Growing Up Regent at SummerWorks


We are VERY excited to share that Growing Up Regent, a Kick Start Arts Production, had its World Premiere opening at the Summerworks Performance Festival!

Abdullahi Ali (Fleurie)
Rafidah Min Naing (Kalima) and Zahara Emiline Edwards (Lila)
Abdullahi Ali (Fleurie) and Tony Le (JoJo)
John Cleland (Cop) and Rafidah Min Naing (Kalima)

We sold out, and our cast and crew put on an amazing show! Packed with love, laughs and tears, Growing Up Regent made its impact and will not soon be forgotten. 

Growing Up Regent is a play created from within Toronto’s oldest public housing community. After the shooting death of sixteen year old Travis, his chosen family struggles with grief, guilt, the police, and adult decisions made way too young. Will Lila find solace in her spoken word? Will Kalima’s foray into social media help or hinder? Will Fleurie’s friends be able to intervene before it’s too late? A testament to the significance of love and family in hard times, Growing Up Regent asks the question – What would you do for the people you love?

With a sold out house, our cast and crew put on an amazing show! Packed with love, laughs and tears, Growing Up Regent made its impact and will be a night not soon forgotten. 

If you would like to continue to support KSA’s free training program that brought this story (and many more!) to life, please support our Go Fund Me. All proceeds will go toward supporting the development of our feature film, and future free programming for and by youth. To see the impact of our programming watch this wonderful interview done with two of our long-time participants. (below)


Growing Up Regent

Created by:

Actors: Abdullahi Ali, Tony Le, Amanda Pileggi, Zahara Edwards, Rafidah Min Naing, John Cleland 

Lead Writers: Abdullahi Ali and Spider R. Hetherington

Additional Writing: Baker Albach, Jackie Batsinduka, Peter Cockett, Mandeq Hassan, Tajvin Kazi, Tony Le, Ola Njoku, Amanda Pileggi, and Tom Solomon Maenga

Spoken Word: Ola Njoku and Giselle Jones

Dramaturgy: Paula Wing and Sheena D. Robertson

Direction: Sheena D. Robertson

Production Manager: Mandeq Hassan

Stage Manager: Keara Hicks

Production Design: Nancy Ciccone

Projection Design: Laura Cardeño