Young Playwrights Unit
For Dedicated Young Creators
Applications now open!
Local YPU Program Overview
The Local Young Playwrights Unit (YPU) is a paid training experience for young artists (aged 18-28) who are curious and passionate about playwriting. This program offers a group of dedicated young creators a rigorous and supportive context in which to develop some of their first works.
We are particularly encouraging people from equity seeking communities to apply. We are committed to cultivating a brave space where we minimize the harms we see in the world in order to achieve success, joy, and excellence in our participants!
If you have any questions about the Young Playwrights Unit, please don’t hesitate to contact the Education and Community Engagement Manager at education@tarragontheatre.com.
What the Local YPU Offers
- In-person playwriting sessions with lead facilitator Nathaniel Hanula-James and assistant dramaturg Jonnie Lombard provide an opportunity for guided material generation
- Explorations of plot, theme, character creation, scene study, dramatic action and beyond through creation, discussion, revision, and critique
- Guided prompts facilitating the completion of the first draft of your new play.
- Dramaturgical support will span the duration of the YPU.
- Additional dramaturgical support from the assistant dramaturg will be available outside of session hours and during the writing break.
- Guest facilitation from playwright Paula Wing, Tarragon AD Mike Payette, and AAD Jeff Ho.
- Participants will be connected with various theatre professionals and Tarragon staff.
- Participants will be given FREE tickets to Tarragon shows.
- Each play will receive two 4-hour workshops with a professional director and actors.
- An excerpt of each play will be featured in Tarragon Theatre’s Play Reading Week.
Local YPU Program Logistics
– Applicants must be aged 18-28 as of January 1, 2024
– Program runs March 2024 – June 2024
– The program will take place in-person at Tarragon Theatre.
– Applicants must be available to attend weekly in-person sessions between March and June of 2023 and meet regular deadlines with sessions taking place on the following dates (all sessions are Monday evenings, 6:30-9:30pm EST unless otherwise indicated):
- March 18
- March 25
- April 1
- April 8
- April 15
- WRITING BREAK – April 16 – May 5
- May 6
- May 13
- May 20
- May 27
- June 3
- WORKSHOPS + PLAYREADING WEEK – June 10-16
- WRAP-UP – June 17
What to Submit
– A letter of intent (max 1pg single-spaced) including the following:
- What is the project you hope to explore in the program?
- What is your experience with playwriting and theatre creation?
- How do you hope the program will support you in your artistic journey?
- Please share anything else you feel is important about yourself.
- Please include your name, pronoun, age and a phone number.
- If you would like to submit the letter of intent in a format other than a written letter (audio or video), please email education@tarragontheatre.com
– An artistic sample of the script you intend to develop in the program. Max 5 pages, formatting can be up to applicants’ interpretation.
-Participants will be paid a $500 honorarium
– Please submit via email to: ypu@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line LOCAL YPU 23.24
For questions about the program of application process please contact Heather at education@tarragontheatre.com
DEADLINE: January 14, 2024
All applicants will be notified by February, 2024
National YPU Program Overview
The National Young Playwrights Unit (YPU) is a paid virtual training experience for young artists (aged 18-28) who are curious and passionate about playwriting. This program offers a group of dedicated young creators a rigorous and supportive context in which to develop some of their first works.
We are particularly encouraging people from equity seeking communities to apply. We are committed to cultivating a brave space where we minimize the harms we see in the world in order to achieve success, joy, and excellence in our participants!
If you have any questions about the Young Playwrights Unit, please don’t hesitate to contact the Education and Community Engagement Manager at education@tarragontheatre.com.
What the National YPU Offers
- Virtual playwriting sessions with lead facilitator Paula Wing and assistant dramaturg Jonnie Lombard provide an opportunity for guided material generation
- Explorations of plot, theme, character creation, scene study, dramatic action and beyond through creation, discussion, revision, and critique.
- Guided prompts facilitating the completion of the first draft of your new play.
- Dramaturgical support will span the duration of the YPU.
- Additional dramaturgical support from the assistant dramaturg will be available outside of session hours and during the writing break.
- Guest facilitation from playwright Nathaniel Hanula-James, Tarragon AD Mike Payette, and AAD Jeff Ho.
- Participants will be connected with various theatre professionals and Tarragon staff.
- Participants will be given FREE tickets to Tarragon shows when in Toronto
- Each play will receive two 4-hour workshops with a professional director and actors.
- An excerpt of each play will be featured in Tarragon Theatre’s Play Reading Week.
- Support in applying for travel grants to attend workshops and Play Reading Week in-person.
PLEASE NOTE: Workshops with actors and final outcome in Tarragon’s Play Reading Week will take place in-person at Tarragon Theatre. Playwrights can attend virtually, but are encouraged to apply for travel grants should they wish to join in-person.
National YPU Program Logistics
– Applicants must be aged 18-28 as of January 1, 2024
– Program runs March 2024 – June 2024
– The program will take place virtually.
– We encourage all accepted applicants to apply for grants to support travel to Toronto at the end of June for in-person workshops and presentation during Play Reading Week.
– Applicants must be available to attend weekly virtual sessions between March and June of 2024 and meet regular deadlines with sessions taking place on the following dates (all sessions are Wednesday evenings, 6:30-9:30pm EST unless otherwise indicated):
- March 20
- March 27
- April 3
- April 10
- April 17
- WRITING BREAK – April 18 – May 7
- May 8
- May 15
- May 22
- May 29
- June 5
- WORKSHOPS + PLAYREADING WEEK – June 10-16
- WRAP-UP – June 19
What to Submit
– A letter of intent (max 1pg single-spaced) including the following:
- What is the project you hope to explore in the program?
- What is your experience with playwriting and theatre creation?
- How do you hope the program will support you in your artistic journey?
- Please share anything else you feel is important about yourself.
- Please include your name, pronoun, age and a phone number.
- If you would like to submit the letter of intent in a format other than a written letter (audio or video), please email education@tarragontheatre.com
– An artistic sample of the script you intend to develop in the program. Max 5 pages, formatting can be up to applicants’ interpretation.
-Participants will be paid a $500 honorarium
– Please submit via email to: community@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line National YPU 23.24
For questions about the program of application process please contact Heather at education@tarragontheatre.com
DEADLINE: January 14, 2024
All applicants will be notified by February, 2024
Meet the facilitators

Nathaniel Hanula-James
Local YPU Facilitator
Nathaniel Hanula-James (he/him) collaborates on theatre performances as a dramaturg, actor, writer and administrator. Born and raised in Vancouver (the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations), he now makes his home in Toronto/Tkaronto. Nathaniel was Associate Dramaturg at Nightswimming, where he assisted in the nurturing of new work. As an actor, performance credits include Iphigenia and the Furies (Theatre Passe Muraille), Towards Rebirth (Shakespeare in the Ruff), and Tiny Treasures (Manitoba Theatre for Young People). Creation projects include: Untitled Flamingo Play, a solo show about a queer child in search of a role model, which Talk is Free Theatre premiered in 2022; Flux in the City, a collaboration with Wesley Lincoln Reibeling about the future of Canadian cities; and a new play about a queer marriage of convenience in 1950s Toronto. Nathaniel is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada (Acting), McGill University (BA Drama & Theatre), and Humber College (Arts Administration). He is an alumni of Teesri Duniya’s Fireworks Playwriting Program and the Paprika Festival’s Creative Producers and Administrators program.

Paula Wing
National YPU Facilitator
Paula Wing is a playwright, translator, dramaturge, and teacher. She is currently at work on two original plays. Roadkill is a play for teen audiences about the after-effects of an act of violence. It is in development at Roseneath Theatre in Toronto. Vox Lumina, (in partnership with director/dramaturge Peter Hinton) focuses on medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen in the final year of her remarkable life and features some of her original music. Paula is currently a story consultant for the Calgary Stampede Museum and she writes the program notes of all of the productions at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto. She teaches youth in schools across the province with the Gryffon Trio’s Listen Up program and with Kick Start Arts in Toronto as well as designing and delivering youth programming for Soulpepper, Tarragon and Young Peoples Theatres. She is a Sessional Professor at the University of Windsor and the University of Waterloo. For over ten years, she has been the creative writing instructor at the Native Men’s Residence in Toronto.

Jonnie Lombard
Assistant Dramaturg
Jonnie (they/them) is a creator, performer, and half-decent baker stumbling through the side-quests of sentience. Their work looks for the ‘extra’ in the ordinary, the camp and melodrama in our everyday comings and goings, and the liberating silliness of a live performance space. They are so excited to be back with the YPU this year, continuing to develop their perspectives on playwriting and dramaturgy while supporting a whole new group of emerging creators through the journey of a story.
Meet our sponsors
Tarragon Theatre and our community partners believe in amplifying new voices, and fostering a creative community that reflects and includes artists of all ages and backgrounds.

Thank you to TD Canada Trust for supporting Tarragon’s Education Pillar.

Thank you the Metcalf Foundation for their support of our National Young Playwrights Unit.
Past Young Playwrights
Local Unit

Oprah Lemorin
Oprah Lemorin is an emerging performer, playwright, and director who recently moved to Toronto for new career opportunities. She’s really keen on introducing her talents as a multidisciplinary artist to Toronto’s theatre community. Her style of writing is absurd, witty, blunt, unexpected, and imaginative. She’s excited to take part in Tarragon’s local YPU program and looks forward to developing her writing skills, and exploring and broadening her voice as a playwright.

Jonnie Lombard
Jonnie (they/them) is a creator, performer, and decent baker based in Tkaronto. Their work seeks to find the ‘extra’ in the ordinary, the camp and the melodrama found in our everyday comings and goings, and the liberating silliness of a live performance space. They are so excited to be a part of the YPU this year, evolving their perspectives on playwriting, and exploring stories of queer self discovery for the legends that they are.

Donovan Hayden
Donovan Hayden is a Black Canadian theatre creator, activist, and political organizer that tells stories intended to engage, challenge, and activate audiences. He strives to tell stories that center the dynamic lives of Black people and their everyday resistance. Calling both Pittsburgh and Toronto home, he is currently based in Toronto and an organizer at Progress Toronto. His goal is to blend activism and Blackness with theatre to create radical art that leads to liberation for all.
National Unit

Kelsi James
Kelsi James (she/her) is a queer and asexual theatre creator, working alternately as a creator, producer and performer. Kelsi has a degree in Musical Theatre Performance (Sheridan) and a certificate in ASL & Deaf Studies (VCC). The questions that compel Kelsi as a creator are: how do I blend theatre with community gathering? How do I build accessibility and care into the bones of my work? How do I honour the queer ancestors, and how can I empower the next gen queers?

James B. Elloso
James B. Elloso (he/him) is an emerging writer and director based in St. John’s, Ktaqmkuk, or colonially known as Newfoundland. He received his diploma in stage and screen techniques from Memorial University in the spring of 2022. During the summer, he wrote his first short play, “Buried Treasure,” which premiered at the St. John’s Short Play Festival in the fall. This winter, he is continuing work on the script to turn it into a full-length play titled Children of Tomorrow.

Elizabeth Rodenburg
Elizabeth Rodenburg (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, actor, and writer from Guelph, Ontario. Elizabeth is a recent graduate of the University of Windsor’s BFA in Acting program where they had the pleasure of creating and performing their first complete original work entitled Shapeshifter. She is particularly interested in devising work that explores themes of community, belonging, and identity in a way that is accessible and enjoyable for both artist and audience.
Program Leads



Play Overviews - Read as part of Play Reading Week 2023
And So The Siren Sings
Directed by Alexa MacDougall
And So The Siren Sings is an interrogation of asexuality, of mermaid mythology, and of why we hypersexualize the siren to the point of vilification. We dive through lore, we sing and move together, we unlearn our understandings and assumptions of sirens, and we share six different perspectives on Siren Songs — which, in truth, are six different queer perspectives on compulsory sexuality. Through metaphor, and in community, we come together to challenge our understandings of sex and sexuality, and move towards joyous community celebration of queerness and all of our (a)sexualities.
Cast:
Alison Beckwith
Emma Burke-Kleinman
Melissa Mackenzie
Ben Page
Sarah Miller – Assistant dramaturg and stage directions
Children of Tomorrow
Directed by Eva Barrie
Liz Der – MARCH and JUNE
Sof Rodriguez – APRIL
Katarina Fiallos – MAY
Sarah Miller – Assistant dramaturg and stage directions
Water Lilies
Directed by Aaron Jan
Two art thieves – one a veteran and one completely new to the game – who coincidentally decide to rob the same art gallery on the same day. Emelia is hoping to reconnect with an old lover, while Birdie is trying to make sense of who she is and what she wants. Although they are both very different people with very different motives they’ve ended up here tonight because of a strong need to belong – to connect with others, to have a community, to understand who they are. Set in the late 80s at the height of the AIDS crisis, the play explores themes of identity, alienation, and the capacity everyone has for love and connection.
Cast:
Ravyn Wngz – Emelia
Maddie Bautista – Birdie
Soo Garay – Colossus
Durae McFarlane – Francis
Sarah Miller – Assistant dramaturg and stage directions
In Search Of…
Written by Oprah Lemorin
Directed by Coko Galore
read: Fri, June 2, 2023
In Search Of…tells the story of a young black woman’s journey through sexuality, romance, and human connection in a world where she is often marginalized and overlooked. While the play centers around the protagonist’s encounters with men, it also delves into themes of self-love, masturbation, independence, and discomfort. Ultimately, the play showcases the character’s journey from submission to empowerment, highlighting the importance of self-discovery, self-love, and self-acceptance.
Cast:
Jasmine Case – Black Girl
Steven Hao – The Boys/Chorus
Nabil Traboulsi – The Boys/Chorus
Sarah Miller – Assistant dramaturg and stage directions
EEK! or ‘The Mice Turned Me Trans’ Play
Written by Jonnie Lombard
Directed by Cole Alvis
J has just rented a rundown student home and is super excited to experience living alone for the first time….until *global events* make a one-bedroom extra lonely. In lockdown, they discover they are sharing this rundown house with two mice, and this shock makes them realize they are trans…and it’s all the mice’s fault. J gets to work, setting traps, making noise, driving out these pests of mice and transness so they can return to the cishet way things used to be. A sort of horror, sort of satire, sort of cabaret on one person’s experience of coming out as trans.
Ty Sloane – Muss 1
Neta Rose – Muss 2
Sarah Miller – Assistant dramaturg and stage directions
White Crimes
Written by Donovan Hayden
Directed by Tanisha Taitt
read: Fri, June 2, 2023
White Crimes is the story of four young Black men who use Whiteface to get away with petty schemes to support themselves. While trying to make ends meet they must contend with their own relationships, power dynamics, and relationships to Whiteness.
Cast:
Isaac Cunningham – TREY
Savion Roach – DAFONTE
Paul Smith – ANTWON
Talijah Levene – EYES
Sarah Miller – Assistant dramaturg and stage directions
Young Playwrights

Ajahnis Charley

Mariel Calvo

Kais Padamshi

Shyanne Duquette
Program Lead Facilitator: Makram Ayache
Assistant Dramaturge: Nathaniel Hanula-James
Play Overviews
The Fickle Light of Spring by Ajahnis Charley
The Fickle Light of Spring examines the hilarity and heartache that happens when Brandon and Z, two halves of a young, gay interracial couple, decide to come out to their traditional immigrant parents.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Director: Coko Galore
Z (Jia Zhong-Qin) – Minh Ly
Brandon Marks – Daniel Jelani Ellis
Mr. Jia – Richard Tse
Mrs. Jia – Carolyn Fe
How to Drink Mate by Mariel Calvo
How to Drink Mate delves into the traditional cultural practice of yerba mate and how you’re “supposed” to drink it. Part tutorial and part diary, we follow the matrilineal experiences, memories, and stories from one family journeying between Argentina and Canada
ARTISTIC TEAM
Director: Anita La Selva
Peli –Natasha Ramondino
Marta –Paulina Pino-Rubio
Tia Rosa – Augusto Bitter
Alma – Monica Garrido
Misc. Men – Augusto Bitter
Halal by Kais Padamshi
When even home and its people seem as foreign as himself, a young boy questions the role of faith against choice and self-determination. Set in modern-day Kenya, Halal weaves together the heart of family, faith, tradition, love and the will to stand in one’s truth. When challenged by both the world around him and his own kin, where not even faith seems to hold him close amongst all else, young boy questions’ How can one be forsaken for who he is, if all men are created in God’s image? What does this reveal about the creator? How can one claim that which has not claimed them?
ARTISTIC TEAM
Director: Mike Payette
Aboud – Isaac Cunningham
Hakim –Savion Roach
Baba – Paul Smith
Dadi – Ordena Stephens-Thompson
Omisimawiw by Shyanne Duquette
Omisimawiw is based on two strangers meeting on the Edmonton Metro line LRT. Finding out they are sisters this sparks questions in each sister around their identity, and relationship with indigeneity. Both sisters individually reckon with how indigenous identity is interwoven with others’ definitions and examines how youths forage for connections to their cultural identity after having been disconnected and discouraged from doing so.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Director: Dillan Meighan-Chiblow
Jackie, Auntie Jay – Theresa Cutknife
Marina, Chrissy – Cheyenne Scott
Voice-over, stage directions – Dillan Meighan-Chiblow
Young Playwrights

Jordan M Burns

Rose Goodwin

Jameela McNeil
Program Lead Facilitator: Makram Ayache
Play Overviews
A Pineberry’s Past by Jordan M. Burns
What would you do if half of you was drowning? Living in a perpetual fog, Mixed, half-white, and half-indigenous, attempts to share the story of their life over a home-cooked meal in their childhood kitchen. A place of joy, family, decay, and silence; Mixed is left gasping for a community of their own. Trying to navigate the present while negotiating the vicious memories of times gone by, Mixed finds themselves putting on a show one last time.”
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Jordan M. Burns
Director: Christopher Stanton
Mixed – Herbie Barns
Hermaphroditus by Rose Goodwin
Hermaphroditus is an exploration of queerness, belonging, and visibility. It takes the Greek gods and puts them into our world, focusing on the relationships between the gods and gender. This play is an intimate look at what transness looks in relation to one’s relationships, life’s work, and belonging in the world. Hermaphroditus is found by Charlico and finally finds their place on earth with other queers. As they find themselves, they recognize that trans folks are under attack, leaving the safety of earth to take their rightful seat on Olympus. Will the pantheon have room for another Goddex?
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Rose Goodwin
Director: Cole Alvis
Hermaphroditus – Avery-Jean Brenan
Charlico – Jacob MacInnis
Hera – Rachel Cairns
Zeus – Titus Androgynous
Orange Skies by Jameela McNeil
Samira is trying to move on. Engrossed in the frivolous tasks at her joyless housekeeping job, she distracts herself from a lost dream, her mother’s worsening condition, and the boy who stole her heart one hot summer night in 1957. When a new love comes knocking at her door she is plagued by memories of her first love and a night that changed her forever. As she relives the secret affair in her mind, she is confronted with a difficult decision. Rectify the past or continue to run from it?
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Jameela McNeil
Director: Natércia Napoleão
Samira – Hillary Warden
Maria – Sarah Nairne
River – Oscar Dirkx
Young Playwrights
Araceli Ferrara
JD Leslie
Thom Nyhuus
Magda Uculmana-Falcon

