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Faculty & Contact

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Below is a list of faculty that are active in the department, and available to students with course specific questions. If you need administrative support, we encourage you to refer your questions to one of the following;

  • The Chair of the department can address detailed program questions, including program requirements, planning and selection, research opportunities, graduate studies, and more.
  • The Academic Advisor, if available, can offer support including course registration and course load, important dates, academic policies and more.
  • The Academic Deans serve as the academic and administrative anchors to the professors within their Faculties or Schools as well as the students.

Faculty of Drama

Contact Information is found in the BU Directory

Dr. Taylor Marie Graham

Assistant Professor

Education / Degrees

  • Doctorate in Philosophy, Literature & Theatre Studies in English, University of Guelph.
  • Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing, University of Guelph.
  • Honours Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Studies, York University.

Dr. Taylor Marie Graham is an award-winning playwright, director, theatre scholar, and educator. She is the author of ten professionally produced plays and operas. Both her creative and academic work often explores feminist, rural Canadian, decolonial, and environmental themes. In her eighteen years of working as a professional theatre artist, Taylor has garnered considerable critical praise for consistently walking the line between social commentary and entertainment in her work. She loves helping students discover and work towards both creative and academic goals in her classroom and beyond. Her 2024 play anthology Cottage Radio & Other Plays was published by Talonbooks.

Taylor’s plays are often invested in the beautifully complicated people who live in rural Canada, particularly its strong, hilarious rural women —with complex histories and relationships to the land. For example, her play Cottage Radio is inspired by the true events of the 2011 Goderich, Ontario, tornado; White Wedding is a site responsive indie comedy about nostalgia at a small town wedding; Post Alice features four rural women around a campfire reckoning with their complex pasts, and Corporate Finch is a feminist teen thriller set in a rundown rural factory. As Read Local BC explains, Taylor’s 2024 play collection Cottage Radio & Other Plays “enlists a cast of wild, strong rural women . . . Themes of community, loss and togetherness permeate each of these stories, reminding readers that each other is all we have.”

Taylor’s operas are bold, fantastical, inclusive, and emphasize the magic of song. Frog Song, for example, is a “charming, sweet, funny and thoughtful” (Slotkin) children’s opera co-written with celebrated composer William Rowson. Featuring two Canadian pre-teens named Navdeep and Wyatt, Frog Song is about facing your inner fears and discovering your inner song.

Critics describe Taylor’s plays and operas as “charmingly twisted” (Toronto Star), “arresting and funny” (Slotkin), “uncommonly cool” (Mooney on Theatre), “powerful, and courageous,” (OnStage), “meaningful for all ages” (Intermission), “darkly evocative” (Istvan Reviews), “psychological, theological, and ornithological” (Our Theatre Voice), “as moving as it is scary” (My Entertainment World), and “profound, beautifully crafted” (StageDoor). For her writing, Taylor has received playwright commissions from Here For Now Theatre and Matchstick Theatre, an International Playwright-in-Residence appointment at the Lyth Arts Centre in Scotland, the York University George Ryga Award, a Waterloo Regional Arts Award, a Dora Award nomination, as well as multiple regional, provincial, and federal grants.

As a director, Taylor’s projects span a number of styles including site specific work, theatre for young audiences, contemporary Canadian drama, collective creation, dance driven work, horror, digital theatre, one-person performance, and even a late night comedy tv show. Throughout these varied experiences, Taylor always likes to get creative with the possibilities of the theatre space to drive audience engagement, social commentary, and performer creativity.

Her Ph.D. research was focused on the Blyth Festival Theatre found in Huron County and its relationship to questions of nationhood, identity, decolonization, community engagement, and legacy. Taylor has presented her research at a number of conferences including the International Federation for Theatre Research Conference, the Canadian Association for Theatre Research Conference, and the International Conference on the Short Story in English. You can find her articles in Canadian Theatre Review, Intermission Magazine, Routledge’s Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, The Conversation, Theatre Research in Canada, Guernica Editions, as well as Canadian Literature. For her scholarly work, Taylor has received the Connie Rooke Scholarship, the Carole Steward Arts Graduate Scholarship, the Graduate Entrance Excellence Scholarship, the College of Arts Graduate Scholarship, the Board of Graduate Research Scholarship, and the Ontario Government Scholarship. The Canadian Association for Theatre Research also awarded Taylor a Salter Grant, a Research Grant, and shortlisted her work for the Lawrence Prize.

