• To provide artists with the opportunity to receive free space (subject to availability) for their project in exchange for volunteer time. 
• For artists to have a sense of ownership over their project. Hub projects are not a part of Presentation House Theatre’s programming, which allows the artists’ independent vision and for their project to grow beyond the activities that take place at PHT. (Participants should use the following sentence for any marketing: Supported by The PHT Creative Hub.)
• For artists to feel a part of a hub, not a club, where they can connect with other artists, feel accepted, supported and encouraged at whatever stage their project is at.
• To connect and engage with other artists in the program, and additional professional development activities offered by Presentation House Theatre.

• Participants will be engaged in the program for 1 year (upon signing a LOA) and will have 1 year to complete their volunteer hours. Hub Members will have the opportunity to renew their spot after 1 year. 
• Complete their volunteer hours. Energy Exchange artists will receive at least 2 hours of studio time for each 1 hour volunteered. 50% of their volunteer hours must be volunteer Usher shifts at PHT. These hours can be fulfilled by any member of a project. Only volunteer duties that have been approved and scheduled by PHT will count towards volunteer hours. Hub Members are free to propose volunteer contributions, but PHT is under no obligation to accept those offers.
• Participate in the required Hub Engagement. We aim to work with and connect the Hub Members on a deeper level with the following opportunities: 
  • Once a month we will have Open Artist Lounge Time, a time for a few hours as an open space to work or connect with other Hub members. 
  • Four times a year there will be Hub Socials, a chance to connect with Hub artists on a deeper level. 
  • Attend our Meet with… Series for free. These sessions will happen throughout the year, intended for artists to grow their skills in Business Operations and learn from professionals in their respective fields. 
  • Hub Members will be added to our invited opening night list for productions a part of Presentation House Theatre’s season.

Hub Members will have access to PHT Creative Hub’s Google Group where members can share and see opportunities from other members.

Artists will be required to attend a minimum number of the following throughout the year: 

• At least one of the four Hub Socials offered throughout the year.
• At least six other sessions. This includes our Meet with.. Series, our Open Artist Lounge Time and/or PHT’s Opening Nights.

Ashley Chodat (she/her) is a playwright, dramaturg, emerging director and teaching artist. She has worked with Bard on the Beach, The Arts Club, Carousel Theatre, Playwright’s Theatre Centre, Arts Umbrella, Green Thumb, UpintheAir, Theatre SKAM, Impulse, Kaleidoscope and various fringe festivals. Recent playwright credits include: Camp Goneaway (Vancouver Fringe-Best of the Fest, Patron’s Pick Awards 2024), Mother Pin (Or Festival/Fabulist Theatre), Be(a)Tree (Vines Art Festival), June Bug (Vancouver Fringe-TYP Family Forward Award, rEvolver Fest, Theatre on the Edge) Directing credits: Jewel (Peninsula Productions), Head Over Heels (Co-Director, UBC Players Club Mainstage), The Wolves (Assistant Director, Douglas College), James and the Giant Peach (Assistant Director, CTORA). She holds a BFA in Applied Theatre from University of Victoria. Ashley is the co-artistic director of Ragamuffin Productions.

Colleen Bayati is an Iranian-Canadian director, writer, and theatrical technician based in Vancouver, BC. Graduating with a BFA from SFU, Colleen was a part of the Boca del Lupo’s SLaM program (2024), and is currently in Presentation House Theatre’s Creative Hub, where she debuted her new musical World Ender in July 2025. Her previous short-musical Hollow Hearth debuted at SFU in 2024 as a part of the Live Acts festival and also did a selected piece at the SFU FCAT Undergraduate Conference. She also has short films like Birds I View (featured in SFU’s The Peak magazine in 2023) and EnTitties (2025) which is currently in post-production. In 2024, she also started a new production collective Great Trash Productions along with Zack Faulks in order to emphasize the importance of taking difficult topics and finding abstract or outrageous ways to embody them. A majority of her work explores themes like hope, agency, existentialism, and rediscovering childlike wonder. She aims to create fantastical worlds as a vehicle to discuss difficult relationships and questions.

