The following six artists will meet for ten weeks with their mentor, David Geary, who will offer fundamentals of writing for performance and help to engage their cohort to be creatively generative and supportive of each other’s writing. They learn from each other and get a sense of the collaborative nature of theatre-making.

Sydney Hunt (UVic BFA, UVic MMgt) is a playwright and storyteller passionate about exploring the human experience. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, she has called Vancouver Island home for the past 9 years. She aims to connect with audiences of all backgrounds, creating work that resonates across perspectives. In practice, this looks like experiencing as much of the world as she can and allowing her adventures to inspire her writing. Recent career highlights include receiving the 2026 Annamaria Bamji Award for Emerging Playwrights at the Belfry Theatre and the 2024 Women of Influence Awards (Nanaimo).  Above all, she is grateful for her wonderful community and the people she is privileged to create with.

Matthew Koutzun (He/Him) is a queer, interdisciplinary artist with a focus on writing, film, visual art, and play. His projects explore the messy space between social and personal conduct; transforming private contradiction into public self-actualization. After working in film, DEI, and teaching (photography, film & storytelling) within community & commercial settings, he is delighted to return to theatre where he first started creating. The writer of two plays (“Twinning Syndrome” and “Stumble”) and several short films (“756meters”, “When we Coloured in the Lines”, and “Sympathy Pains”), Matthew is excited to continue creating with PTC.

Jordy Matheson is a theatre artist and arts marketer. He is a graduate of the Douglas College acting program, and has a BA in Theatre Studies from UBC. As an actor he primarily works in improv and live comedy, performing with Tightrope Theatre, QueerProv, Little Mountain Improv and others. He has also had plays developed through Pull Festival and Arts Club’s LEAP program. 

Julia Peterson is a queer Jewish playwright and journalist. Julia’s debut play, ‘The Child You Deserve,’ was the winner of the 2023 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition. When not writing, Julia can be found out enjoying the local trails, baking all sorts of desserts, or happily buried under a pile of crafting projects.

Hal Wesley Rogers is a nomadic artist whose work has taken him across Canada. An SFU grad, originally from Leduc, Alberta he has lived in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto. He’s worked as a singer, actor, songwriter, composer, server, barista, chiropractic receptionist and he’ll soon add playwright to his long list of titles. As an actor, Hal has performed in musicals, pantos, theatre for young audiences, Shakespeare, been on television, and a few web-series. He originated a role as a Worker in Hadestown as part of its development for Broadway and has seen the show performed in 3 different countries.

Samantha Walters is an emerging interdisciplinary performance-maker, writer, and arts administrator. She mostly works between experimental theatre, installation, and directing. Their most recent works examine ecological relationships and post-human spiritualities, with a heavy favour towards the weird, the dark, and the camp. She grew up in England and Hong Kong and holds a BFA honours in Theatre Performance from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts. Her work has been featured by companies such as Rumble Theatre, Vines Art Festival, the Evergreen Cultural Centre, What Lab, and IGNITE! Youth-Driven Arts Festival.