What You Won’t Do for Love

Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist and Emeritus Professor of Genetics at the University of British Columbia. Through radio, television (The Nature of Things) and 56 books, he has communicated humanity’s collective impact on the natural world, an impact that now threatens the future of human life. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada, and has received UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for Science, the Right Livelihood Award, the Global 500 and 33 honorary degrees from Canada, the U.S. and Australia. Dr. Suzuki has been honoured with adoption and names from eight Indigenous First Nations in Canada and Australia.

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An award-winning writer, Tara Cullis has been a key player in environmental movements in the Amazon, Southeast Asia, Japan and British Columbia. Dr. Cullis earned her PhD in Comparative Literature, her thesis defining the rupture between science and society characteristic of Twentieth Century German, French and English Literature. On graduation she joined the faculty of Harvard University, teaching non-fiction writing. After five years she resigned to co-found, with David Suzuki, the David Suzuki Foundation “to collaborate with Canadians from all walks of life, to conserve our environment, and to find solutions that will create a sustainable Canada through science-based research, education and policy work.” Tara founded or co-founded nine other organizations before The David Suzuki Foundation. She was also a founder of the Turning Point Initiative, now known as the Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative, which brought First Nations of British Columbia’s central and northern coasts into an historic alliance, protecting the ecology of the region known as the Great Bear Rainforest. Tara has been adopted and named by the Haida, Gitga’at, Heiltsuk and Nam’gis First Nations.

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Ravi Jain, Co-Artistic Director of the Toronto-based international company Why Not Theatre, is a highly acclaimed theatremaker known for creating politically bold, accessible, and thought-provoking theatrical experiences that are changing the face of Canadian theatre. A visionary artistic director, versatile director, astute producer and playful actor, he has spent his career reimagining what theatre can be, impacting the lives of both audiences and artists alike. With Why Not Theatre, Ravi has created over forty collaborations and performed over five continents. His work tours for many years after it is made, and has been presented across Canada and internationally at major festivals. His recent adaptation of The Mahabharata premiered at the Shaw Festival and toured to sell out the Barbican Theatre in London and the Lincoln Centre in New York. Ravi is a four-time-finalist for the Siminovitch Prize, he was awarded the 2012 Pauline McGibbon Award for Emerging Director, the 2016 Canada Council John Hirsch Prize for direction and the 2022 Johanna Metcalf Foundation Performing Arts Prize. He is a graduate of Ecole Jacques Lecoq in France.

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Miriam Fernandes is the Co-Artistic Director of the Toronto-based international company Why Not Theatre, and has worked as an actor, director and theatre-maker around the world. She is the co-creator/associate director for Mahabharata (Why Not Theatre/Shaw Festival/Barbican Centre) and the co-creator/associate director of What You Won’t Do for Love with Dr. David Suzuki and Tara Cullis. She is currently in development for a number of new works including a new adaptation of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian. Directing credits include Sangen fra Verdens Ende (The National Stage, Bergen, Norway), The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs (Stratford Festival Meighan Forum), Metamorphoses (The Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies at the University of Toronto), Hayavadana (Soulpepper Theatre), Nesen (MiniMidiMaxi Festival, Norway) and The First Time I Saw the Sea (YVA Company, Norway). She is a graduate of Ecole Jacques Lecoq (Paris), and has trained with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. Her plays have been turned into films, published and produced across Canada, the UK, Australia and Norway.

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Sturla Alvsvåg is an actor and theatre-maker from Bergen, Norway. A graduate of Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, Sturla has created and performed with companies from across Australia, France, Norway and Canada. Select works include: Il Turco In Italia (Bergen National Opera), Wendy and Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet, Jul I Svingen and Shockheaded Peter (The National Theatre of Norway). As a creator, he’s been making theatre and acting in The Nose (MiniMidiMaxi Festival); The Song From the End of the World (The National Stage); and Lady M (1S1), Rosmersholm (Crow’s Theatre), Prince Hamlet and What You Won’t Do for Love (Why Not Theatre) in Canada.

