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Our Team
Ali Froggatt - Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Ali cut her teeth as a performer and storyteller as a teen at Loose Moose Theatre Company, founded by Keith Johnstone. Ali went on to study acting, singing and dancing at Randolph College of Performing Arts as well as Film and Video Production at SAIT Polytechnic. Ali has performed and taught improv on numerous stages across Canada as well as in Norway, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates. Ali is a proud company member of Spontaneous Theatre, a company founded by Rebecca Northan which merges the worlds of high level improvisation with professional Theatre, select Spontaneous Theatre credits include: Mimi in Blind Date (Canadahub/Edinburgh Fringe, Artsclub), assistant director of Undercover (Tarragon Theatre), and ensemble member in An Undiscovered Shakespeare (Stratford Festival). She has performed in numerous international improv festivals, including Den Andre Teaterfestivalen, Improvaganza, Vancouver International Improv Festival, and is the founder and Artistic Director of Tightrope Impro Theatre.
Quinn Contini- Co-Founder & Executive Director
Quinn is an alumnus of Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary, has been a member of Rapid Fire Theatre in Edmonton since 2014, and is the Co-Artistic Director of the Canmore International Improv Festival. A year spent working in every department at Alberta Theatre Projects in 2011 instilled in him a keen interest in the organizational side of theatres, and he went on to earn a degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of Alberta. He is an actor, writer, and co-founder of Marv n’ Berry - Sketch Comedy, cast member of Off Book The Improvised Musical, and has emceed the dog show at the Calgary Stampede for four years. Since 2015, he has been teaching improv for youth classes at the Citadel’s Foote Theatre School, has been a faculty member of the Rapid Fire Theatre Academy since 2018, and spent two years coaching the University of Alberta improv group. Teaching and performing has brought Quinn from coast to coast in Canada and the United States, around Europe twice, and as far as Dubai. He has created and co-created numerous new shows and formats that have been seen at festivals including: Den Andre Teaterfestivalen (Norway), Wurzburg Impro Fest (Germany), Improvaganza (Edmonton), Vancouver International Improv Festival, Bonfire (Edmonton), San Francisco Sketchfest, Seattle Sketchfest, Edmonton International Fringe Festival, Grindstone Comedy Festival (Edmonton), Montreal Skecthfest, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival (Texas), Philly Sketchfest, Floodwater Comedy Festival (Iowa), Hell Yes! Comedy Festival (New Orleans), SAC Comedy Festival (Sacramento), and Charm City Comedy Festival (Baltimore). He is beyond thrilled in this new position of Executive Director for Tightrope Impro Theatre as the dream of starting a theatre company close to the mountains is beginning to come true.
Aamir Khan - Director of Community Outreach
Aamir Khan's journey on stage started in 1994 when he was at college and explored his creative side with his college troupe Mission Improvable (UMASS, Amherst). After creating his alter ego(s) Six-Packy and Pakastallion, he took a hiatus from the stage to focus on being an adult (selling towels - YES towels). In 2010 he joined Canada's Premier Queer Improv Troupe (now QueerProv) and the rest is queerstory. He has honed his Impro skills training with VTS, Instant Theatre IO Chicago, Musical Improv Elements, and co-created Kiki and Category Is (QueerProv's Festival Signature Formats). Besides being an ensemble member of QueerProv and Dirty Little Secrets, Aamir also is a part of QueerProv Faculty, Vancouver Queer Improv Society Board, and a Professional Actor (TV/FILM). He is Super Excited to be a part of the next wave of Impro Theatre in Vancouver : TIGHTROPE - as Director of Community Outreach. He is also a Jedi!
Dan Dumsha - Director of Improv For Work & Wellness
Dan is thrilled to lead Tightrope’s offerings for the Workplace and for Health & Wellness. His passion is to bring learners into the moment together, where co-creation can happen. A graduate of Queen's University Drama (B.A.H) and Artist in Community Education (B.Ed), Dan has been performing and teaching theatre and improv for over twenty years. Using his background as a high school teacher and corporate trainer, Dan loves to apply the concepts of improv to the way teams work together. Dan has been training professionals in applied improv for the workplace since 2014. As a facilitator with Improv for Business, he has led successful and impactful training for teams from VanCity, Telus, PCL, ReThink, Microsoft, YVR, BC Children’s Hospital, Amazon, and many more organizations in BC and across North America. Dan trained and went on to perform as a mainstage ensemble player at Vancouver Theatresports for seven years and taught improv on the faculty of the Improv Comedy Institute. In 2015, Dan moved to New York City with his husband Jonathan and studied improv with UCB and Annoyance Theatre. There he founded the Dirty Little Secrets Improv show, which still runs monthly in the East Village of Manhattan. Returning to Vancouver, Dan co-founded Momentous Comedy and continues to produce improv shows across the city. Dan serves as the President of the Queer Improv Society of Vancouver where he builds community through improv, guiding the non profit board, directors, and a troupe of over 40 members. Dan is also a Leadership Communications Consultant with The Humphrey Group and continues to deliver leadership training and executive coaching across the globe to Fortune 500 companies, governments, professional associations, first nations councils, and with Universities including UBC Sauder Executive Education programs. Dan brings the joy he finds in collaborative performance to every training he facilitates. After resisting for a long time, Dan finally created an instagram account for his dog, Kai. @kaidangerfloof
Sarah Ferguson - Director of Brand & Marketing
Sarah Ferguson is a Vancouver based actor, improvisor, and theatre-maker. She holds a diploma in Theatre Performance from Mount Royal University, a BFA in Theatre from Simon Fraser University, and a lot of student debt. She has been the Volunteer Coordinator and Social Media Manager for the Canmore International Improv Festival 2018/2019, as well as a founding ensemble member of Sour Dog Theatre since 2015. Sarah hopes to be a part of projects that represent her experience as a gay woman in the LGBTQ+ arts community, and use humour & vulnerability as tools for healing. Because she is a settler on the unceded Indigenous territories belonging to the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, she is critical of her own privilege as a witness and creator. She is excited to continue to be a student, performer, and supporter of Tightrope Theatre!
Jeff Gladstone - Director of Education & Engagement
Jeff is a multi-faceted actor, director and teacher with extensive training in improvisation, theatre & film. Born and raised in Treaty 7 land (Calgary) he holds a BFA in Drama from U of C, and was a member of the Loose Moose Theatre Company where he first met and trained with Keith Johnstone. Now living on the Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver), Jeff is the artistic director of the International Theatresports Institute, and a company member and lead teaching artist with Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival where he has developed curriculum for children, seniors and professional actors. He recently launched a new international online impro project called The Naked Improvisors that was part of the National Arts Centre Canada Performs series. His recent work with Vancouver Opera, The Kettle Society, Vancouver Parks Board and the Carnegie Centre with artists living with mental illness and homelessness has had a huge impact on his teaching practise, leading with empathy and care, and creating a space that is as inclusive and safe as possible. Performance highlights include the feature film Kingsway (TIFF 2018, Leo nomination for Best Supporting Actor), four seasons at Bard on the Beach including the hit productions As You Like It, and Alls Well That Ends Well, and Blanche (New York Musical Theatre Festival, Huffington Post top shows of 2011)
Michael Sousa - Venue Manager
Michael Sousa began his acting career in the play version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 2011. Since then Michael has done numerous plays, a feature length independent film and has now made the venture into commercials and TV, with credits which include Charmed (2020) and The Baby-Sitters Club (2021).
Michael’s love of acting sparked in high school drama classes and grew with his study of media arts, where he learned to produce, write, edit and direct student film projects, varying from live action shorts, animation & stop motion, as well as voice over. He has also studied and trained in improvisational theatre, where he has since been a part of, or guested with, numerous Vancouver based improv/comedy troupes such as The Dirty Betty Show, The Fictionals, The Radical, Puff the Magic Improv Show, Dirty Little Secrets (Vancouver), and QueerProv to name a few. He has also performed in the Vancouver Improv Festival, as well as Seattle Festival of Improv Theatre and guested with the New York City branch of Dirty Little Secrets. Michael was also the Artistic Director for the Queer Improv Society of Vancouver in 2019, producing and managing the QueerProv shows. Under his artistic direction, the Queer Improv Society put on the first ever month-long Queer Improv Festival during pride month, which totalled ten shows that showcased various formats created by QueerProv troupe members, as well as showcasing other local queer improvisors.
