Introducing the 26/27 Cohort

View the 2026 Cohort Lookbook

Buhle Ngaba is a multi-award winning South African actor, writer and speaker.
Her research and performance interests include developing new thought processes around the role of storytelling and creativity in unearthing and amplifying African women's voices from the archive; to inspire new narratives and push the boundaries of performance. Buhle studied Acting and Contemporary performance at Rhodes University and Processes of Performance at the University of Leeds (UK). She performed in the world premiere of John Kani’s play Missing at the Baxter Theatre (SA) and went on to tour internationally with the production earning her nominations for the “Best Supporting Actress” for the South African Fleur Du Cap Theatre Awards as well as the Naledi Theatre Awards. Buhle has most recently been awarded the prestigious Barney Simon artists residency at the Market Theatre (Johannesburg) and is currently writing her latest theatre production that will she perform at its world premiere in June at Vienna Festival (Austria) 2024.
A recipient of the prestigious Brett Goldin bursary, Buhle expanded her knowledge and acting ability of Shakespeare during her residency at the Royal Shakespeare Company (Stratford upon Avon). Following the residency, Buhle has appeared on several Shakespearen stages; she also developed Shakespeare Grounded, a radical workshop program and approach to accessing Shakespeare's stories and their meaning in institutions. Buhle started her own business in 2016 and has used the company as a means to accrue value for her work through; producing, writing, as well as performing. The company continues to produce her internationally acclaimed books as well as theatre productions. She played Jodie in Mirror Mirror (directed by Asanda Sandulela) which premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2022, showed at Berlinale Generation film festival and was awarded Best Short Film at the 2023 Durban International Film Festival.
She wrote her first play Swan Song during her time at Stratford and since its premiere, Ngaba has won two South African Kanna Theatre awards including “Best Upcoming Artist”. The production has also received rave reviews and boasts sold out seasons at Suidooster Kunstefees (South Africa,2021), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna,2022) and Basel Theater Festival (Switzerland,2022). In 2018, Buhle was nominated for a Fleur Du Cap Theatre Award for “Best Leading Actress” for her performance in What Remains ; a theatre production by acclaimed writer Nadia Davids and multi-award winning director, Jay Pather.
As a published author (The Girl Without A Sound, The New Girl Code) , Buhle seeks to promote diversity in children's literature and to develop the legacy of storytelling amongst the youth. The Girl Without A Sound and Swan Song were both written and produced by her company Maru Factory(Pty)Ltd. Maru Factory was formed to give expression to Ngabas dream of being a renowned global producer of entertainment content .
In 2022 Ngaba completed a Prohelvetia Swiss studio residency in Basel culminating in the first iteration of her latest play (to premiere in 2024). As a digital curatorial artist in residence at the Centre for Humanities Research (UWC) she recently completed writing the puppetry theatre production on the life and times of Charlotte Maxeke the first black woman to graduate with a university degree in South Africa with a B.sC from Wilberforce University Ohio in 1903.
In 2023, she curated the Triggers from the Future; 76’ - Present exhibition in collaboration with Babalwa Solwandle (UWC, Mayibuye Archives) and Robben Island Mayibuye Archives (Cape Town, South Africa).

Celeste Sansregret (she/her)
Descended from a Metis/Ukrainian settler family, Sansregret is a citizen of the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF), residing for a long time as a happy guest on Treaty 13 in T’karonto.
A writer, actor, producer and senior arts administrator working in theatre, television and film. she made her first stage appearance at age 3 and has appeared on stages across Canada. She toured the national Fringe circuit with two solo shows she starred in and created: WONDERBAR and IN A MAGIC KINGDOM. A number of plays in development received support from Native Earth Performing Arts including : PREDATION, URSA MAJORIS, 23 BEDS and IN TRANSIT.
A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre (Prime Time Television) and the University of Winnipeg (Theatre) her writing for stage and screen has won multiple awards. She’s excited to work with Pemmican Collective on 23 BEDS, a true story about homelessness in Canada.

