Area 33 by Natalie Meisner – Chloe lost her mother to addiction and has since been raised by her uncle, who, recognizing her talent with numbers and computers, has involved her in increasingly dodgy aspects of his business as a buyer and seller of lobsters. This has made her something of a pariah in the village. Short on hope for the future and doubtful about the existence of intelligent life on earth, she steps into a local joke: The Shag Harbour UFO Museum. The curator, Evelyn, is like no other adult she knows. She does not tell Chloe what to do; rather, she encourages her to chart her own course and they become friends. But Evelyn herself has a secret: she is an undercover officer working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to investigate fraudulent seafood sales. Area 33 is inspired by real events and set in real places. The Shag Harbour UFO Museum is a real place. Chloe, Evelyn, and Sheldon are fictionalized characters inspired by real life. 

Kowloon Bay by Jovanni Sy is a prequel to his award-winning play, Nine Dragons. 

The Night from the 4th to the 5th by Rachel Graton, translated by Katherine Turnbull– The Night from the 4th to the 5th tells the story of a young woman’s sexual assault and her ensuing battle. There are questions, examinations, interrogations. But her memory is playing tricks on her. She can’t remember the face of her attacker. What happened? What happens next? 

Follow this woman’s journey from the moment she’s attacked, through an emotional rollercoaster, to developing resilience, and regaining hope. An ensemble of characters—family members, witnesses, police officers, social workers, and “concerned” citizens—express their wildly differing views as they piece together the event. 

Captain Zuke by Landon Braverman & Anna Jastrzembski – London, 1969. Zuke Jones is a pansexual femme frontman trying to escape his past and become the rock star he was born to be. Jack Lowe is a shy and closeted musical genius looking for connection. They meet one fateful night outside a record shop in Soho, changing the course of music history forever. Together, they form The Electric Jukes, the world’s first conceptual glam rock band. With their provocative music and shocking outfits, the Jukes become icons of their era. However, the glittering fantasy they share onstage, and the reality offstage implode when neither can admit their true feelings for the other. Amidst the tension, Zuke is offered a secret deal to go solo. Faced with the choice of betraying his friend or staying by his side, he chooses fame and becomes international superstar Captain Zuke. Meanwhile, Jack’s abandonment leaves him unable to write music and his life spins out of control. Zuke’s selfishness eventually leaves him bitter and alone, forcing him to confront the consequences of his actions. An epic tale of love found and lost, Captain Zuke is a glam rock fantasia about queer identity, the cost of fame, and the power of redemption. 

Armchair Confidential by Aaron Jensen – Lucy, a neurotic 40-something accountant, uncovers a pattern in the serial murders that have plagued the neighboring small town of Barnabus Bay. She enlists the reluctant help of her childhood bestie, Aldo, and his tagalong baby. When a celebrity influencer is the latest victim, rubbernecking tourists descend, and the cash-strapped townsfolk must decide whether or not to capitalize on the situation. Meanwhile, Lucy closes in on the killer, but she must first confront her own inner demons if she hopes to save herself. Armchair Confidential is a buddy-comedy/mystery musical that playfully riffs on existential crises while exploring society’s morbid fascination with murder. 

Jook by Glenn Marais and Todd Phillips – Jook is a story of the American Dream and the desire of a young black man, Isaiah Johnson, to make it in a world that doesn’t want a black man to succeed. In fact, he comes from a place of servitude, oppression and hatred of a level we can’t begin to fathom. Despite these incredible challenges and circumstances, Isaiah rises up and follows his path on the railway lines to Chicago, to the north, where the hopes and dreams of millions of blacks from the south resided and who followed that dream in the great migration. One of the greatest stories that has never been told.  

Isaiah Johnson was a gifted blues musician, with the voice of an angel, and the fire of a demon inside his tormented soul that desired a life bigger than the southern cage of a sharecropping plantation in Mississippi. He dreamed of Chicago, the glittering jewel to the north that had enticed his father who had made the journey in 1919. His father had a dream too, of blues music and a life free from the tyranny of racism. Chicago and the race riot in the summer of 1919 broke his father’s spirit in more ways than the bats and bottles that broke his body. He came home a bitter man full of fear and a brooding soul that brought that fear onto his family and in particular his son, Isaiah. When he realized that Isaiah had even more talent and desire than him, it became his mission to break him of it and free him from the pain he knew waited for him to the north. It became an obsession. Isaiah’s mother, Abigail, and girlfriend, Lorelei, felt the dream burn in him and heard the destiny in his playing and his angelic voice. His spirit soared far over the cotton fields, and they knew this place was too small for him and that leaving was the only path for him. He joined thousands of other blacks riding the Illinois Central chasing a dream of freedom and opportunity in the promised land of the north making his way to Chicago in 1947 with a suitcase, a guitar, and eyes full of wonder. He was part of the Great Migration, one of the most incredible migrations of humanity in human history, that changed the American music landscape forever, giving birth to rock n roll, jazz, rhythm and blues, and soul, and it all came from the rusted strings of a plantation dobro, a tormented singer, the voice of the people, the land, and an entire race oppressed and shackled by the cruelty of racism. Blues gave birth to it all and Isaiah could play it like no-one before him. 

The plantation owner, Jeb, was a cruel and viscous tyrant who terrorized Elijah’s family and friends, who struggled to make ends meet sharecropping, and his cruelty knew no bounds. There was no future in sharecropping and most times the workers ended up in debt to the landowners and their corrupt bookkeeping. There was no future, no hope, only a life of hardship and pain. After a horrific hanging of Isaiah’s beloved family friend, Boo, Isaiah knew it was time for him to go, and despite his father turning his back on him, he made his way north to make his mark and play his music that lived inside of him and enriched his soul. Chicago tested him in ways that would break a lesser man, and even a false accusation of murder, incarceration, and loss of everything he held dear, couldn’t stop Isaiah Johnson. When he returns home to the plantation of his childhood and is baptized again in the waters of the river on their land, he comes full circle and realizes that his greatest gift and strength, from which his music flows, is his family, and they live in him, around him, and through him. 

Isaiah’s story is an American one, one of families, fathers, young men, and their dreams that resonates all over the world no matter where you’re from. It is a story for the ages, that speaks even louder now amidst the backdrop of racism in the 21st century, that ugly hydra that just doesn’t seem to die. It is a story of hope, of living your dream and never giving up no matter how many times they tell you that you can’t do it. It is the story of the blues, the most powerful music in the world, whose hallowed notes, ancient stories, and tortured laments shook the world and changed it forever. It is Isaiah Johnson’s story, and you will cheer for him, like he was your own son, best friend, and dreamer on that long highway of opportunity, that we all seek to travel in pursuit of opportunity and the promise of hope. 

Lesser Demons by Dorothy Dittrich – Sylvia’s been demoted and spends her days working at a desk job, Morty’s career has lost its magic, David wants to play it safe, and Hannah is stuck. When Hannah agrees to a little weekend getaway to one of the Gulf Islands with her husband David, she has no idea what lies in wait. From past lives to deals with the devil, Lesser Demons takes a comic look at some serious subjects: family, love, work, creativity, forgiveness, spirituality, and a few demons like ambition and greed. This play delves into the importance of creativity – how it feeds and sustains our heart, mind, and body, and the consequences of ignoring the creative spirit. A Faustian tale told with a twist, Lesser Demons asks us to ponder – if we have a soul to sell, what are we doing to nurture it? 

Timepiece by Kico Gonzalez-Risso – A family of four tries to settle their estate planning. The kids want what’s best for the parents; the parents want to keep the kids happy. It only takes a lack of cooperation from one family member to throw the proceedings into chaos.  

Jessica’s Fine Adventure by Robert More – Meet Jessica Quartermaine. Seventy-one years old, elegant, conservative, always well presented. At nineteen she married her high school sweetheart, Harrison, who was a wonderful provider. Unfortunately, he also had little capacity for joie de vivre, and to make matters worse, Harrison died of a heart-attack at 53. At the play’s beginning, Jessica has been alone for nineteen years, and during this time she has felt more and more that life is passing her by. Finally, no longer willing to live with the “relentless predictability” and “sensual deprivation” of the past 51 years, she is determined to pursue a course of action that will take her life in a whole new direction. She is going to seek companionship of the male persuasion, and she is going to do this by posting an ad in the newspaper which reads: “Seeking Suitors Suitable for Amorous Possibilities.”

What follows is a hilarious and poignant journey of discovery as Jessica does meet three suitable suitors: a very experienced confident 65-year-old Italian fashion model; a completely inexperienced, very insecure 43-year-old librarian; and a 73-year-old Scots who has a joyous, larger than life personality. What follows is a journey of exploration full of twists and turns that leads Jessica to say at play’s end: “So, there it is. I have lived life to the fullest, known the delights of passion, the warmth of intimacy, and the sheer joy of being gloriously alive. For when all is said and done, my adventure truly was a fine one, and it taught me one very important thing. Always to remain open to – possibility.” 

For Now by Scott Button – From the outside, best pals Jacob and Bex may seem like an odd pairing: Jacob is queer and comes from a wealthy family, while Bex is straight and working class – yet they’ve navigated the minefield of high school together, venting about annoying boys and being passionate advocates for LGBTQ+ causes around their school. On the first day of Grade 12, Bex shares their journey with their gender identity with Jacob – and the world. Will this change Bex and Jacob’s friendship forever? Or maybe just for now?
For Now is a touching and funny new play for youth that explores issues of gender, sexuality, and privilege among two best friends. 

The Weight of Ants by David Paquet & Leanna Brodie – And the prize for the worst educational institution goes to: Joan and Olivier’s school! Wherever the students go, models with flawless skin, shiny hair, and perfect bodies are incessantly reminding them of their own shortcomings, even as the climate crisis, political corruption, and threats of nuclear Armageddon are nipping at their heels. When the headmaster proclaims a “Future Week” in a school with no future, both Olivier and Jeanne decide to run for the post of student president. But how do you keep fighting for everyone in a world where it seems that selfishness always comes out on top? 

Luna by Danielle Roy – Twelve-year-old Luna has just built a time machine in her dad’s garage with the intention of going back in time and unfreezing her mother – who is trapped in the past. Much to Luna’s surprise, the machine has other plans for her, taking her on an epic adventure to meet dinosaurs, a robot, and ultimately, herself. This play deals with grief, loss, depression, and the strength it takes to move forward. 

The Thin Place by Cole Hayley – The damage of resettlement to rural Newfoundland has been well documented, but the trauma felt within family units of those who had to go through the process, and the generational strain since, has not been as openly discussed. The Thin Place exists squarely in the latter, as Terra and her family are lost at sea in their saltbox house, where their one-hour trek across the bay has turned into a lazy river through purgatory. 

Vial by David Sklar – Sara, a professor and soon-to-be-mom, finds herself caught between loyalty to her profession and allegiance to her tribe. The play focuses on the rabbit hole that Jewish identity is, and the tensions and conflicts inherent in deciding who can call themselves Jewish. 

One Perfect Day | Un día perfecto by Margarita Valderrama – “One Perfect Day | Un día perfecto” is a play inspired by the soapy, drama-filled telenovelas of Central and South America. Alba and Evan think they’re getting the picture-perfect Colombian wedding but when the groom is swapped with an evil twin by a long-lost sister bent on revenge, the special day falls into chaos, testing the family’s strength. The play is full of humour and heart; it’s a joyous and mischievous marriage between Colombian wedding traditions, the telenovela genre, and the ceremony of attending the theatre. 

Desert Lily by Cass Iacovelli – Desert Lily is a play about four women and their interactions within a sexual assault support group. Through the play, we see them hold each other and build unbreakable bonds through and despite their trauma. They heal together through caring for one another.  

Iphigenia in Dreaming by Cassandra Marcus Davey – Tauris. The temple of Artemis. Iphigenia, displaced and freshly sacrificed, struggles to find a foothold as she shuttles between disparate times and places. Visions of her mother’s childhood, her aunt’s future, and the unraveling of her family weave through conversations with Artemis and life in Tauris. Iphigenia in Dreaming adapts the narrative of Iphigenia to reflect on family, memory, and the little kinds of love that are so deeply human. 

Greek Tragedy by Madeline Rossell – Greek Tragedy is a short musical retelling of the myth of Perseus and Medusa from a feminist lense. 

Lili Robinson

Nominated by Heidi Taylor: “I am pleased to nominate Lili Robinson for the John Palmer Award. Lili has worked with us on projects including the Fringe New Play Prize-winning Mx and the Vancouver Black Theatre Archival Initiative (VBTAI). As a spoken-word artist, actor, and playwright, they are a leader in the production of genre-breaking and community-generating work. As a producer and community leader, they are connecting the transformative power of theatre to folks who need it. They have established themselves as a critical partner in equity-building practices from the position of a working-class artist with no family or spousal resources to reduce the precarity of their economic reality. This award will have a practical impact on their ability to lead and develop their own work. …… Lili asks hard questions and sticks around to find answers. I hope this nomination brings national attention to their significant achievements, and practical support to further their goals. ”  

 Sangeeta Wylie

Nominated by Valerie Sing Turner: “I met Sangeeta in 2011 at Canada’s National Voice Intensive, when I was an alumnus in the Advanced program, and she was training as an actor. Since 2015, I’ve come to know the writer beyond the actor, and the person beyond the artist. Like many of the amazing women of colour in our sector who came before her, I see in Sangeeta an exciting creative voice of the next generation, bringing strength, determination, and imagination in harnessing the power of theatre as a vehicle for positive social change and disruption, while personally overcoming multiple systemic challenges. …….. While we the same gave voice to the harrowing experiences of the Vietnamese “boat people” crisis of the ‘70s, Sangeeta’s latest play dissects intersections of mental illness, abuse, and justice. Her work has the hallmarks of the kind of radical inclusivity required to achieve meaningful change across multiple generations and communities. ” 

Norm Foster (NB), playwright and actor – Nominated by Kristen Da Silva:

“Norm not only consistently writes stories featuring women and creates roles for women of all ages, he also devotes a great deal of time and energy to mentoring women playwrights and advocating for them. He has championed a number of emerging writers, providing writing and business advice and support, and helping them make key industry connections. He is an outstanding example of using personal influence to raise women up and is very deserving of being recognized with this award.”

Learn more about Norm Foster HERE.

Lisa O’Connell (ON), Artistic Director of Pat the Dog Theatre Creation – Nominated by Jessie Bergeron:

“In my eyes, no one deserves the Bra d’Or Award more than Lisa O’Connell. A writer herself, she has long since put her own artistic pursuits on the back burner to work tirelessly in support of women playwrights. Lisa is the founder and Artistic Director of Pat the Dog Theatre Centre, a catalyst for new play development. Although she works with playwrights of all genders, she dedicates an incredible amount of time and energy to supporting female-presenting and identifying artists. In 2013, she launched the PlaySmelter Festival, which has featured a number of notable women playwrights throughout the years. GG award-winning playwright Colleen Murphy has been a part of the festival, as has Kristin Shepherd, Michaela Jeffery, Taylor Marie Graham, Miriam Cusson, and Patti Flather to name just a few. In 2015, she was on the steering committee of the Equity in Theatre Initiative, which sought to address the underrepresentation of women in theatre. She created the Womxn’s Room in 2016 to give femme creators a space to share and develop their stories. This project led to a collaboration with the Lyth Arts Centre in North Scotland where they have created their own iteration of the Womxn’s Room. In 2018, she created Regional Women Lead: A Grassroots Approach to Gender Parity for Women in Theatre. Then, in 2019, she launched Femme Folks Fest, a new multidisciplinary festival dedicated to and in celebration of women-identified and presenting artists. On a personal level, she has supported me as an emerging playwright with a level of dedication that leaves me speechless. She deserves to be recognized for the work she has done and continues to do to in the name of women theatre artists.”

Learn more about Lisa O’Connell HERE.

Marianne Sawchuck (ON), Founder and Producer of Women at Play(s) – Nominated by Shannon Patte:

“Marianne Sawchuk is the creator and producer of Women at Play(s), a festival of short one-act plays written, directed, and acted by women identifying playwrights, directors, and actors. Marianne recognizes the need for women’s voices to be heard and not only seeks out those opportunities, but when she does not find them, creates them herself. Women at Play (s) has been performed in both Vancouver and Toronto and has just finished its 5th year of inspiring and supporting female identifying playwrights and artists and providing them an opportunity to tell their stories and allow their voices to be heard. She has created a rich, warm, and inspiring environment for artists, one that welcomes into the fold even the most inexperienced of writers. Marianne pushes boundaries, by encouraging varying types of theatre, including Traditional Indigenous Storytelling. She endeavors to include stories that would be meaningful for varied audiences of all ages and genders. Marianne Sawchuk encapsulates what the Bra d’Or Award celebrates.

Learn more about Marianne Sawchuk HERE.

Donna Spencer (BC), Co-Founder and Artistic Producer of The Firehall Arts Centre – Nominated by Lucia Frangione

“Donna Spencer is a long standing humble unsung hero in Vancouver. With the Firehall Arts Centre’s 40th year anniversary I think it would be fitting to acknowledge Donna’s specific dedication to female identifying playwrights during her long AD-ship. She has premiered many new plays by women, in the last three years alone: Sally Stubb’s Our Ghosts, Elaine Avila’s Fado, The Amaryllis by Michelle Riml, Talking Sex on Sunday by Sara Jean Hosie, and House and Home by Jen Griffin. Some of my favourite other productions she has done by female identifying playwrights have been Wawatay by Penny Gummerson, The Yoko Ono Project by Jean Yoon, The Unnatural and Accidental Women by Marie Clements and Je me Souviens by Lorena Gale.”

Learn more about Donna Spencer HERE.

CHAIR – Daniel MacIvor (he/him) is a playwright, performer, filmmaker and producer who divides his time between Toronto and Nova Scotia.   He has been the recipient of a Governor General’s Literary Award, the Siminovitch Prize for Theatre, a New York Obie Award and a GLAAD Award.  His plays include Never Swim Alone, In On It, His Greatness and A Beautiful View and have been translated into French, German, Czech, Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese.  He has worked on commissions for the Wexner Centre at the University of Ohio, the National Theatre School of Canada, the Stratford Festival and the Canadian Opera Company where he wrote the libretto for Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian. His most fruitful partnership has been with director Daniel Brooks with whom he has created seven solo performances for international touring. As a screenwriter he has written the films Marion Bridge, Wilby Wonderful, Trigger, and Weirdos for which he won a Canadian Screen Award for best original screenplay, and last year he directed his first documentary feature The Work.   Most recently with Marcie Januska Daniel has been running Toronto-based reWork Productions developing new theatre and media.    

Grace Chin  Based in Vancouver, BC, Grace Chin writes, edits, produces, and acts. She co-founded the Pan-Asian Staged Reading Society; is General Manager, Ruby Slippers Theatre; is a board member, Vancouver Short Film Festival; and is Executive Director, Crazy8s Film Society. A member of the PGC and UBCP/ACTRA, she was commissioned to write and perform A Funny Thing Happened On My Way to Canada for SEACHS/Rumble Theatre, and subsequently workshopped it with vAct MSG Lab and Ruby Slippers Theatre’s Advance Theatre Festival. AFTH was part of the 2023 rEvolver Festival, and will be part of STAND Festival this fall. Her one-act play The Eulogy was workshopped in translation in Tokyo, Japan, resulting in a playwriting commission from ARC Works. A co-written feature screenplay, BollyCop, was optioned by Massey Productions. As a performer, Grace has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, E!, Showcase, Hallmark, Lifetime, Freeform, CBC, Netflix, and AppleTV+. Grace is googleable.  

Hope McIntyre is an award winning playwright and director. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Winnipeg Department of Theatre and Film. Her training includes a BFA in performance from the University of Saskatchewan and an MFA in directing from the University of Victoria. She was the founding Artistic Director of Sarasvàti Productions, a company dedicated to social change that she helmed for 22 years. During this tenure she developed multiple new theatrical works, produced an annual festival, worked as a dramaturg for emerging playwrights, and developed community-based play creation methods. Since leaving the company in 2020 she has focused on her own work as a playwright. She has received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, the Bra D’Or, the Women Helping Women Award, and Mahatma Gandhi Social Change Award for her work supporting community. She is also a former President of the Playwrights Guild of Canada.

CHAIR – Alexandra Kane is a performing artist, music director, producer, equity transformation coach and activist. Alex holds a B.Mus A (Piano) from Western University, a graduate certificate in Corporate Communications and Public Relations from Fanshawe and a graduate certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. Credits include music director YES! Theatre’s Ride the Cyclone, Hunchback of Norte Dame (AK Arts Academy), One Song Glory (Musical Stage Company), Comfort and Joy, Finding Black Joy and Home for the Holidays, Elf the Musical and Controlled Damage (Grand Theatre), music instructor for ROOM (Mirvish). Event production works include executive producer for the Forrest City London Music Awards. Television production and composition includes Fracture, Nova:Prime and Shelter and upcoming Black is Beautiful (Black London Network).   

Dorothy Dittrich is an award-winning playwright, musical director, sound designer, and composer. She is the proud recipient of The Governor General’s Award for her play, The Piano Teacher. An Arts Club Theatre Silver Commission, The Piano Teacher also won a Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script. Other of Dorothy’s plays include The Dissociates, Lesser Demons, Two Part Invention, If the Moon Falls and current work in progress Family Channel. Her musical When We Were Singing has been produced across Canada from The Belfry, Touchstone Theatre, to Buddies in Bad Times, The National Arts Centre, as well as in the U.S. It was workshopped and presented as a staged sing-through at Manhattan Theatre Club in New York. 

Dorothy’s work – including sound design and musical direction – has garnered her a number of nominations and Jessie Awards, a Betty Mitchell Award, and nominations for the Dora Mavor Moore award. She is the recipient of the Sydney J. Risk Award for Emerging Playwright. 

Originally a Vancouver resident, Dorothy has recently moved to Vancouver Island where she continues to write and play music. 

Arkady Spivak was recently cited as a 2020 Canadian Arts Hero by the Globe and Mail. He founded Talk Is Free Theatre in 2003, which tackles the cross-section of repertoire, in traditional and immersive mediums. Since TIFT’s founding, Spivak produced 145 works in Barrie, Canada, and toured nationally and internationally. TIFT won prestigious Dora Awards for its productions of Sweeney Todd and Assassins. In the fall of 2018, Spivak produced the largest theatre experience in the world, entitled The Curious Voyage. It was the 3-day long journey, in which each patron became the protagonist of their own story, and was transported, quite literally, from Barrie and London, UK. Commissioned by the National Arts Centre, TIFT’s COVID artistic response was an imaginary wedding, Something Bubbled Something Blue, in which the party wore human size rideable balls over their formal attires. The work has been viewed on Facebook over 2,000,000 times.

Spivak has served, a number of times, as a Juror for the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and for Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program. Spivak is a volunteer mentor for Business and the Arts, working with a number of emerging and small-scale organizations. He’s a recipient of the inaugural Barrie Arts Award and a Contribution to Tourism Award.

For the past 20 years, Spivak has mentored a number of emerging artistic leaders. He has also initiated a number of special initiatives with the goal of strengthening the theatre ecology, such as the recent Artist BIG. This first-of-its-kind initiative for independent artists in Canada, it has offered minimum Basic Income Guarantee to 40 artists for three years.

CHAIR- Marty Chan writes plays for adults, books for kids, and social media posts for fun. He’s best known for his hit comedy, Mom, Dad, I’m Living with a White Girl and his thriller The Bone House. Marty works and lives in Edmonton with his wife Michelle and their two cats.

Leahdawn Helena (she/they/nekm) Leahdawn was born and raised on the west coast of Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). Trained as an actor, director, and dramaturge, their first love has always been writing, which they consider a form of magic – why else would it be called “spelling”? Their first full screenplay, Ruthless, was selected for a Newfoundland Arts and Letters prize in 2020, which explored family dynamics, substance abuse, and the limits of love. In 2021 they directed Petrina Bromley in Elizabeth Hicks’ one-woman short, Hearty at Eighty, and performed at the 2021 Stephenville Theatre Festival in Meghan Greeley’s To the Girls. Their most recent play, Stolen Sisters, premiered in 2022, is historically grounded in the colonial experiences of Beothuk and Mi’kmaw women and girls, and has toured across Ktaqmkuk. Most recently they performed Jude Benoit’s Not Worth Caring For as part of TODOS’ Confronting Unconscious Bias film series. They work as a freelance Indigenous Sociocultural Consultant for the St John’s and Avalon Arts
community, working with Artistic Fraud, St John’s Shorts, Persistence Theatre, and the Cupids Legacy Project, among others. L’nuit. Tleiawit Nujio’qonik. (They are L’nu. They have family origins in St George’s Bay.

Jani Lauzon –  is a 10 time Dora Mavor Moore nominated actress/writer/director, a three time Juno nominated singer/songwriter and a Gemini Award winning puppeteer. Her company Paper Canoe Projects was created to support the production of her own work including: A Side of Dreams, I Call myself Princess, and Prophecy Fog (which will be presented at The Coal Mine Theatre in November). She has been a Playwright in Resident at Cahoots Theatre Projects, Factory Theatre, The Tracey Wright Global Archive at the Theatre Centre, Nightswimming, U of T’s Barker Fairly Distinguished Writer-in-Residence Fellowship and was the Senior Playwright in Residence at the Banff Playwright Colony in Banff, April 2015. Recently she co-wrote 1939 with Kaitlyn Riordan which premiered at the Stratford Festival in 2022. 

CHAIR – Emil Sher’s  stage work for the young and the once-were young include Mourning Dove, Sanctuary, Bluenose, Derailed, Beneath the Banyan Tree, The Book of Ashes and acclaimed adaptations of Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine and Ian Brown’s The Boy in the Moon.  Emil wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics (with composer Jonathan Monro) for the musical theatre adaptation of Roch Carrier’s The Hockey Sweater, which played to full houses at the NAC. The Crow’s Theatre staging of The Boy in the Moon was selected as one of the top ten productions of 2017 by The Globe and Mail, nominated for a 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, and selected by Robert Cushman as one of his Personal Bests from a Decade of Theatre (2010-2019). 

Sarah Flynn (she/her) is a performer and playwright born and raised in Winnipeg MB, Treaty 1 territory. She is currently the Artistic Associate at Manitoba Theatre for Young People. Sarah studied at the University of Winnipeg, is a self-taught puppeteer, became a Baby Clown at the Clown Farm, and has trained in Suzuki technique with SITI Company. Sarah has performed in theatres, schools and community centres across Winnipeg, the Manitoba Interlake, and Italy. Sarah won The Harry S. Rintoul Award for Best New Manitoba Play at the 2022 Winnipeg Fringe Festival with her play Whatever Happens After?. Sarah enjoys frolicking in forests, lighting things on fire, and playing with her food. 

Gail Nyoka is a BC-based playwright and oral storyteller who enjoys writing and telling stories for both adult and young audiences.   

Her plays have been performed in theatres in Ontario, Quebec and Ohio and she has taken her storytelling performances to Britain, the USA and Canada. She has recorded stories for Young Peoples’ Theatre Storyteller Series, and her audio play, Love and Ecstasy is streaming on Playwrights Local in Cleveland.   Her TYA productions include, King of the Animals, and The Oba Asks for a Mountain, for Talespinner Children’s Theatre in Cleveland.  Other works are Chalmers Award winner, Mella Mella, and plays written for adults, In Plain Sight, and The Waters.   Gail is currently working on a theatrical/dance hybrid, Zep Tepi. 

CHAIR – Jacob Zimmer creates uncommon performances and experiences. In 2017, he moved to Whitehorse as the Artistic Director of Nakai Theatre. As the founder of Small Wooden Shoe he has been independently producing and creating work through collaboration and improvisation for over 10 years. Highlights include Dedicated to the Revolutions (Toronto, Calgary, Halifax, Kitchener-Waterloo), Perhaps in a Hundred Years (Toronto, Montreal, Halifax), Life of Galileo (for Tracy Wright, Convocation Hall), Upper Toronto (Toronto Public Library, PARC etc…) and Antigone Dead People (Toronto, Tokyo). Jacob worked in dance as a dramaturge with Dancemakers and with choreographer Ame Henderson/Public Recordings. He also designs processes and facilitates learning and engagement in the arts and other fields. Jacob holds a BFA (Theatre) from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts and received the 2008 Ken McDougall Award for emerging directors. He is currently enrolled in UBC’s MFA Theatre Directing (2024) 

Jennifer Brewin joined Regina’s Globe Theatre as it’s 5th Artistic Director in 2020.  Prior to the move to Saskatchewan she was the Co-Artistic Director of Toronto’s Common Boots Theatre and before that, Co-Artistic Director of B.C.’s Caravan Farm Theatre. She has staged large-scale works for outdoor stages across the country, including Ottawa’s National Arts Centre – English Theatre, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France, the Caravan Farm Theatre, and six outdoor winter walking shows in Toronto at Evergreen Brick Works and Christie Pits Park.   She has directed premiers of new plays by Marjorie Chan, George F. Walker, Natasha Greenblatt, Martha Ross, Michelle Riml, and Haley McGee.   As a writer she co-authored a number of collective creations including, The Election, The Public Servant, and The Attic, the Pearls and 3 Fine Girls,  all for Common Boots Theatre.   She is the recipient of a Dora Mavor Moore Award, a Jessie Award, and The Armstrong Award of Excellence (with Estelle Shook).   

 Ashley King is a Mexican-Canadian, legally blind actor, playwright, and accessibility consultant based in Mohkinstsis. As an emerging artist, she is a graduate of Company of Rogues Actors’ Studio, having completed their Master Class actor training program. As the Artistic Associate at Inside Out Theatre, a leading Deaf and Disability theatre company, she works to improving accessibility and promoting inclusion in Canadian theatre. Ashley completed Chromatic Theatre’s IBPOC Playright’s Unit in 2023 and is programmed to debut her autobiographical performance “Static” in Fall 2024 (Chromatic Theatre & Inside Out Theatre). 

CHAIR – Sarena Parmar is a playwright and actor. Originally from Kelowna BC, she is now based in Toronto. 

Her first full-length play, The Orchard (After Chekhov) premiered at the Shaw Festival and went on to a second production at the Arts Club Theatre. Her plays have been developed by Cahoots Theatre, Soulpepper, and Diaspora Dialogues. Sarena was also a participant of the Stratford Playwright’s Retreat. Currently Sarena has plays in development with Tarragon Theatre and Theatre Northwest.   Sarena was selected for the inaugural HotDoc’s Podcast Bootcamp. Now she is working on her first “Play Companion Podcast” for her newest play, Hunger.  

As an actor, Sarena has performed with theatre companies across Canada, including the Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, and Bard on the Beach. On TV, Sarena appears in Pretty Hard Cases (CBC) and the upcoming season of Skymed (Paramount +). Sarena is an acting graduate of the National Theatre School and Birmingham Conservatory of Classical Theatre (Stratford Festival) 

Vishesh Abeyratne is a first-generation Sri Lankan-Canadian playwright, dramaturg, and storyteller who divides his time between Ottawa and Montreal. He recently served as playwright-in-residence at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, where he also works in the box office. He also works as Literary Manager for Teesri Duniya Theatre in Montreal, where he coordinates the Fireworks Playwrights’ Mentorship Program. His plays include The Agony Market, A Fabric of Destiny, Blood Offering, White Lion, Brown Tiger, and Exposure. 

Jade Silman (she/her) is a theatre creator, director, and dramaturg who foregrounds collaboration, equity, and passion in all her work. She is currently the New Work Development Coordinator at Canadian Stage, and the Communication Manager and Write From the Hip Program Associate at Nightwood Theatre. Striving to be a well-rounded artistic leader, Jade is grateful to have trained through York University, Toronto Fringe Festival’s TENT program, Nightwood Innovators Program, and Theatre Gargantua’s Emerging Artists Roundtable. She is impassioned about helping emerging artists through her with with Next Generation Showcase and now the Robert Beardsley Award. Every congratulations to all of the Tom Hendry Award nominees and winners!