Be EYEconic

By Sparkle Plenty

Monday, April 13th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Mondays are Drag series!

The eyes are the window to the face and Sparkle will walk you through some staple steps to elevate your lewk to EYEconic status. This one hour workshop is all about the eyes and will review easy techniques to create a dramatic, winged eyeliner for all ages, cut crease eyeshadow lewks for all eye shapes, and blinging it up with rhinestones without making a mess. Sparkle will also talk about different tools and products to help you build your staple eye shape without breaking your budget. Follow along Sparkle's demonstration with your own make up or just take notes.

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Sparkle Plenty has one of the best beats in burlesque bizz... or that's what she will tell you anyway. Inspired by drag artists, she's been painting her mug to be seen from bathroom of the venue so no one misses a wink, smile, or the look of unadulterated thirst smiley devil emoji. Sparkle is always evolving her lewks, especially as she enters her middle-aged era so finding new techniques to keep her face-card from declining is a passion of hers.

Image by Jon-Christain Ashby

Creation Through Performance

By Erica Wilson - Miss Carcass Caresse: Soft Waters

Tuesday, April 14th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Digital Artist Talk series!

Join Erica Wilson and Gwaandak Theatre’s EAD Colin Wolf as they discuss Erica’s upcoming showcase performances of her new work Miss Carcass Caresse: Soft Waters. They will also talk about the National Indigenous Artist Development and Showcase Program, of which Erica is the first recipient, dive into the process of creation through performance, the role of workshopping new work at festivals and more! This digital conversation will also include a short Q&A with attendees.

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Erica Wilson is an Indigenous Artist and community connector located in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty 1. All aspects of their art is rooted in Authenticity, Curiosity, Humor and Wisdom. Their work is currently focused on as an individual artist exploring solo projects for the first time. Where they normally thrive is within community spaces promoting education, communication and the arts.

Image by Vincent Wolfgang

Exploring Indigenous Play Readings

By Colin Wolf

Tuesday, April 14th - 4PM-5:30PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~3:55PM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom

Gwaandak Theatre’s EAD Colin Wolf will host us online during week one and in-person during week two of Awaken as we read plays created by Indigenous writers. We will share them out loud together with vigour, experience what it feels like to perform with emotion (and without the addition of sets or props!) and explore the mechanics of a group script reading. If you have ever been interested in being involved with Indigenous Summer Play Readings, this is a great way to try it out!

If you are interested in attending the in-person version of this event, it will be taking place on Tuesday April 21st from 4PM-5:30PM in Classroom A at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT!

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Colin Wolf is a Métis performer, theatre maker, and activist from Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary), AB on Treaty 7 Territory. He graduated with a BFA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Lethbridge in 2014, and then spent five years making theatre all over the prairies. Colin co-founded Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre Collective with his sister Caleigh Crow in 2013. Colin felt the call of the North and moved to Whitehorse in October 2019 to serve as Artistic Director at Gwaandak Theatre. He wrote and produced CoyWolf, a story about loss and grief backdropped by a story of land displacement. Colin produced it as Thumbs Up in partnership with the Guild Hall Theatre in Whitehorse, and toured it to four rural communities in 2023. CoyWolf was published by Playwrights Canada Press and presented by Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre in October 2025.

Scaling for Stage - Reaching for the Stars

By Philip Jonah Logan Geller - who will save the night sky?

Thursday, April 16th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Digital Artist Talk series!

Join Philip Jonah Logan Geller and Gwaandak Theatre’s EAD Colin Wolf as they discuss Philip’s upcoming showcase performances of their work who will save the night sky? and the process of adapting an existing work while on tour. This talk will cover how performances can change over time, with different expressions being discovered, as well as how to hold onto the centre that always remains the same. This digital conversation will also include a short Q&A with attendees.

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Philip Jonah Logan Geller (they/them) is a Jewish and Red River Métis theatre creator, performer, director, dramaturge, producer, and clown. They have worked across Turtle Island with companies including The Stratford Festival, Native Earth Performing Arts, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Gwaandak Theatre, and Centre for Indigenous Theatre. They are a graduate of the MFA directing program at York University and the BFA Acting Program at the University of Alberta.

