Claire Love Wilson (she/they) is queer white/Scottish settler multidisciplinary artist residing on the ancestral and unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) First Nations. She works as a theatre-maker, actor, playwright, singer-songwriter, and creative producer.


Claire has been featured as a creator and performer at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the rEvolver festival, The Shift Festival, and Theatre Under the Gun in collaboration with companies like The Only Animal, Urban Ink, the frank theatre, Aphotic Theatre and ITSAZOO Theatre. Claire has also facilitated workshops on her personal loop- based performance practice “Song-Walking” locally and internationally. Claire is the co- creator, lead performer and co-producer of the experimental musical “Morag, You’re a Long Time Deid” (MORAG), which works to queer traditional Scottish ballads through loop-based soundscaping and storytelling. As a work in development MORAG has been showcased at the National Theatre of Scotland, The Scottish Storytelling Centre and at PushOff! in Vancouver. The production premiered as part of Touchstone Theatre’s 45th anniversary season in June 2022. MORAG had its UK premiere at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured various venues across Scotland, Ireland and England.

Most recently, Claire worked as an actor and associate producer with ITSAZOO and Aphotic Theatre on the immersive theatre experience, “The Cafe”, and is excited to remount the show as part of the 2023 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

https://clairelovewilson.com/

Kyla Gardiner (She/They) grew up in and around Theatre. After graduating secondary school, where they were their high-school theatre company’s Student Technical Director, they did a BA in Theatre at UBC. After that, Kyla worked professionally as a lighting designer, set and costume designer, technical director, stage manager, and production manager for a variety of companies, venues, festivals, and artists. They also worked with secondary school Drama programs, training the students on the school’s technical equipment and sharing professional practices to help them accomplish successful productions safely.
In 2016 Kyla earned an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies at Simon Fraser University. They are now an Associate Professor at SFU in the Performance Production & Design Program, and they continue to freelance and create interdisciplinary works.
In general, Kyla is a fan of students getting to do fun artwork safely. Kyla lives and works on the unceded territories of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and K’ómoks Nations.

https://www.kylagardiner.com/

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival serves the community all year-round through Bard Education. With programs for schools, youth, and adults, we celebrate individual identity while nurturing compassion and collaboration through active exploration of Shakespeare's language, characters, and stories.

https://bardonthebeach.org/education/meet-the-bard-education-team/

Linnea is a Black–mixed race interdisciplinary artist whose passion for the arts began the moment she could hold a pencil. Since then, she has never stopped creating, building a career that spans stage management, lighting design, and artistic administration. A 2018 graduate of Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts (BFA in Production and Design), she focused her studies on contemporary adaptations of Greek theatre. After graduating, Linnea apprenticed at Pacific Theatre while working as a professional stage manager. In December 2020, she became Pacific Theatre’s Company Manager, where she produced, developed outreach programming, and deepened her leadership skills.

In July 2023, Linnea joined Presentation House Theatre as Development Associate. She now serves as Operations Manager, overseeing educational programming—including Black History Matters. Through this program, she brings together her love of theatre history, teaching, and artistic outreach to inspire more inclusive and engaging conversations in the arts.

https://www.phtheatre.org/

Steve has been involved in lighting for the entertainment industry in Vancouver, BC for nearly 30 years. With a primary focus on corporate events, he has also designed and supplied lighting for concerts, festivals, weddings, conferences, trade shows, experiential branding, theatrical productions, TV & Film, and much more.

http://www.innovationlighting.net

Stephen Atkins (PhD) is an actor, acting teacher and director who leads workshops and teacher training in Crosspoints across the UK, EU, USA, and Australia. His work blends psychophysical training from multiple sources, improvisation, and performance theory to support actors in building intuitive, relational scores for stage and screen, devised work, and contemporary text. Engaging with traditional and experimental practices and anchored in a strong focus on intercultural, queer+ and inclusive approaches to training, Stephen is committed to developing new tools for actors, directors and teachers, such as Crosspoints.

https://www.stephenatkins.com/

Peter composes, directs, teaches, improvises, and performs all over Metro Vancouver. Find him at the BMO for the Arts Club Broadway Open Mic Nights! Favourite productions include Something Rotten, Matilda, Legally Blonde, and The Little Mermaid (TUTS), a special charity concert of Dear Evan Hansen (Laughing Matters Theatre), 9 to 5 (Capilano University), and the Fringe hit, Amélie (West Moon Theatre). Most recently, MD for Mary Poppins (RCMT), and James and the Giant Peach (CTORA)! Peter has attended Chicago's Second City Training Center and frequently attends the Broadway Teachers Workshops in New York City. Peter was just in residence at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity at the end of 2025, developing an original Filipino-Canadian musical with Kimmortal and Davey Samuel Calderon.

Lori Triolo is an award-winning actor, director, producer, coach, mentor, and master teacher with more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry. Born and raised in New York, she has worked extensively across stage and screen in New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Nashville, and throughout North America.

Lori trained with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and was granted permission to teach the Meisner Technique upon graduation. She is also a certified teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and served on the faculty of The Neighborhood Playhouse, where she introduced Fitzmaurice Voicework® to the conservatory program. As the Canadian Representative for The Neighborhood Playhouse for 15 years, she interviewed prospective students for admission to its prestigious conservatory.

Lori has taught at conservatories, universities, and private studios across North America. She is the creator of FitzMeisner®, an embodied approach that integrates the principles of Meisner Technique with Fitzmaurice Voicework®, and The Art of Awareness, a holistic approach to authentic communication and artistic expression.

Her extensive professional career includes more than 60 film and television credits, as well as acclaimed theatre performances and directing credits in New York, Vancouver, and Nashville. She has received Jessie Award and Leo Award nominations and was honored with Women in Film’s Leadership in Education Award.

Beyond her artistic work, Lori has founded and supported numerous organizations and initiatives dedicated to developing artists and strengthening creative communities. She continues to teach, direct, coach, and mentor artists across North America.

http://www.loritriolo.com/

Sarah Nixey is a senior marketing and communications strategist with over 20 years' experience in corporate communications, television, public relations, and independent theatre and film. She currently serves as Senior Communications Manager for the Vancouver Convention Centre and is a former head writer and story producer for You Gotta Eat Here! on the Food Network. Sarah is a graduate of SFU's School of Communication, a proud SD43 alum who now volunteers with SD43 theatre programs, and a former Studio 58 student who credits her theatre background with shaping her instincts as a communicator. She lives in Port Moody with her daughter, a grade ten student in SD43.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-nixey/

Peter composes, directs, teaches, improvises, and performs all over Metro Vancouver. Find him at the BMO for the Arts Club Broadway Open Mic Nights! Favourite productions include Something Rotten, Matilda, Legally Blonde, and The Little Mermaid (TUTS), a special charity concert of Dear Evan Hansen (Laughing Matters Theatre), 9 to 5 (Capilano University), and the Fringe hit, Amélie (West Moon Theatre). Most recently, MD for Mary Poppins (RCMT), and James and the Giant Peach (CTORA)! Peter has attended Chicago's Second City Training Center and frequently attends the Broadway Teachers Workshops in New York City. Peter was just in residence at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity at the end of 2025, developing an original Filipino-Canadian musical with Kimmortal and Davey Samuel Calderon.

Brent Hirose is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Vancouver, BC. He is the current artistic director of The Spontaneous Shakespeare Company, and has performed and taught all over North America. He currently teaches improv through Improv for Work and Wellness, Tightrope Impro Theatre and Vancouver Film School.

https://www.spontaneousshakespeare.com/

Carole Miller, University of Victoria professor emeritus, taught and continues to mentor pre-service students, exploring pedagogies that engender competent and comfortable classroom teachers. Her collaborative work with Juliana Saxton (deceased) extended over thirty wonderful years and developed into a very special friendship. Co-authors of Into the Story: Language in Action through Drama and Into the Story 2: More Stories! More Drama!, their latest text (2018), Asking Better Questions: Teaching and Learning for a Changing World with Linda Laidlaw and Joanne O’Mara, encourages teachers, facilitators and students to assume a deeper ownership of their learning. I’m grateful to have had a rich career in education - to discover the potential of the arts to affect learners in myriad ways.

https://www.intellectbooks.com/carole-miller

Sara trained as an actor at Studio 58 and she has a Master’s Degree in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London .

You might have heard about her because in 2000 she created the website www.TeenAngstPoetry.com: a comedic database of horrible poems people wrote when they were teenagers. The endeavor spun into hosting Teen Angst Nights where brave adults share their embarrassing teenage poetry, journals, songs, letters and more. Then she edited an anthology Teen Angst: A Celebration of REALLY BAD Poetry published by St. Martin’s Press, 2005.

Teen Angst Night has been called ‘Bloody Hilarious’ (ION Magazine). Teen Angst Night has taken Sara to the UK for the Latitude Festival, to the USA to perform at Bumbershoot and was also featured at the High Performance Rodeo and several times at Just For Laughs VANCOUVER.

http://www.sarabynoe.com

Catherine (Cat) Lough Haggquist is an actor, educator, and creative industry advocate with over 160 film and television credits. She's best known for playing General Petra Bellweather on Disney+'s Motherland: Fort Salem, with additional roles in Tracker, Fire Country, Continuum, and many other productions.

As owner and Creative Director of The Drama Class, Cat develops actor-focused workshops built on her 4Cs framework: Creativity, Craft, Commerce, and Communication. She's also a certified instructor of the Streamlining: Line Learning Technique, a method she considers integral to her own performance preparation.

Beyond acting and teaching, Cat founded BizBooks.net, a curated resource for film, television, and theatre professionals, and serves on the board of the Writers Collective of Canada, where she facilitates community writing workshops helping writers develop their authentic voice.

She frequently contributes as a panelist and adjudicator, including for the Artist 2 Artist Casting Director Showcase, where she supports emerging actors as they refine their craft and build industry connections.

A dedicated advocate for performers, Cat has held executive leadership roles with the Union of BC Performers and ACTRA. Her contributions have been recognized with a UBCP/ACTRA Life Membership and the Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award.

Through her ongoing work as an actor, teacher, and mentor, Cat is committed to helping others succeed in their creative careers with skill, confidence, and heart.

Susan Bertoia is a professional theatre artist, performer, director, devisor, writer, a passionate drama teacher AND a mom to three amazing humans.

Susan’s invigorating artistic style with specialization in physical theatre and mask performance make her a well sought-out teaching artist and performer throughout Canada. Her work transposes the poetry of life into the comedic and dramatic moments for the stage.

She is Adjunct Professor at UBC teaching acting and mask performance and has performed at many venues including: PuSh International Festival, Arts Club Theatre, Western Canada Theatre, Firehall Theatre and Richmond Gateway Theatre. Susan also directs multi platformed shows ranging from youth engaged theatre to professional ensemble productions.

She holds a BFA in Theatre Acting from UBC as well has trained abroad at schools that specialize in Italian mask theatre (Ill Piccolo Teatro di Milan and Donato Sartori International Mask Workshop). She has trained in physical devised theatre with One Yellow Rabbit and with Jeremy James of UK’s Frantic Assembly.

http://www.susanbertoia.ca

Missy is an actor, director, and theatre producer. She sings in a touring blues rock band called Wooden Horsemen and spearheads her own company Mindful Actor Workshops. A VFS alumna, she has taught camera, voice, singing, and has also directed student work.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2345715/

JAMES LONG is a director, actor, writer and teacher whose creative practice occurs in a wide variety of interdisciplinary and collaborative contexts, including as a founding Artistic Director of Theatre Replacement (2003-2022) and as an independent artist working in live performance, community engaged practice and public art.

James’s work has been presented across North America, Europe and Asia and includes (in no intended order) Weetube, Footnote Number 12, Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut, Town Criers, BioBoxes: Artifacting Human Experience, King Arthur’s Knight, How to Disappear Completely, Morko, Winners and Losers and others. In 2019, he and Maiko Yamamoto were awarded the Siminovitch prize for their work at Theatre Replacement and as freelance artists, and in 2016 he and Marcus Youssef were nominated for a Governor General’s Award for playwriting for Winners and Losers.

Long graduated from Simon Fraser University’s Theatre Program in 2000 and received a Master’s in Urban Studies in 2018. He serves as the vice-president of the organization that stewards Vancouver’s Russian Hall, a multi-purpose performance and gathering space, and is an assistant professor in Theatre and Performance at SFU’s School of Contemporary Arts.

https://www.sfu.ca/fcat/news/featured-alum/past-featured-alumni/alumni/maiko-yamamoto-and-james-long.html

Dr. Sasha Kovacs is an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Victoria, where her research and creative practice centre on performance histories on the lands now known as Canada. Her work investigates how archival materials, oral histories, and community knowledge can be activated through performance to illuminate underrepresented histories. She is co‑director of Gatherings: Archival and Oral Histories of Performance, a national SSHRC partnership project dedicated to amplifying marginalized performance practices. Sasha’s scholarship appears in Performance Research, Canadian Theatre Review, and multiple edited collections, and she is a recipient of the Richard Plant Award from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research. As an educator, she supports students in locating their own performance lineages and understanding how personal, familial, and community histories shape artistic practice. Most recently, she produced In My Day by Rick Waines at the UVic Phoenix Theatre.

Andy is the Artistic Director of the Robert M. Leddingham School of Theatre, Music, & Film at Arts Umbrella and fosters creativity, engagement, leadership, and community collaboration within the performing arts in BC. His career spans more than two decades, developing emerging artists in theatre and music, and exploring the language and methodologies around aligning individuals and groups with their own emerging purpose. Andy is passionate about cultivating culture and presence through dialogue. Andy studied Musical Theatre at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC, and holds a Master of Arts in Executive Leadership from Royal Roads University, with graduate certificates in Values Based Leadership and Change Management.

http://artsumbrella.com