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Marie Barlizois a Filipino-Chinese playwright and screenwriter born in the Philippines but raised in Montreal. Sheis a graduate of UBC’s Creative Writing MFA Program and the first visible minority to graduate from the NationalTheatre School’s (NTS) Playwriting Program. She is the playwriting mentor at Black Theatre Workshop’s ArtistMentorship Program, an instructor at NTS and an Artist-in-Residence at Imago Theatre where she is developing her play The Warrior. Geordie Theatre commissioned her to write The Little Mighty Superhero which was part of their 2020-21 season 2Play Tour. Carlos Bulosan Theatre commissioned her to write and perform The Healingwhich was launched on their digital platform this summer as part of their 2020 Kumustahan projects and it was further developed for Centaur Theatre’s 2021 Catalyst Program. Her play Betrayal was shortlisted for thePersephone Theatre’s 2021 IBPOC Play Commission. She has been selected to be part of the 2021 Netflix-BANFFDiversity of Voices Initiative.

Michaela is a playwright and performer with an MA in Drama from the University of Toronto. Michaela’s solo show 8 Ways my Mother Was Conceived was presented in Toronto, Montreal, New York City, Ottawa, Hudson,Winnipeg and Stratford. Michaela wrote and performed in In Search of Mrs. Pirandello (2016 WildSide Festival, Centaur Theatre). Michaela’s next Centaur production was the Main Stage world premiere of Successions in the 2017/2018 season (Outstanding New Text, METAs 2018). Her play Extra/Beautiful/U won first place in the 2017 Write on Q competition presented by Infinitheatre. Her play FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) premiered with Geordie Productions in September 2019 (Outstanding New Text Nomination, METAs 2020). Michaela was playwright-in-residence at Centaur Theatre for the 2019/2020 season writing Terroni (or Once Upon a Time in the South).

Gabe is a performance creator born and raised in Tio’tià:ke. They have performed with companies across the country like Centaur, Buddies in Bad Times, Geordie, Imago, Young People’s Theatre, and the National Theatre School. Select performance credits include Sermo Scomber’s award-winning bouffon clown show Don’t Read the Comments and Cabal’s site-specific immersive piece La Somnambule (META nominated–Lead Performance). Their voice can be heard on Netflix and Ubisoft projects. They’re an alumnus of the Dome, BTW’s AMP and Youth Works programs, the PWM/CEAD Translation Mentorship, and most recently, the BIBT Emerging Creators Unit where they co-created E-TRANSFERS. Their play, Eva in Rio, was shortlisted for the 2020 PGC Emerging Playwright Award. They co-founded big T collective, they serve on QDF’s Board of Directors, they’re an artist-in-residence at Imago, and they’re developing a commissioned adaptation for Geordie Theatre. Gabemaharjan.com.

Adjani Poirier is a queer theatre artist who is interested in creating work that explores the beauty and the ugly of the human experience. She’s drawn to stories that reveal the complexity of navigating a world where systemic “isms” oppress and yet love and connection still seep through the cracks, strong and fierce, giving us life. Her plays include On Life and Living: A History of AIDS Community Care Montreal and Still Gay When I’m Not In Love. She recently curated the 2021 edition of QueerCab with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and is currently living, writing and creating in her hometown of Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal where she studies playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada. Adjani’s best strategies for dealing with pandemic lockdown ennui have been laughing at dogs at the dog park, binging podcasts and pretending the hosts are her best friends, and reading Dolly Parton’s autobiography.