— ABOUT THE PROJECT

Wanna be on a first-name basis with the Bard? Call Me Billy is a comprehensive, practical, inclusive and fun video series detailing how to approach and perform a Shakespeare monologue. The series breaks it down into easy-to-remember steps with helpful exercises folks can do at home. This series will culminate by inviting the audience to participate by filming their own monologue with the help of the tools they learned to use along the way. The project will evolve into a collection of work from people of all levels, experiences and ages engaging in the epic storytelling of Shakespeare!

Leanna Williams is a South-African-Canadian actor, writer and musician from Regina, Saskatchewan. As a graduate from the National Theatre School’s acting program, she is most excited to delve into the world of Canadian theatre, film and television. She’s also interested in connecting people of all ages to the storyteller within themselves and empowering them to speak their imagination into existence.

— BIOGRAPHY

Leanna Williams (Acting, 2023) Leanna Williams is a South African-Canadian, queer, multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Treaty 4 territory (Regina, Saskatchewan). Growing up as a cellist and vocalist with a background in ballet and contemporary, performance and storytelling has been a life-long love. She is most drawn to exploring themes of shame, guilt, generational patterns, the pursuit of joy, and the nuance within ourselves and others. She seeks to find richness and vulnerability in all her work through vigilance, play, and connection.
During her time at NTS, she has been immersed in many theatre practices and artistic forms including Laban movement, stage combat, neutral and expressive mask, dance, voice, music, improvisation, and collective creation, all under the guidance and mentorship of Canada’s leading artists such as Jackie Maxwell, Alisa Palmer, Mike Payette, Tim Welham, and Anita Nittoly.
Some of her most recent credits include Mary Swanson in Middletown (directed Jessica Carmichael), Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night (directed by Danielle Irvine), and Aphrodite/Oread in Metamorphoses (directed by Eda Holmes).
As a theatre creator, she finds fulfillment in the collaborative process of new work. She has had the honour to work alongside other emerging playwrights in new play development as part of the NTS’ 2023 New Words Festival. She also had the pleasure of bringing to life an original character mask as part of a devised theatre piece directed by Christine Quintana and Jivesh Parasram. Looking ahead, she is most excited to be participating in the Ottawa Fringe Festival as a co-producer, co-writer, and performer in a new one-act play, Perky.