Soheil Parsa is an Iranian Canadian theatre artist based in Toronto. He is the co-founder and former artistic director of Modern Times Stage Company and has directed over forty productions for the company since its inception in 1989. Soheil’s work has been shown in Canada as well as internationally, and has been recognized with numerous awards and nominations. Selected past works include Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba (Modern Times Stage Company and Aluna Theatre), The Chairs, The Cherry Orchard, Waiting for Godot, Macbeth, Hamlet, Aurash, and The Death of the King (Modern Times Stage Company), David Paquet’s Wildfire and Daniel MacIvor’s Monster (Factory Theatre), Guillermo Verdecchia’s The Parliament of the Birds (Soulpepper Theatre).

MJ DANDENEAU is a French Métis/Anishinaabe woman from the Red River Nation Treaty #1. Over the past 20 years her tours, studio and composition work have literally taken her all over the globe and nationally recognized with recording awards such as Canadian JUNO’s, WCMA-Awards, CFM-Awards as well as the Kevin Walters Legacy Award, Indigenous Full Circle Prize and The Rise Award.  MJ’s multifaceted talents have given her, through her own business, MJ Entertainment Canada Inc, the ability to be an effective Booking Agent, Tour Manager, Career Consulter and Producer for the past 17 years as well as landing the Sound Designer & Composer hat for theatres across Canada. MJ’s mission is not only to be working to strengthen Indigenous communities but more importantly providing mentorship, sharing her knowledge, and instilling the values passed down to her of patience, respect, integrity, and kindness in youth to develop future community leaders.

Jessica holds a degree in Set and Costume Design from the National Theatre School of Canada (2006). She has made her mark as a designer within various Canadian regional theaters as well as the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where she contributed for four seasons. Her recent credits include costume designs for Foxfinder (Imago Theatre, 2022) for which she was nominated for a META for Outstanding Costume Design, Les Géants (Cirque Éloize, 2022), Bonnes Bonnes (Théâtre aux Écuries, 2023), the opera Incoronazione di Poppea (Atelier Lyrique, 2023), Chimerica (Théâtre Duceppe, 2024), for which she won the François-Barbeau award for Best Costume Design, Meteor Shower (Theatre Calgary, 2024) and The Cirque (Cirque du Soleil, 2024). In 2021, she initiated Musée Vivant, a theatrical project exploring the representation of women through classical art, supported by a grant from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec. Alongside her costume design endeavours, Jessica has an Etsy boutique where she creates handbags from salvaged fabrics and also paints regularly.

Reneltta is an Inuvialuk, Dene and Cree mom from the Northwest Territories. She is founder of Akpik Theatre, a northern focussed professional Indigenous Theatre company. Raised by her grandparents on the trap-line until school age, this nomadic environment gave Reneltta the skills to become the multi-disciplined artist she is now. For nearly two decades, Reneltta has taken part in or initiated the creation of Indigenous Theatre across Canada and overseas. Under Akpik Theatre, Reneltta has written, produced, and performed various works creating space for Indigenous led voice. Current works include Pawâkan Macbeth, a Plains Cree takeover of Macbeth written by Arluk on Treaty 6 territory. Pawâkan Macbeth was inspired by working with youth and elders on the Frog Lake reserve. Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program and Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to direct at The Stratford Festival. There she was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie – Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director’s Award for her direction of the The Breathing Hole. In 2024, Reneltta received an Honourary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Alberta.