His lesbian musical film Same Boat won the People’s Choice Award in 2015. He shows up in commercials and TV shows like iZombie, Firefly Lane and So Help Me Todd. He has made over 20 short films and music videos. He has many awards and if you don’t keep your eye on it, he might take yours as well. He really likes trophies. When David is not speaking, coaching, emceeing, or hosting he can be found…by leaving out some aged cheese. Or alternatively you can switch on the TV to some natural wildlife show, he will likely wander in to look. He finds animal antics very funny.

He has been a commissioned filmmaker and was featured on a TV show about filmmakers. David has worked around the world but still can’t find his house keys. A City Of Vancouver Award of Excellence winner, a recipient of a Legacy Award in The Arts and was Sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and won the Teacher of the Year. He was also the Entertainment Manager of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

David’s award-winning multimedia one-man musical Eviction Conniption won an award. This year his show Warped was a big hit but has won no awards (yet).  

www.dcjproductions.ca and www.davidcjones.ca 

Diane Rolston is a North Vancouver–based life and business coach, author, and professional speaker who helps high-achieving women create success and scale with satisfaction. Through her company, Dynamic Women®, and her award-winning Dynamic Women Podcast, she blends strategy, mindset, and humour to empower women to achieve more without burnout.

As part of the Creative Hub at Presentation House Theatre, Diane is developing Chasing Enough—her debut one-woman show that pulls back the curtain on the pressure to prove, perform, and please—and what it costs to keep chasing approval. Through humour, honesty, and heart, she invites the audience on an experiential journey that blurs the line between stage and soul. Blending her coaching insights and comedic voice, Diane explores burnout, self-abandonment, and the radical act of coming home to yourself. It’s raw. It’s real. And it’s a reminder that you were always enough.

DSR Production’s cast and crew of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors are pleased to be part of PHT’s 2025/26 Creative Hub and Energy Exchange. The cast and crew have been brought together by DSR Artistic Director Mark Carter and includes (in photo from L to R, top to bottom) Stage Manager Kayla Neilsen, actors Michael Charrois, Joshua Berg, Quinn Churchill, Director Mark Carter and actors Jacqueline Charrois, Maia Beresford and Ellie King. Design and Production personnel not pictured: Emma Pabuaya, Darren Hales, Glenn MacDonald, Eric St. Laurent, Richard Elsom and Sandy Wohl.

Garvin Chan 陳嘉泓 (They/them) is a theatre maker, playwright, and director from Hong Kong, situated in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories. Graduating from Simon Fraser University’s theatre performance program in 2022, they have since featured in Pedro Chamale’s Peace Country, received an Early Career Development grant with Rumble Theatre, and participated in programs with What Lab, vAct, Arts Club, and PTC.

Garvin’s works often explore identity through darkly offbeat humour, juxtaposing elements of ancestry, spirituality, vulgarity, and mundanity to create work that is emotionally grounded, surreal, yet bleakly hopeful.

Garvin’s works include What the F-Word is Going On? (presented at rEvolver festival 2024), Year of the Frog which will be featured in rice & beans theatre’s DBLSPK residency in late 2025, and A Grandchild’s Quest for Chicken which was performed at 2025’s Vancouver Fringe Festival with a second run of presentations coming up with vAct in 2026.

Jack Paterson (he/him) is a multi-award-winning theatre maker and creative producer profoundly committed to inclusive, innovative, and globally conscious theatre making. With projects spanning across Canada, Asia, Europe, South America, USA, and UK, his expertise includes transcultural, multi-lingual and multi-disciplinary devised works, fostering creative access, developing new works, and contemporary approaches to English and World classics.

Selected recent credits include: 

International: 뮤지컬<R;Link>The Musical with Hanyang University (KR), Variations in Light: Inspired by The Ramayana with Sanggar Paripirna (ID), Palazzo del Mondo with Signdance Collective (IT) and a series of new translation exchanges including Nucleo Experimental (Br), Piacenza Kultur Dom (Italy), and British Equity & Presence Theatre (UK).

National: New Translation Canada Translation Project with Theatre francais de Toronto (Toronto), Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui and CEAD (Montreal)

Local: The Creatus Project – Access for Senior Artists (Vancouver), Active Access Design for Disability Identifying Artists Labs

Translations: The Ballad of Georges Boivin

Find out more about their projects here.

Joelle is a multidisciplinary theatre artist working as a director, actor, producer, costume designer and is one of the founders of Far From the Tree Productions. Joelle loves to do work that examines the complexities of humanity in all its forms in hopes of creating a space for people to empathize with those they would never meet through innovative and imaginative storytelling.

