Queer and Trans
Playwrights Unit
Showcase: June 2026
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Tickets for this event are free of charge thanks to support from:
The Calgary Arts Development
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ABOUT THE SHOWCASE
Over the course of Verbs 2025/2026 season, four Queer & Trans playwrights and two mentors have been gathering monthly to discuss their work, the industry, community, and queerness. This is the second time Verb Theatre has curated a playwrights club of this nature, and did so in response to a deep need expressed by the queer community in Calgary. We cannot wait to show everyone what these incredible playwrights have been creating!
The Playwrights:
Cece Chow is a Moh'kinstsis (YYC) born, autistic, ADHD, disabled, Chinese trans woman, voice feminization coach, multi expressionist artist, filmmaker and transgender rights advocate. She firmly believes that positive representation is a key factor in creating equity for the trans community and especially for queer and trans people of the global majority. She is a raconteuse at heart, infusing nuanced and multifaceted narratives into her work to nurture exploration, growth, and unity in human kinship.
Madeline Hunter Smith is a queer, award-winning playwright and performer based in Mohkínstsis/Calgary, Alberta. Select writing credits include Carnaticum (Play Right Prize, 2018; Wildfire National Playwriting Competition Shortlist, 2020), Silica (Play Right Prize, 2019), The Folly (New Jersey Web Fest Best Original Audio Play Nominee, 2020), People Who Stand With the Gods (Wildfire National Playwriting Competition Shortlist, 2025), and Evergreens (Lunchbox Theatre Stage One & Two, 2025). Madeline uses her personal artistic practice to explore the experiences of femme people through writing and devising high-fantasy horror for the stage and other media. She is a founder and Artistic Producer of cross-disciplinary art group, Sucker for Punishment, and plays D&D as Maeve Maldorava on The Die As Cast Podcast. @madelinehuntersmith
Ryan Danny Owen (they/him/her) is a non-binary award winning author, researcher, queer archivist, and interdisciplinary artist based in Mohkinistis/Treaty 7/Calgary, Alberta. Their work reexamines nostalgia, trans identity, longing, and kinship through a multi-disciplinary approach combining archival research, installation, video, craft, poetry, performance, and writing.
Taylor (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist from Mohkinstsis. She is passionate about writing, acting, and storytelling. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre which she completed at the University of Victoria in 2022. Taylor has been fortunate to work with organizations like Collectivus Theatre (Victoria), Theatre One (Nanaimo), Calgary Young People’s Theatre, the Museum of North Vancouver, and the Toronto Fringe Festival.
The Mentors:
Natalie Meisner
Marshall Vielle