Afrothiti Yannitsos - Director of Communications
Afro Yannitsos is a Vancouver based improvisor, writer, and government relations specialist. She found her love of improv when she was 16 and began training at The Second City in Chicago. Afterwards, she spent her undergrad teaching and performing improv with the UBC improv club, while finishing her degree in Kinesiology and Entrepreneurship. Working in higher education now, she sees how improv is a pathway to developing strong soft skills. Obsessed with the future of work and future of education, her mission is to help people unlock their professional potential by learning basic improv skills.
Rosemary Morrison - Improv for Wellness Coordinator
Rosemary is a performer, creator, and arts administrator working and living as an uninvited guest on the Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver). Born and raised on Treaty 7 Territory (Calgary), Rosemary fell in love with the world of performance in the 8th grade, when she joined her Jr. High’s first-ever improv team. She then became a member of Loose Moose Theatre Company, and a cast member of Dirty Laundry’s Young Company, where she also worked as an associate producer. Now, Rosemary is a student at Simon Fraser University, pursuing a BFA in Theatre Performance, and a minor in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. She’s so excited to be a part of the Tightrope team, and working to share all the benefits of learning improv!
Madhuvanthi Mohan -Marketing Coordinator
Madhuvanthi Mohan is a creative consultant and illustrator from Bangalore, India, who has recently moved to Mount Pleasant, Vancouver with her partner and their ginger rescue cat Thimmi. She has her own merchandise line, called @somethingsketchy, where she puts her illustrations on products like notebooks, stickers and prints for retail. She also cares very deeply about bringing the illustrator community together and runs an illustrators' group called @thesketchup in India where she has hosted intimate, informal artist gatherings with established Speakers, across the country. She also curates and organises art shows and festivals. She is currently studying 2D Character Design Animation at Vanarts.
After moving to Vancouver, she began taking improv classes, and as someone in a completely new country and environment, it really helped her start to feel comfortable and break the ice. She is very excited to be part of a creative and passionate team that is helping get the word about improv out there!
faculty
Monice Peter
Lili Beaudoin
Lili Beaudoin
Passionately pursuing her dream, Monice has performed across Canada in major festivals, with esteemed theatre companies and directors, and worked with major network television companies. Monice completed her studies from Mount Royal University in 2008 and that summer played Ariel in The Tempest in Calgary's Shakespeare in the Park. From t
Passionately pursuing her dream, Monice has performed across Canada in major festivals, with esteemed theatre companies and directors, and worked with major network television companies. Monice completed her studies from Mount Royal University in 2008 and that summer played Ariel in The Tempest in Calgary's Shakespeare in the Park. From there, she performed all across Alberta with TYA touring companies. She performed in Are We There Yet, a sexual education show for grade 9 students and Work Plays|Working it Out, two plays that deal with workplace safety and the rights of young people in the workplace. Monice has worked with Ground Zero Theatre, Sage Theatre, Downstage Theatre, Verb Theatre and Alberta Theatre Projects. She is a founding member of Western Canada's Afro-Centric theatre company Ellipsis Tree Collective, which produced the Canadian Premiere of Ruined. In 2015, Monice was accepted into the Stratford Festival's Birmingham Conservatory, a classical theatre training program. She spent 3 seasons with The Stratford Festival. Selected credits includeThe Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; The Aeneid; School for Scandal; and Julius Caesar. She also spent a summer in Niagara-On-The-Lake at The Shaw Festival in Mae West's Sex and George Bernard Shaw's Getting Married. She also performed with Order of Canada's Seana McKenna, in Margret Atwood's (also A Companion of the Order of Canada) The Penelopiad, directed by Canadian sweetheart Megan Follows. Monice moved to Vancouver on an impulse and started working in the TV/Film industry (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3695549/). Monice would have been spending her time flying in the air and casting spells as a cast member of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, however, she is enjoying much welcomed family time with her sister Maryke and nephew Mattius.
Lili Beaudoin
Lili Beaudoin
Lili Beaudoin
Based out of Vancouver, Lili works regularly as an actor, improvisor and voice artist and has performed on stage all around Canada. Some of her notable credits include Mimi/scenographer in Blind Date, Brigid Blake in The Humans at Theatre Calgary, Gracie in Gracie at ATP & Belfry and Miranda in the Tempest at Bard on the Beach. Lili’s voi
Based out of Vancouver, Lili works regularly as an actor, improvisor and voice artist and has performed on stage all around Canada. Some of her notable credits include Mimi/scenographer in Blind Date, Brigid Blake in The Humans at Theatre Calgary, Gracie in Gracie at ATP & Belfry and Miranda in the Tempest at Bard on the Beach. Lili’s voice can be heard in several animated shows such as Beat Bugs, Littlest Pet Shop, Rainbow Ruby, Max Steel and My Little Pony. She is the honoured recipient of the Anthony Holland Scholarship for Outstanding Ability and Dedication as well as the Betty Mitchell award for Outstanding Performance by a lead Actress in a Drama. In her spare time Lili loves to make art, play music and laugh as hard as she possibly can.
Aidan Parker
Lili Beaudoin
Aidan Parker
Aidan Parker is a Vancouver-based writer, improvisor, actor, and teacher. He holds a BFA in playwriting, screenwriting, and creative non-fiction from the University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing Program. He’s performed with various shows and companies, including the Canadian Improv Games, UBC improv, and Instant Theatre. He is cu
Aidan Parker is a Vancouver-based writer, improvisor, actor, and teacher. He holds a BFA in playwriting, screenwriting, and creative non-fiction from the University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing Program. He’s performed with various shows and companies, including the Canadian Improv Games, UBC improv, and Instant Theatre. He is currently a cast member of Fistful of Kicks, an Asian Canadian improv troupe. He teaches improv to students from a variety of backgrounds aged 6-45 for many institutions, including Instant Theatre, UBC Improv, The Canadian Improv Games, the East End Boys Club and Girls Group, the Vancouver School Board, and Improvcamp. Aidan Parker is the co-founder and director of Instant Theatre’s diversity initiative Colour Commentary, which aims to bring more people of colour into the improv theatre community. He is currently lead instructor for The Arts Club Theatre Company’s devised theatre programs, where he directs and builds shows with students from equity-seeking communities in the lower mainland. Recent theatre credits include a production of Macbeth (Carnegie Centre / The Honest Fishmongers), the semi-improvised The Tragic Comedy of Macbeth (Jericho Arts Centre), and SIB CITY which he created and directed with The Arts Club Theatre Company. Recent festival credits include: the Stumptown Improv Festival in Portland, the Improvised Play Festival in Austin, the Montreal Improv Summit, and the Vancouver Improv Festival.
Brent Hirose
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg
Aidan Parker
Brent Hirose is an actor, writer, director, voice over artist and improvisor based in Vancouver, B.C. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg, Brent spent the first decade of his career in the prairies where he co founded Theatre by the River and the improv troupe The Horrible Friends. He has toured all across North America with his hit
Brent Hirose is an actor, writer, director, voice over artist and improvisor based in Vancouver, B.C. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg, Brent spent the first decade of his career in the prairies where he co founded Theatre by the River and the improv troupe The Horrible Friends. He has toured all across North America with his hit one-man plays including The Suckerpunch and Lost and Left Behind, before relocating to Vancouver and serving as co-artistic director of Instant Theatre from 2016-2019. As an improvisor he has performed a variety of styles, as a cast member of Shakespeare After Dark, A Fistful of Kicks and Hype! An Improvised Hip-Hopera. He has taught improv for The Young Actors Project, UBC Improv, The South Vancouver Youth Centre, Instant Theatre and now Tightrope Impro. He is thrilled to be working with the team at Tightrope and sharing his love of narrative and character creation with new and seasoned improvisors alike!
Rina Shimomura
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg
Rina Shimomura is an improviser and educator from Tokyo, Japan. She has studied improvisation and drama education abroad, in Canada (Loose Moose Theatre and Young People’s Theatre) and the United States (BATS Improv). In Japan, She started Impro at Takao Takashi’s seminar and has learned about Keith Johnstone and Viola Spolin. She has app
Rina Shimomura is an improviser and educator from Tokyo, Japan. She has studied improvisation and drama education abroad, in Canada (Loose Moose Theatre and Young People’s Theatre) and the United States (BATS Improv). In Japan, She started Impro at Takao Takashi’s seminar and has learned about Keith Johnstone and Viola Spolin. She has appeared in numerous Impro shows in Japan; many formats of Keith Johnstone, the Bechdel test, and full mask theatre.
She has been working with children since graduating from Tsukuba Graduate School in Japan in 2015. She is a specialist in children with learning disabilities and is licensed to teach English in Japan. She studied improvisation and drama education abroad, in Canada and the United States.
In 2018, she founded IMPRO KIDS TOKYO, an impro education company with a focus to help children develop both communication skills and the idea of “accepting others”. Not only for children, but this company also empowers parents and schools. In 2021, She became a co-founder of Fearless Inc, a company for business persons to approach the culture of business companies and the mindset of business persons.
In 2021, she moved to Vancouver to get her project spread and bring unknown things to Japan. She loves using Simple English and body movement to inspire the players in the shows.
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg
Tara is an award-winning creator, performer, educator and Artistic Director of Tara Cheyenne Performance. As an educator Tara is fueled by the desire to help performers embody text, character, and creative inspiration and bring integration, joy and freedom to our voices and dynamic bodies. Tara is known for her unique and dynamic hybrid o
Tara is an award-winning creator, performer, educator and Artistic Director of Tara Cheyenne Performance. As an educator Tara is fueled by the desire to help performers embody text, character, and creative inspiration and bring integration, joy and freedom to our voices and dynamic bodies. Tara is known for her unique and dynamic hybrid of dance, comedy and theatre. For Tara Cheyenne Performance she has choreographed 6 full length solos, 2 full length ensemble works, and over a dozen film projects including a feature length solo film Body Parts. Tara has choreographed for Bard on the Beach, The Arts Club, Studio 58, The Firehall Arts Centre, Ruby Slippers Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, and Decidedly Jazz Dance Works among others. When she isn’t teaching and creating innovative movement for theatre, she is performing her critically and audience acclaimed full length solos and ensemble works around the world (highlights: DanceBase/Edinburgh, South Bank Centre/London, On the Boards/Seattle USA, High Performance Rodeo/Calgary etc.). Tara lives on the unceded and traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlil̓wətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation)/East Vancouver with her partner composer Marc Stewart and their son Jasper.
Peter Jarvis
Peter Jarvis
Peter Jarvis
Peter is a relative newcomer to Tightrope Theatre and improv, having taken up improv in 2018 to help him deal with the cognitive impacts of Parkinson’s Disease. It’s working so far and Peter can be found supporting Improv programs focused on cognitive wellness and serving the PD community. Prior life experience includes an Economics degre
Peter is a relative newcomer to Tightrope Theatre and improv, having taken up improv in 2018 to help him deal with the cognitive impacts of Parkinson’s Disease. It’s working so far and Peter can be found supporting Improv programs focused on cognitive wellness and serving the PD community. Prior life experience includes an Economics degree from the Royal Military College, a law degree from University of Victoria and 30 years in the traces as a commercial lawyer. All quite conventional aside from a habit of tending towards the sardonic and wordplay. Peter lives in Vancouver and enjoys a broad range of outdoors activities.
Chloe Payne
Peter Jarvis
Peter Jarvis
Chloe Payne is an actor, comedienne, theatre creator and arts educator. As a graduate of the prestigious physical theatre school École Philippe Gaulier, she uses physical comedy, improvisation, devising along with text-based creation styles to produce theatre that is funny, relevant and poignant. She has won multiple grants and awards, in
Chloe Payne is an actor, comedienne, theatre creator and arts educator. As a graduate of the prestigious physical theatre school École Philippe Gaulier, she uses physical comedy, improvisation, devising along with text-based creation styles to produce theatre that is funny, relevant and poignant. She has won multiple grants and awards, including the Mark Purvis bursary for emerging physical theatre artists. She teaches physical theatre and clown for various institutions, including: the Vancouver Film School, Tightrope Theatre, Rumble Theatre, The University of Toronto, Havergal College, The Storefront Theatre, The County of Simcoe and Sweet Action Theatre Company.