Louisa (She/They) is an award-winning director and writer for both stage and screen. Her work centres around the diasporic experience through the genres of drama, comedy, and horror. An advocate for those who have been historically underrepresented, she works to give back to her community, mentoring and volunteering for various organizations, including The OR Festival, VAFF, VOKRA, BWSS, and others.

Louisa’s play Embers of the Past was selected for 2021/2022 Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre’s play development program, MSG Lab 1 and 2. Her short film, Hope and Grace was nominated for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2021 Regina International Film Festival and Awards, and was selected to participate in the Whistler Film Festival’s Women in Focus lab in 2025. She is currently in development with her feature film, Hungry Ghosts, and her one-woman one-act theatre show, Broken Rice, is to be presented at the 2026 Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Mairy Beam is an older non-binary playwright interested in exploring themes of social and environmental justice, gender identity, and aging.

Recent credits:

• PAL Theatre, Have A Senior’s Moment: What Difference Does It Make?* (2025)
• Playstorm Festival and Vancouver Fringe: My Friend Fritz* (2025)
• Fresh Picks, Act II Studio: Peach Pie* (2025)
• Firehall Arts Centre, and Vancouver Fringe:  The Judge’s Daughter (2023)
• Vancouver Fringe: Irreparable Harm? (2021)

* Winner, TMU Stella Award

They are a member of ACT II Studio, Alumnae Theatre in Toronto, and PHT Creative Hub, Wet Ink Collective, PTC in Vancouver as well as the Playwrights Guild of Canada.

Mairy is very grateful for the PHT Creative Hub for providing rehearsal space for My Friend Fritz. And, they’re grateful to fellow Hub members, Colleen Bayati and Laura Di Cicco for coming onboard for the project as Technical Design and Director.  They’re grateful to Emily for providing access to the PHT wardrobe to find a fur coat for our rat, and to Giselle for helping out as stage manager on the last night of their run in Langley.

Majid Tafreshi is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian artist, writer, director, and producer based in Vancouver with over 20 years of experience in theatre and film. He holds degrees in Cultural Management, Acting, Dramatic Literature, and an MBA. As the founder and artistic director of TAFF Art Society, Majid creates works that explore identity, freedom, and truth through a contemporary multicultural lens. His projects often blend abstract narrative with socio-political themes, and he is known for his bold visual storytelling and commitment to cross-cultural dialogue. One of his most recent successful projects Waiting For Godot, presented by TAFF Art Society, was performed at the Annex theatre in November 2024 and they will be back at the same venue in May 2026 with Majid’s original play To Love or not to Love, supported by the PHT Creative Hub for the rehearsal process.

Past projects include the children’s show, Cosmo’s Pop Up Circus, and Dream Seeds, a Canada Council supported project. She is currently developing The Holy Bucket, a multidisciplinary clown theatre adventure exploring themes of matrilineal ancestral healing, humour, and transformation.

Annahis and Sam make up the heart of Rushed Productions Ltd, a Vancouver theatre company that strives to bridge the worlds of amateur and professional theatre. An MsC of the University of Edinburgh, Annahis has been making theatre for over a decade, beginning under the mentorship of the late Bryan Wade and the original Brave New Play Rites Festival in 2016.

Since relocating to Vancouver in 2017, Samuel has been involved in a number of projects, including; His debut album (Time, 2019), composing soundtracks for film (Lighter, 2022), as well as musical theater (Albireo, 2018, Sigma Acapella, 2024).

Between their collective creative credentials, the continued development of their 2024 hit musical, Sigma Acapella, carries Rushed into the Hub’s 2026. Receiving a win and a
nomination at the 2025 Ovations Musical Awards, Sigma Acapella explores the ways in which oppression can test a community, the courage to be true to oneself, and absolute fratboy buffoonery.

With a long-time connection to Presentation House Theatre, Virginia D is developing Echo Chamber, a dance work that blends visual storytelling and movement into transformative performances.

Zack Faulks is an Vancouver-based artist born and raised on the unceded kwikwəƛ̓ əm, Tsleil-Waututh and xwməθkwəy̓ əm territories, now called Coquitlam. He divides his time evenly between set construction, working for The Biting School, Plastic Orchid Factory and many others, and the creation of new theatre as a Co-founder of Great Trash Productions, most recently on the musical World Ender which premiered at Presentation House Theatre. He is a member of the Wâpanacahkos dance collective, building and performing in their upcoming premiere of The Perelandra Project in December 2025. He also teaches Jiu Jitsu, and works sporadically as a fight choreographer.

