2025/2026 Gwaandak Season
If you want to get involved in the Upcoming Season, check out our posted opportunities here:
Want to help support Gwaandak Theatre’s programming & be part of our shared story? We are seeking Sponsors for our 2025/26 Season & would love to meet with you - check out our benefits package today!
Apply now to the National Indigenous Artist Development and Showcase Program!
Gwaandak Theatre in partnership with Kiyanaan Indigenous Theatre Festival and Native Earth Performing Arts invites First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists to apply to the National Indigenous Artist Development and Showcase Program. This initiative supports the development of new, unproduced work across performance disciplines - including theatre, dance, music, puppetry, clown, cabaret, drag, and more!
In this second year of the program, the selected artist(s) will work to develop a new performance piece, supported by all three festivals and organizations at varying degrees throughout the season, with the goal of creating a ~45-90 minute work that can be presented at all three festivals throughout 2027. Developing from an unproduced work to a nationally touring performance, the selected artist(s) will have access to mentorship and support provided by Gwaandak Theatre as well as three performance opportunities (in Winnipeg MB, Whitehorse YT, and Toronto ON) to showcase this new work.
For the 2026/27 Season of this program, we welcome submissions from both emerging and established Indigenous artists residing in the Yukon or with deep community and/or familial ties to the Yukon.
Applications Open: April 12th, 2026
Applications Close: June 30th, 2026
Recipient(s) Selected By: September 1st, 2026
Annual Gwaandak Theatre Programming
7th Annual Awaken Festival April 12th-26th, 2026
Featuring in-person and digital workshops, cultural presentations, performance showcases, and more, all in an effort to celebrate the different ways we can gather and connect. Join us in Whitehorse YT & Online each spring.
Find out more about the upcoming festival, including the three national Performance Showcases!
Indigenous Summer Play Readings - July 2026
This annual tour creates opportunities for emerging theatre artists, promotes stronger community connections, and showcases Indigenous scripts throughout the Yukon (and sometimes beyond!) every summer.
Stay tuned for more details about this Season’s ISPR tour over the coming months!
2025/26 Gwaandak Theatre Seasonal Programming & Partnerships
Northern Indigenous Play Readings - November 2025
Join Gwaandak Theatre as we present readings of The Spirit of the Valley by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse and Constellation by Tyra Ashauntie at Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38, presented by Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto!
Find out more about the scripts being shared and Weesageechak Begins to Dance!
New Indigenous Theatre Readings - January 2026
Gwaandak Theatre is excited to present a collection of works-in-progress written and performed by local Indigenous artists! Join us as these writers share a selection of their work, followed by a short question and answer period with the audience.
Featuring Tyra Ashauntie, Roreigh Eftoda, and Christine Genier, this presentation is part of Pivot Festival 2026!
The Birds by Yvette Nolan February 11th-28th, 2026
The Guild Hall is thrilled to partner with Gwaandak Theatre to bring you Yvette Nolan's modern re-telling of Aristophanes’ classic comic fantasy The Birds. Performances will take place this February at the Guild Hall Main Stage, Whitehorse YT.
Follow The Guild Hall on Facebook and Instagram & check out their website for the most up-to-date details!
Vuntut Gwitchin Stories
In 2018 Gwaandak Theatre, led by Patti Flather and Leonard Linklater, partnered with the Vuntut Gwitchin Government to find new ways to share traditional stories and celebrate the Gwich’in language.
The result was a series of radio plays recorded in 2019 with both Gwich’in and English casts: Ch’iitsii Khał Datl’oo (The Blue Cruiser), Tl’oo Thał (Grass Pants), and Vah Srigwehdli’ (The One Who Survived), as well as an English language version of Shanaghàn Neekaii Nanaa’in Hah (Two Old Women and the Bushman).
Enjoy these stories anytime throughout the Season!
Banner Image: Savage is a Word in the English Dictionary, Brefny Caribou. Awaken Festival 2025. Photo by Colbourne Creative.