Committed to storytelling that bridges borders and nurtures a more empathetic global culture, Michelle Mohammed is a Toronto-based artist working both nationally and internationally as an actor, director and arts leader. Recent acting stage work includes Trident Moon (Crow’s Theatre/NAC), Yerma (Coal Mine Theatre), A Poem for Rabia (Tarragon Theatre) and directing workshops for The Dumb Waiter, Man-Man, and Machinal. Internationally, she joined Theatertreffen’s International Forum (Berlin, Germany 2025), a prestigious residency for the world’s most exciting emerging theatre-makers, and worked with Katie Mitchell at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (London, UK 2024). Her screen credits include Murdoch Mysteries, The Handmaid’s Tale, Ruby and the Well, and the 2025 Disney+ feature A Very Jonas Christmas.

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André du Toit is a Toronto-based lighting designer for live performance based in Toronto, however, his designs have been seen across Canada and beyond. He has production and/or stage managed for Why Not Theatre tours including Brimful of Asha, Prince Hamlet, and SPENT around Canada, the US, UK, and Australia. He has received five Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Lighting Design. His recent designs include Public Consumoption, HONEY I’M HOME (Lester Trips); CHILD-ish (Tarragon Theatre); The Drawer Boy (Thousand Island Playhouse); Takwahiminana (Punctuate Theatre); Last Landscape, Italian Mime Suicide (Bad New Days); Fat Ham, Maanomaa, My Brother, Love and Information (Canadian Stage); Qalb: A Journey of the Ego, Lady M (1S1 Theatre); Three Sisters (Soulpepper); Universal Child Care, Now You See Her, Mouthpiece (Quote Unquote Collective); speaking of sneaking (Buddies in Bad Times); The Queen in Me (Canadian Opera Company, Nightwood Theatre, Theatre Gargantua) and Prince Hamlet and What You Won’t Do For Love (Why Not Theatre).

Meg Roe’s work as an actor, director, dramaturg, composer and sound designer has been seen across Canada at Crows Theatre, Shaw Festival, Theatre Calgary, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, PuSh Festival, Alberta Theatre Projects, Bard on the Beach, Theatre Junction, Citadel Theatre, Ruby Slippers Theatre, Electric Company Theatre, Blackbird Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Arts Club Theatre Company, The Belfry Theatre, Theatre SKAM, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Catalyst Theatre, RealWheels, Intrepid Theatre, Elbow Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, National Arts Centre, Centaur Theatre, The Banff Centre, Yukon Arts Centre, Why Not Theatre, Savage Society and internationally with the American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco), Center Theater Group (Los Angeles) and as a collaborator with Crystal Pite’s renowned dance company Kidd Pivot.

Crystal Lee is a Chinese-Canadian theatre practitioner originally from northern New Brunswick. She graduated from The National Theatre School in their Production, Design and Technical Arts program and has since worked at the National Arts Centre on their production and producing teams. Crystal broke into her independent career as a freelance Production Manager in Toronto where she received a Harold Award for her contributions to the community, and passion for mentorship. In her spare time, Crystal teaches Production Management at Sheridan College and sits on the national board for the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology chairing the IDEA committee and Communications & Advocacy committee. Crystal currently works full-time with Why Not Theatre as their Director of Production and Technical, leading many of their large-scale, international projects.

Kevin Matthew Wong is a theatre creator, producer, dramaturg and video artist. Kevin has also created, produced and toured projects across Canada and internationally at organizations like Barbican Centre (UK), National Arts Centre, Shaw Festival, and Lincoln Centre (USA). He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Broadleaf Creative, which creates live performance based on social justice and climate justice topics. His work The Chemical Valley Project is a multimedia solo performance about environmentalism and reconciliation, created in collaboration with Aamjiwnaang First Nation Water Protectors Vanessa Gray and Beze Gray, and co-creator Julia Howman. Kevin’s Dora award-winning Benevolence series of projects celebrates Hakka history in Canada.

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Nika Jalali is an Iranian-Canadian producer and multidisciplinary artist dedicated to amplifying Middle Eastern voices on international stages. Her work spans theatre and interdisciplinary collaborations, with projects presented across Canada and internationally in Australia, the USA, Italy, Scotland, the Czech Republic and Germany. She was the 2024 Metcalf Foundation Intern in Artistic Producing and most recently toured with Mahabharata by Why Not Theatre. Nika currently serves as the Associate Producer at the Toronto-based international company Why Not Theatre.