Suzie Martin
– Artistic Director
Suzie (she/her) is an 8th-generation descendant of Pennsylvania-Dutch Mennonites who settled on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Neutral, and Haudenosaunee peoples in what is now called Waterloo County, Ontario. Based on the Prairies since 1999 she gratefully lives and works as a theatre artist in win-nipi/Winnipeg on Treaty One territory.
A director and dramaturg to her core Suzie is obsessed with the mechanics of storytelling. She works in theatres and in non-traditional spaces to re-interpret classics, stage contemporary plays, develop new scripts, and facilitate collaborative devising processes. She was nominated for a Sterling Award for Outstanding Direction of a Fringe play in 2018 and holds a teaching award from the University of Alberta. Before returning to Winnipeg in 2020 (after 6 years mostly based in amiskwacîwâskahikan/Edmonton) Suzie was the Associate Season Director of Edmonton Fringe Theatre. She was part of the inaugural Dramaturgy Lab cohort at the Citadel Theatre and recently participated in the Future Prairie Theatre Research project. She is currently directing and dramaturging the development of a tri-provincial collaboration for Small Matters Productions and was delighted to join the dramaturgical team for One Trunk Theatre’s 2022 Hot House program.
Suzie’s work stands on the shoulders of the excellent teachers and mentors she studied with during her MFA in Directing from the University of Alberta and her BA-Honours in Acting from the University of Winnipeg. She has also been fortunate enough to assistant direct for Ardith Boxall, Anne Hodges, Christopher Brauer, Daryl Cloran, and Mieko Ouchi—all of whom generously shared their expertise and supported her development as an artist.
Directing work includes Pitch Please, Citadel Theatre [Esc] Series, People Places and Things (guest director, University of Winnipeg – project cancelled before opening due to COVID); Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (guest director, University of Alberta Studio Theatre); Baba Yaga (Alberta Musical Theatre Company); Tragedy: A Tragedy (Blarney Productions); Fetch (Interloper Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (guest director, Citadel Theatre Young Acting Company); Over Her Dead Body (Small Matters/Edmonton Fringe Theatre); Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi (Manitoba Underground Opera); God’s Ear (Studio Theatre); The Object of Constellations (Small Matters); The Cherry Orchard (Theatre by the River & little ECHO theatre); Artichoke Heart, The Gas Heart (Theatre Outgrabe/Winnipeg Fringe).
Suzie Martin – suzie@theatreprojectsmanitoba.ca
Sam McLean – Managing Director
Sam McLean (he/him) is an arts administration professional, improviser, comedy writer, performer, and amateur gardener. Sam is a descendant of English/Scottish settlers and has lived his entire life in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 Territory. He holds a BA in Theatre and Film Studies from the University of Winnipeg conferred in 2010. Sam first got involved with theatre through his high-school’s improv team which taught him the value of collaboration and active listening and set him on course to pursue a career in the arts.
Sam has been performing in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival for over a decade as part of the fan favourite DnD Improv Show and continues to write, perform, and produce scripted and improvised theatre and alternative comedy locally and across Canada in festivals like Montreal Sketchfest, Improvaganza and The Winnipeg Comedy Festival. He began working as a professional arts administrator for Winnipeg Jewish Theatre in 2018 and is extremely grateful for the mentorship and support he received there.
He is deeply dedicated and connected to live performance and the amazing potential it holds for connecting and inspiring people and he feels immensely fortunate to participate in the creation of live theatre. Sam is keen to share his sense of enthusiasm for the presentation of Manitoban stories on this land with TPM’s audiences, and he looks forward to supporting even more great local artists in the years to come.
Sam McLean – sam@theatreprojectsmanitoba.ca
Key Caguioa – Associate Producer
Key (she/they) is a queer artist who has a special kind of love for directing, stage management, and performing.
As a second-generation immigrant born and raised in Winnipeg (Treaty 1 Territory), she is particularly drawn to exploring her Filipino-Canadian identity through theatre.
She holds a BA Adv. in English and Theatre from the University of Manitoba and is a proud Black Hole Theatre alumna!
Stage Management credits include: Macbeth (BHTC – ShakespeareFest), MA-BUHAY! The Road to Rainbow Stage (Winnipeg Fringe Festival), The Mountaintop (MTC)*, MA-BUHAY! A New Musical (Rainbow Stage)*.
Directing credits include: Prince Gomolvilas’ The Theory of Everything (BHTC), King James by Rajiv Joseph (MTC)*.
Other production credits: Props Apprentice / Assistant Production Manager for The Prom (Dry Cold Productions), Production Assistant for Tuesdays with Morrie (WJT).
TV: Script supervisor, director, actor, and production assistant (Maria and the Mennos).
Outside of theatre, Key is an aspiring author and runs a hockey podcast! You can often find them worldbuilding for their fantasy novel, playing Dungeons & Dragons / Baldur’s Gate 3, or yelling at the Winnipeg Jets to shoot the puck.
* Apprentice.
Headshot by Faith Marcial.
Key Caguioa – key@theatreprojectsmanitoba.ca
Christine Leslie – Programming & Communications Coordinator
Christine (She/Her) is an artist born and raised in Winnipeg, Treaty 1 Territory. She is an active member of the Winnipeg theatre community as an actor and director and more recently has begun her journey in Graphic Design. She has a deep interest in exploring the “experience” of theatre, remolding the classics to make them new and describes her personal artistic style as “cheeky minimalism”.
A passionate advocate for live performance, Christine believes that Theatre or performance art, is the ultimate sensual craft of storytelling. “An audience goes to an event that asks them to give over all their senses so that they may be transported, transfixed and hopefully transformed before they venture back onto the streets of their reality. Theatre is stories performed in fictional walls, that changes what happens in the real rooms we never get to be a part of. The creation of theatre is a means to reach the heart of society. As artists, we hope to use stories to ask the tough questions, bring laughter, sorrow and love to every person we meet. The stories we choose to tell and the way we communicate with each other is determined not as individuals in this craft but a collective group of humans trying to understand what it all means and what art can do for the greater good.”
Christine has a BA-Honours in Acting from the University of Winnipeg and is currently studying Graphic Design and Interactive Media at the Toronto Film School out of Yorkville University.
Christine Leslie – christine@theatreprojectsmanitoba.ca
Thank you to Ian Hodges for his work as Bookkeeper/ Payroll for TPM.