Powerful Family Drama Played Out with Puppets

Otosan makes a compelling case that a powerful theatrical experience doesn’t necessarily require grand sets, elaborate costumes, complicated, complex storylines — or for that matter, even spoken dialogue — to create deeply resonant, human stories that pierce the heart.

Puppets Can Speak Louder Than Words

Puppets Can Speak Louder Than Words The last show of MTYP's 2025/26 season is Otosan from Little Onion Puppet Company (Vancouver, BC). We asked Otosan creators Shizuka Kai and Randi Edmundson about the unique things puppetry can achieve as a storytelling medium, and Shizuka Kai's real-life childhood experiences that inspired the show. Father and daughter relationships aren’t explored nearly as ...

Imaginative production delivers excellent encore performances

Imaginative production delivers excellent encore performances From the Winnipeg Free Press By Ben Waldman Posted Saturday, February 28th, 2026 When Brush Theatre first brought its flagship production, Doodle POP, to Winnipeg in 2022, the South Korean company was an unknown entity locally. Not anymore: with its third visit to the Manitoba Theatre for Young People in five years underway, the highly imaginative ...

Q&A with The Young Company’s Kayden Jackson

Q&A with The Young Company’s Kayden Jackson Theatre School Director Spenser Payne recently sat down with long-time student Kayden Jackson to talk about the Young Company’s upcoming production of Lost Girl, reflect on his favourite MTYP memories, and what's next for Kayden after graduation. Spenser: You have been a student here at MTYP forever. What was your first class? Kayden: ...

Six-year-old’s question answered with optimistic script

Six-year-old’s question answered with optimistic script From the Winnipeg Free Press By Ben Waldman Posted Friday, January 30th, 2026 A few days before the opening day of Tad & Birdy, the first of Anika Dowsett’s plays to be professionally produced, the playwright gave some dramaturgical credit to both the Barenaked Ladies and a six-year-old girl. “OK, so the first line ...

Writing for the Child You Used to Be

Writing for the Child You Used to Be Playwright Anika Dowsett creates stories for young people that are thoughtful, fun, and full of heart. The world premiere of their new play Tad and Birdy hits the MTYP Mainstage from January 30 to February 7 before touring schools across Manitoba. In this Q&A, Lana Meir from the Express Weekly asks Dowsett about their ...

Playwriting for Teens with Ellen Peterson

Playwriting for Teens with Ellen Peterson Ellen Peterson has been a Winnipeg playwright, dramaturg, actor, producer and visual artist for over 40 years. Ellen’s plays have been produced by Theatre Projects Manitoba, Prairie Theatre Exchange, the Popular Theatre Alliance of Manitoba, and in the Fringe. This January, Ellen will be sharing her expertise with MTYP's students teaching Teen Playwriting! We ...

New Stand-Up Course Starts January 10

New Stand-Up Course Starts January 10 Kristen Einarson believes in laughter, including at herself. Her Fringe play, Oversharer, took the 2025 Winnipeg Fringe by storm, as she explored her ADHD diagnoses at the age of 29. Einarson says her stand-up comedy show included some of the storytelling elements she learned as a student at MTYP. Einarson is teaching a Stand-Up ...

The Lightning Thief costume designer inspired by streetwear

The Lightning Thief costume designer inspired by streetwear Robin Fisher is an award-winning set and costume designer based in Hamilton. A graduate of both the Costume Studies Program at Dalhousie University and the Scenography Program at The National Theatre School of Canada, Robin has been designing productions for theatres across the country since the late 1990’s. Some of her work ...