Staff

Julie Kiraly is a performer, dancer, voice actor, and producer based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan, known colonially as Edmonton. She is the co-founder and executive director of Hit That Jive Productions, and creator and producer of Play the Fool, Edmonton’s festival of clown and physical comedy. Julie specializes in Lindy Hop, Balboa, and other swing-era dances, and has been a performer, choreographer, teacher, and competitor, locally and abroad, since 2003. She has taught classes and workshops across Canada, and has competition wins from events in Montreal, Ottawa, Seattle, Vancouver, and Edinburgh. Julie has produced festivals, workshops, dance camps, cabarets, and other special events throughout her artistic career. Her artistic creations often combine the wacky and weird, as she explores physical storytelling through dance and clown. Julie took to the stage most recently at the 2026 Edmonton International Fringe Festival in Mirror Mirror. 

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Drama from the University of Alberta.

Contact: producer@playthefool.ca

Christine Lesiak is an Edmonton-based theatre artist, and co-founder of Small Matters Productions. She is co-creator and co-performer of five full-length clown shows, most recently the Edmonton Fringe Festival Holdover hit For Science! (2018-22), and Over Her Dead Body (2017 Fringe Theatre Presentation Series). She is writer and performer of her one-woman show, Ask Aggie (2013), has created, performed, and directed countless short clown-based works, and toured throughout Canada and to New York. Her site-specific productions (writer/performer) include 900 Seconds (2015 Found Festival) and The Object of Constellations (2016). She curated & co-produced of Small Matters’ Fool’s Gold Cabaret nights (2010-12), a performance series that provided a mentorship program for emerging theatre clown performers, and was the inspiration for Play the Fool’s Rookie Cabaret program, and created the monthly Small Matters Physical Comedy Lab. She is a frequent collaborator with Catch the Keys Productions (Dead Centre of Town, 900 Seconds, The Runcible Riddle).

Christine holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Drama from the University of Alberta. She has taught within the Drama Department at the University of Alberta, at Edmonton Digital Arts College, within Toy Guns Dance Theatre’s programs, and privately.

Contact: christine.lesiak@gmail.com

Rainier Pearl-Styles is a many-hats-wearing theatre creator and recent transplant from the coasts of the United States. She is driven by community engagement and education, and has been the Operations Associate for Ballet Edmonton, served on the education workgroup for San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and is a proud co-founder of the Fork & Shoe Theatre Co-op, a patchwork production company focused on accessible self producing and resource sharing. As an educator, Rainier has worked across the U.S. as a guest teaching artist, administrator, performer, classroom teacher, and even gym coach. Rainier is also a producer, collaborating with Boston Theater Company, Small Matters Productions, Edmonton Fringe and more! She is honoured to be the incoming Managing Producer with Common Ground Arts.

Rainier’s personal artistic work focuses on embodied practice as a tool for social justice, community engagement, and deconstructing “classical” texts through clown and storytelling. As a queer, Jewish clown, her work blends cultural practices with reconstructing processes to create and deepen community. Outside of theatre, she enjoys fibre arts, being outside, and making a fool out of herself in everyday life.

rainier-pearl-styles.com

Frances Girard is a technician, artist, and maker who grew up and continues to live on Treaty Six territory. As a full-time dabbler and part-time daydreamer, they are happiest when they get to make the imaginary reality. This is their first year with Play the Fool and they look forward to whatever shenanigans are comin their way. Stay safe and take care friends!

Jess Haight is an emerging stage manager originally from Nipawin, Saskatchewan. They hold a BFA in Stage Management from the University of Alberta and have called Edmonton home since 2018. When they aren’t in a theatre you can find Jess browsing a record store, reading a book, or watching trashy reality TV.

Recent credits include: Headhole (Found Festival 2025), Disney’s Frozen, Little Women (Citadel Theatre) The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night (Freewill Shakespeare), Orlando, Wildfire, Rough Magic, She Kills Monsters (Studio Theatre), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (NUOVA Vocal Arts), The Circle, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl (Bleviss Laboratory Theatre). Upcoming credits: Tough Guy (Edmonton Fringe), The Wizard of Oz (Citadel Theatre).

Shreela Chakrabartty is a long time Edmonton festival junkie with a love of live performance and theatrical screenings. She debuted as a movie director in 2014 with the release of the Shreela & Kash audacious box office theatrical hit thriller, Rock Paper Dice Enter, nominated for AMPIA’s Best Narrative Feature award. Lake Shore Drive was her followup feature that led to her recognition as outstanding in film in America. After releasing two documentaries and when she is not dabbling in Heritage, you’ll find her directing the weekly YouTube travel series, #ridingwithkash.

Contact: film@playthefool.ca