Oct 18 - Nov 9, 2025

Big Stuff

Some things we keep. Some things keep us.

Acclaimed comedy duo Matt Baram (The Umbrella Academy, Painkiller) and Naomi Snieckus (Pretty Hard Cases, Mr. D) bring their signature mix of storytelling and improvisation to Big Stuff – a hilarious and heartfelt exploration of what we leave behind.

Directed by award-winning playwright Kat Sandler (Mustard, Yaga), this fast-paced two-hander unpacks the emotional and absurd aspects of loss – from basement clutter to memories that linger. With quick wit and sharp chemistry, Baram and Snieckus turn life’s big questions into big laughs.

Photos & Videos

Photos by Nanc Price for the Citadel Theatre’s production of Big Stuff (2025)

CREATOR'S NOTE

When we first began writing Big Stuff, we weren’t setting out to tell a story about grief at all. As comedians, we were trying to make sense of the strange, beautiful, and sometimes absurd things people leave behind; the objects, memories, habits, hereditary arthritis, unfinished jokes. But as we sifted through the “stuff,” both literal and emotional, with help from our genius co-creator and director, Kat Sandler, we started to realize we were also writing a eulogy to those we’ve lost, and a comedic love letter to each other.

We built this piece together as life partners, creative collaborators, and clumsy humans trying to find meaning in the mess. And we hope that in the laughter, awkward silences, and surprising tenderness of this play, you recognize some of your own “big stuff”, too.

It’s an incredible gift to share this story here in Edmonton, Matt’s hometown and the city where he first cut his teeth in comedy at Rapid Fire Theatre and where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Acting at The University of Alberta.

We are deeply grateful to the team here at The Citadel for supporting our little play, and to you, the audience, for showing up. Because in the end, that’s what we’re all trying to do…show up for each other, even when we don’t have all the answers.

Thanks for being here and supporting live theatre.

Matt and Naomi

Cast & Creative Team

Matt Baram

Actor, Writer, Co-Creator

Matt Baram

Actor, Writer, Co-Creator

Citadel: Debut

Other Theatre: Indecent (Studio 180 Theatre); The Wonder Pageant (Coalmine Theatre); Wayne & Shuster Live! (Hart House Theatre).

Film & TV: The Apprentice (2024); Supergirl, Matlock (CBS); The Umbrella Academy, Painkiller (Netflix); Cross (Amazon Prime).

Matt has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from the University of Alberta and is an alumnus of Rapid Fire Theatre in Edmonton and The Second City Theatre in Toronto. He has received a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Improvisor and is currently hitting the stages as a story-teller and stand-up comic and tours to improvisational theatre festivals around the world. @mattbaram @baramsnieckus

Naomi Snieckus

Actor, Writer, Co-Creator

Naomi Snieckus

Actor, Writer, Co-Creator

Citadel: Debut

Film & TV: Mr. D, Murdoch Mysteries (CBC); Pretty Hard Cases (CBC Gem); Zombies (Disney); Work It, The Madness (Netflix); My Dead Mom (Crave); The Handmaid’s Tale (Amazon Prime), I’m Also Here (Bell Fibe-Firecracker Dept).

An alumnus of the Second City Theatre in Toronto, Naomi is the founder and host of Firecracker Department, where she has created a podcast and a community of female and non-binary artists across North America taking creative action. She has also won several awards including Canadian Comedy Award for best female improviser, female in a TV show and best web series. @snieckus @firecrackerdept @baramsnieckus

Kat Sandler

Director, Co-Creator

Kat Sandler

Director, Co-Creator

Citadel: The Party & The Candidate

Other Theatre: WILDWOMAN (Soulpepper Theatre); Interior Design (Tarragon Theatre); Anne of Green Gables (2025 Stratford Festival).

Film & TV: Kim’s Convenience (CBC); YAGA (Crave).

Kat is an award-winning playwright, director, screenwriter, and former Artistic Director of Theatre Brouhaha in Toronto. Her plays have been performed across Canada and internationally. Awards include: Dora Mavor Moore award for Outstanding New Play, the Austin Film Festival Award for Best Fiction Podcast, the Summerworks Spotlight Award and multiple Best of Fringe Awards.

Rachel Moore

Assistant Director

Rachel Moore

Assistant Director

Citadel: Debut

Other Theatre: Big Stuff, Anne of Green Gables (2025 Stratford Festival), WILDWOMAN (Soulpepper Theatre); Desperate Measures (Toronto Fringe).

Rachel is a theatre creator originally from Limehouse, Ontario. Her career began in comedy before she trained in classical theatre at George Brown College. Since graduating in 2018, the majority of Rachel’s work has been developing new Canadian plays. She’s so happy to be returning to her improv/comedy roots while working with the wonderful Big Stuff team.

Emilie Trimbee

Lighting Designer

Emilie Trimbee

Lighting Designer

Citadel: Debut

Other Theatre: Night/Shift (Citadel + Compagnie); Sympathy for the Devil (Soulpepper Theatre); Antigonick, Bright Lights/Overruled, The Playboy of the Western World, The Apple Cart, The Amen Corner, Gem of the Ocean, Everybody, Too True to Be Good (Shaw Festival); La Cage Aux Folles, Wendy and Peter Pan (2024 Stratford Festival); fantasylover (Rock Bottom Movement); Dion: A Rock Opera (Coal Mine Theatre).

Emile is a Toronto-based Lighting Designer.

Michelle Tracey

Set Designer

Michelle Tracey

Set Designer

Citadel: Debut

Other Theatre: Candida, The Clearing (The Shaw Festival); Every Little Nookie, Nathan the Wise (The Stratford Festival); Cendrillon, The Tender Land, Mansfield Park, The Fatal Gaze, Last Days (U of T Opera); Behind the Moon, This Was The World, Much Ado About Nothing (Tarragon Theatre); Indecent (Studio 180 / Off-Mirvish); WILDWOMAN, Wedding at Aulis, Sisters, Waiting for Godot (Soulpepper Theatre).

Michelle is a scenographer based in Toronto working in the fields of theatre, opera, film and events.

Tim Lindsay

Sound Designer

Tim Lindsay

Sound Designer

Citadel: Debut

Other Theatre: Sound Design credits: Dion: A Rock Opera, Detroit (Coal Mine Theatre); Sizwe Banzi is Dead (Soulpepper); Sunday in the Park with George (Eclipse); Consumption Patterns, pool (no water), We Three, Dry Land (cue6); Sea Sick, This Is the Point (The Theatre Centre); After Miss Julie (Red One); Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Hard Core Logo: Live (BFL Theatre).

Tim Lindsay is a professor at Sheridan College, stage sound designer, and audio engineer based in Mississauga.

Nyssa Beairsto

Stage Manager

Nyssa Beairsto

Stage Manager

Citadel: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The ‘70s Musical, The Mountaintop; Little Shop of Horrors, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Matilda, A Christmas Carol, Shakespeare in Love.

Other Theatre: Bravi (Edmonton Opera); Nevermore, The Invisible (Catalyst); Dead Letters, Unsung, Here There be Night (WWPT); Mermaid Legs (SkirtsAfire); The Wrong People Have Money, The Mountaintop (Shadow Theatre); Two-headed/Half-hearted (NLT).

Thank you to all loved ones that continue to supply snacks and accept my avoidance of sunlight.

Ray Salvarda

Production Manager

Ray Salvarda

Production Manager

The Importance of Being Earnest (2006) – Co-Production with Soulpepper (Toronto), PM/ TD for Soulpepper, CanStage, Blyth Festival, many independent productions in the GTA Training Has taught classes at Toronto Metropolitan University, Humber College, Sheridan College, St. Clair College, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Rebecca Northan

Improv consultant

Rebecca Northan

Improv consultant

Rebecca is an actor, director, and playwright. She is also the Artistic Producer of Spontaneous Theatre, and responsible for the improv-based hit shows, Blind Date, Goblin:Macbeth, Goblin:Oedipus, and Murder-on-the-Lake which had its world premier at The Shaw Festival in 2025.

When not faffing about in live theatre, Rebecca also does film & TV, and teaches improvisation. She is absolutely delighted for Matt & Naomi, two of the most wonderful, talented humans in the world!