Colin Wolf is a Métis theatre maker from the North-East of Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary), AB on Treaty 7 Territory. Wolf holds a BFA in theatre from the University of Lethbridge. Wolf co-founded Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre in 2013. After cutting his teeth in TYA, on regional stages, and in Indie theatre in the prairies Wolf moved to Whitehorse in 2019 to serve as the AD at Gwaandak Theatre Wolfs play, CoyWolf, a story about loss and grief backdropped by a story of land displacement was published in 2026, toured several canadian communities, and was nominated for an Indigenous Voices Award. Wolfs newest play LUMBER is currently touring Canada, after selling out and being held over at the Edmonton Fringe, and winning Artist Choice in Halifax. Wolf has been involved in numerous world premieres, award winning and nominated productions, and well received artist endeavours.

Originally from Ottawa, of mixed settler and Anishinabe decent. A member of the sketch troupe Tonto's Nephews, former Artistic Associate at Native Earth Performing Arts. Toured Darrell Dennis’ Tales of an Urban Indian across Canada and Australia.
Theatre credits: The Welkin (Soulpepper), Bad Roads (Crow’s Theatre) Little Red Warrior & his Lawyer (N.A.C), The Darkest Dark (Y.P.T), Detroit (The Coal Mine), Where the Blood Mixes (Soulpepper), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stratford), The Drawer Boy (Theatre Passe Muraille), Thunderstick (Persephone Theatre), King Lear (N.A.C), Trudeau & Levesque (VideoCaberet)

Danielle LaRose (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist of Métis/Mennonite heritage based in amiskwâcîwaskahikan (Treaty 6, Métis Region 4). After graduating from Grant MacEwan University, she went on to obtain her Master’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and work in theatres across the UK for eight years. Upon returning to Turtle Island, she has appeared on stage as a performer, off-stage as a director, has written several plays, and composed original musical scores for the stage.
Taanishi kiyawâw. Danielle LaRose dishinikashoon. Ni wahkômâkanak michif de nipaapaa, au nom de Daze, Nadeau, Marchand, Bouvette i LaRose, Pembina (Red River Valley) d’ooshchiw. My matrilineal Mennonite family, names Abrams and Kehler, also trace our settler roots back to the Red River Valley. Aen koonteur niya, okitohcîkew niya. I am a guest on Treaty Six territory and a proud member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. I currently live in Amiskwâcîswakahikan and I have had the privilege of working as a playwright, performer, director, composer, and storyteller across Turtle Island and the UK. "The Poisoner's Daughter" will delve into my family history using elements of Michif language, Métis folklore, and traditional Métis music. With this piece, I hope to share the story of my great-great-grandmother, Hélène LaRose nee Bouvette, in the spirit of kwayaskâstâsowin- setting things right.

Hailing from the prairies, Michaela Washburn is a proud Métis artist of Cree, French, English and Irish ancestry. Michaela has performed internationally at festivals and theatres in Wales, Aruba and across Canada, and the United States. With a background in Human Relations Counselling, her practice now lives primarily in performance; spanning theatre, film, television, writing, spoken word, improvisation, clown, audiobook narration, hosting, workshop facilitation and stand-up.
An award winning actor and author, Michaela also has multiple nominations; most notably for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, the Ontario Arts Council’s Indigenous Arts Award, and the K. M. Hunter Artist Award for Theatre.
Washburn’s first play, Water Under the Bridge, which she co-wrote with Carrie Costello, toured with Carousel Players. Frozen River (nîkwatin sîpiy), a play she co-wrote with Carrie Costello and Joelle Peters, toured nationally, won the 2021 Sharon Enkin Plays for Young People Award, and is now available through Playwrights Canada Press. Currently, this collective is working on their next collaboration, Going Under; a play about teen suicide.
Michaela has been honoured to serve as a mentor for numerous emerging story creators with such organisations as the National Arts Centre, the Stratford Festival, Native Earth Performing Arts, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Industry Theatre, Soulpepper, Paprika Festival and Children’s Peace Theatre.
With a few audiobook narrations under her belt, she also made her directing debut with Lee Maracle’s Celia’s Song narrated by Columpa Bobb for ECW Press.
Selected theatre credits include: Strife (Punctuate! Theatre/Tarragon), Kohkom’s Babushka (Punctuate! Theatre/Pyretic Theatre/Banff Center for the Arts), Romeo and Juliet (Canadian Stage), Takwahiminana (Punctuate! Theatre/Soulpepper), Honour Beat (New West Theatre), This Is How We Got Here (Native Earth), Guarded Girls (Tarragon/Green Light Arts), Grace (Nightwood), Confederation and Riel (VideoCabaret/Soulpepper; *Dora Award), Animal Farm (Soulpepper), Fortune of Wolves (Theatre New Brunswick), In Care (Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre), The Hours That Remain (Magnus Theatre), The Speedy (UnSpun Theatre), Where the Blood Mixes (Western Canada Theatre/Theatre Aquarius/Theatre Network), The Rez Sisters (Factory Theatre), Such Creatures (Theatre Passé Muraille), Salt Baby (Native Earth), Spirit Horse (Roseneath Theatre), Three Little Birds (Workshop West Theatre), Death Of A Chief (Native Earth/National Arts Center), Dreary and Izzy (Native Earth)
Film/TV: Bloodlines (Devonshire Productions/Assini Productions), Skymed (Paramount/CBC/CBS), Pretty Hard Cases (CBC), Burden of Truth (CBC), Baroness Von Sketch (CBC/IFC), The River You Step In (Marjory Avenue Productions and Film Coop), Just One Word (Paper Canoe Projects), Guilt Free Zone (APTN), Remedy (Global TV), Breakout Kings (A&E), By The Rapids (APTN)
Presently, Michaela is honoured to be the Resident Community Engagement Liaison with Punctuate! Theatre and a member of the 2026 Pemmican Collective writing cohort.

Roberto Cayuqueo Martínez
Actor, director, and playwright, Roberto Cayuqueo Martínez holds a Master’s degree in Arts from the University of Chile and is co-founder of Colectivo Epew. His career lies at the intersection of the performing arts, film and television, cultural management, research, and community- and territory-based work.
As an actor, he has developed a career in film and television, participating in productions such as The Summer of Flying Fish, directed by Marcela Said; Ramona, directed by Andrés Wood; Sayen; Tales of the Earth, directed by Pablo Niessenson (Argentina); and Kaye, directed by Juan Cáceres, among others.
In the performing arts, he has developed a career as a director and playwright, combining artistic creation with research and territory-based processes. He has undertaken artistic residencies, community-based creative processes, and site-specific theatre workshops in Rio de Janeiro and Shanghai, as well as projects and performances in various territories across Chile, including Tirúa, Tucapel, Nirivilo, and Icalma. Through these processes, he has worked alongside Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, developing methodologies that connect the performing arts with interculturality, memory, oral storytelling, and the revitalization of the Mapuche language. He has also developed training and capacity-building processes with teachers and communities.
He is a member of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and was elected to serve on the ITI-UNESCO Executive Council for the 2024–2027 term.
In 2024, he co-directed Ñachi, by Nicolás Bascuñán, presented at ITAI Theatre in New York. In 2025, he directed Fillke Pewma (Dreams), a site-specific work presented at Teatro del Puente in Santiago and subsequently in Barcelona, exploring the relationship between dreams and the Mapocho River.
He is currently writing and directing Mawün / Rain at Teatro del Puente, together with Rallen Montenegro, Daniel Antivilo, and Luis Dubó.
In the field of research, he is co-investigator of the project Desired Whiteness and the Urban Space: A Collaborative Research in (Post)Colonial Chile, developed by the University of Sheffield, England, under the direction of Dr. Olivia Casagrande.
His work explores the potential of the arts as a tool for social transformation, fostering cultural diversity, community leadership, and the participation of Indigenous peoples and historically marginalized communities through territory-based work as well as theatre, film, and academia.

Hi everyone, this is the spot where I stop to toot my own horn. Let me start by saying: Dave Cunningham is a Métis Writer, Composer, Filmmaker, Performer, and Community Facilitator with a long and storied history working in Alberta’s Aboriginal Artistic Community. He is a founding member of the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta, as well as the progenitor of the Aboriginal Multi-Meida Program at NAIT.
And… he things he wants to write a musical or maybe an opera, or maybe just an anthology of interconnected songs and stories! He’s really not sure. The idea of a musical is new to him So this will certainly be an exploration.
One thing though… to ensure his success he is going to surrounding himself with musicians, actors, and dancers; Metis cultural artists who specialize in those areas where his expertise or experience might be lacking.

