Jesse Stong
Creative Director
Jesse Stong (they/them) is a proud foster parent of twins, a graduate of Playwriting from the National Theatre School of Canada, and received a Master’s in Art Education from Concordia University. Jesse is an award-winning playwright, dramaturge, and educator. Over the years, they have supported over 140 emerging Canadian Storytellers as director of Playwrights Workshop Montreal’s Young Creators Unit, and launched/leads PWM’s New Stories Project for Neurodiverse artists.
With a background in Social Work (BSW, Ryerson University), Jesse has generated and edited content for several NFP organizations including: Children’s Aid Ontario (Out and Proud Program), SKETCH art studio for Street Involved Youth, Toronto Association for Community Living, McGill University, and It Gets Better Canada. in 2017, Jesse received the Michaelle Jean Foundation Award for facilitating workshops across Canada on LGBTQ+ history and culture. Jesse also has 10+ years working with youth in foster care, as a tutor, teacher, and advocate.
Jesse is an occasional content creator/editor for Moment Factory, and was recently Manager of Children’s Programming for media-giant Watchmojo.com, Associate Curator for theNational Arts Centre Disability Summit, and Host of the Montreal English Theatre Awards. Jesse continues to be Festival Director of Centaur Theatre’s Queer Reading Series and a guest facilitator for the Quebec English School Board.
Board of Directors
Tyson Night
From the prairies of Saulteaux First Nations, Saskatchewan, Tyson Night grew up reciting poetry by famous authors, competing in poetry showcases, and writing his own work while developing his passion for performance. In 2015, he worked at Banff Theatre Alberta, joining as a creator/performer in the Banff Theatre Collective. This ignited Tyson into the improv world, participating in cabarets, and always trying out new material for audiences. Tyson is proudly Indigenous, and does a lot of work for the community (volunteering at drop-in centres, and caring for his younger brothers). His own experience growing up through many struggles has been a huge source of inspiration for his writing, and his desire to write stems deeply from wanting to give back to the next generation. In 2019/20 Tyson was a member of Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal’s Young Creators’ Unit, where he began developing his first full-length play HUNG UP, inspired by stories of mental health and addiction. With development support from the Alberta Arts Council, he has created a first draft and workshop of his fantasy/comedic with a mission to create hope for the younger generation of First Nation’s People.
Brian Drader
Brian is an actor, writer, dramaturg and artistic administrator. He has acted in over seventy professional theatre productions across Canada, as well as numerous films, television projects, and radio dramas. His plays have been produced in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Awards for his writing include the Herman Voaden National Playwriting Award, the Philadelphia Brick Playhouse New Play Award, and the Lambda Literary Award for Drama (USA). His play PROK was also nominated for the Governor General’s award and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year. Published work includes THE NORBALS, PROK and LIAR (Scirocco Drama), and CURTSY and TO BE FRANK (Signature Editions). A short film, IRIS AND NATHAN, won the National Screen Institute Drama Prize. Commercial engagements include writing the audio and video components for Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology (with Jodi Essery), and video components for Star Wars Identities (touring exhibitions; gsmprjcts/Lucas Films/National Geographic). Brian was the dramaturge for Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson One, which opened at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in June of 2013, and provided dramaturgical support for the 2017 revamp of the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa. He served as the Director of Playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal from 2004 to 2017, and is presently the Executive Director of the Manitoba Association of Playwrights.
Murdoch Schon
Murdoch Schon is a queer, nonbinary director, puppeteer and theatre educator. Born and raised in Treaty One Territory (Winnipeg), they have been involved in the Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) English theatre scene for almost a decade. Murdoch is fascinated by provocation, vulnerability, and the role of risk and failure in art making. They work with teens and children through the Geordie Theatre school, as well as teaching theatre workshops at summer camps and schools around Montreal. Murdoch is also the founder of Revolution They Wrote a short works feminist performance festival. Murdoch is a graduate of the Nation Theatre School Directing Program, and has a BFA, Specialization in Theatre and Development, from Concordia University.