Taylor Marie Graham is a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, the Writers Union of Canada, and the Canadian Association for Theatre Research.

Research Interests

  • Playwrighting and New Play Dramaturgy
  • Canadian Theatre History and Historiography
  • Feminism, Gender, and Queer Theory
  • Directing for Theatre 
  • Decolonial, Postcolonial, & Anti-racist Drama 
  • Environmental Stewardship in Theatre and Performance

Publications List

Graham, Taylor Marie. “The Hermits of Huron County,” How it Works: The Uniqueness of the Short Story. Lee & Penn Publishing. Editors: Maurice Lee & Aaron Penn,June 2025.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Performing Munro in Huron County,” Thank You for Visiting: Alice Munro: Essays on Her Works III. Editor: J.R. (Tim) Struthers. Guernica Editions. 1 May 2025. pp. 91-107.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Wilberforce at Blyth: Performing Blackface and Black Lives.” Theatre Research in Canada, vol. 45, no. 2, November 2024, pp. 232–250, doi:10.3138/tric-2023-0024.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Corporate Finch,” Human Voices Wake Us. Rosegarden. 21 Oct 2024.

Graham, Taylor Marie. Cottage Radio & Other Plays: Cottage Radio, White Wedding, & Post Alice. Talonbooks. 9 July 2024.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Alice Munro wrote a 1970s play in southwestern Ontario — and continues to inspire regional theatre,” The Conversation. 5 June 2024. 

Graham, Taylor Marie. “REVIEW: In One Step At A Time, Andrew Prashad unpacks disability through tap dance” Intermission Magazine., 19 April 2024.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Beautifully Broken Buffoon.” Canadian Literature, no. 256, Pacific Affairs. University of British Columbia, 2024, pp. 163–64.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “REVIEW: You’d have to be a grinch not to like Lighthouse Festival’s Jack and the Beanstalk” Intermission Magazine., 14 Dec 2023. 

Graham, Taylor Marie. “REVIEW: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Grand Theatre exudes whimsy and warmth,” Intermission Magazine. 9 Dec 2023. 

Graham, Taylor Marie. “REVIEW: Kim’s Convenience starring Ins Choi skilfully sews together the past and present” Intermission Magazine. 25 October 2023.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Canadian in Caithness.” Canadian Theatre Review, University of Toronto Press. vol. 195, no. 1, 2023, pp. 83–85, doi:10.3138/ctr.195.016.

Graham, Taylor Marie. Chartrand, Terre, and Annis, Heather Marie., “Post Alice in Conversation,” Oral History Performance, Listening and Transitional Justice, Editors: Luis Carlos Sotelo-Castro and Toni Shapiro-Phim, Research in Drama Education, The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, Routledge. vol. 28, no. 1, January 2023, pp. 92–105, doi:10.1080/13569783.2023.2168187.

Graham, Taylor Marie. and Western University undergraduate students, “Grand Ghosts at the Grand Theatre,” Intermission Magazine. Editor: Aisling Murphy. 3 November 2022.

Graham, Taylor Marie. and Kates, Beth. “Writer-Designer Intersections at MODULE Digital Alchemy Creation Lab: A Conversation Between Taylor Marie Graham and Beth Kates.” Canadian Theatre Review, University of Toronto Press. Editors: Kimberley McLeod and Edward Whittall, vol. 189, 26 January 2022, pp. 76–79. doi:10.3138/ctr.189.01

Graham, Taylor Marie. “The Art of Not Picking a Lane,” Intermission Magazine, Editor: Aisling Murphy. 14 September 2021. 

Graham, Taylor Marie. Lost Girls, Sad Girl Diaries. 28 September 2021.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Farm Stories Hit the Stage,” Better Farming Magazine. June/July 2019 Issue, Rural Roots Section, p 19. 

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Intersections: Reflections on Teaching and Writing,” Alchemy, Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Sheridan College, 5 December 2015. 

Graham, Taylor Marie., “Up Linda’s Stairs,” Napkin Stories. Tiny Owl Workshop. 20 October 2013.

Graham, Taylor Marie. “Trying to Get Your Work Noticed,” Women’s Caucus Newsletter, Playwrights Guild of Canada. 2012.

Graham, Taylor Marie., Canadian Musical/Opera Guidelines & Research Report 2011, Playwrights Guild of Canada, Funded by Access Copyright.


Dr. Rebecca Harries

Full Professor

Full Professor, PhD, Current Chair of the Department and Chair from 2009-2013, she is currently a member of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research and a negotiator and grievance officer for the Union, she has been committed to integrating the study and practice of performance with real-world challenges.

In the last year, she led a Praxis based session on the topic of boundaries and dual relationships in the professional setting. Training with Mixed Company (in Toronto this summer) and Augusto Boal (back in the 1990s) has informed a workshop, which has been given at both Bishop’s and Champlain College, receiving excellent feedback.

In the summer of 2018, she organized and led 13 students to perform Québec playwright Evelyne de la Chénelière’s Feet of the Angels at the International Fringe Festival of Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, a project, which was shortlisted for a Forces Avenir grant. Other favorite productions in recent years include Jordan Tannahill’s Concord Floral, Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation and George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer.

She has developed new courses for Drama including the popular second-year thematic courses Ritual and Theatre, Theatre and the State. She has conference papers and publications on a wide range of topics, including “Technostalgia”, cinematic vampires (a guest lecture this year) and stolen theatre posters “A Skull with Wings” published by the Performing Arts Journal, as well as an upcoming review in Theatre Journal.

She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto on the Grotesque in German Expressionism in 2000. While at U. of T. she co-founded the Festival of Original Theatre (F.0.0.T) a conference that combines more conventional academic approaches with arts installations and theatrical performances.

Mary Harvey

Contract Faculty

Over the past three decades Mary has acted, directed and written for the stage in Europe, USA and across Canada. Originally from the UK, she got her Masters from Cambridge University & Diploma with distinction from the Central School of Speech & Drama in London. In the UK she worked with the likes of Sam Mendes, Tom Hollander and Lee Hall, performing at Edinburgh and Avignon festivals among others. In Quebec she has worked at Centaur Theatre, Geordie theatre, The Segal Centre, ASM, Theatre Lac Brome and Hudson’s Village Theatre.

Recent performances include a reverse gendered Private Lives at Hudson’s Village Theatre; Mouth to Mouth in Montreal and London UK; Shakespeare’s Will at the Willow Globe UK, a new adaption of Pygmalion at Theatre Lac Brome; Her Home by Harry Standjofski at the Monument National.

Voice credits include Deus Ex (Human Revolution), Assassins Creed (III, Black flag, Unity, Syndicate). Recent Film and TV include: Being Human, 19-2, Mohawk Girls, Canadian Detective, the Arrival.

Candace Herring

Contract Faculty

Candace Warner Herring received her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and has been designing and constructing costumes for 40 years. Prior to teaching and working at Bishop’s University, she has designed, draped, patterned and stitched costumes for:  the Muppets, Off-Off Broadway in New York, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Florida’s Annie Russell Summer Theater, The University of Illinois, Champlain Regional College and others.

Her experiences at Bishop’s have been a wonderful blend of creativity and collaboration with both colleagues and students. Working with a talented team, she has had a chance to explore new design ideas, construction techniques and artistic materials. She has found great pleasure in introducing students to the principals of design. This influences not only their work on stage, but the way they interact in the world, as well.

Bringing technical support to the Bishop’s University Drama Department is a pleasure.

Bruce Lambie

Technical Director

Education/Degrees: B.A. Drama (Bishops), Cert. Production (National Theatre School of Canada)

Bruce Lambie is the Technical Director of the Bishop’s University Drama Department, and teaches technical theatre courses in Drama, including Introduction to Technical Theatre, lighting design, stage management, and technical production. In addition to his work at Bishop’s, he has production designed at many theatres and festivals across the country, notably at the Gros Morne Theatre Festival in Cow Head NL, at Centaur Theatre, MainLine Theatre, and Hudson Village Theatre in and around Montreal, and at the 2015 World Science Fiction convention in Spokane WA. Bruce is also a member of the CITT Education Commission and was the Technical Director of MainLine Theatre for 5 years. Outside Bishop’s, Bruce has also taught in the Dawson College Professional Theatre Program and has helped set up literally hundreds of shows on many stages, venues, and found spaces. He is a proud graduate of Bishop’s University and of the National Theatre School of Canada.

Before coming to Bishop’s to take up the mantle of Technical Director from his former teacher and mentor, Michael Medland, Bruce has had a nearly 20-year career in Canadian theatre, based out of Montreal,Qc. 

