The Young Creators Unit (YCU) is a collaborative artistic incubator, featuring approximately 10 emerging theatre creators under the age of 30 per year. YCU is proud to discover exciting new voices in Montreal’s theatre community, supporting artists through biweekly group sessions, 1:1 dramaturgical conversations, interactive and dynamic workshops, and free outings to live theatre performances. YCU focuses not only on artistic growth but professional development, pairing cohort members with external mentors, amongst other opportunities, including our annual YCU Showcase, where creators witness their pieces-in-progress staged by professional actors and directors in front of an enthusiastic audience of peers and theatre community leaders. Through YCU, young theatre artists have the opportunity to experiment with form, content, and narrative structure, regardless of where they are in the process of creation.
Recent pieces-in-progress include: Kill’Em With Kindness by Misha Nye (Fringe 2025 Winner), All About Love (Projection) by Rachel Chin (continued PWM Support), Hwaan Han’s Willow (continued PWM Support / pre-production), Dylan’s Song by Anna Morreale (Queer Reading Series 2026), God Has ADHD by Joshua Bilbao (continued PWM Support), My Sister’s Dead…Haha (Queer Reading Series 2025), Anton May’s A BOY’S Love (Queer Reading Series 2025), It Sticks To The River by Corbeau Sandoval (Queer Reading Series 2024), The Mentorship by Tyson Fraleigh (Queer Reading Series 2024), and many more.
The YCU is facilitated by dramaturg Leila Ghaemi.
Leila Ghaemi (she/her) is a proud Persian dramaturg and theatre educator. She received her BFA in Theatre Arts and MFA in Theatre Education & Direction from Boston University’s School of Theatre, where she trained in dramaturgical methods. Having spent over a decade working for various theatre organizations in the United States and Canada, Leila has been fortunate to evolve her artistic practices professionally and academically, specifically in new play development. Her artistic pillars include MENASA representation, radical theatre empowerment, and creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces on and off stage. Leila also serves on the board for Persephone Productions Montreal. When not dreaming about theatre, her world revolves around her pit-pug puppy Gigi and her two very sassy cats: Leslie & Hiccup.
Past participants
A huge thank you to the funders of the program:
