Indigenous romance-thrillers, queer teen vampires and more!

In a time when 2SLGBTQ+ existence is criminalized, we’re celebrating the transgressive brilliance of trans and QTBIPOC creators.

Tomboy (Chłopczyca) 

by Anais West

Presented by the Cultch as part of Warrior Festival

March 4-8, 2026

Choreographer/Collaborator: Oh Augustine

Dramaturg/Collaborator: Joanna Garfinkel

Featuring Rae Takei, Calder White & Emily Jane King

Winner of the Wildfire National Playwriting Competition

Queer vampires and Slavic folklore converge in Tomboy, a kinetic dance-theatre performance exploring gender, memory and cultural belonging. This new work, written by Jessie Award-nominated playwright Anais West, is a trans coming-of-age story with a dark, supernatural twist.

After learning that as a teen, their best friend was attacked by a boy from their Polish immigrant community, a non-binary historian remembers their shared adolescence. But with each recollection, the sequence of events becomes more ambiguous, the choreography of memory more complex. Through repetition, they unravel the narrative they’ve constructed of themself, the boy, and their predatory bond. Were his actions his own, or was he cursed by a monstrous and mythic inheritance? By exploding cultural dance and genre conventions, Tomboy redefines horror, eroticism and masculinity

Sauvagesse: a wild love story

by Yolanda Bonnell

Commission

In Development - Workshop June 16-20, 2025

In 1932, in a secluded section of their reservation, two sisters, Marie and Therese, who have recently lost their mother,work to keep their small farm running during the great depression. When a young, new Indian agent shows up and wants to help them, Marie finds herself pulled into a dangerous, wild love affair, much to the confusion and annoyance of Therese. Marie does what she can to hold true to the teachings her mother passed on to her while being swept up in desire.

Telling It Bent

Queer Youth Writing Program

Facilitated by Adonis Critter King

Presented by IGNITE! Youth-Driven Arts Festival

January - May 2026

Telling it Bent is an interdisciplinary writing workshop for queer, trans, and Two Spirit youth ages 14 to 25. Throughout the program, participants explore poetry, playwriting, and interdisciplinary creation through a queer, decolonial, future building lens. 

Touch (Working Title)

Community Creation

Curated/Facilitated by Fay Nass

Touch is a community-engaged arts initiative that explores how expressions of love and affection are shaped by cultural upbringing, migration, and queerness, particularly for BIPOC  newcomers and immigrants.