FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS:
Acting for Film
Kathleen Duborg
A fun, high-energy workshop introduces students to acting for the camera through games, creative exercises, and scene work. Students explore how to express emotions naturally, build confidence, and react authentically in front of the camera. The session includes warm-ups, practical acting tips, and a hands-on filming activity where students experience self taping and auditioning. You are asked to bring your curiosity and a willingness to try. The focus is on creativity, collaboration, and discovering the fundamentals of on-camera acting.
Kathleen is an award-winning actor and director working in film, television, theatre, voice-over and script development throughout the country. She created and produced ReelFast: The 48 Hour Movie Making Festival and The Cold Reading Series which endeavoured to connect writers and actors of the film and theatre communities. A long and varied acting career of stage and screen includes Happy Face (CBS/Paramount), Watson (Paramount +) and recently wrapping Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney). She is a respected teacher and coach, presently an adjunct professor of acting and directing at the University of British Columbia, senior acting instructor at Railtown Acting Studios, associate instructor at Douglas College and leads film acting classes and workshops. Recent directing credits include: Network, The 39 Steps, The Paper Bag Princess, An Iliad, The Moors, Jerusalem, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Tales From Ovid , Concord Floral, The Beaux’ Stratagem, The Seagull, and Mrs. Singh and Me.
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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Arrr! Come and make a fun pirate prop!
Caroline Alarie
We will explore props making in a pirate way!
Caro is a DIY expert born and raised in Montreal and earned diplomas in Fine Arts and Stage Craft from College Lionel-Groulx in Québec. She also enjoyed a long career as an animator for popular children's tv series after receiving her diploma in 3D animation from Vancouver Film School. She loves inventing, making, building props and miniature world. Stop motion animation is where she finds all these elements married together.
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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Contemporary Costume Design
Alexa Fraser
Dive into the magical world of costume design through a contemporary design lens. In this workshop, we will be exploring a rich piece of text in addition to hands on experience of what it means to be a costume designer. Using Dance Nation by Clare Barron, we will be examining what a script needs while balancing an actor's needs and comfortability.
Alexa Fraser is a costume and multi-disciplinary designer, performer, producer and facilitator who creates and lives on the unceded and occupied territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations colonially known as “Vancouver, British Columbia”. Alexa is a self-identified plus sized queer artist and proud performer, producer and historian within “Vancouver’s” burlesque and cabaret scenes. They are a graduate of Simon Fraser School for the Contemporary Arts, holding a BFA in Theatre Performance (2018). They are also a mentorship recipient of Associated Designers of Canada with fashion designer Evan Clayton (2025). Recent theatre work includes: God's A Drag (PTC, 2024), Ayibobo III: Little Dollhouse on the Prairie (frank theatre, QAF, Danse-Cité, and the House of Barbara, 2024), Fat Joke (Neworld Theatre, 2024), Tomboy (Chłopczyca) (Anais West, 2024), Divine Figures (Neworld Theatre, 2023), Blood Wedding: A Trans Fantasia (Angelica Schwatz, 2023), sᴜᴘᴇʀ ʜᴇᴀᴠʏ Pop III ꧂°¤,¸.•*☆ (Jarin Schexnider, 2023), Archive (The Darlings, 2023), Gestural Symphony No.1 (theatrecorps, 2022), Are You Watching? (Eve Middleton- Meyer, 2021), New Societies (Summerworks, In The Soil, Kick & Push, rEvolver, SFU SCA 2019-2023), Juicy Gems (2021), Richmond Maritime Festival Featured Storyteller (2020), The Democratic Set (Back to Back Theatre, PuSh Festival 2020), These Violent Delights (Cole Lewis, SummerWorks Festival, 2017). Alexa’s other interests reside in researching and sharing “Vancouver” nightlife history, collecting vintage cabaret ephemera as well as walking an adorable pomeranian while watching the sun set on the Salish Sea/Fraser River in their former neighborhood in “Richmond, B.C”. You can check out their technicolour world of wonder at https://alexanmfraser.com
Participants To Bring: Note pad and pencil
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Directing through Movement and Play
Cydney Uffindell-Phillips
This workshop invites performers and theatre makers to explore how play and movement can shape storytelling. Using physical theatre games, partner work, and devising exercises, participants will experiment with character, story, and staging, discovering how ideas can develop organically through the body. The session emphasizes awareness, ensemble connection, and playful exploration, encouraging participants to step out of their heads, take creative risks, and respond to what emerges in the moment. Suitable for both performers and young directors, the workshop nurtures collaborative, ensemble-driven storytelling, providing practical tools to block, shape, and animate scenes through playful, embodied approaches.
Cydney Uffindell-Phillips is a physical theatre director and choreographer with experience in movement direction, actor training, and collaborative creation. Her professional creative theatre credits include UnRavelled (The Wallis Annenberg, LA), Carmen (Vancouver Opera), Macbeth (National Theatre UK Tour), Silent City (Matera European Capital of Culture), The Soldier’s Tale (BBC Proms), Bleak House (Creation Theatre), and The Revenger’s Tragedy (Nottingham Playhouse). She has also served as associate director on The Royal Hunt of the Sun (Parco, Tokyo) and The Wedding Singer (UK Tour & South Korea), and as associate choreographer on wonder.land (National Theatre & Théâtre du Châtelet) and the feature film London Road (BBC/National Theatre/Cuba Pictures). Cydney has worked extensively in education and youth theatre, including projects with the Central School of Speech and Drama and NYMT (National Youth Music Theatre, UK). She has directed productions including Pippin (Institute of Arts Barcelona), Newsies Jr., Alice by Heart, The Old Man & the Old Moon, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Arts Umbrella). Her practice emphasizes devising, physical exploration, and movement as a generator of narrative and character. She supports performers in creating dynamic, ensemble-driven work through playful, collaborative approaches that encourage experimentation, risk-taking, and embodied storytelling. https://www.cydneyuffindellphillips.com
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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Diverse Dramaturgical History
Linnea Perry
It’s a tough challenge that’s rarely spoken about out loud: how do we engage with theatre history during the creation process when that history isn’t always easy to talk about? This workshop provides an overview of the history of diversity within Canada’s professional theatre scene and offers an introductory framework for diverse theatre creation. Through this presentation, we will explore the history of Black North American theatre, examine how history can shape the creative process, and introduce a framework for the safe creation of devised theatre when the work requires an understanding of diversity. This workshop can serve as a first building block toward making our theatre spaces safer and more inclusive for everyone.
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 mainstage seasons, developed outreach programming, and deepened her leadership skills. She received a Professional Development Grant from the BC Arts Council to train in Nonviolent Communication and Leadership with The Thoughtful Workplace, and she began consulting in anti-oppressive policy creation and implementation. In July 2023, Linnea joined Presentation House Theatre as Development Associate, focusing on fundraising, grant writing, and educational outreach. She now serves as Operations Manager. Linnea has a wide knowledge of the theatre sector, from both the creative side and the administration side. Her greatest joy has been sharing this with the next generation of theatre makers, dancers and artists.
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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En Garde! Running with Rapiers!
Robinson Wilson
An introduction to the exciting and dramatic art of swordplay onstage, with the focus on safety and technique. Students will learn cuts, thrusts, parries, and lunges with the rapier, and methods and practices of choreography and safe rehearsal. No student will lose even one single eyeball. Not one!
Robinson is an award winning theatre educator with 30 years experience in stage combat. He has taught and choreographed stage combat in Canada, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and Denmark.
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing, bring a note pad and pen.
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Improvisation: Learning through Play
Matt Clarke
...Through group games and exercises devised by theatre director, educator and theorist Viola Spolin we will explore the intuitive within both the individual and the collective. Spolin’s games energize and connect acting ensembles, and have the power to deepen performers' awareness of self as well as the impulses of the group. Through games like “Mirror A/B,” “Hold It,” and “Occluding,” actors will be guided towards an experience of “flow” where “direct experience” contributes to student-led discoveries. Improvisation skills are not only foundational to performance, but also a key to building healthy relationships and to leading a fulfilling life. “We learn through experience and experiencing, and no one teaches anyone anything.” – Viola Spolin “The history of art is the history of inclusion” – Anne Bogart
Matt Clarke grew up in Vancouver and studied Acting in New York at the New Actors Workshop. He is a performer, director, writer, producer, researcher and teacher of Theatre for Young People with special focuses on improvisation and adaptation. Recent artistic highlights include facilitating, writing and co-creating "Division Infinity Saves the World!" (2023 Neworld) – a puppet play based on fourth grade students’ experience of the pandemic, and producing and performing in the "Stories Written by Kids" series (2020-2024) – a collaborative project between middle-grade author/directors and professional adult actors presented annually in school gymnasiums and at The Cultch Historic Theatre in Vancouver. Matt is Artistic Director of Little Mountain Lion Productions, a non profit theatre company showcasing youth and emerging artists while exploring overlap between Film, Literature and Theatre. He instructs Theatre, Acting, Improvisation and Writing through various institutions in Vancouver such as the Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group, Arts Umbrella, The Richmond Children’s Arts Festival and Crossmaneuver. He received his BA from UBC in English Literature and Nordic Studies, and is graduating from the MA in Children’s Literature (MACL) program at UBC this May, with a specific focus on youth agency in adapted TYP. As part of his MACL thesis, Matt is developing a new stage adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s book "The Children of Noisy Village" set against the backdrop of the ongoing land lease negotiations between the City of Vancouver and co-operative housing communities in the False Creek South neighbourhood.
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing, bring a note pad, pen & water bottle.
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Intro to Motion Capture
Chloe Payne
This workshop will introduce participants to performance techniques used when working with motion capture technology. Participants will learn basic terminology and processes along with developing a capacity to compose varied characters through the body and engage in creative embodied play.
Chloe is an actor, director and theatre creator. Her artistic practice is based in physical theatre, movement and comedy. Recent acting credits include: Crisis on Planet Z (Monster Theatre), Caribou Cave (TBTB) and Fake Nerd Girl (Wild Talk). Recent directing credits include: Low Pay? Don't Pay! (Fo Collective) and Fools at Play (Axis Theatre). She is co-founder of The Fool's Errand Cabaret, a bi-monthly clown cabaret, and is performance director of Fresh Tracks, Buffalo Buffalo’s upcoming adventure game. She is a graduate of École Philippe Gaulier.
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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Living the Circumstances with Crosspoints
Stephen Atkins
This workshop introduces actors to a direct, experience-based approach to performance that begins without preparation. Known as Crosspoints, this approach allows participants to start working deeply with no text work completed and no expectation of outcome. The session opens with a guided visualization that places the actor in a simple, sensory-rich environment, allowing attention to settle and expand. From there, the focus shifts to presence: how the actor listens, receives, and registers their perception in real time, rather than generating them in advance. A key phase involves “going and staying,” an improvised performance where actors step out of habitual patterns and return with a changed point of attention. This sharpens awareness of space, partner, and internal state. Only in the final section is minimal script material introduced. The text is treated lightly, as a catalyst rather than a target, allowing behavior to emerge from the conditions already established. The aim is work that feels immediate, responsive, and grounded in shared attention.
Stephen Atkins, PhD, is an actor, director, and educator whose work spans multiple universities, studios and conservatory settings across Canada, China, the UK, and Australia. His practice brings together actor training, performance research, and intercultural collaboration, with a focus on how different traditions can speak to one another without collapsing into a single method. In Australia, he served as Associate Director with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre, contributing to projects that combined rigorous and fun physical training with a strong youth theatre focus. This work shaped his interest in developing training environments that balance discipline with creative agency, particularly for emerging artists. His broader career includes international workshops, directing projects, and publications that explore contemporary approaches to acting, rehearsal, and ensemble creation. Across contexts, his arts practice and scholarship suggest that performance training can function as a shared language, allowing artists from different backgrounds and identities to collaborate with clarity and flexibility. https://stephenatkins.com
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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Moving Stories
Keri Minty
What are different approaches we can use to build strong, clear and interesting characters with our whole body? Open to all skill levels and abilities.
Keri Minty is a versatile director/choreographer/movement director and dance educator. Certified in University Teaching and Learning, she has taught at Capilano University as a dance and movement instructor for the theatre programs for the last 20 years with a current focus on assessments and evaluations for dance and theatre. Minty is also active in theatre and dance communities as a performer, creative and board member of arts or-ganizations. Choreographer/Movement Director highlights: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Oliver!, Joseph… (Theatre Under the Stars), A New Brain* (Pipedream), SpongeBob, Carrie, Anne of Green Gables*, Cabaret, Secret Garden, Hello Dolly, Weasel (Cap U Theatre) and Arts Club’s Red Rock Diner (assistant direc-tor/choreographer). *Winner of Ovation Awards for Best Choreography.
Participants To Bring: Note pad, pen and a great attitude with a willingness to play!
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Musical Theatre
Jonny Michel
Step into the spotlight with this engaging Singing Workshop dedicated to the world of Musical Theatre! Designed for performers of all levels, this session explores the unique vocal styles, storytelling techniques, and emotional expression that bring show tunes to life. Participants will work on iconic songs, develop vocal technique, and learn how to connect character with voice. Whether you're preparing for auditions or simply love to sing, this workshop will help you build confidence, versatility, and stage presence in a fun and supportive environment.
Jonny Michel is a lyric tenor, voice instructor and choral director from Langley, B.C. As a voice instructor, Jonny inspires a love of singing and dedication to vocal development in his students. He enjoys teaching students with a variety of vocal experience, in a range of musical styles, including classical and operatic repertoire, musical theatre, jazz, soul, pop and contemporary worship. His hope for each student is to grow in confidence as a vocalist, skill as a musician, and expressive capacity as an artist. As a classical tenor with a special interest in oratorio and concert works, Jonny has been active as a soloist throughout the lower mainland, having been featured with the UBC Orchestra, UBC University Singers, and with UBC Opera at Bard on the Beach. He has been featured as a soloist with the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra, the Arioso Quartet, Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir, the Gloria Dei Chorale, Bella Voci, Chilliwack Evensong Chamber Singers, United Voices Choir and Kwantlen University Chorus. Jonny performed the role of the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Trinity Western University Masterworks Chorus in 2018, and again with Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra in March 2023. From 2015-2018 Jonny enjoyed singing in the tenor section with Phoenix Chamber Choir in Vancouver. In the fall of 2021, Jonny made his debut with Musica Intima.
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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Nailing the Dance Call
Erika Babins
Have you always wanted to be in a musical but the idea of dancing makes you nervous, and the thought of having to do a dance audition makes you want to leap out of your skin? In this workshop, you will learn some tips and tricks to make your more comfortable in those scenarios. After a quick body scanning warm up, you’ll learn standard dance moves seen in auditions and show choreography, how to breakdown complicated steps, and how to bring character choices forward to create compelling performances regardless of technical level.
Erika Babins (They/She)is a CTC winning, Ovation nominated director, choreographer, performer, and educator originally from the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee and Mohawk nations and currently residing and working on the traditional and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. As an Artistic Associate for Awkward Stage Productions, she directed a queer revamp of Jasper in Deadland, and choreographed the Pick-of-the-Fringe winning TITUS: The Light and Delightful Musical Comedy of Titus Andronicus, and Cry-Baby: The Musical. As a freelance choreographer and director, Erika has worked with many companies in the Lower Mainland including Play on Words Productions, First Impressions Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, and Uncle Randy Productions Erika’s directing and choreography credits include: [title of show] (Play on Words Productions and First Impressions Theatre), Jasper in Deadland, Lift, and Cry-Baby (Awkward Stage Productions), The It Girl (DNP), The Drowsy Chaperone, Hadestown: Teen Edition, Cinderella, Godspell, Oklahoma!, and Tuck Everlasting (Arts Umbrella). https://www.erikababins.com
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing, bring a water bottle and a hair tie or other way to keep hair off the face.
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Pirates! Intro Stage Makeup Ideas
Daemon Cadman
Dae will demo some simple and effective makeup choices for the stage. Discussing different products you can use to achieve the look.
Dae has been a makeup artist and educator for over 25+ years. From photography, fashion , theatre and film she brings a wealth of experience in the different mediums. From the locally made tv shows such as Last of Us, Riverdale, Supergirl, Charmed and film work Star Trek : Beyond and Antlers she brings a varied skill set from the regular makeup and makeup FX departments. (And Yes.. she was a theatre kid. )
Participants To Bring: Lots of Questions!
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Professional Readiness
Kelly Phillips
Gain helpful tricks, tips, and knowledge on how to be your best in professional technical settings. This workshop may be of special interest to the crews of the shows going up on Fri. & Sat.
Kelly has been working in the entertainment industry for 23 years wearing many different hats including scenic carpentry, props, scenic painting, lighting, rigging and technical direction in theatre, film & TV, as well as many entertainment venues around Vancouver.
Participants To Bring: Note pad & pen
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Voice Acting
Vancouver Film School
...
Vancouver Film School is a global leader in entertainment arts education, offering 15 programs to more than 1,000 students across eight campuses.We Build Trust. We live by our word, deliver what we promise, and build trust with students, employees, and industry partners. We Embrace Change. Change inspires us to always be creating. Our tools are curiosity, knowledge, and imagination. We Collaborate. We are united in working toward a more inclusive world. Growth comes from teamwork and mentorship. We celebrate difference, we respect and care for each other.
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Writing a Scene: Playwriting Basics
Christine Quintana
We're told that a good scene has a beginning, middle and end - but what about everything in between? In this workshop, participants will learn how to write scenes for theatre that are packed with conflict, surprises, changes of status, and everything that might keep an audience on their toes. After analyzing an existing script excerpt and breaking down the scene techniques used in it, writers will work alone or in pairs to write a short scene of their own!
Born in Los Angeles to a Mexican-American father and a Dutch-British-Canadian mother, Christine is now a grateful visitor to the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. Christine is an actor, playwright, producer and dramaturg. Winner of an LA Drama Critics' Circle Award, Dora Mavor Moore Award, Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, Tom Hendry Award, a Governor General’s Award nomination, and the Siminovitch Protégée Prize for Playwriting, Christine’s works have been translated and performed in Spanish, French, German, and ASL in over 10 cities worldwide. As a performer, she’s acted on stages big and small, in a camper van, in neighbourhoods across East Vancouver, and on a farm. Christine is a graduate of UBC’s BFA Acting Program. https://christinequintana.ca
Participants To Bring: Wear comfortable clothing and bring a note pad and pen.
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