Madeleine Brown

Madeleine Brown is a playwright and actor from Peterborough, Ontario now based in Toronto. Her last three comedies debuted at the Toronto Fringe Festival including a sold-out run of Patron’s Pick Winner, Everyone Wants A T-Shirt!. She has previously received NOW Magazine Awards for Outstanding Ensemble and Individual Performance and was an inaugural Nightwood Theatre Young Innovator. She is a graduate of UTM/Sheridan College as a Loran Scholar and Second City’s Conservatory program. Madeleine volunteers with L’Arche Toronto and plays the euphonium with the Swansea Community Concert Band.

April Leung

April Siutong Leung 梁筱彤is a performer and playwright raised in Hong Kong, now based in Toronto. Her current work tends to examine what it means to be Chinese-Canadian, the sociopolitical aspects of Hong Kong, technology, as well as food. In addition to Inside the Claypot Rice, she is working with Mammalian Diving Reflex to develop (a) round table, a show based on inter-generational cooking and the passing of recipes. April was also selected by Cahoots Theatre as one of their thirty theatre-makers who will shape the next thirty years in Canadian theatre. www.aprilleung.com

2019/2020 Award Runner Ups:  Polly Phokeev, Zahida Rahemtulla, Sepehr Reybod (see release for bios)