Anika Dowsett is a playwright, theatre educator, and drag artist (Petty Davis). They are currently developing their play Tad and Birdy with Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP) with support from YPT’s Leaps and Bounds National TYA Play Creation Initiative. As a member of MAP and PTE’s Playwrights Unit Anika is developing the tragicomedy The Wholesome Family.

Anika loves being the safe queer adult that they needed as a kid.

Sabrina began making theatre for all ages as a child. Many years later they became a professional theatre artist and have worked with companies such as Geordie Theatre in Montreal QC to Kaleidoscope Theatre in Victoria BC, on shows including From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea, Little Women, Bluenose, Alice in Wonderland, and Animal Farm. This is their first published script.

Writer, director, dramaturg and actor, Mieko works in both adult theatre and TYA. Her plays have been translated into six languages, read in NY, Moscow and London and been finalists for a Governor General’s Award, the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award, the City of Edmonton Book Prize and recognized with the Carol Bolt Prize and the Enbridge Award for Established Canadian Playwright. Mieko is Associate Artistic Director at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton.

Luke is one of Toronto’s most decorated slam poets, becoming the Toronto Poetry Slam (TPS) Grand Champion in 2017, winning the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word as the captain of the TPS team and then again in 2018 as the team coach. In 2018 he placed 2nd in Canada individually which earned him a spot representing the country at the 2019 World Cup of Poetry Slam in Paris France where he placed 4th. He continues to give back to the Toronto Spoken Word scene as a board member for the Toronto Poetry Project. In the spring of 2020 Luke was  featured performing for former Toronto Raptor and NBA Champion Serge Ibaka on his Instagram Talent Show. His body of work also includes a radio play, animated short, and a praised short film featured on CBC titled ‘Notice’.

Barry Bilinsky (he/him) is an Indigenous Artist from Edmonton, Alberta of Metis, Cree, and Ukrainian lineage. Primarily a professional theatre and film director, Barry pursues work focused on the support, proliferation, and creation of indigenous stories often linked to the cultural intersections he embodies. Working in technical as well as artistic roles, Barry believes that collaboration is vital to healthy, exciting, and fun performance art.

Brianne Tucker is a Métis performer who resides in Tkaronto (Toronto). She has performed on stage in Canada, the US and the UK. Other works include You’re Sad, So I’m Here for Roseneath Theatre. You can hear her narrating multiple books such as The Rigged Race: A Muskrat’s Mystery, Indigenous Writes and This House is not a Home. She is currently working on writing a Christmas themed farce for the stage.

athena kaitlin trinh is a queer, Chinese-Vietnamese, Dora nominated actor, writer, and spoken-word poet. With roots stemming from Viet Nam, Toronto, and Southern China, athena celebrates and dedicates herself to diverse, intersectional, and inclusionary art-making. athena was the 2021 recipient of the Jon Kaplan Award for Young Canadian Playwright. For more information, please visit her website at www.athenakaitlintrinh.com.

Brenda is a 45-year veteran actor, director, writer and producer. She has created roles in major theatres across Canada. As an advocate of non–mainstream performers and creators she is recognized by CAEA, ACTRA and the theatre community for this work. She is fairly new to playwriting, AT THE END OF THE DAY having won awards at Toronto’s first digital fringe festival.

Kay Komizara is a Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) based, theatre creator, designer, improviser, writer, and director who has been producing shows since 2013. In 2018 Kay began to transfer her theatre developed talents to the digital stage of video game development to become a narrative designer. She draws inspiration from anarchism, Daoism and cybernetics with the goal to create effective stories that inspire others to create their own. 

Ellen’s most recent play None of This is Happening was produced in 2022 by Theatre Projects Manitoba. Other plays include: Sense and Sensibility (RMTC), The Brink (PTE), and The Eight Tiny Reindeer of the Apocalypse. As an actor Ellen has appeared on most of Manitoba’s stages. She’s a dramaturg with the Manitoba Association of Playwrights, and Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre. She teaches at Manitoba Theatre for Young People Theatre School.

Aaron Jan is Toronto-based playwright, director and dramaturg. He has worked as a creator with theatre companies from across Canada and is the 2019 winner of the Ken McDougall directing award, a 2021 Johanna Protege Recipient, and the 2022 winner of Tarragon Theatre’s Urjo Kareda Award. In 2024, Aaron will be the Casting Associate at the Stratford Festival and will be carrying a 3 pound container of sesame seeds wherever he goes.

Omari Newton is an award-winning professional actor, writer, director, and Head of The Acting Department at The Vancouver Film School. A graduate of Concordia University’s communication studies program, he was recently named one of the school’s 50 Under 50 Shaping tomorrow. He has received critical acclaim for his plays Sal Capone and Redbone Coonhound (with Amy Lee Lavoie).

Tai Amy Grauman (MFA) is Métis Cree from Ardrossan, Alberta.  She was recently elected in September 2023 as the Metis Nation of Alberta’s first Provincial Women’s Representative. Tai recieved her MFA from the U of A this in ‘Metis women’s love stories’.  Her play ‘You used to call me Marie…’ will be at the Cultch in Vancouver in April of 2024 and the National Arts Centre’s Indigenous Theatre in June 2024.  

Spencer Stutman (he/him) is a queer writer and aspiring actor, who emphasizes friendships and connection in his work. His writing aims to explore relationships that we build, and how that translates into different performances. Through his participation in a 2SLGBTQIA+ playwriting group in Tio’tià:ke at the National Theatre School, and working with Geordie Theatre School, Spencer has worked to link his reflective process to his written work.

Michael Kras (he/him) is a playwright, director, actor, and magician from Hamilton, Ontario. His plays include the Voaden Prize-winning The Team, No Big Deal, The Year and Two of Us Back Here, and rip it out of my THROAT. He has worked with companies including Theatre Aquarius, Roseneath Theatre, Essential Collective Theatre, Mirvish Productions, Caravan Farm Theatre, and Maltz Jupiter Theatre.

Nova Courchene is a multi-passionate Anishinaabekwe. She is the Co-Director of Native Youth Theatre, an Anishinaabemowin Language Learner, a Visual/Graphic Design/Mural Artist, emerging Writer, and Outreach Drama Educator dedicated to making theatre accessible to Indigenous communities and youth. Her mother is from Rolling River First Nation and her father is from Sagkeeng First Nation. She is currently located in Winnipeg, MB.