Tan’si, I’m Cree-Métis, originally from St. Albert, Alberta and a citizen of the the Métis Nation of Alberta.
I have a B.A. and MLIS from the University of Alberta and am now a retired librarian from the University of Saskatchewan, returning home to amiskwaciywaskahigan. In Edmonton, I co-organized the Acimostǎtowin Indigenous Theatre Gathering through Theatre Alberta in 2024. In 2025, I received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Indigenous Librarianship from the International Indigenous Librarians Forum.
While I have been engaged with theatre since my youth, I am fairly new to playwriting. My work-in-progress play, Not Your Ordinary Love Triangle, is about the intersections of Indigeneity and neurodiversity. Excerpts of this play have been read / produced at the Spring Festival of Shorts in Regina (dramaturgy by Yvette Nolan) and at Script Salon in Edmonton, with dramaturgical assistance from Marie Beath Badian (via Gwaandak Theatre) and David van Belle.
Additionally, I have three 5-minute plays that are works-in-progress.

Matthew MacKenzie is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta and proud father of Ivan (Eevan, Vanya, Vanichka). Artistic Director of Punctuate! Theatre, Matthew is also the founder and an Artistic Associate with Pyretic Productions, a founding member of the Pemmican Collective, as well as Canadian Liaison of the Liberian Dance Troupe. Matt’s plays include First Métis Man of Odesa, Bears, After the Fire and The Particulars.

Nicole Joy-Fraser (She/They-Tsa’tinée, Nehiyaw, Métis, Settler) is an award-winning, multidisciplinary artist with mixed Settler and Indigenous bloodlines from Horse Lake First Nation, AB. For over 25 years they have been storytelling for stage and screen, across Turtle Island and beyond, and they are also a regular facilitator of Community Arts, invited Cultural Carrier and Oshkabewis or “Helper to the Elder”. As a proud Bear clan matriarch, 60’s scoop witness and 2Spirit Helper, supporting each other through healing and the Indigenous arts continues to be a passion of theirs. She is currently a regular facilitator and cultural carrier at Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, Niagara Chapter Native Women, Brock University and Niagara Catholic District School Board. Nicole’s Autobiographical Cultural Sharing “Ni Nagamoon” is making is Regent Park debut this fall thanks to a co-presenting partnership between Carousel Players and Native Earth Performing Arts, two organizations who have nurtured her artistic journey and Indigenous reclamation.

Teneil Whiskeyjack is a Plains Cree multidisciplinary artist from Saddle Lake Cree Nation whose practice spans theatre, movement, storytelling, writing, and community-based creation. A multidisciplinary artist, keynote speaker, facilitator and creative consultant, her work is rooted in Cree ways of knowing, embodiment, cultural reclamation, and the relationship between land, body, spirit, and story.
Beginning her professional acting career at a young age, Teneil received the Outstanding New Performance by an Actress in Film award from First Americans in the Arts for her role in Dreamkeeper. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Concordia University of Edmonton and is a recipient of the Esquao Award for the Arts.
Her debut play, Ayita, a multidisciplinary work bringing contemporary Indigenous dance and theatre into relationship, headlined the 10th anniversary of SkirtsAfire Festival. Her recent performance credits include Wolf Cull at Vancouver’s Transform Festival and STRIFE with Punctuate Theatre. She has toured extensively across North America with Bear Grease and continues to expand her practice through international artistic and cultural exchange, including a residency in Chile in partnership with Kimvn Teatro.
Her international practice continues through collaboration with Silvestre Cultural Association founder Rosangela Silvestre on Ancestral Nature — Cultural Connections, an intercultural performance project set to premiere in Edmonton in May 2027. Through these relationships, Teneil continues to deepen her engagement with global Indigenous artists, embodied cultural practices, and cross-cultural approaches to contemporary performance.
Teneil is the recipient of the 2026–2027 New Work Award with Good Women Dance Collective, supporting the development of her multidisciplinary solo work. Her evolving artistic practice explores Cree language, Indigenous contemporary movement, ancestral knowledge, and the body as a site of memory, transformation, and creative power.
Beyond the stage, Teneil works as an artist, keynote speaker, facilitator, and creative consultant, creating spaces where story, culture, embodiment, and community come into meaningful relationship. At the heart of her work is a commitment to remembering—remembering our relationship to ourselves, to one another, and to the knowledge we carry.