New Voices Playwriting Residencies
Applications for the 2025/2026 program are now closed.
About New Voices
The New Voices Program is a GTNT initiative to cultivate the next generation of storytellers. Currently in it's fifth enrolment cycle, the program focused on new Indigenous writers.
New Voices is a paid, six month residency guided by Dan Macdonald. The goal of the program is to give the participants the tools and experience to write stories for the stage.
At the end of the program, the participants work will be presented to the public in a staged reading to gather feedback from presenters, and audience members and facilitate further development of the stories.
Meet the 2025/2026 New Voices Cohort
Shawn Cuthand is a writer, comedian, actor and director based in Treaty 6 Territory. He is a part of The Feather News which can be seen on APTN. He recently was the Indigenous Storyteller in Residence at the University of Saskatchewan where he did a series of workshops entitled "From Seagull to Eagle." Currently you can catch him at Art Bar hosting and performing Stand Up Comedy.
Shawn's '25/'26 New Voices work, “Range Road”, is an interracial relationship drama that takes place in a post-Colten Boushie Saskatchewan.
Darius Kiskotagan (he/him) is an emerging Indigenous theatre artist from Red Pheasant First Nation, Saskatchewan. Having received a BA in theatre design from the University of Saskatchewan, Darius is always looking to further his theatre practice and is excited to have an opportunity to write through the New Voices program with GTNT.
[working title] 'A Strange Kindness', a piece that explores the importance of a moment when it occurs through an exchange between two people meeting for the first time.
Mona Kormish (she/her) is a member of Canoe Lake Cree First Nations, with a mix of Cree, Métis, and English ancestry. She currently teaches high school in the Battlefords, where she lives with her husband and three kids.
Mona is currently working on a play called “Malboeuf Manor”. It’s a comedic and heartfelt piece centered around a group of elderly sisters who are realizing the challenges of facing their retirement years.
Xannper Martell is a Cree/Metis twospirit artist from the little pine first nation. he works independently as a digital artist, writer, and content maker. his past projects have included animation, costume design, music design, and has participated in previous years in the circle of voices program.
MUCK: a journey following the inner thoughts of a mentally ill woman. hoarding has become the norm and cleanliness is a luxury, as you follow along her decent and inner battle with a life she hasnt lived in years.
April Rogers is a nehiyaw iskwew from Red Pheasant Cree Nation, but was raised in Saskatoon by khôhkomipan (her late grandmother. Last year, April's play "Powwow: A Theatrical Production" debuted for the first time in world history on the Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin stage, one of her most significant achievements in life. However, she has starred in a few plays. She feels that writing and sharing stories is her way of giving back to the world. She is excited to continue her journey with GTNT's new voices.
April is working on a piece called "Lost Boy," in which we find a young man at a fork in the road, and with the seven sacred guiding him, he ultimately chooses the trajectory of his life.
Cheyenna "Shy" Sapp is a Nehiyaw actor, comedian, and writer from Little Pine First Nation in Treaty 6 Territory. Best known for her role on the hit CTV sitcom Acting Good, Shy has performed stand-up comedy in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Saskatoon, Vancouver, and Wellington, NZ Fringe Festivals, and has toured all across Canada and the US. An emerging writer, director, and documentary filmmaker, Shy has taken part in various writer's rooms for TV and film, as well as developing her own documentary about the late Dr. Allen Sapp. She's performed in four theatre productions and has written two plays, one of which is through the New Voices Program.
Shy is currently writing a sci-fi comedy with the working title "The Time Traveling Aunty". This piece tells the story of an Indigenous woman with newfound powers to change the future with dire, but comedic, consequences.
Interested in joining the New Voices program?
Applications for the 2025/2026 program are now closed!
Staged Readings: Every year the work that our New Voices participants complete is read for a live audience in Saskatoon.
Join our Newsletter to learn about when the next Staged Reading will be!
Applicant Profile
Are you an Indigenous storyteller who wants to bring your ideas to the stage? Are you a new or emerging playwright who is looking for formal training and mentorship? Do you have an idea for a story bouncing around in your head and want to learn some tools and techniques to bring it out onto paper? Then this program is for you!
Participant Commitment
Participants are committed to consistently writing their stories and sharing that writing with Dan Macdonald in monthly one-on-one meetings to discuss their stories, ideas, techniques, structure, and pace of writing and a monthly meeting with Dan and the rest of the New Voices participants to read sections of their work and receive feedback from the other participants.
Payment
Participants are paid a monthly stipend of $100 for every month they actively participate in the program and continue to write new work.
Appicant Selection Process
Applicants are selected into the program following a review of their applications and submitted writing samples by the Artistic Director and the Program Coordinator.
All applicants will be contacted after applying regarding the status of their application.
How to Apply
To Apply: Fill out the Google Form linked here.
Application Deadline: October 9th, 2025
If you have any questions about New Voices or how to apply you can contact Roxanne Dicke, our Artistic Director, at AD@GTNT.ca or by calling into our office (306) 933-2262 ext. 1.