Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Ryan, Kate
Director, teacher, actor, and puppeteer, Kate Ryan is based in Edmonton Alberta. She is one of an accomplished theatre family: her mother, Maralyn Ryan has acted in a wide variety of roles in Edmonton and across Canada; her father, Tim Ryan (d. 2009) was head of the musical theatre program at MacEwan University from 1979 to 2009, and founded Leave it to Jane Theatre; her sister Bridget is a singer and actor; her daughter Emma Wilmott also appears on stage, notably with her grandmother in The Innocence of Trees at Theatre Network in 2022; and her husband Van Wilmott is Artistic Director of Mayfield Dinner Theatre. Kate and Emma performed together in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in 2017, with Kate as the mother and Emma as one of her daughters (dir. Amy DeFelice).
Kate Ryan was a founding member of Plain Jane theatre company in 1999, and continued as its Artistic Director, directing over thirty plays. The “Janes” comprise a group of seasoned and newly graduated Edmonton actors who primarily perform small-scale, lesser known musicals at the Edmonton Fringe and in Edmonton venues such as Varscona Theatre, where they have been part of the Varscona Theatre Ensemble since 2017.
As an actor, Ryan played Helen Bechdel’s mother in the Janes’ production of Fun Home, a musical based on Bechdel’s graphic novel about gay denial in a family, alongside a cast of eight others, including Jocelyn Ahlf as Bechdel, and Jeff Haslam as the father who has repressed his sexual identity (dir. Dave Horak). In February 2020, the Janes presented a compilation of songs by Steven Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Miranda, and others that work through the hard stuff and experience happiness in a new musical called Get Happy!. In November 2022, Ryan directed a Janes’ production of a stripped-down Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber, set in a meat-processing plant, with Sheldon Elter as the barber, and Kristi Hansen as Mrs. Lovett.
In an interview with Liane Faulder for the Edmonton Journal (14 Feb 2020), Ryan explains that she has “learned how important musical theatre is to society, and how it gives us guidance and creates a safe place for us to explore chaos … There is a button at the end of every song that gives us a place to land.”
She has also directed plays for the Mayfield Dinner Theatre, including Jesus Christ Superstar in 2017; Class of ’63: a Rockin’ Reunion in 2019; Mama Mia in 2022; and an hilarious production of First Date in 2023.
She has received Sterling Awards for Leading and Supporting Actress, and Director; and an AMPIA for Leading Actress in film. In 2019 Ryan received the Michelle Dias Community Service Award. The Plain Jane Theatre Company has won eight Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards.
Kate Ryan has a BFA from the University of Alberta. She has taught at MacEwan University since 2012, the Banff Centre for the Arts, Citadel Theatre, and the University of Alberta. With her sister, she is an instructor and puppeteer with Kaybridge Puppets.
Website: www.plainjanetheatre.com
Profile by Anne Nothof, Athabasca University.
Last updated 2023-03-24
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