{"id":19711,"date":"2026-09-24T12:11:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T16:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.playwrights.ca\/?p=19711"},"modified":"2026-09-24T12:11:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T16:11:55","slug":"introducing-the-2026-2027-young-creators-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.playwrights.ca\/fr\/2026\/09\/24\/introducing-the-2026-2027-young-creators-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"
PWM is thrilled to introduce the 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit!<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

For the next nine months, these thirteen emerging playwrights and theatre artists will have the opportunity to develop their scripts, interdisciplinary projects, and artistic skills with individual dramaturgical mentorships, group workshops, professional development opportunities, and much more. Keep reading to learn more about each artist, as well as YCU\u2019s Lead Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We look forward to celebrating our 12th year of YCU with this exciting Cohort!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meet the Cohort<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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ADRIAN DARWENT (they\/them)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Adrian Darwent is in over their head. They are an artist born and living in Tiohti\u00e0:ke, attending a BA in Creative Writing at Concordia University. They\u2019ve dabbled in spoken word poetry, short fiction, songwriting, and a number of other small passions. Though their official accomplishments are somewhat sparse (few mentions on any billboards of note) Adrian takes pride in the art they create, centering their works around the people and communities in their life that inspire them. Their close family is oftentimes the nucleus of the stories they tell, but this sentimentality does not limit them from exploring, engaging with, and criticizing today\u2019s inescapable political reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Credit: Hanesa Banks<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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AMY RING (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Amy Ring is a multidisciplinary artist with credits across theatre, film, and voice. She has performed in shorts, commercials, dubbing, and on stage, most notably in Imago & Geordie\u2019s The Wolves. Her comedic short Scrappy which she wrote, starred in, and produced won Best Film at the ACTRA film Festival and screened at Fantasia. She wrote her first theatre script in elementary school, rehearsing it during recess. Now with dozens of scripts in progress, she’s ready to move deeper into writing and directing for the stage, and is thrilled to join the Young Creators Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Emelia Hellman<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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JESSICA KINUYO BAKAR (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Jessica Kinuyo Bakar is from Northern California and lives in Tiohti\u00e0:ke (Montr\u00e9al). She is completing her B.A. in Creative Writing at Concordia University, where she serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief ofSoliloquies Anthology<\/em> and received the Gabriel Safdie Award in Drama. Jessica\u2019s background in creative nonfiction informs her instincts and interests as a playwright. Her nonfiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Geist<\/em>, Grain<\/em>, The Maine Review<\/em>, Hippocampus Magazine<\/em>, and elsewhere. She has recently received mentorship support under The Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) and The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), and she is excited to develop her first play with YCU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Jessica Kinuyo Bakar<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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JUANITA (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Recently back from a well lived Artistic Hiatus, Juanita is ready to step back into the world of theatre and story-telling. After having trained in Dawson\u2019s Professional Theatre Program, she has been looking for the perfect opportunity to further her artistic education and is excited to see what the YCU program brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: WeAreArte.ca<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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LAURIE DUMONT-BAL (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Laurie Dumont-Bal is a biracial theatre artist with Indian and French-Canadian settler origins. She works as a playwright, director, producer, playback theatre artist and theatre teacher. Since 2023, Laurie\u2019s play \u201cHere\u201d has received support from PGC\u2019s Mentorship Program, Imago Theatre\u2019s Nested Circles residency, and Teesri Duniya\u2019s Fireworks Play Development Program. During 2024-2025, three public readings were presented across Canada at the Fireworks Festival (Teesri Duniya), Craft Bites International (PGC), and Gathering Divergence Festival (CPAMO). Laurie worked as co-writer for Climate Play (Imago Theatre and w\u00e2hk\u00f4htowin project). She directed staged readings for Fireworks Festival (Teesri Duniya) and Park N Play (Infinith\u00e9\u00e2tre). She directed 18 musicals at the Segal Centre Academy, including four original musicals which she co-wrote. Laurie is passionate about collaborating on new works!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Brooklyn Melnyk Photography<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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LAUREN MOHAMMED (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Loves her grandparents. Loves when people come together to fight systemic oppression that leads to a revolution of workers overturning the ruling class and taking back the fruits of their labour by means of public ownership. Loves pasta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Lily<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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MADELINE SAVOIE (they\/them)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Madeline Savoie is a playwright, performer, producer, and dramaturg with a BFA in Performance Creation from Concordia University. Their writing has been featured in the NotaBle Acts and Plain Site Theatre Festivals in their hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and more recently as a finalist in Infinith\u00e9\u00e2tre\u2019s Write-On-Q competition. Madeline is currently the General Manager of Out of Body Performing Arts, having initially joined the company as a dramaturg and performer on \u201cTHE WAVES\u201d<\/em> and more recently serving as co-producer of Out of Body\u2019s \u201cCold Reads\u201d <\/em>series. Through their other company, Paper Sailor Theatre, they have developed projects such as \u201cPersonal Best,\u201d \u201cExit Left at the End of the World,\u201d <\/em>et \u201cMIXTAPE.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Emily Savoie<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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MASHA BASHMAKOVA (she\/they)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Masha is an actor\/creator with a background in physical theatre and a love for new work development. She thrives in chaos, curiosity, and movement. Amongst trees, playfulness, and loved ones. Between two main activities: wondering and wandering. Born in Russia, raised in the Emirates, and primarily based in Tio’tia:ke, being on the move is second nature to Masha, and after graduating from Concordia\u2019s Performance Creation program, she has continued her training internationally with ArtHaus Berlin, the Grotowski Institute in Poland, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and Frantic Assembly in London. As a writer, Masha is drawn to stories of motherhood and violence, belonging and community, climate futures, complicated familial dynamics, absurd satires, and sapphic love stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Emelia Hellman<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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RAE-MICHELLE COMODERO (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Rae-Michelle Comodero (she\/her) is a professional actor and artist based in Montreal. An alumni of Concordia University\u2019s Acting program and Imago Theatre\u2019s ARTISTA Mentorship program, Rae-Michelle spent a year travelling and performing across Eastern Canada under Geordie Theatre\u2019s 2PlayTour. Now a full-time confused adult and ever-evolving artist, she is hungrier than ever to create, to explore, to fail, to learn, to grow. She’s excited to finally take part in the YCU program! Who knew her years of experience as a teen writing fanfiction would come in handy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Jeremy Cabrera<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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SERENA MASCIOTRA (she\/they)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Playwright, director, performer, creator, crafter, masker, deviser, Concordia Theatre grad, jester, organiser, traveller, choreographer, daydreamer, sh*t-disturber, artist, and all around side-quest achiever. Not in that order. My art comes out political because everything that fed it was political to begin with. It is my privilege to make art while fascism is on the rise, so I work to make people laugh until we’re all uncomfortable enough to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Also)(I <3 public transportation) (It’s relevant, trust)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Diya Kapoor<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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SILAS JAMES (he\/him)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Blessed with an unflappable Ontarian twang, SILAS JAMES is a queer and trans writer, literary performer, editor, publicist, producer, and nightlife anthropologist based in Tiohti\u00e0\/Montreal. Part unreliable socialite, part field researcher, his work spans criticism, fiction, theatre, and long-form literary monologue. His writing is known for its dark humour, atmospheric tension, and fascination with social performance, emotional instability, and scenes in various stages of collapse. Drawing from queer nightlife, internet subcultures, and religious imagery, his work treats bars, parties, and art scenes as both fragile social ecosystems and apocalypse landscapes. His first play, We All Died at The Lesbian Bar<\/em>, debuted at the 2026 Montreal Fringe Festival to a sold-out run and received the Patron\u2019s Choice Award. He loves crosswords, Jesus, and aperol spritzes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Rory Creelman<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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TRUSHA CHAUHAN (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Trusha Chauhan is an emerging writer from Leicester, England, now based in Tiohti\u00e0:ke (Montr\u00e9al). Her work is often inspired by a physical sensation, taking shape around themes of taboo, pain, and the horrors and delights of the body. Over the past few years, Trusha has explored these ideas across fiction, film, poetry and playwriting. Her most recent work, a short rendition of \u2018Gut Girl\u2019, was staged as part of Imago Theatre’s Simmer Festival.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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WREN DESLAURIERS (she\/her)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Wren Deslauriers is a Montreal-based theatre artist of Caribbean and French Canadian descent from Toronto, Ontario. She recently received her BFA from Concordia University, graduating with distinction in Performance Creation and English literature. Wren believes in the enduring ability stories have to connect with people across time and space. Whether it be Greek theatre or Shakespeare, there’s something universal to the human condition that provokes us to hold onto these stories. Her work explores empathy, connection and the universality of the human experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credit: Dillon Marshall<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This program is facilitated by YCU Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