Aryo Khakpour (he/him) is an interdisciplinary performer, director and dramaturg. Born and raised in Tehran, Aryo has been involved in multiple theatre, dance, and film productions in Vancouver, Canada, since 2006. He co-founded The Biting School in 2013 and was company-in-residence at the PuSh Festival and The Dance Centre from 2018-2019. Aryo is an infrequent sessional instructor at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts.

In his practice he explores dynamics of power, implications of ideologies, repetition of mythologies, and cultural adaptation. An intersectional feminist, Aryo interrogates the patriarchy and its harmful effects on people. His practice is heavily physical and surrealistic; it moves from theatre to performance art to dance to film and back to theatre; it deals with pain and pleasure; it is sex-positive; and aims to queer the status quo. Aryo was trained in devised practices of non-hierarchical collective creation — this is his favourite way of creating work.

Aryo is the recipient of the 2024 Theatre Replacement Accelerator Lab Fellowship, which focuses on international touring within the context of experimental theatre and interdisciplinary performance, and building relations with the international arts network.

Corporeal Liberation: a Cinema Machine is a research project that combines collected moving and still images with body/motion tracking to create an interactive system for expanded cinema. Driven by active spectatorship and participatory performance, this multi-narrative installation explores and brings to light histories hidden under oppression.

happy/accidents was established in 2017 by Angelica Schwartz with the aim of fostering alternative theatre on Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, MB). Shortly thereafter, Artistic Associate Erin Meagan Schwartz joined the company and together, they produced three impressive shows. In 2020, happy/accidents expanded nationally with the appointment of Stephanie Wong as Co-Artistic Director, alongside Angelica.

Under the leadership of Angelica and Stephanie, happy/accidents has produced an additional three digital works, and is presently developing its first stage production of Blood Wedding with the two Co-Artistic Directors. The duo is committed to reimagining the landscape of theatre leadership and creating alternative works that instill optimism amidst existential uncertainty.

happy/accidents’ vision is rooted in a determination to push boundaries, challenge norms and create new possibilities in the world of theatre. Their focus on positivity and hope, and their ability to innovate, is evident in their productions, earning them recognition in the industry.

Created by Anais West, Angelica Schwartz, and Stephanie Wong, Blood Wedding is a multidisciplinary drama inspired by Federico García Lorca’s ‘Blood Wedding’, and his avant-garde satire, ‘The Public.’ With surrealism and biting humour, it follows a group of queer and trans artists navigating the perils of working in institutionalized theatre. During a production of ‘Blood Wedding,’ a revolt begins in the company, forcing the trans assistant director to reckon with their ambition, their artistic integrity and their responsibility to the queer community. Blood Wedding asks: does the old theatre need to be buried, so that a new theatre can rise? It is a meta-theatrical love letter to a queer ancestor, using Lorca’s legacy to challenge transphobia and catalyze a better future. oppression.

Monster Theatre’s mandate is to create original plays that challenge preconceptions, excite imaginations and embody the way of the Monster: strange, twisted and bizarre on the outside, but always with a noble heart. Founded in 2000, we have toured hit shows such as Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VII, Juliet: A Revenge Comedy, & Who Killed Gertrude Crump? During PHT’s Creative Residency, Carly Pokoradi, Ryan Gladstone, and Tara Travis will be developing a brand new immersive, experiential, installation piece, likely the largest and most technically dynamic project we’ve tackled to date. The Parlour (Working Title) will explore fear and the spirit world. What engenders fear? Is it physical? Emotional? What kind of audience wants to feel afraid? Why are so many of us desperate to believe there’s a way to make contact with the other side? Loosely inspired by the Spiritualism Movement, this participatory “table play” takes place at a seance in which two actors guide an intimate audience through an evolving psychological thriller, as they all attempt to communicate beyond the veil. We are excited to collaborate with magician Travis Bernhardt, who will mentor the team to develop new illusions and technical effects that cause our audiences to doubt their very senses (whether they believe in ghosts or not). It is this razor-edged space between hard-headed skepticism and desperate faith on which we hope to balance the audience’s experience.