Meet the Contestants of the 2025 Edele Winnie Women's Monologue Competition

On March 14 & 15, 2025, eleven women will take over the Shadowbox stage to perform eleven dark and unique monologues from Edele Winnie's latest book, Underwire: 100 Dystopian Monologues for Women.

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​Continue reading to learn more about this year's contestants!

SHANNON BEAUMONT

SHANNON BEAUMONT is excited to return to the stage after a hiatus from high school until this past year – some 30 years later.  She is married with four wonderful children and three adorable cats.  Shannon works for the federal government in her regular, everyday life but her true love has always been theatre.  She has had the joy of witnessing countless musicals, plays, and concerts; and has passed her love of these along to her children.  Both Shannon’s oldest and youngest children are performers and singers who shine on the stage.  Her two middle children, although not performers themselves, appreciate taking in the shows and thoroughly enjoy music.  Shannon joined her youngest child this year, who was one of the stars of the show, in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  Shannon performed her single line with all her heart and soul, making her child proud.  She is both exhilarated and terrified to be performing in the 2025 Edele Winnie Women’s Monologue Competition.

FAVOURITE PLAY: The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields

FAVOURITE FILM: Pulp Fiction

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Forensic Files

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LINDA COLLARD

LINDA COLLARD has worked in theatre for many years in many different roles and in many different theatres. She is looking forward to being involved in this year's upcoming productions of My Strange Aunt and DraculEdna with the Purple Theatre Company. She has been involved in the Edele Winnie Women’s Monologue Competition since the beginning of time and is honoured to share the stage with such talented performers. 

FAVOURITE PLAY: The Children by Lucy Kirkwood

FAVOURITE FILM: La La Land

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Fringe

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ROCHELLE EMERY-LUCKETT

Initially from Windsor, ROCHELLE EMERY-LUCKETT has returned to the city after decades of living and performing in Saskatoon and Hamilton.  She obtained her Honours Degree in Dramatic Arts and English at McMaster University.  Some of her favourite acting performances include the Deadly Sin of Sloth in Dr. Faustus, Hermia in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Baroness Sophie Lemberg in The White Liars. Most recently, Rochelle received positive reviews playing a variety of roles in Art Collective Theatre’s (ACT) North of 50 ensemble production, The Social Exchange. 

FAVOURITE PLAY: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

FAVOURITE FILM: Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Starsky & Hutch

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BROOKE FIRMAN

BROOKE FIRMAN has been involved with theatre for the past year and a-half, participating in three shows. She loves anime, voice impressions and acting. Portraying these different characters allows her to demonstrate her many wonderful characteristics and be part of the artistic world. She wants to pursue being a voice actor for anime characters and audio books. She is very fierce at playing video games and loves the beauty, artistry and sound score of Genshin Impact. One of her favorite things is the Uncommon Festival – seeing all the events and costumes. She likes dressing up in costume for events like this and usually dresses up as Venti from Genshin Impact. She enjoys reading books such as the Percy Jackson series, Harry Potter and Black Butler. She likes McDonald’s.

FAVOURITE PLAY: She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen

FAVOURITE FILM: Spiderman Homecoming

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Hazbin Hotel

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RACHEL HILLIS

RACHEL HILLIS has done this competition for the past two years and she’s beyond excited to do it again! Recently, you may have seen her descent into madness as Renfield in The Bank Theatre’s production of Dracula, and if you’re patient enough to wait until May, you can hear her singing in the pit chorus of Waitress (Windsor Light Music Theatre)! Her other notable onstage credits include Hangmen (Post Productions), and Clue (Korda Artistic Productions), and she’s worked offstage in such productions as Spring Awakening, Something Rotten, and The Drowsy Chaperone (all with Korda Artistic Productions). When not performing, Rachel can be found working at the public library, reading a good book, or playing with her cats.

FAVOURITE PLAY: The Shark is Broken by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon

FAVOURITE FILM: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: The Fall of the House of Usher

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SHAYLA HUDSON

SHAYLA HUDSON is a 27-year-old actor hailing from Windsor, Ontario. She is a proud (and incredibly sad) graduate of the University of Windsor's BFA Acting program (R.I.P. University Players) and a three-time contestant in Post Production's annual Edele Winnie Women’s Monologue Competition! Most recently, Shayla spent a delightfully chaotic summer on the set of (up)Staged as the agent-turned-actor Annie Dyer, and on stage at the Bank Theatre as Silvia in Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by Dean Valentino. When she's not artistically stimulated, Shayla can be found diving into (and often abandoning) various ADHD-driven craft projects, crying and laughing with friends, indulging in cuddle sessions with her dog daughter Olive, or contemplating the next step in her creatively fulfilling (and often existential) journey.

FAVOURITE PLAY: Fault Lines: Greenland – Iceland – Faroe Islands by Nicolas Billon

FAVOURITE FILM: Taking 5

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Peaky Blinders

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CAMRYN S. KINGSLEY

CAMRYN S. KINGSLEY wants perfectly nothing to do with her life, and everything to do with yours. In fact, she thinks it rather impertinent that you should seek to know anything about her. "How are you", you may ask - and how very dare you! She will never tell anyone how she came into being, only that it involved several thorns, dried flowers and repeated words in the dark of a moonlit beach in Sri Lanka. She would much prefer that you tell her everything about yourself, because she's just that kind, and such a lovely listener. She promises not to do anything with all that information. She swears it. No, her fingers aren't crossed behind her back.

FAVOURITE PLAY: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

FAVOURITE FILM: One of Them Days

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

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COURTESY LEBERT-DEAN

COURTESY LEBERT-DEAN is 38 years old. She studied Journalism at St. Clair College before attending the university of Windsor to study Philosophy, English, and Classical History. Her first experience with entertainment was in Vancouver where she worked as a production assistant primarily for Warner Bros and the CW network. Upon returning to Ontario she serendipitously found the Shadowbox Theatre, and has since been involved with three productions there; 4.48 Psychosis (Post Productions), The 2024 Edele Winnie Women’s Monologue Competition, and (up)Staged. She currently works as a Shelter Support Worker for the Downtown Mission and volunteers with their Phoenix recovery program. In her free time she enjoys exercise, cuddling with her cats, and binging anime. A passionate advocate for mental health and recovery, she utilizes her personal experience with addiction to tap into the visceral yet delicate humanity of the characters she finds herself lucky enough to embody on stage.

FAVOURITE PLAY: No Exit by Jean-Paul Satre

FAVOURITE FILM: Princess Mononoke

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Community

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MICHELLE MAINWARING

MICHELLE MAINWARING has been performing across Ontario for over 30 years. She has been seen on numerous stages across Ontario and in Vancouver as well as in several films on the Discovery Channel and has radio credits to her name. Michelle holds an esteemed Windsor Ontario Drama League (WODL) award for best actress in a leading role for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes in Stephen King's Misery adapted for the stage by Simon Moore. For the past 20 years Michelle has been producing her own comedy shows and performs regularly across Essex county.  You can see her on the award-winning Rum Runners Tour where she has been bringing the legendary speakeasy owner, Bertha Thomas, to life for over 15 years. Every year for the past 5 years Michelle volunteers her time and talent to the Kidney Foundations Men's Celebrity Fashion Event as their Master of Ceremonies. As a past judge of the Edele Winnie Women’s Monologue Competition she is excited about participating on the other side of it due to the foreboding theme of this year's monologues. Michelle's favourite quote is from the French Canadian fiction writer Gabrielle Roy: "Could we ever know each other in the slightest without the arts?"

FAVOURITE PLAY: Type 2 – A Bipolar Journey by Jason Gale

FAVOURITE FILM: Westworld

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: I Love Lucy

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CHANTEL PARE

CHANTEL PARE is a 21 year old drama student at the University of Windsor, pursuing a career in acting and music. She has worked as an actor at the Shadowbox Theatre with several companies, performing in shows such as Bite Me Big Time, Pirate Attack on the 1C Bus Going Downtown, and Wicked Women of Windsor. Chantel is enthusiastic to return to the Edele Winnie Women's Monologue Competition for the fourth year.

FAVOURITE PLAY: Fatboy by John Clancy

FAVOURITE FILM: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn)

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Arcane

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MARY GRACE WEIR

MARY GRACE WEIR is a trained archaeologist, which means she has learned the skill of telling stories by considering the tiniest details. She isn't always sure if this skill is something her collaborators appreciate or are driven crazy by when she is acting in shows, something she has done more of in the last couple of years than anyone probably deserves. Recent favourites include The Children (an award-winning performance for Post Productions 2023), Arsenic and Old Lace (Migration Hall 2024, the most fun she had that year with her clothes on), and Vitals (independently produced 2024 and one of the most rewarding things she's ever done). However, she hopes the powers that be will continue to realize that enough is never enough for her, because in order to make up for a 30-year hiatus from acting before 2020, she'll likely have to do at minimum six shows a year until she is 90. She would like to thank her family for putting up with her frequent absences and occasional meltdowns. Special thanks to Robert for all the cooking, and to Elissa for introducing her to Arcane in the nick of time.

FAVOURITE PLAY: The Children by Lucy Kirkwood

FAVOURITE FILM: Everything Everywhere All At Once

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: The Last of Us

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