THE YOUNG CREATORS UNIT IS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\"Patrimoine<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Wordmark<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PWM is thrilled to introduce the 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit! For the next nine months, these thirteen emerging playwrights and theatre artists will have the opportunity to develop their scripts, interdisciplinary projects, and artistic skills with individual dramaturgical mentorships, group workshops, professional development opportunities, and much more. Keep reading to learn more about each artist, … <\/p>\n

Continuer la lecture de « The 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit »<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":19731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.playwrights.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ORIGINAL-GRAPHIC-DESIGNER-COLOURS-2.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Playwrights' Workshop Montr\u00e9al","author_link":"https:\/\/www.playwrights.ca\/fr\/author\/legacy\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.playwrights.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ORIGINAL-GRAPHIC-DESIGNER-COLOURS-2.png","yoast_head":"\nThe 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit - Playwrights' Workshop Montr\u00e9al<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.playwrights.ca\/fr\/2026\/09\/24\/introducing-the-2026-2027-young-creators-unit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_CA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit - Playwrights' Workshop Montr\u00e9al\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PWM is thrilled to introduce the 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit! For the next nine months, these thirteen emerging playwrights and theatre artists will have the opportunity to develop their scripts, interdisciplinary projects, and artistic skills with individual dramaturgical mentorships, group workshops, professional development opportunities, and much more. 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