Instructors/Directors: Caitie Graham
Play Overviews
Boom! by Magda Uculmana-Falcon
A physical altercation in a classroom, between a teacher and a black, female student, goes viral. Friends of the student involved seek justice on her behalf, but then BOOM! Another incident at the school grabs the world’s attention, and thwarts their pursuit. BOOM! is a play about three black, teenage girls, trying to be heard in an institution that won’t listen.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Magda Uculmana-Falcon
Director: Lisa Karen Cox
Cast: Meghan Aguirre, Rosina Ferede, Alyssa Pothier, and Brianna Wright
Sol by Araceli Ferrara
SOL follows the story of a woman trying to rebuild the past. Set in her memory, Sol revisits her fourteen-year-old self during the 1973 coup d’état in Chile, when political tensions threatened the fragile bonds of family. SOL is an exploration of memory and the things we do in order to survive.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Araceli Ferrara
Director: Rosa Labordé
Cast: Katarina Fiallos, Kathy Martinez, Adriana Moraes-Mendoza, Walter Moraes-Mendoza, Xanath Fuentes Natanson, and Dre Rivas
You Better Second Line! by JD Leslie
Welcome to New Orleans! Where death is a celebration and crickets play jazz music to keep souls at rest. Brave and his cricket family welcome you with open arms to the graveyard as tonight is moon’s day; the one time of the month when souls can pass onto the other side. But what happens when a soul can’t be put to rest? What happens when you aren’t ready to move on? And what happens if there ain’t no moon? One thing’s for sure…you better second line!
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: JD Leslie
Director: Audrey Dwyer
Cast: Meghan Aguirre, Walter Moraes-Mendoza, and Pablo Ogunlesi
Young Playwrights

Tony Tran

Meara Khanna

Charles Manzo
Instructors/Directors: Caitie Graham
Play Overviews
QUEENS by Tony Tran
Everyday gay Asian man, Ray, finds his dating habits challenged when he accidentally dates his first Asian. QUEENS is a queer comedy about the aspects of racial dating, cultural and sexual identity, and knowing when you’re enough.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Tony Tran
Director: Gloria Mok
Cast: Christopher Cruz, Jonathan Dick, Pearl Ho and Warren Kang
Little Boxes by Meara Khanna
After finding an eviction notice on their door, Nina and Jenelle face losing their home and independence. Desperate measures are called for, even if it means breaking the law. Little Boxes is an exploration of friendship, entrepreneurship, and finding your worth in a world where the least is expected of you.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Meara Khanna
Director: Eva Barrie
Cast: Alex Franks, JD Leslie and Cait MacMullin
Sunny Side Up by Charles Manzo
Sunny Side Up is a Canadian immigrant play about the intricate relationship between a Filipino father and his daughter. Set in Toronto, the play explores themes of familial sacrifice, hope in the face of societal barriers, and the passions we set aside to support our loved ones.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Playwright: Charles Manzo
Director: Byron Abalos
Cast: Christopher Cruz, Daniella Dela Peña, Sean Williams
Young Playwright's Unit 2017

Young Playwrights: Tyisha Murphy, Sarah Hilton, Ruby Urlocker (pictured above with Caitie Graham), Sara Durante & Jenn Boulay
Instructors/Directors: Caitie Graham, Paula Wing, Marcia Johnson, Esther Jun
Young Playwright’s Unit 2016

Young Playwrights: Sam Beland, Zavian Buchanan, Julie Phan
Instructors/Directors: Anne Wessels, Caitie Graham, Marcia Johnson, Andrea Donaldson, Paula Wing
Play Overviews
I Didn’t Even Know her Name by Zavian Buchanan
Directed by Marcia Johnson
Hope by Emily Phan
Directed by Andrea Donaldson
In The Heart of The Beholder by Sam Beland
Directed by Marcia Johnson
Young Playwright’s Unit 2015

Young Playwrights: Raluca Petria, Jonathan Martins, Nam Nguyen, Courtney Buxey-Hill, Chrstian Lischak
Supported by Tarragon Playwrights-in-Residence: Maria Milisavljevic, Jordan Tannahill, Anna Chatterton, David Yee
Instructors/Directors: Anne Wessels, Caitie Graham, Rashida Shaw, Marcia Johnson, Andrea Donaldson, Paula Wing
Young Playwright’s Unit 2014

Young Playwrights: Julie Zenderoudi, Theo Gallaro, and Erum Khan
Instructors/Directors: