Creation Program

our flagship initiative

Tap into Inspiration and Community with the Creation Program

Our nine-week performance creation program gives gender diverse youth and women (between 16 and 25 years of age) the opportunity to work with some of Toronto’s most exciting artists to create and perform their own original creative work.

Applications are now closed for the Winter 2024-2025 cohort. Follow us on social media or come back to the website for more updates.

Partner with a Mentor

Each participant is paired with a professional artist mentor who will guide and support them throughout the program.

learn from professionals

Collaborating with a team of professional directors and guest artists, participants will create their own performance pieces.

Perform your piece

After nine weeks, participants will see their pieces come to life and perform their work on stage at Theatre Passe Muraille.

Proudly supported by

Theatre Passe Muraille logo
Ontario Arts Council logo

Program Dates and Deadlines

Our Program Offers Many Exciting Perks

  • Delicious group meals provided every rehearsal
  • Free roundtrip TTC fare given at every rehearsal
  • Networking and access to additional opportunities
  • Make new friends
  • Join a fun, supportive, creative community!

What We’ve Created

Every year, the Creation Program connects emerging youth performance artists and experienced professionals in the field to create art that moves and mobilizes. Take a glimpse into our previous work.

Meet Our Team

Carol Chen

Carol Chen

2024/2025 Cohort Participant

Carol Chen (any pronouns) is a Chinese-Canadian artist, born and raised in Richmond Hill, Ontario. With a love of storytelling in all its forms, and a particular fondness for new and developing works, they have a passion for acting, writing, and creation that they hope to pursue far into the future.

As a new graduate from the University of Toronto’s drama program, Carol has had the opportunity to study the intricacies of both voice and movement, as well as the chance to perform and act in a variety of performance showcases and plays. They have also studied playwriting, dramaturgy, and design.

For Carol, the feeling of bringing a work to life is inimitable, and it is one that they don’t want to let go of. That is why they are hopeful and excited for their continued growth as an artist, as well as for the future of their artistic career.

Favourite AMY Memory

I admire AMY’s commitment to being so welcoming and open. From the delicious food to the friendliness and thoughtfulness of the coordinators, every session with AMY has been a delight!

Chloe Cha (she/her) is a Queer, Korean-Canadian performer, creative, and theatre maker exploring meaning in identity and self actualization within creative landscapes. Based in Tkaronto and currently a second year Performance Acting student at Toronto Metropolitan University, she has collaborated and performed in various multidisciplinary and experimental theatre projects including Jordan Tannahill’s Is My Microphone On? at Canadian Stage’s Dream in High Park, Sheep’s Clothing Theatre’s Bard Luck does Macbeth, and Generous Friend Art’s’ There Is So Much More To Say. She was the recipient of the SummerWorks 2022 Emerging Artist Prize and has performed in theatres and galleries across the country. Her creative practices extend and merge with experimental filmmaking, music composition, and poetry. 

Favourite AMY Memory

Something I really admire about AMY is the openness of Celia and Bessie (our facilitators). Being able to ask questions about being an artist, performer, especially being interested in Dance theatre, talking to Celia about their experiences, as well as Bessie’s career and work as a Queer and East Asian playwright and actor. As facilitators, they also served as mentors and I feel comfortable using that line of communication for advice and support.

Chloe Cha

Chloe Cha

2024/2025 Cohort Participant

Cassandra Henry

Cassandra Henry

2024/2025 Cohort Participant

Cassandra Henry (she/her) is an emerging actor, playwright, producer and singer. A graduate of York University’s theatre program, she has developed her craft of acting in theatre and singing in musical theatre from the age of 10. Having studied, musical theatre, classical music, the Laban movement, the Alexander technique and the The Batdorf Technique, she has learned, and continues to learn, the practice of creating a character from the inside out, creating unique voices for characters that contribute to meaningful and memorable performances for all audiences, with the emphasis and drive of creating representation and inclusivity for BIPOC and neurodiversity in theatre and film.

Zoë Bonk (any pronouns) is a longtime performer and recent graduate of the University of Toronto and Sheridan College’s Theatre and Drama Studies specialist program.

As a genderfluid actor, Zoë’s primary interest in theatre is performing in roles that reflect the full spectrum of her gender identity: not just female characters, designed and intended for female performers, but male and non-binary characters as well. She believes that theatre is at its core about the suspension of disbelief; about telling the audience a story and leaving them with something to think about. For this reason, Zoë enjoys performing in pieces that offer these opportunities, to either play characters who exist outside of the traditional male/female gender binary, or to bring something new to an established character. She is also a major musical fan (which should come as no surprise).

Above all, Zoë loves to create, and is excited to share the results of this program with an audience. Much love to cast members and a giant thank you to the AMY team!

Zoë Bonk

Zoë Bonk

2024/2025 Cohort Participant

Milo Holliwell

Milo Holliwell

2024/2025 Cohort Participant

Milo Holliwell (they/them) is a queer 17-year-old who loves writing, horror movies, and The Muppets.

Tia Kushniruk

Tia Ashley Kushniruk

Mentor to Chloe Cha

Tia Ashley Kushniruk [亚 女弟] (she/her) is a Chinese-Ukrainian Queer dance artist based in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan) Treaty 6/Métis Territory of Edmonton AB. Since 2013, she has been affiliated with the Cirque Du Soleil and is artistic producer at Toy Guns Dance Theatre. Kushniruk has performed for TDT (2017-2019), Antony Hamilton, Shay Kuebler/RSA (2018-2023), Peggy Baker, adelheid, Gerry Trenthem, Aria Evans, Celia J. Green and more. Her work has been presented by Festival Internacional Nomada, the Beijing International Dance Festival, Dancing on the Edge, Fluid Festival, commonGround Arts Festival, Expanse, Found Festival, Mile Zero and Tangente (2026). She is the first recipient of the Catalyst Theatre Confluence Fellowship, a 2023 EATF recipient, participated in FTA 2024 conversations on performance, completed a mentorship with Toronto-based performance artist Bridget Moser, and is currently pursuing an MA at UofT in Drama Theatre and Performance Studies (2024-2025).

Favourite AMY Memory

I am a huge fan of mentorship to artists who share similar intersectional identities to my own, and AMY is a wonderful opportunity for me to offer my knowledge to an young artist, and for that young artist to offer their knowledge to me! This is my first time participating at AMY and I hope to participate again in the future!

Maddie Bautista (she/her) is a Bi, Saudi Arabia-born Filipina sound designer and composer based in Treaty 13, Tkaronto. In the daytime, you can catch Maddie creating and shaping sound in iconic theatres across the country – from composing original music in the earliest stages of new work development, to tuning systems with live musicians and mid-sized casts. She has created music and sound design for over 80 productions and counting across Canada, for theatres such as the Stratford Festival, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Soulpepper, the Tarragon, and more.

After the sun goes down, she moonlights as half of xLq with Jordan Campbell – a queer pop performance duo who tours across the country with their daring, interactive theatre and bizarre, grungy drag.

Maddie received 2 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Love You Wrong Time (Outstanding Sound design and composition, and Outstanding Ensemble). www.maddiebautista.com

Favourite AMY Memory

I remember teaching a class on Audacity, a free audio-editing software, in 2018 and the AMY participants had fun experimenting with the effects and the plugins.

Maddie Bautista

Maddie Bautista

Mentor to Carol Chen

Lucy Eveleigh

Lucy Eveleigh

Mentor to Zoë Bonk

Lucy Eveleigh (she/her) is the Executive Producer at Luminato. Previously, she was at the Toronto Fringe for over a decade, joining as the Managing Director and then becoming the Executive Director in 2017. Prior to this, Lucy worked at SummerWorks Performance Festival, Necessary Angel and as the Director and Founder of Zoofest, an alternate festival under the umbrella of Just for Laughs/Juste pour rire.

Originally from Somerset, England, Lucy worked at the Pleasance in both London and Edinburgh, one of the largest venues at the Edinburgh Fringe. Lucy is also a certified life coach and has been a long-time volunteer at the Distress Centre. She served on the TAPA board (Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts) and is an advisory member of the PAC Centennial College Theatre. Lucy has two children, and two cats.

Favourite AMY Memory

I love that there is an organisation out there who is focusing on mentorship, it is so crucial as it helps give young leaders a safe space to ask questions, to be vulnerable and to learn. It is also invaluable to the mentors, who learn so much from their mentees as well.

Neema Bickersteth (she/her) specializes in contemporary projects in opera, music theatre and theatre. Included are concerts with Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto and New York; tours in the USA and Europe with globally-acclaimed Spanish conductor Jordi Savall; and Century Song for Volcano Theatre and her own collective, Moveable Beast. Century Song has had multiple tours in Canada, Europe and East Africa to critical acclaim. She has worked for some of the most prestigious companies in Canada, including the Canadian Stage Company, the Canadian Opera Company, Volcano, Musical Stage Company, Luminato Festival, PuSh Festival, and the National Arts Centre of Canada, among many others. In addition, Neema has been honoured to perform for the XIVth Dalai Lama, Shirin Ebadi and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Neema Bickersteth

Neema Bickersteth

Mentor to Cassandra Henry

Merle Harley

Merle Harley

Mentor to Milo

Merle Harley (they/them) creates continually building alternate visual realities. A chaos-creature with no fixed medium, works include drawing, watercolour, knitting, weaving, comic books, videos, installations, props and sets for theatre and TV. Merle has had illustrations and comics published in many online and print publications and exhibited work across Canada and beyond. They won the 2024 Dora award for Outstanding Costume Design alongside Abby Ernesto and Astrid Janson for Mad Madge (Nightwood).

Bessie Cheng

Program Director

Bessie Cheng (she/they) is an award winning queer Chinese-Canadian writer and actor. She graduated from the Playwriting and Devised Theatre program at York University. Her first play, Dirt, received the Ellen Ross Stuart Award from the Ontario Arts Foundation and was nominated for the RBC Emerging Playwright Award from Playwrights Guild of Canada. She is a recipient of the 2021 Promising Pen Award from Cahoots Theatre and is named one of their theatre-makers that will help shape the next 30 years in Canadian theatre.

Bessie is also a co-founder of Silk Bath Collective, creating the Fringe hit, Silk Bath. Their production, Yellow Rabbit, enjoyed a sold-out run at Soulpepper Theatre in 2018. The collective just closed their world-premiere of their latest show, Woking Phoenix, at Theatre Passe Muraille to critical acclaim.

Bessie has participated in AMY Project as a participant, a headshot photographer, a guest artist, and a co-assistant director. She is thrilled to be co-directing the program this year with Celia!

Celia Green

Program Director

With a practice spanning choreography, directing, writing, performance, and care-work, Celia (they/he) is especially interested in investigating mundane experiences of the human condition that are messy and challenging, pulling apart those feelings and isolating them through performance.

Celia’s work has been supported by English Theatre Berlin, the Toronto Dance Love-In, Toronto Dance Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, The SummerWorks Festival, Dancemakers and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. He was the curator of GOODIE BAG!, a week-long event that offered that offered free massage, tattoos, portraits and acupuncture for transgender and gender non-conforming performers.

Major influences include La Pocha Nostra, Dana Michel, Faye Driscoll, and Jess Dobkin. Near and dear collaborators include Augusto Bitter, Bilal Baig, and Merlin Simard.

Recently Celia was part of this years Conversations on Performance cohort at the Festival TransAmeriques in Montreal. They are currently an artist in residence at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

Rofiat

Assistant Director

A lover of the arts, Rofiat (she/her) has been drawn to storytelling in various forms throughout her life, whether through theatre or other media. She thrives on challenges, meeting new people, and continuously learning new skills that push her beyond her comfort zone.

Outside of her time in the arts, Rofiat is a passionate entrepreneur, owning and managing an African grocery store that celebrates diverse cultures and traditions. She also has a background as a full-stack web developer and enjoys bringing creativity to technology.

As a previous participant and longtime member, Rofiat admires and cherishes AMY for the everlasting community it gives. She is excited to be part of the Creation Program again – this time as assistant director!

Priscila Simões Tchorbadjian

Priscila Simões Tchorbadjian

Food Program Coordinator and Cook

Priscila (they/them) is a Brazilian immigrant who has been living in Turtle Island for about 10 years. They have Armenian, Portuguese and German ancestry and love using food to connect to their ancestors and community. Priscila has a background in software development and spends their free time exploring the forest, learning Tai Chi and playing too many video games. They have enjoyed cooking for the AMY project for the 2024-2025 cohort.

Favourite AMY Memory

My favourite memory was attending the first meeting of the cohort and meeting the wonderful participants, and getting to share some Brazilian food!

Senjuti Sarker

Senjuti Sarker

Production Support, Stage Manager and AMY Alum

Senjuti Sarker (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and arts worker based out of Tkarón:to for now. When she’s not working to bring creative visions to fruition with performance management, she’s living her best socialist fantasy in fantastical simulation game Sims 4. Senjuti’s most favourite thing in the arts world is festivals, particularly Fringe Festivals. Her previous involvement with KDT and Santee Smith include: The Mush Hole (2022, 2024), Blood Water Earth (2022), Homelands (2023), Talking Earth (2022, 2023), The Creation Lab (2023, 2024) and SKéN:NEN (2024). Some of her other notable works include working in various capacities with Other Hearts Collective, Stages of Transformation (NAC), lemonTree creations, Claire Calnan, McMaster University, Mass Culture and Hamilton Fringe.