Beat to the creator: Insta filter like skin makeup base

By RainbowGlitz

Monday, April 20th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Mondays are Drag series!

Have you ever wanted an instagram filter skin IRL? Come learn how to get a blender to creator base for your makeup to look its best, so you too can be creator's favorite. In this workshop, you will learn how to get the base makeup look for stage, photo and film. RainbowGlitz is here to help everyone beat to the creator!

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RainbowGlitz is Turtle Island’s (North America’s) very own love medicine and So-called Vancouver's resident rainbow slut. This Haida, Squamish, Musqueam (Indigenous) and Black artist began her burlesque journey in 2013. She loves to mix Culture and Pussycat Doll hip-hop with a nerdy and exotic(stripper) twist. She is a founding member of Virago Nation. The Indigi-B Barbie Rainbow Doll edition is always a Beat to the creator. From her multifaceted art to teaching you how to decolonize your sexuality & gender!! She is ready to heal you with her colourful slutty medicine.

Sharing (Y)OUR Stories

By Yvette Nolan & Joel Bernbaum - Climate Play

Tuesday, April 14th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Digital Artist Talk series!

Join Yvette Nolan, Joel Bernbaum and Gwaandak Theatre’s EAD Colin Wolf as they discuss the upcoming showcase performances of their developing work Climate Play. They will talk about the multi-year national project that brought this work to where it is today and explore the process of “creating” verbatim theatre as well as the shared responsibility of presenting the words of real people on stage. This digital conversation will also include a short Q&A with attendees.

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Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) is a playwright, director and dramaturg. Her plays include “The Unplugging”, “Annie Mae’s Movement”, “The Birds”. From 2003-2011, she served as Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. Her book, “Medicine Shows”, about Indigenous performance in Canada was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2015.

Joel Bernbaum is a playwright, director, and journalist. From 2013-2023, he served as the Artistic Director of Sum Theatre. His dissertation is about verbatim theatre’s potential to be used as a community development process. He has co-created and co-produced multiple verbatim theatre plays.

Writing Fiction with Richard Van Camp

By Richard Van Camp

Wednesday, April 22nd - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Writing Wednesdays series!

Come join bestselling author Richard Van Camp as he hosts a hilarious and inspiring workshop on Fiction Writing. Richard will talk about designing characters, and he'll talk about the craft of writing. Most of all, he'll answer your questions about publishing and working with editors and an agent. We are going to have so much fun - please join us!

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A recipient of the Order of the Northwest Territories, Richard Van Camp is a proud Tlicho Dene from Fort Smith, NWT, now living in Edmonton: Treaty 6 Territory with his family. Richard is an internationally renowned storyteller and award winning author of 31 books for all ages. His novel, The Lesser Blessed, is now a feature film on Prime Video, and his graphic novel with Neiva Mateus, Three Feathers, is now a feature film on APTN. He is a mentor with the Audible Indigenous Writers' Circle and he is The University of Victoria's Indigenous Storyteller in Residence where he teaches online about reclaiming family medicines. You can visit Richard on Facebook, BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, YouTube, SoundCloud and at www.richardvancamp.com

Image by William Au

Writing Your Grant Proposal - Ask an Experienced Grant Writer

By Patti Flather

Friday, April 24th - 12PM-1PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~11:55AM) - Yukon Time - Digital via Zoom - Part of the Funding Fridays series!

Have you attended a previous grant writing workshop and started building your application, but ran into a wall? Are you currently mid-way through a Canada Council for the Arts application and looking for support? Then this workshop is for you! Focused on in-progress applications, we welcome your questions in advance to help plan out the session and support the attendees.

*Spaces may be limited depending on the number of advance registrations and scope of questions submitted, so registering early is encouraged. After registering, you will be asked to submit a question about your grant proposal in progress with a short summary of your proposal and 1-2 page excerpt, no later than April 18th. Submissions should be sent via email to info@gwaandaktheatre.ca.

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Patti Flather is an award-winning published and produced writer, theatre artist, and cultural producer. She is a co-founder and past Artistic Director of Gwaandak Theatre for two decades, a co-producer with Yukon Digital Theatre Collective, and a winner of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes Borealis Prize for literary and storytelling contributions in the Yukon. Find more at www.pattiflather.com.