Dave Deveau

Co-Artistic & Managing Director

Dave is a playwright and producer who has dedicated his life to developing intelligent, theatrical plays for young people that foster conversation. His plays for young audiences include Out in the Open, tagged (Dora nomination) and Celestial Being (Jessie nomination) for Green Thumb Theatre and Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls (Dora nomination) for Roseneath Theatre. His work has been produced across North America, as well as Israel, Poland, Ireland, and Germany. He is also the Associate Artistic Director of Zee Zee Theatre, a Vancouver-based theatre company that amplifies voices from the margins with a focus on LGBTQ2S+ work.

Jennica Grienke

Co-Artistic & Managing Director

Jennica is joining Carousel Theatre after working professionally as an actor, producer, and director with TYA companies across the country and four years as an Artistic Associate at Persephone Theatre. She has studied at both the University of Winnipeg, where she graduated with Honours in performance, and the Studio 58 Acting conservatory in Vancouver. Since her graduation in 2012, Jennica has toured extensively with Green Thumb Theatre, Quest Theatre (Calgary), and as a solo performer in her pieces This Time I Get What I Want and An Inheritance, which was published in 2013 and featured in the Sarasvati Transformative 2014 Winnipeg FemFest. A recent career highlight includes directing Jabber and For Arts Sake for Persephone. Jennica is ecstatic to bring her passion for creating magical experiences for young people through the power of theatre to CTYP.

Joanna & Ewa Borkowska

Accountants

Ewa and Joanna are the mother-daughter team behind Valliant Accounting. For the last four years, they have worked with various non-profit organizations, charities, and small businesses to help them achieve their long-term goals. Ewa’s knowledge and experience within the non-profit and charity sector has a long history. For over twenty years, Ewa has worked as an accountant for many local non-profit organizations and charities, with a primary focus on arts organizations. She has established long-standing relationships with many of her clients and has witnessed and collaborated in their growth. Ewa and Joanna both have a love for theatre and music that stems from Joanna’s active involvement in the dance and figure skating community at a young age. They continue to endeavor to support artists and believe in ensuring that Vancouver continues to flourish in bringing about creative and cultural experiences to the public.

Rick Chung

Marketing & Communications Manager

Rick is a Vancouver-based arts editor and lifestyle writer. He studied political science at UBC and broadcast journalism at BCIT before starting his career in media at CBC News. He is also known as a prolific blogger and photographer mostly covering lifestyle and events for a variety of outlets. His love of performing arts started in high school co-starring in musicals for Delta Secondary and doing long-form improv comedy for the Chinese Varsity Club. He has since gone on to work in various digital communications roles for local organizations including Langara College and the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance (GVPTA).

Angie Descalzi

Education Manager

Angie is an award-winning Latinx producer and arts administrator living and working on Coast Salish Territories. Originally from Quito in Ecuador, Angie moved to Canada in 2005 to pursue her love for theatre. She holds BA in Applied Theatre from Vancouver Island University and an Advanced Certificate in Arts and Entertainment Management from Capilano University. Since then, she has worked with a variety of theatre companies in Vancouver and has been involved in the inception of initiatives such as CultureBrew.art and CALTAC (Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition), which aim to advocate, celebrate and support BIPOC artists. After working at the Vancouver Fringe Festival for 8 years, Angie is very excited to embark on this new and exciting journey with the team at Carousel Theatre for Young People.

Tanja Dixon-Warren

Director of Development

Tanja has been working as a freelance actor, producer, director, teacher and mentor for over 28 years and is thrilled to be CTYP’s Director of Development.  An active member of the community, with a long history of mentoring emerging artists and arts administrators, Tanja served for 15 years on the board of the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance (GVPTA). She has also served as a board member with Quintessence Musical Theatre Projects, First Vancouver Theatrespace Society (Vancouver Fringe Festival) and was a Jury Member for the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards. Tanja has been recognized with numerous awards and nominations for her achievements in performing, producing, and business.

Randi Edmundson

Senior Manager

Randi is a Vancouver-based performer, puppeteer, and theatre-maker with a special interest in theatre for young audiences and community-engaged theatre practice. With her fledging puppetry company, Little Onion Puppet Co., Randi has created Freddie in the Neighbourhood and Dorothy: a mother daughter memoir project, which toured to Vancouver, Kamloops, and Calgary, supported by the Festival of Animated Objects. Freddie in the Neighbourhood was also the winner of two Jessie Richardson Awards for Theatre for Young Audiences.  Randi holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria specializing in Acting and Applied Theatre. In 2019, Randi began working as the Artistic Associate of Project X Theatre in Kamloops, which produces an annual festival of family-focused theatre. As a lover of all things TYA, Randi loves learning and sharing that learning with her communities.

