Laurel Smith, Artistic Producer
Laurel Smith is a theatre director, playwright, producer and performer with an MA in Drama from the University of Toronto’s Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama, an MBA in Arts and Media Administration from York University (Dean’s List), a degree in music and opera performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, and theatre training at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Drama Studio in London, England.
Having led Burning Passions Theatre in Toronto since 1999, Laurel relocated the company to Perth, Ontario in 2010 to launch the Ottawa Valley’s only professional theatre company, until 2019 when the pandemic hit.
Laurel directed plays each summer for the company’s Classic Theatre Festival, as well as the rural youth project, Listen Up! that toured each spring throughout Lanark County. Laurel also directed, as well as wrote original scripts for, Perth through the Ages and The Lonely Ghosts Walk historic theatrical walking plays each summer as well as inaugurating the Classic Dinner Theatre, all in Perth.
Laurel has adjudicated for the ACT-CO Festival, the London One-Act Play Festival, the Mississauga Arts Awards, the EODL One-Act Play Festival, QUONTA Festival and the Meadowvale Music Theatre Awards. She has taught at Brock University, and facilitated many theatre training workshops. In 2008, Laurel was selected to be part of the Shaw Festival Directors’ Project.
In 2022, the company moved to Ottawa, and is now pivoting to focus on professional productions of new work, new work development, training and mentorship, and Seniors Theatre programming.
Matthew Behrens, Associate Producer
Matthew has worked at Burning Passions Theatre since its inception, having worked on both production and publicity since the company was founded in 1999. A long-time writer for print and radio, stage credits include What’s a Girl to Do, The December 6 Memorial, and Ontario, Yours Too (Burning Passions Theatre), Kafka’s The Trial (TASC), First Sight of First Night (First Night Toronto).
Matthew is in charge of community outreach and engagement for the company, along with theatre management and audience relations. He also presented the highly popular Pre-Show Talks before each performance during the Classic Theatre Festival’s summer seasons.
Matthew appeared on stage in the Classic Theatre Festival’s 2023 production of Affairs of State as Lawrence, the Butler.
In 2014, he published Unions Matter (Between the Lines), more recently co-wrote a book on nursing and the pandemic (May 2022) and contributes regularly to dozens of print and on-line publications. Matthew is also a community organizer with youth, refugees, prisoners, and torture survivors.