Staff
Corben Kushneryk
Co-Artistic Director
Corben (he/him) is a theatremaker of Métis heritage who is proud to serve as one of Concrete Theatre’s new Co-Artistic Directors. He has worked with Concrete as an actor, director, stage manager and facilitator, and he is excited to keep dreaming up relevant theatre with this incredible team. Corben is also the Founder and Co-Artistic Producer of Impossible Mongoose: an award-winning independent theatre company started in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton) in 2013.
Tracy Carroll
Co-Artistic Director
Tracy has a long history of working in Theatre for Young Audiences and for many years has worked as a director, dramaturg and facilitator at Concrete Theatre. She is the creator of Concrete’s week-long workshop program Acting Our Colours and director of the award-winning Lig & Bittle by Elyne Quan & Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull.
Tracy is presently the facilitator of the Young Playwriting Company at the Citadel Theatre, an instructor for Writes of Passage at Workshop West, and Co-producer of EDMONten- A Showcase of Ten-Minute Plays.
Patrick Beagan
General Manager
Patrick (he/him) is a proud halfbreed of Nlaka’pamux and Irish Canadian heritage. He started with Concrete Theatre as a designer, having designed the full production of The Antyssey, the set/projections for I Am For You, the production design for Bello, and lighting Songs My Mother Never Sung Me, among others. He worked as Concrete’s Bookings Coordinator for 3 years before moving into the the GM position.
Heather Cornick
Bookings Coordinator
For over two decades Heather has worked in theatre, film, television, circus, concerts, corporate events, cruise ships, dance, and opera as a designer, technician, instructor, stage manager, event planner, props builder, puppeteer, carpenter, and clown. Heather stage managed CTRL-ALT-DEL and The Antyssey for Concrete Theatre in 2019. She lives in Edmonton with her spouse, dog, cat and bunny.
Liam Salmon
Outreach Coordinator
Liam Salmon (they/them) is Concrete Theatre’s Outreach Specialist and has worked in communications for the Intercultural Child and Family Centre, Workshop West, and for their own theatre work. In addition, they are a playwright and have had their work performed across the country. They have a dramaturgy and education practice, and have worked with a variety of young artists in Edmonton. They are a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s Playwriting program, and their most recent work played at the Edmonton Fringe to rave reviews and sold out houses.
Caroline Howarth
Artistic Associate
Caroline is a director, educator and dramaturg from Alberta. She is a co-founder of Concrete Theatre and served as Artistic co-director for many years. Over the past 30 years she has directed and facilitated many productions and projects for young people and families including most recently Songs My Mother Never Sung Me by Dave Clarke – a chamber opera in American Sign Language and sung English. She has worked on Concrete’s Sprouts Festival of New Plays for Kids for many years as a coordinator, dramaturg and director. Over the years, Caroline has worked with the University of Alberta, The Citadel Theatre, Edmonton Opera, Opera Nuova and Fringe Theatre Adventures. She is now an associate professor of Drama at Concordia University of Edmonton where she teaches improvisation, theatre for young audiences, directing, and acting. She has directed many productions for Concordia including Haroun and the Sea of Stories, The Dada Play, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Unity (1918), and the opera Dido and Aeneas. Caroline is passionate about creating theatre for young people that is engaging and helps them to navigate their place in the world. Caroline lives near the river valley in Edmonton with husband John, son Xavier and three white mice.
Mieko Ouchi
Artistic Associate
Mieko is proud to be one of the founding members of Concrete and to see the company evolve, flourish and grow. She has written, translated, dramaturged, performed in and directed over 35 shows for the company since 1989 and was in an artistic leadership role with the company for 31 years. In 2020 she stepped down to her new role as Artistic Associate here at CT, in order to become the TD Associate Artistic Director at the Citadel, where she helps to lead new play development, EDI and work with emerging artists. As a freelance artist she also continues to work as an award winning actor, writer, director and dramaturge in theatre, film and TV and teach at the post-secondary level. Mieko lives in Edmonton with her husband Kim and her dog Nara.
Board
Emily Vespi
President (Chair)
Gus Gusul
Treasurer
Yoko Azumaya
Director at Large
Mukonzi Musyoki
Director at Large
Hitomi Suzuta
Director at Large
Michael Peng
Director at Large