A Voice For Live Theatre
By: Jess Spagnolo [Kawartha Lakes Weekly Feature]
At The Academy Theatre, we are privileged to have knowledgeable and experienced individuals serving on our Board of Directors. Award-winning actress and board member Ayesha Mansur Gonsalves has exciting plans and perspectives to share for 2026.
What drew you to join the Theatre’s Board of Directors?
“The first time I attended a show at the Academy Theatre, I knew I needed to get involved. Being there took me back to my childhood, going to musicals with my Mom. I was always transported by watching those performances and felt the magic in my bones! I had that same feeling when I laid my eyes on the beautiful Academy stage. I knew that it needed more plays, but had no idea how I could help make that happen. A few weeks later, I was perusing the Academy website and saw the call for new board members. I immediately reached out, sent every scrap of my history and experience- too much I think! Luckily, after board approval, I became a brand new member of the Board of Directors.”
Since that meeting two years ago, Ayesha now also serves as Chair of the Theatre Committee, with the express purpose of “getting plays back on stage”, and is happy to be joined by a dedicated and passionate group of committee members excited to do just that.
How did you get into acting?
“I actually started my professional career as a dancer and, after my body went kaput, got my film degree before becoming an actor. I’d dabbled with acting in my twenties, but never really took it seriously. It was something I kind of always assumed I’d do, but didn’t quite know how to get there. Things were very different in the early 90’s! Back then, if you were a ballet dancer, that’s all you did. There was no crossover. Even though my dance teachers had always told me I should be an actor- even my faculty at university told me this- I didn’t start in earnest until I was about thirty-one. I took my first professional acting class in New York (where I’d been living for about ten years), moved home to Toronto a year later and basically hit the ground running. I was lucky to secure an agent and become unionized within six months of moving home, which kind of hit me that this was what I was meant to do.”
How does your professional experience contribute to the theatre?
“A huge part of what I enjoy aside from acting, is coaching and directing. I love helping people find their way through a character and watching those ‘aha’ moments. I’ve already held one free acting workshop at the theatre, and am planning on more. I’d also like to bring in other industry professionals to teach things like stage combat or directing. Lindsay has a lot of talent but, since it’s all volunteer-based, we can only manage one play per year. We don’t want people to get burned out so, in order to get more plays on the stage, we need to expand our roster of people.”
Ayesha hopes that these workshops, aimed at individuals who are interested in getting involved but aren’t sure how, will expand Lindsay’s pool of community theatre players.
What’s next for you?
“I’ve been invited to be guest speaker for the Lindsay Advocate’s International Women’s Day event on March 4, hosted at the Academy Theatre. We’d love to see you there, and pro tip: it’s not just for the ladies! Currently, you can catch me playing Veda on CBC’s Saint Pierre.” Ayesha also appears in The Copenhagen Test with Simu Liu.
