A proud citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Matt is currently the Artistic Director of Punctuate! Theatre, a member of the Pemmican Collective, and an Artistic Associate of Pyretic Productions. In 2018, Matt’s play BEARS won Dora Awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Production, was named a co-winner of the Toronto Theatre Critics Outstanding New Canadian Play Award and won the Playwright Guild of Canada’s Carol Bolt National Playwriting Award. In 2023, First Métis Man Of Odesa, which Matt co-wrote and performed in with his partner, Mariya Khomutova, toured to nine Canadian cities and won Doras for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Production. Working dramaturgically with both early career and established writers, Matt was very happy to work with Joleen and Lianna on Kohkom’s Babushka!

Trent is an Edmonton based artist and arts enabler with a specialty in activating non-traditional performance spaces. A graduate of MacEwan's Theatre Production program and The Banff Centre for the Arts, Trent has spent the last 15 years as a Lighting Designer, Production Manager, Technical Director, and Entertainment Programmer.

Andy has worked on stages and in stadiums nationally and internationally. As Creative Producer with Punctuate! Theatre, Andy premiered Takwahiminana (with Soulpepper), toured First Métis Man of Odesa (to NAC, Soulpepper, TIFT) and now Kohkom’s Babushka (with Banff Centre & Pyretic) and will premiere Strife (with Tarragon) later this season. He is also a Producer on Bright Star (GTP & Mirvish). As actor/creative: Disney’s FROZEN (Citadel; Sterling nom), Charlotte (Theaturtle/ National Theatre Prague), Hunchback (Catalyst/ Playhouse), Godspell (Arts Club), Fiddler on the Roof (Persephone; SATAward nom), Circle Game (Firehall/ Persephone; Ovation & SATAwards, Jessie nom), Elf (Chemainus), Hair (Mayfield). Andy has worked on ceremonies and major events including the JUNOs, CCMAs, Volleyball Nations League & Beach Pro Tour, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Olympic & Paralympic Games (Vancouver, Rio de Janeiro), AIMAGames (Ashgabat), Invictus Games (Sydney), Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast). He was responsible for the Sitewide Programming at Expo 2020 Dubai, and was lead Producer for the COP28 Opening Ceremony in UAE.

Donna Lee Dumont is a proud descendent of the Red River Settlers. Donna Lee has been interested in art since her childhood in northern Ontario where she first sketched her environment. She feels fortunate to have painted in northern Saskatchewan with A.Y. Jackson, and to have studied Oriental brushwork with Szeto Kei in Vancouver. She has had several one-person art shows in Western Canada. She is the author and illustrator of Peter Fidler and the Métis, and illustrator of Manny’s Memories and Kohkum’s Babushka, publications of Gabriel Dumont Institute Press.

Krista Leddy (she/her) is a proud Métis woman and artist whose family comes from the historical Métis communities of St. Albert and Lac St. Anne. She currently calls amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) home. Krista is passionate about her culture and community and loves to share the depth and wealth of Métis identity through art and story.

Aaron Macri is an award-winning composer and sound designer based out of Edmonton, Alberta. Credits with Punctuate! include Takwahiminana, First Métis Man of Odesa.

Over his twenty-five year career, Aaron has created music and sound design for theatre, television, dance, and film. His works have been broadcast nationally (APTN, SuperChannel) and on stages across Canada and Off-Broadway.

From Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement, AB, Darla Daniels is a celebrated Métis fiddler, singer-songwriter, recording artist, actor, and composer with a dynamic stage presence and a deep reverence for tradition. She has spent over two decades sharing her passion for traditional Métis fiddle music & dance while forging a bold, contemporary path through Roots, Folk, and Americana genres. 2012-2025: Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Mardi Gras, North Country Fair, Mariposa Music Festival, The Diviners (The Stratford Festival). Awards: Arts and Culture Award (Métis Settlements General Council); The Young Woman of Vision Award (Grant MacEwan University); The Aboriginal Youth Female Role Model Award (Canadian Native Friendship Centre); Top 5 finalist - Specialty Instrumentalist of the Year (Country Music Alberta Awards).

Stephanie Bahniuk (she/her) is a Ukrainian-Canadian designer of theatre, tv, film, opera and dance. She is originally from Edmonton and now resides in Brooklyn, NY. Stephanie is a graduate of the Masters of Fine Arts in Design program at the Yale School of Drama and a recipient of the Jay Keene and Jean Griffin Keene Prize in Costume Design. Stephanie is also a Sterling Award winner and was nominated for a Connecticut Critics Choice Award. Recent credits include Dance Nation (Skirtsafire Festival), Ragtime (Goodspeed Musicals), Carmen (Rutgers Opera) and Harvest Truce (Studio Theatre). In addition to her theatre work, Stephanie has contributed to Broadway and Off-Broadway productions as a costume shopper, and has lent her expertise to major TV productions including The Gilded Age and And Just Like That. She is a proud member of USA Local 829 and serves on the Board of the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers.

Joleen Ballendine is a mixed-blood Métis writer, actor, improviser, and educator based on Treaty 6 Territory. She has been a core member of Canada’s third-oldest improv company -- Rapid Fire Theatre -- since 2009 and currently serves as Director of Outreach and Welcome. In 2011 she launched the companies first Outreach program, working extensively with Indigenous youth and communities to share stories through improv and comedy.

Joleen’s work has taken her across North America and on seven European tours, performing and teaching. Her writing includes projects with CBC, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Mosaic Entertainment, and Historica Canada where she penned a Canadian Heritage Minute on Mary “Bonnie” Baker.

Following the birth of her child, she turned her focus to young audiences. She is thrilled that her latest project, Kohkom’s Babushka—adapted from a children’s book in collaboration with Lianna Makuch—is being premiered with the support of Punctuate! Theatre, Pyretic Productions, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

A proud Métis artist of Cree, French, Irish, and English ancestry, Michaela is delighted to based in her home province of Alberta once again after living in Ontario for the past 25 years. An award winning actor and writer, Michaela also has multiple nominations; most notably, for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, Ontario Arts Council’s Indigenous Arts Award and the K. M. Hunter Artist Award for Theatre. A published author, Michaela’s performance and written work has been shared internationally at festivals and theatres in Wales, Aruba and across Canada and the United States.