Shizuka Kai

Senior Manager

Shizuka is a Vancouver-based artist known for her puppet work and set design. She’s also a trained puppeteer, mask & props maker, painter, illustrator, costume designer, and director. She has worked with many established theatre companies including the Arts Club, Neworld, Théâtre la Seizième, Electric Company, Rumble, Axis, Boca del Lupo, Itsazoo, and many others. Shiz is a three-time Jessie Richardson Award winner with several nominations, the recipient of the Earl Klein Memorial Scholarship, and a graduate of Studio 58. Her recent designs at CTYP include: Elephant and Piggie’s We Are in a Play!, Peter Pan, and The House at Pooh Corner.

Holly Karpuik

Lead Theatre Technician, Waterfront Theatre

Holly is very excited to be Lead Technician for The Waterfront Theatre with CTYP, having worked for the organization since 2016. She grew up on Vancouver Island where she was introduced to theatre and the performing arts at a young age by parents who were very involved in their local community theatre groups. Her first theatrical production was Fiddler on the Roof, alongside her mother, brother, and father. This fostered a lifelong love and appreciation for the arts that lead her to complete a technical theatre diploma at Vancouver Island University, where she focused on stage management. Holly takes pride in any opportunity to help people bring their creative endeavours to life on stage

Tanya Schwaerzle

Production & Venue Manager

Tanya is a Vancouver-based Equity Stage Manager and Choreographer.  She has been fortunate enough to work with many companies including; Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach, Touchstone Theatre, and many more. She feels very fortunate to have travelled across Canada working and showing the great work created in Vancouver.  Tanya holds her BFA: Stage Management Degree from the University of Alberta and her BGS: Extended Minor in Theatre from the University of the Fraser Valley.

Last season Tanya was fortunate to stage manage Peter Pan, which was her 4^th show at CTYP.

Valerie Thai

Freelance Graphic Designer

Valerie is an award-winning graphic designer and art director who grew up in Vancouver She attained a BFA from the UBC and a Bachelor of Communication Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. After years of working in the magazine publishing industry, she founded her own design company Cabin + Cub in 2006. With specializations in art direction, print design, and illustration, she works with predominantly non-profits, arts and culture organizations as well as socially conscious and sustainable companies. Her work ranges from logo and branding to books and magazines.

Sarah Louttit

Board Member

Sarah is an experienced human resources professional and the current HR Manager for the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC. She is passionate about creating engaging and equitable work environments. Sarah believes the arts are an integral part to any community and is excited to be a part of CTYP. In her spare time, you can find Sarah attempting to make elaborate dinners (and even more elaborate messes) for her family, going on long walks with her daughter, or planning her next renovation project.

Chloe Sauder

Board Secretary

A long-time local theatre fan, Chloe is thrilled to be cast as a member of CTYP’s Board of Directors. She was bit by the acting bug at an early age and minored in theatre as part of her undergraduate degree at the University of McGill. During her gap year, Chloe played the part of Jane Bennet in Metro Theatre’s production of Pride & Prejudice before starting law school at Windsor Law. Chloe now works as a lawyer at Haddock & Company where her practice areas include landlord and tenant law, co-operative housing law, construction law, strata property law, and insurance defence. In her spare time, she enjoys trivia and cracking terrible puns.

Maya Lohcham

Board Member

Maya is an experienced arts administrator whose passion is sharing the importance, power, and beauty the arts bring to the fabric of communities. Currently with the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, she has worked for numerous arts organizations including PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Canada’s National Ballet School, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Following her graduate degree in Museum Studies, she completed a fellowship at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. In her free time, Maya plays with her mini dachshund, spends lots of time in her hometown of Victoria, and debates life’s big questions with her husband.

Jocelyn Macdougall

Board President

Jocelyn is a convener and facilitator who delights in bringing together groups of interesting, committed, and passionate people for meaningful, productive conversations. She values equity, justice, and dignity as foundational and believes that getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is a necessary skill in today’s divided world. Jocelyn believes the arts are a price of admission component of a sane, healthy society, having a unique propensity to enable self and social reflection. She is also lucky enough to sing with Vancouve’’s hottest funk and Motown band, Queer As Funk.

Jacob Kojfman

Board Vice President

Jacob professes to be a professional comedian with a side hustle as a lawyer at one of the world’s largest IT services companies. He joined CTYP, because he wants to contribute to the community, loves Broadway musical theatre, and recognizes the importance the arts plays in our society. He is currently the treasurer for the West End Community Centre Association and has been on the board of a social services agency. In his spare time, he reads, rides his Peloton, plays board games with his wife and young child, and is working on his amateur poker game.

Robert Anstey

Board Member

Dr. Robert Anstey is the Head of School for both Canada Star Secondary School and Windsor Hall (International Baccalaureate MYP candidate school) located in Richmond, BC. Robert has studied in Canada, the United States, as well as the United Kingdom and taught in a wide range of places throughout Canada and the UK. In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to education. In 2020, Dr. Anstey was awarded the Claes Nobel Educator of the Year – Top Principal for 2020 Award. Robert, as a former theatre teacher, is passionate about theatre and the success of Carousel!