Our Team

I continue to be moved by Bill Glassco and Jane Gordon’s impulse to create an environment for Canadian playwrights and storytellers to find voice and be empowered by meaningful support in order to lift their stories and thrive.

Over fifty years later, it is the urgency of that mission that positions Tarragon Theatre as a cornerstone in Canadian theatre, motivating us to continually champion and expand the breadth of Canadian theatre, artistic form and, especially, new play development for generations to come.

The practice of gathering exceptional artists to sow the seeds of a story in support of the playwright is profound. It is in these spaces where ideas are challenged, uplifted, explored and celebrated from conceptualization to realization. We see this as a great responsibility, and oftentimes humbling, to provide spaces that provide unique models of creation related to the playwrights’ goals. Unique pathways of development towards production are foundational in our minds, in our rehearsal studios and on the stage – it is in these spaces where one can truly understand how the impact of theatre encompasses within and shines light on our individual and collective journeys; and in this country, magnifies the intersectionality of the Canadian experience.
Theatre has the power to move, to spark joy, to challenge, to heal, and to uncover parts of ourselves and each other. It is unlike any other form that invites us to gather together, share space, and to join in laughter, tension, in awe, and all of the above. It is the vessel for the conversation on the way home or to work, and it is the memory that will live on years later. It takes us to unimagined worlds and histories unchartered. It is immediate.

This is the core of what we do. Theatre creation is our way of connecting to the world around us, and the many artists and communities that come through our building every single day.

It is a pleasure to be a part of Tarragon’s legacy of unwavering devotion to fortifying the scope and richness of Canadian theatre past, present and for tomorrow.

Born in Tiotià:ke (Montréal), Quebec, Mike has worked as a director, actor and educator for many years, and in theatres from coast to coast. As an actor, he has performed with some of the country’s finest companies like The Citadel, Vertigo Theatre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Banff Centre, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Repercussion Theatre, Segal Centre, Centaur Theatre, The Grand, Factory Theatre, Neptune Theatre, and the National Arts Centre, among others.

Directing credits include cockroach曱甴, Paint Me This House of Love and Come Home: The Legend of Daddy Hall (Tarragon); Blithe Spirit (Shaw Festival); the Canadian premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy (Centaur, later Canadian Stage/Arts Club Theatre Co.); the Quebec premieres of Harlem Duet (Black Theatre Workshop), A Line in the Sand (Tableau D’Hôte Theatre/Segal) and Around the World in 80 Days (Geordie); the Montreal English-language premiere of Hosanna (Centaur); the French-language premiere of Héritage – A Raisin in the Sun (Théâtre Jean-Duceppe) along with the national tours of The Tashme Project (Tashme Prods/Centaur/Factory/Firehall) and Lorena Gale’s Angélique (BTW/Tableau D’Hôte/National Arts Centre/Factory/Obsidian).

He has worked on numerous audio and digital plays, including directing for Obsidian Theatre’s acclaimed 21 Black Futures with CBC Gem.

Mike is a frequent guest artist at the National Theatre School of Canada and has served on several boards including the Quebec Drama Federation, la Maison Théâtre, MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), and on the Executive of PACT (Professional Association of Canadian Theatres). He is is a two-time Montreal English Theatre Award (META) recipient. Prior to joining Tarragon, he was the Artistic and Executive Director of Geordie Theatre, and earlier, the co-founding Artistic Director of Tableau D’Hôte Theatre and past Assistant Artistic Director for Black Theatre Workshop.

Lisa Li (she/her) is a theatre producer and non-profit theatre executive, who was born in China and raised in Toronto. She is the current Executive Director of Tarragon Theatre and a faculty member of Sheridan college. She was previously the Managing Director of Prairie Theatre Exchange from 2021 to 2024, and a Producer at Soulpepper Theatre from 2016 to 2020 where she produced over 65+ Soulpepper productions and concerts, including Soulpepper on 42^nd Street (New York, NY). Lisa Li has project-managed for the Shaw Festival, juried for the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and Manitoba Arts Council, and freelanced-produced for various indie theatre companies in Toronto. She is an active board member: from 2019 – 2023 Lisa Li was the chair of Actors’ Repertory Theatre and is the current Board Chair of Labour Relations for the Professional Association of Canadian Theatre. In late 2024, Lisa will start her term as a board director for the Toronto Alliance of Performing Arts.