The Creative Team
Constant Bernard
Director
Constant is a bilingual actor, director and singer based out of Toronto.
A Franco-Ontarian at heart, he was born and raised in the city of Rockland, Ontario, just east of Ottawa. He holds a degree in Theatre from the University of Ottawa as well as a Music Theatre Performance Degree from Sheridan College.
On stage, Constant has performed in many musicals and plays across Canada. In 2012, he was cast as The Genie in Disney Cruise Line’s Aladdin and spent 8 years traveling the world aboard the Disney ships. Highlights from his past stage performances include: Le Passé Antérieur, Les Zinspiré.e.s (Théâtre français de Toronto), The Rocky Horror Show (Citadel Theatre), Le Passé Antérieur (Theatre de l’île), Silence en coulisses (Théâtre du Trillium), Frozen, Twice Charmed: A Cinderella Story and Tangled: The Musical (Disney). Later this season, he will be performing in Vaches: The Musical, a production by Créations In Vivo.
On the silver screen, Constant plays Reginald in Overlord and the Underwoods (CBC Gem/Nickelodeon) and Momo in Makinium (Radio-Canada). Earlier this year, he made his film debut in Gail Maurice’s feature film ROSIE which premiered at TIFF.
Constant is thrilled to be making his directorial debut with Théâtre français de Toronto directing the 10th Anniversary production of Les Zinspiré.e.s : Dix-joncté.e.s!
Ariane Burtin
Assistant director and stage manager
Originally from Strasbourg, Ariane holds a master’s degree in IMAC (Image Multimédia Audiovisuel et Communication), the only engineering school in France mixing science and art.
After several years as a project manager in a digital communication agency in Paris, Ariane moved to Toronto in 2018. She works as a stage manager, project manager and administrator for various arts organizations and companies, including WeeFestival, Nova Dance, CORPUS and ARC Theatre. Ariane is also a member of the Board of Directors of Toronto’s Francophone community troupe Les Indisciplinés.
Pierre Simpson
Contest coordinator
Pierre is very proud of all these talented young writers and sincerely thanks the teachers, families and creative teams who have supported them for the past 10 years. Originally from Welland, Pierre is a graduate of the University of Ottawa. His previous projects include: La Cantatrice chauve, Le Dîner de cons and Les Médecins de Molière, (Dora Award finalist, Rideau Award winner). Director: Zinspiré.e.s 1, 2.0, 3D, La plus grosse poutine du monde. Television: Hannibal, Murdoch Mysteries, Reign, Transplant, Three Pines, Le Rêve de Champlain, Motel Monstre, Mehdi & Val, Léa Olivier, Makinium, Ainsi va Manu, Paris Paris. Cinema: mother!, Noël en boite, Rosie.
Beatriz Arevalo
Costumes and props designer
Beatriz Arevalo is a Costume and Production Designer from São Paulo, Brazil. From a young age, her sense of inventiveness allowed her to look for originality and innovation when traveling and exploring different cultures.
“My heart bursts with creativity and passion, and through my work, I wish to pass that along.”
Her itinerant and inquisitive nature drew her closer to design. Beatriz has worked and studied in Belgium, Brazil, USA, and Canada. She now works as a freelancer in Toronto, navigating between Film, TV, and Theatre, always looking for new opportunities and challenges.
Some of Beatriz credits include “A Brief History of the Unicorn” (short - 2019), “Smile” (short, 2021), “The overkill” (short, 2022), "Solstice d’hiver" - Theatre Prospero (2021) and “Les Liaisons dangereuses : correspondances inédites” (web-series, 2022). For larger productions, some of her credits include “Zombies 3” (2022) as Costume BG and Dancers Coordinator and “SPIN” (2021) as Costume Dancers Coordinator.
Inclusivity and ingenuity are key components that Beatriz strives towards.
Glenn Davidson
Lighting designer
Glenn Davidson is happy to return to TfT. He designed the set and lighting for the 2015 and 2018 editions of Les Zinspirés and other TfT productions such as Soirée Tchekhov, Lettres d’amour, Coeur de Chien, À toi pour toujours, Ta Marie-Lou, Albertine en cinq temps, and La Cantatrice chauve among others. Other projects include Undercover (Tarragon Theatre), Bombers (4th Line Theatre), Freud’s Last Session (Harold Green Jewish Theatre), and Tale of Two Cities (Tafelmusik). His worked has earned him two Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and he is a Pauline McGibbon Award recipient.
Brian St-pierre
Sound designer
A versatile artist, Brian is a songwriter, performer, musician, actor, musical director, stage director and music teacher. He has received several awards for his compositions such as four awards at Contact Ontarois 2020 for Vaches The Musical, a Trille d’Or for L’écho d’un peuple, a Trille d’Or for Réveille, a Trille d’Or for Zone.
With lyrics by Jean-Pierre Perreault, he composed the music for the song “Mon beau drapeau”, sung in Ontario’s French schools. With his wife Lucie and his children Benoît, Mélina and Jérémie, they participated in the Radio-Canada program Un air de famille. Afterwards, they launched their album and toured the province of Ontario.
Many artists have sung his compositions such as Véronic Dicaire, Michel Bénac from the group Swing, Roxane Potvin from Cirque du Soleil, Manon Séguin, Jean-Marc Lalonde, Jojo, Martine Lafontaine, Martin Massé, Luc Lalonde, Le choeur du Moulin and Les Chansonniers de Gloucester. Brian has performed with artists such as Bruno Pelletier (Notre-Dame-de-Paris), Ariane Gauthier (Roméo et Juliette) and Véronic Dicaire. He has opened for artists such as Marie-Chantal Toupin, Laurence Jalbert, France D’Amour, Luce Dufault, Audrey Demontigny, Damien Robitaille, Vilain Pingouin, Martin Deschamps and Roch Voisine.
Patrick Lynn
Production manager
Patrick Lynn is a production manager and stage manager who grew up in Fredericton, New Brunswick. In 2017, they moved to Toronto to complete their Bachelor of Fine Arts at TMU in “Performance: Production and Design”. Previous projects include: Rehearsal Stage Manager, Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament, Victoria Mata Productions (2022); Production Manager, Sweeney Todd, Talk is Free Theatre (2022); Stage Manager, A Grimm Night, Transcen | Dance (2022); Production Manager, The House of Bernarda Alba, Aluna Theatre & Modern Times Stage Company (2022).