NITHY, ACE DETECTIVE to Play Toronto Fringe KidsFest This July

Opening July 7, as a part of the Toronto Kid's Fringe Festival, Jump Star will present Nithy, Ace Detective: a show that celebrates creativity, imagination and unexpected friendships, all while dealing with a profound loss in the family.

Nithy is on a roll. As writer of mysteries with an endless imagination and a special hat, she is going to take the literary world by storm. Well, some day. She is only a kid after all, and not very good at endings. Just when it seems like nothing can go wrong, everything does. A loss in the family sends her world crashing down, and Nithy is left with a puzzle she can't solve. With the help of a few well-meaning weirdos, Nithy learns that endings aren't the important bits. It's the stuff in between that counts.

Nithy, Ace Detective is written by wife-husband duo, Arlin Dixon and Matthew Gorman. Usually found in separate corners of the room, typing away on their computers with music blaring through their headphones, Arlin and Matt decided to look up from their individual projects, and collaborate. And you know what? It was pretty fun. The character of Nithy was inspired by a young girl they saw two summers ago whose confidence they have never forgotten.

IF YOU GO:

Nithy, Ace Detective
Created by Arlin Dixon & Matthew Gorman
Directed by Kate Keenan

July 7-15, 2017
At George Ignatieff Theatre | 15 Devonshire Place

Showtimes:
Fri., July 7 at 10:30 am
Sun., July 9 at 1:30 pm
Mon., July 10 at 3:00 pm
Wed., July 12 at 11:45 am
Thurs., July 13 at 1:15 pm
Fri., July 14 at 1:15 pm
Sat., July 15 at 4:45 pm

FEATURING:

Zena Driver as Nithy
Originally from Vancouver, Zena is happy to now call Toronto home. Past stage credits include: Mental the Musical (directed by Fiona Hogan), Into the Woods (directed by Peter Jorgensen) and Tina n' Tony's Wedding (directed by Tanja Dixon-Warren and Michael Fear). She also loves working in the animated voice-over world, where she gets to create the unique heart of each character through her voice. Zena is over-the-moon kind of excited to be making her Toronto Fringe Festival debut!

Kanika Ambrose as Sarah, Mrs. Hornschwaggler, Wendy and Justine
Kanika is a Toronto-based playwright and artist. Her short plays My Umm Hmm, Sleep Country, and Aprés, have been produced in Toronto festivals including the Paprika Festival and rock.paper.sistahz!. Her one-person play The Art of Traditional Head-tying, premiered at Crow's Theatre's East End Performance CRAWL and was part of Toronto Fringe 2014. She spent two seasons in Obsidian Theatre's Playwright's Unit and one in Cahoots Theatre's Hot House. She is a Dora Mavor Moore nominee for her role in Binti's Journey and was a part of the Dora nominated Outstanding Production Obeah Opera. Kanika is a graduate of Ryerson Theatre School: Acting and is founder of Dominican bélé dance group, Mabouya Dance Company. This year, she has been featured as one of Cahoots Theatre's 30 for 30 theatremakers.

Christopher Fowler as Sam, Ralph Bogosian and Gordon
Christopher is delighted to return to the Fringe, having previously appeared in Love's Labour's Lost (Shakespeare BASH'd) and Scheherazade (Nobody's Business Theatre/Next Stage Theatre Festival.) His other theatre credits include works with Humber River Shakespeare (As You Like It, Twelfth Night), Left Foot First Productions (In Pink), Crate Productions (The Fort at York), Theatre New Brunswick (Smokescreen; For Art's Sake; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), Classical Theatre Project (Romeo and Juliet, Othello) and Youth Theatre Station (director, Romeo and Juliet). You can tweet with Christopher after the show @christofow.

ABOUT THE CREATORS & PRODUCTION TEAM:

Arlin Dixon, Co-Creator
Arlin is an actor and playwright in Toronto. She studied at George Brown Theatre School and received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at York University. Her first play Eirlys and Eckhart was produced by Cart/Horse Theatre at Theatre Passe Muraille, and a workshop performance of her second play, B Side, was performed at the Halifax Fringe Festival. Arlin was short-listed for the Write from the Hip program with Nightwood Theatre.

Matthew Gorman, Co-Creator
Originally from Nova Scotia, Matthew has been living and working in Toronto for the last dozen years. His last play Western, a play with music, was featured at the 2017 Next Stage Festival. Other work includes Adventure!, Like A Dog, and Our Lady of the Sea. He has worked extensively as an actor and director, most recently touring the United States with Roseneath Theatre's The Incredible Speediness of Jamie Cavanaugh. Matthew was the artistic director of Cart/Horse Theatre for nine years.

Kate Keenan, Director
Kate has been creating theatre for kids for over 20 years. She started out by co-founding Shrimp Magnet Theatre Company - writing, producing, directing and performing in 6 original TYA shows on Centre Island, the Toronto Fringe and across the country. Then she wrote and performed across the continent in the live theatricals of TV shows such as Little Bear, Franklin and The Backyardigans. Somewhere in there, she was also lucky enough to be Turtle, the Therapeutic Clown at Sick Kids Hospital. The last show she directed, The Really Real Adventures of Scott Free & Will Do, which she also co-wrote, runs at Solar Stage all summer long. She's currently ? of the kid's rock band "The Space Chums" and a writer for children's television. Kate is delighted to be working with Jump Star to bring the brilliant Nithy, and her world, to life!

Stephanie Taylor, Stage Manager
Stephanie is a Toronto-based Stage Manager, just trying to make art and make rent at the same time. She studied Drama at the University of Windsor. Favourite stage management credits include: Dalton and Company (The Theatre Centre), Naked Ladies (Summerworks Performance Festival), The Queen's Conjuror (Circlesnake Productions), and Western (Next Stage Theatre Festival). She will continue her summer with magician and storyteller Keith Brown at the Winnipeg and Edmonton Fringe Festivals. Stephanie can't imagine a better way to spend this time of year than at the Fringe!

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