Davide Chiatze
@daveedeh is an actor, director and producer who has made his mark on the theatre scene in Montreal. He is a graduate from the Professional Theatre Program in Acting at John Abbott College and completed The Artist Mentorship Program at Black Theatre Workshop as a director. His most notable performance was in the city’s English language premiere of Michel Tremblay’s Hosanna, a Quebec classic, with Tableau D’Hôte Theatre. The production garnered much success, taking home 4 METAs (Montreal English Theatre Awards), including one for Davide’s performance in the Best Supporting Actor category, as well as being named one of Montreal’s Heroes for the LGBT community in Fugues and was listed in the Gazette as one of ‘The 20 Hottest Montrealers of the Year’ in 2015. Part of his mandate has been to highlight the experiences of the Italian diaspora and the 2SLGBTQQIPAA+ communities in English, French and Italian. He performed in Montreal Italian Playwright Michaela Di Cesare’s Successions [Centaur Theatre Company], and In Search of Mrs. Pirandello [Fringe 2015 & Centaur’s Wildside Festival 2016] as well as Steve Gallucio’s Les secrets de la petite italie [Théâtre Jean-Duceppe], and workshopped Matty Selman’s original musical La Dotoressa in New York & San Francisco. He is currently a producer and jack of all trades @1PXLstudio: a one stop shop creative agency that delivers projects from conception to post production. They created their very first short film Ring Ring available on Youtube.
Naïma Phillips
Based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Naïma brings over 15 years of experience in the cultural and nonprofit sector. Naïma is a strategic thinker and a master communicator, able to facilitate meaningful conversations and decision-making around complex issues. As Executive Co-Coordinator at COCo (the Centre for Community Organizations) Naïma has maintained and deepened existing partnerships, and brought in significant new funding. She has done so with an unwavering commitment to grounding COCo’s fundraising strategy in the principles of anti-oppression, and to centering staff safety and wellbeing.
As an artistic director, writer, and creator, Naïma is committed to finding innovative and emergent ways of fostering meaningful dialogue and portraying our shared human experience. A recipient of the Mécénat Musica Prix 3 Femmes, the Gloria Mitchell-Aleong Award, and the Shubert Presidential Fellowship, her works have been presented across Canada, France, and the United States. She is currently Board President at Playwrights Workshop Montréal and holds an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University.
Michaela Di Caesar
Michaela is a playwright and performer with a Master’s Degree in Drama from the University of Toronto. Her work has toured extensively across Canada and has been presented in New York City. Her play Successions is published by Playwrights Canada Press and received the 2018 META for Outstanding New Text. As an actor, Michaela has several theatre credits. Most recently she was seen on NBC's Transplant and as the resident "financial expert" for the National Bank of Canada.
Kyng Rose
Kyng "Blxck Cxsper" Rose is a multidisciplinary hip hop artist, best known for being the founder of Trans Trenderz, the world's first record label dedicated to trans artists.
Their work has been featured in publications such as Grammy, Paper, La Presse and them. and they were named one of Billboard's 2021 Change Agents and one of CBC's 2021 Black Changemakers.
Katie Lefevre
Katie Lefevre is an English, art, and science teacher for the English Montreal School Board (EMSB). She currently volunteers at the Montreal Children’s Hospital paediatric psychiatry ward, doing art and playing games with patients. She is also a volunteer grant and PR writer for Toronto’s Sexual Education by Theatre (SExT), which is an organization for teens to use theatre to share sexual education with at-risk youth. Katie is currently working on a fantasy fiction novel for teens and young adults that centres around themes of mental illness, alienation, belonging, identity, and home. She has also written several freelance pieces under the pen name Katie O’Grady. Katie loves painting and drawing, and is currently working on a series of medical surgery paintings with watercolours. She loves nature, yoga, meditation, and sports - especially soccer.
Craig Francis
Craig Francis (he/him) is a writer, director, illustrator, and multidisciplinary creator. His theatre productions have toured across Canada and the US, including Off-Broadway in both 2016 and 2019. His animated short videos have been seen by millions of viewers, onsite and online, and are installed in museums and galleries in five provinces. A founding member of The 20K Collective, Craig co-created the family theatre productions Jungle Book and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea with Rick Miller, as well as the comedy Game of Clones. He co-created the play, comic book, and streaming production Frankenstein with Miller and Paul Van Dyck. He's a producer, dramaturg, and Equity production stage manager for Miller's solo trilogy BOOM, BOOM X, and BOOM YZ (Kidoons / WYRD / Theatre Calgary), in Canada, the US, France, and Taiwan. With Miller, Craig c-directed the workshop of the Ben Wexler musical Blocked for TheaterWorks USA. Craig is a mentor of emerging artists, and a speaker on LGBTQA2S+ issues. He performed improv comedy for a decade, including at several Just For Laughs festivals and TV specials for CBC, CTV and Showtime; theatre credits include The Refugee Hotel (Teesri Duniya). The animated digital shorts he co-creates for the Kidoons Network and a variety of not-for-profit organizations educate, entertain, and empower young people. Craig lives in Montréal, has illustrated several books, and voiced video games and animated series.