the General Theatre category and has been shortlisted twice for the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. In 2006, both Laura and Chris won Harbourfront Centre's inaugural Fresh Ground commissioning award for the site-specific play STATIC.
Notable works for the duo include: Dora award-winning Romeo/Juliet REMIXED (Toronto and Philadelphia), STATIC (World Stage Festival), AWAKE (Next Stage Festival), the CBC Radio drama The Tunnel Runners, and the short film AWAKE which toured the festival circuit and was the official selection of festivals across North America and Europe. It was nominated for Best Social Drama at the New Renaissance Festival in Amsterdam. In 2017, Tolley and Mullin created and produced the TV series Mini Makeover for CBC Kids.
Chris Tolley est le co-animateur et producteur de PlayME sur CBC Radio, l'émission qui transforme les meilleures pièces de théâtre du Canada en drames audio captivants. PlayME a remporté la médaille d'or pour le meilleur drame audio aux Radio Awards de New York en 2020.
Il est également le président de la Guilde des dramaturges du Canada et s'est présenté deux fois aux élections au Parlement canadien avec une plateforme axée sur les arts.
En collaboration avec Laura Mullin, son travail en tant que dramaturge et réalisateur a été produit dans chaque province et territoire, et a été reconnu par de multiples récompenses et nominations au Canada et aux États-Unis. Il est également le co-directeur artistique d'EXPECT Theatre.
En partenariat avec Laura Mullin, leur travail a été nominé cinq fois aux prix Dora dans la catégorie du théâtre général et a été présélectionné deux fois pour les prix de la Fondation des Arts de Toronto. En 2006, Laura et Chris ont remporté le prix de commande Fresh Ground du Harbourfront Centre pour leur pièce statique.
Parmi les œuvres notables du duo, on peut citer: Romeo/Juliet REMIXED, lauréat du prix Dora (Toronto et Philadelphie), STATIC (Festival World Stage), AWAKE (Festival Next Stage), le drame radio de CBC The Tunnel Runners et le court métrage AWAKE qui a tourné dans les festivals et a été sélectionné officiellement dans des festivals en Amérique du Nord et en Europe. Il a été nominé pour le meilleur drame social au Festival de la Nouvelle Renaissance à Amsterdam. En 2017, Tolley et Mullin ont créé et produit la série télévisée Mini Makeover pour CBC Kids.
Welcome to your digital stage, where bold theatre meets cutting-edge audio drama. Each episode draws you into captivating stories brought to life by top actors, acclaimed writers, and cinematic sound design that places you at the centre of the action.
PlayME has dozens of productions, from daring, original audio dramas to groundbreaking plays. We offer an experience for people who love theatre and audio fiction. Whether you like dark, atmospheric thrillers, raw emotional drama, irreverent comedies, or theatre that pushes boundaries, our carefully curated collection has something to captivate every adventurous listener. Plus, enjoy in-depth interviews with playwrights, offering unique insights into their creative processes and the stories behind the plays.
PlayME, produced in partnership with CBC Podcasts, was created as part of Expect Theatre’s programming. Founded by Mullin and Tolley, Expect Theatre is an award winning, Toronto-based company dedicated to producing cutting edge, original, multi-disciplinary productions that explore modern urban life. PlayME has been recognized internationally as a 2016 Webby Award honoree and a 2020 New York Festivals Radio Gold Medallist.
Expect has been nominated for five Dora Awards in the General Theatre category, is a Dora winner for Outstanding Choreography, and has been shortlisted twice for the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. The company has been widely covered in the national media including CBC TV, CBC Radio, CTV, The Globe & Mail, and The Toronto Star.
Read more features about PlayME here:
