TANTE URSULA
By Gabriella Kosmidis, Ryan Breton, and Kitty Orsten
Ursula Esel has spent five decades in the woods, avoiding her past. Now, much to her chagrin, the past has come to her.​
Have you ever thought moving to a shack in the woods would solve all your problems? For septuagenarian Ursula Esel, life without electric lights, running water, and other people has been bliss for almost fifty years. That is, until young Jeremy, a local handyman and pickup-truck owner, rolls up her overgrown driveway to take her to the funeral of an old friend. Now Ursula must sacrifice her solitude for an afternoon of small talk, drip coffee, and inevitably, remnants of a past she was dead-set on forgetting.
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“Tante Ursula” is a new play that blends elements of clown, puppetry, nostalgia, and music to tell a story that is fresh, funny, and heartfelt. It was created by three recent Humber College graduates: Gabriella Kosmidis, playing the titular Ursula, Ryan Breton, playing everyone else, and Kitty Orsten, guiding and shaping the play between the two. Feel free to join us on this play’s maiden voyage! We look forward to sharing the space with you, and would especially love anyone’s thoughts afterwards, if you have time to stay and chat as we strike our stage.
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60 minutes
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at City Hall Auditorium
Friday, October 12
Saturday, October 13
Sunday, October 14
8:45 PM
3:30 PM
5:15 PM
TIMES &
LOCATIONS
BIOGRAPHIES
Gabriella Kosimidis
Actor
Gabriella Kosmidis is an actor and singer-songwriter raised in Saronida, Greece and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. She is involved in all kinds of theatre, ranging from the classics to avante-garde, as well as film and television. Gabriella is one of the members of the Toronto based all-female theatre collective The Nips. She’s curious about directing and producing film and theatre and believes that no show is complete without a person half naked, a tap number, and a sense of humour. Previous Appearances: Life Underground (Musical Director / Bunny) at The Theatre Center , To Ithaca… (Milly) directed by Tatiana Jennings. Alumnae Theatre: The Dancing Man of Macklin Street (Bianca) directed by Cassidy Sadler, Queen Marie (Marie Dressler age 14-16) directed by Rosemary Doyle. Upcoming performance at Hamilton’s Super Crawl Festival. She can be contacted at for any inquiries.
Ryan Breton
Actor
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Ryan Breton focuses on the details of overlooked aspects of life, and the day to day social psychologies which are often seen as too simple. Toronto born to a nuclear family, he strives to explore the expectations of relationships built, gained, and ingrained based on his life and others. Ryan is an aspiring theatre creator, supporter, and producer, concentrating in devised, and physical theatre. He hopes to walk the line of boundaries regarding gender, sexuality, and race, seeing what is to be broken, reformed, or viewed in a new light. His email isrwm.breton@gmail.com.
Kitty Orsten
Director
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Kitty Orsten likes writing plays, and giving other people advice on the plays they have written. Her long-term interest is in directing and dramaturgy. She focuses on performer-lead creative, and seeks to always follow the path of deepest pleasure in any rehearsal process. Shoot her an email at if you’d like to read anything else she has written, or to grab a cup of coffee sometime.