We are a company focused on igniting creative sparks for diverse emerging artists.
We utilize innovative, embodied, and playful approaches to the process of creating and acting. This is a six-day pilot of our Creation Lab. Working with innovative ideas from professional artists at the top of their game, you will work as a collaborative to create a theatrical piece on a theme of your choice. Forget the pen and paper, we use story circles, devised embodied approaches, and improv to create organic and collaborative writing.
Centering the stories of diverse creators, this lab will support your ability to create and share organic stories that come from your lived experiences, creative and cultural perspectives.
Register NOW for Kick Start Arts’
Creation Labs
Location: Soulpepper Theatre
Dates/Times: TBA
Public Sharing: TBA
Cost: $495
Bursaries Available. Spaces are Limited.
Note: Because of the collaborative nature of the lab, participants must be present for the full six days.
Professional Collaborators
Herbie Barnes (he/him)
An Anishinaabe theatre artist from Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Herbie is an accomplished playwright, performer, director and arts educator whose 30-year-career spans stages across North America. Herbie was raised in Toronto and was among the generation of young Indigenous artists in the 1990s breaking down barriers to forge professional careers in Canadian theatre. His theatre career began in 1989 with Debajehmujig Theatre Group, touring Ontario with the first run of Drew Hayden Taylor’s Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock. Since then he has collaborated with some of North America’s most prestigious stages – whether appearing in productions such as Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (Mirvish – Royal Alexandra Theatre) or collaborating with the Stratford Festival on development workshops. He was nominated for a John Hirsch Director’s Award and his new play, Bentboy, was shortlisted for the Sharon Enkin Plays for Young People Award in 2020. He is currently the Artistic Director of Young Peoples Theatre.
Debbie Nicholls-Skerritt (she/her)
Debbie is a dancer, choreographer, actor and Mentor Artist-Educator. She was a professional company member of C.O.B.A. (Collective of Black Artists) for many years. She has trained in Traditional West African, Modern, Ballet and Indigenous Caribbean Folk dance forms. Debbie had the great honor to be the Artistic Director for the TDSB’s Dance Co-op for Secondary students, and a juror for tdsbCREATES. She is the CoFounder of Dance-Esteem a Movement and Spoken Word Workshop that empowers young girls and women through telling their stories. Select credits include, Harriet Tubman in Seth Adrian-Harris’ full-length film When Moses Woke, aired on Bravo, and the Obeah Opera presented at Luminato.
Nancy Ciccone (she/her)
Nancy Ciccone is a visual artist and an artist educator with an interest in design and installation art. Apart from facilitating large scale murals and designing her own line of jewellery, she is often consulting on other projects across the creative spectrum. She has collaborated with the folks at Kick Start Arts in many capacities, including as the Designer for all our film work. As an artist educator, she helps to empower participants in the exploration and celebration of their world. Creative synergy is at the heart of her practice when collaborating with other artists. Nancy is currently working on a book – a visual narrative for young adults about time travelling pirates.
Sheena D. Robertson (she/her)
Sheena is a theatre and film director/producer, photographer and passionate artist-educator – who long ago decided to forgo work on big budget production, for the life of an independent artist – stepping fully into the creation of projects of meaning to her. She has worked extensively in diverse settings locally, nationally and internationally for over 25 years – most recently in El Salvador. The last ten years have seen her Found and Artistic Direct the development of Kick Start Arts. In addition to running the organization, she is the Director and Show Runner of KSA’s web series, The Regent Park Project. The throughline of Sheena’s work is connected to social justice, and the power of the arts to create meaning, connection, and equitable opportunities. She is sought after for her ability to create connections, and build collaborative artistic communities where transformative things happen. Sheena was thrilled to be recognized by her community for her work, as a finalist for the TAC’s Diversity Award.