Meet Our Team

Stephen grew up in Indonesia and Ohio before moving to Canada to marry his best friend. He works as a director, actor and designer based in Saskatoon. Directing credits with Burnt Thicket Theatre include the five audio plays in TIED IN KNOTS, EVERY BRILLIANT THING, MY LITTLE PLASTIC JESUS, WE ARE THE BODY, SHE HAS

Rebecca Spilchak is an actor and a student in her final year of her BFA. She is originally from Treaty 4 territory (Ituna, Saskatchewan) and is now happy to call Treaty 6 her home. They are very passionate about theatre and music but also have a knack for digital content which makes them very excited

Katie has worked for many years managing an optometry clinic, operating her own event planning business, and now provides bookkeeping and administration services for a growing number of organizations. Together with her husband Brendan, Katie is most proud of their toddler Isla who loves to say the word bubbles.

Ed Mendez (he/him) is an actor, director, voice actor, violence designer, arts administrator, and more, based in misâskwatôminihk (Saskatoon) in the eastern reaches of Treaty Six Territory. Ed has appeared on-stage in productions for Persephone Theatre, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, multiple companies with Live Five, and most recently in 25th Street Theatre’s production of Fruitcake. He

(playwright: Land; series host, rehearsal stage manager, recording assistant; producing artistic director) Stephen is grateful to work as a theatre artist on Treaty Six territory, where he collaborates as artistic director of Burnt Thicket Theatre. Directing credits include BTT’s Evergreen, Every Brilliant Thing, My Little Plastic Jesus, and the national tour of She Has a

(playwright: You Said We’d Be Together Forever; assistant director: Taken Before Birth; series host)  Amanda Trapp (she/they) is a Cree and Saulteaux/settler artist, member of the White Bear Band, who calls Saskatoon home. Recent acting credits include: The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Catalyst Theatre; exempt, Native Earth Performing Arts; I Lost My Husband, Persephone

(actor: Land) Abbey Thiessen (She/They) is a Saskatchewan based theatre artist with a BFA in acting from the University of Regina. Saskatoon is her hometown where she continues to stretch her legs. Alongside acting she has a passion for baking, beading, bobbing for apples and alliteration. 

(playwright: The Yard With the Old Plow) Shanda Stefanson is a poet, spoken word artist and playwright. Her writing is intimate and personal, often exploring her relationships with feminism, grief, and mental illness. She dabbles in visual art, crafts, and music to entice her creative practice, and is always looking for new ways to express

(playwright: The Final Inquiry; director: Taken Before Birth; script dramaturg: Flag, You Said We’d Be Together Forever, Taken Before Birth) Donna-Michelle St. Bernard aka Belladonna the Blest is an emcee, playwright and agitator. Her main body of work, the 54ology, includes: Cake, Sound of the Beast, A Man A Fish, Salome’s Clothes, Gas Girls, Give

(musician) Donald Speidel has been active on the powwow circuit as a dancer, singer and a renowned public speaker and Master of Ceremonies at cultural and corporate events across North America. He is a recognized Lakota knowledge keeper, and traditional practitioner. An experienced educator, he has expertise in First Nations’ bilingual, bicultural and cultural responsive