Director & Co-Founder

Chelsey Kolenda is an elementary school teacher in Surrey with a background in theatre. She has a degree in English Literature and Theatre and another degree in Elementary Education from the University of British Columbia. With seven years of teaching under her belt, she has worked with children between the ages of two and seventeen. Additionally, she has previously directed six shows for children and youth and has taught numerous drama classes both in person and virtually. She loves to introduce young actors to the stage, helping them to find their creative voices and sense of self-worth so that they may truly shine both on and off the stage.

Stage Manager & Co-Founder

Olivia Etey is a Vancouver-based playwright, producer, stage manager and the creator of the Or Festival, a 10 minute play festival in Vancouver that seeks to create a bridge between the Deaf and Hearing Theatre Communities in Canada. (www.orfestival.com) She graduated from UBC with a double major in Creative Writing and English Honours. Her produced plays include: Foreplay (2015), her musical: The Midnight Serenade (2015), Living on the Grid (2016), which debuted at the Vancouver FRINGE Festival as part of The Only Animal’s Generation Hot Series, The Hoarder (2017) and her juke-box Opera Forever Hold Your Peace (Opera Unbound, 2022). Olivia’s play Woman Against Gravity has received professional development through the TheatreOne Emerging Voices Program (2024), the Stage One Festival of New Canadian Works at The Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary (2021) and the Arts Club LEAP Program (2019). An excerpt of her bilingual play Emberré Váltam/I’ve Become Human Again, written in Hungarian and English was recently showcased in Rice & Beans Theatre’s DBLSK Program. Olivia is elated to be a part of the Play Performance Program with the extraordinary Chelsey Kolenda!