Meet Our Staff

EXECUTIVE AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR,
COLIN WOLF (he/they)

Colin 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.

Contact Colin at: colin@gwaandaktheatre.ca

ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATIONAL MANAGER,
REBECCA BALLARIN (she/her)

Rebecca is an arts administrator, theatre director and producer, and creative educator who is passionate about community building, collaboration and creating opportunities for artists to make art! A settler of Italian and British descent who grew up in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough), she studied theatre at the University of Toronto and has spent the last six years working for various theatre companies and arts service organizations across Ontario. After visiting Whitehorse to attend the 2018 N3 Summit and touring a show to the Old Fire Hall in the early days of 2020, Rebecca is grateful to have the opportunity to return to the Yukon; to learn more about and from the arts community here, and to support Gwaandak's work.

Contact Rebecca at: rebecca@gwaandaktheatre.ca

PRODUCTION AND MARKETING MANAGER,
RJ SMITH (he/they)

Raised and educated on Treaty 6 Territory and of primarily northwestern European settler descent, RJ has been living in the Yukon since the Spring of 2017. With a Media Arts Production Certificate plus two diplomas from MacEwan University (Theatre Production in 2017 and Arts & Cultural Management in 2020), RJ has put his post-secondary education to use and contributed to a wide variety of creative projects, including festivals, plays, and films. Experienced in designing, costuming, painting, set building, audio editing, videography, photography, and more, RJ is always up for trying new roles and further developing his skills. Graphic design may be his passion, but when left to his own devices he is most likely to found vibing with a mug of tea and a sack full of tomes. A fan of hats, cats, and white-ink tats, RJ is stoked to be creating content and uplifting storytellers with Gwaandak Theatre.

Contact RJ at: rj@gwaandaktheatre.ca

FUND DEVELOPMENT INTERN,
MACKENZIE SPELLMAN (she/her)

Mackenzie, a recent Arts and Cultural Management graduate from MacEwan University, is a strong advocate for arts and culture. Originally from Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg), she has a deep-seated passion for theatre and storytelling, shaped by her background in performing arts. Her education and experiences have honed her unique perspective on performance's power and its potential to bring diverse cultures and narratives alive. Offstage, she channels her creativity into screenwriting and creative writing, crafting narratives that entertain, provoke thought, and challenge perspectives. Her ultimate mission remains the same: championing arts and culture, ensuring their vibrancy within our shared human experience. Mackenzie is excited to start the role of Fund Development Intern at Gwaandak Theatre and to continue learning about the surrounding arts community and how we can best support it.

Contact Mackenzie at: mackenzie@gwaandaktheatre.ca

Meet the 2025 Awaken Festival Team!

Kasey Rae Anderson - Festival Lighting Designer

Sydney Wolf - Festival Workshop Coordinator

Roreigh Eftoda - Deadly Festival Auntie

  • Kasey Rae Anderson (she/her) grew up in Whitehorse on the Traditional Territory of Kwanlin Dün and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, she is of Métis and European descent. She got her start working as a producer in the arts for grassroots organizations such as Frostbite Music Festival, Arts in the Park, Atlin Arts and Music Festival and more.  It was these events that sparked a passion for arts and community and the way they bring people together in an incomparable way. Kasey Rae has worked for the Yukon Arts Centre as Programming and Venue Coordinator and Yukon First Nations Culture and Tourism as Co-Producer for the Adäka Cultural Festival. 

    Over the last few years she has found a creative way to be behind the scenes as a lighting designer. She has been learning as she goes and is thankful for the opportunities and mentorship from fellow tech wizards in town. You may have seen her lighting design in productions such as: Hurricane Diane (2024) The Guild Hall, WYRD: A Musical UnFairytale (2023) Larrikin Entertainment, Dogtown: The Musical (2022) Yukon Circus Society, Dreary and Izzy (2021) Gwaandak Theatre and more.

  • Roreigh Eftoda (she/her), a Métis-Celtic born in Northern Alberta Nistawâyâwis, is a credited actor and theatre maker who has been living in Whitehorse, Yukon since 1986. An advocate for Indigenous and Human Rights, Roreigh got her start in theatre in 2004, when she moved to Nanaimo, B.C. for college. Taking acting classes with Bailey Studio, she made props and performed in Death and God with the Nanaimo Theatre Group in the Spring of 2004.

    Returning to the Yukon, Roreigh did properties for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) at The Guild Hall in the Fall of 2004. Later, she landed a background role on an episode of tv miniseries Northern Town produced by Tagish Lake Film Inc/CBC. She took a hiatus from performance to travel Austraila and Asia for 2 ½ years and has also raised three children while working in finance. In 2008, Roreigh began dance lessons at Leaping Feats and Northern Lights School of Dance including Hip Hop, Salsa, Jazz, modern and burlesque.

    Roreigh returned to the theatre with Gwaandak Theatre’s Awaken Festival’s Quick n’ Dirty Residency and Digital Cabaret in 2021 and 2022 as Roz Rouge. She also returned to Film with a feature role in Polaris produced by Little Dipper Films Inc. In March of 2022, Roz Rouge performed her first live burlesque act in Gender Riot hosted by Queer Yukon. In the summer of 2022, Roreigh travelled with Gwaandak Theatre in the Yukon for the Indigenous Summer Reading and was the Festival Director for Awaken 2024.

  • Sydney Wolf (they/them) is a queer and autistic artist. Their love for writing, painting and sewing has brought them into the theatre world. Since moving from the prairies to the mountains of the Yukon in 2019, Wolf has been reintroducing themselves to the world of performance through drag and theatre. Sydney was one of ten shortlisted artists, out of 251 submissions, for the National Queer and Trans Playwright Unit in 2022. Other things that orbit their heart include cross stitching, Dungeons & Dragons, and their pets Gwen, Boba and Lollypop.