He has stage managed for many companies, including for The Sighlence of Skye with Infinitheatre (winner METAs 2022, Best Independent Production), Geordie Productions, Tableau D’Hote Theatre, and for the Dawson College Professional Theatre Program. At the National Theatre School, Bruce was able to train in Stage Management with Melanie St-Jacques, Maggie Palmer, and Kira Maros, and was privileged to stage manage for both Djanet Sears and Andrea Donaldson

Bruce has directed a number of shows, notably Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark at Bishop’s University, which he directed in his graduating year, touring to Stanstead College, Bishop’s College School, and Montreal, and which was the winner of the 2007 Rights and Democracy Network Award of Recognition. Some of his other favorite directing credits include Afternoon Tea With Jane Austen at the 2010 Montreal and Toronto Fringe Festivals, Star Trek Discovery at the 2016 Montreal Fringe (winner of the Frankie award for “Best Visual Identity”), and Red Paper at the 2023 Montreal Fringe. 

In 2015, shortly after his convocation from the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada, Bruce collaborated with a number of other artists from around Canada and the world to dramaturg and direct a stage adaptation of Canadian SF legend Spider Robinson’s short story “God is an Iron”. This play, which delved into questions surrounding addiction, mental health and suicide, entailed research into modern psychiatric treatment methods, as well as the details of the now-infamous MKULTRA program based out of McGill University in the mid-2oth Century. The play God is an Iron, which received a TEC Program grant from the National Theatre School of Canada, toured to the 2015 “Sasquan” World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane WA, where it was presented to over 300 fans, and the author himself (who attended virtually). It has since been produced in Montreal at MainLine Theatre, and was presented in 2017 at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

Bruce has also been an actor, a video designer, a playwright, and a clown.

Wade Lynch

Wade Lynch

Contract Faculty

Wade Lynch teaches and directs in the drama, musical theatre, and arts administrations program. He has a 40+ year history as a performer, writer, and director in Canadian theatre, as well as experience in broadcasting and teaching. In addition to his many directing projects in commercial theatre, Wade has directed several plays at Bishop’s, is the co-host of the popular arts and culture program, TEATIME AT UPLANDS on MA-TV and manages the Bishop’s University Lifelong Learning Academy (BULLA).

Michael Medland

Contract Faculty

Courses: Intro to Technical Theatre, Intermediate Technical Theatre Lighting Design

Michael Medland has been an invaluable part of Bishop’s University for over twenty years, acting as both technical director for Bishop’s Drama since 1988 and Centennial Theatre since 1994. He studied under his predecessor and later colleague, Dr. Ian Gaskell. Mr. Medland was also Technical Director for the Piggery Theatre from 1989-1997. He has been lighting shows since 1986, including countless designs for Bishop’s Drama and several for the Piggery and the Townships theatre company. Directors with whom he has worked include Ann Hodges, Perry Schneiderman, Greg Tuck, George Rideout, Doug Beatty, Andreas Aspergis and Corey Castle. His recent designs include Julius Caesar, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Indian Blood, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (for the third time!). Michael Medland is the designer of the set and lighting for the 2011 spring musical, Beach Blanket Zombies.

George Rideout

Retired Professor

Winner of several regional and national playwriting awards, George Rideout’s plays have been produced across Canada, he is also the winner of the Bishop’s Nancy Turner teaching award, winner of the Sherbrooke Mérite Estrien award, winner of the City of Sherbrooke award for outstanding achievements in education, winner of the City of Sherbrooke award for outstanding achievements in arts & culture. His playwriting class is the source of work for the annual New Plays Festival, which presents one-act plays written by Bishop’s students.

He is the author of over twenty plays, including Michel & ti-Jean*, An Anglophone is Coming to Dinner, The Tall Girl, Texas Boy, Dead Together, Texas Werewolf, and Columbia Days. He is the co-founder, along with professors Jamie Crooks and Fannie Gaudette, of the spring course in Musical Theatre; past productions include his adaptations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, 12th Night, Hamlet, and The Comedy of Errors. He also adapted Cinderella for the stage, which was produced in Centennial Theatre and featured a small symphony orchestra of 14 musicians.

*Michel & ti-Jean, which presents a fictional encounter between beat writer, Jack Kerouac, and Québecois literary icon, Michel Tremblay, has been produced by the Centaur Theatre in Montreal, Theatre Network in Edmonton, and Sage Theatre in Calgary. It was published by Talonbooks in 2014.

In 2016 he directed Coma Unplugged, by Québec playwright Pierre Michel Tremblay. The play was performed in French and English on alternating nights, with the same cast performing in both languages. In 2018, he wrote and directed a musical adaptation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer which was presented in Centennial Theatre.