Rachel is a playwright, dramaturge, and author. With a background in theatre performance, Rachel’s writing is known for its sharp dialogue, strong characterization, and exploration of life’s uncomfortable grey areas.

She has written three plays for teen audiences: Still•Falling, The Code, and Caged, all of which were premiered and toured by Green Thumb. Still•Falling and The Code are published as a duo by Talon books, and were recognized with the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Significant Artistic Achievement and the Sydney J. Risk Prize for Outstanding Original Play by an Emerging Playwright respectively. Her TYA work has been performed across BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and in Lawrence, Kansas and Nashville, Tennessee. Her first offering for adult audiences, The Watch List, premiered with Saskatoon’s 25th Street Theatre to critical acclaim, with Pod Sask’s Matt Olson calling it “an unmitigated slam dunk”.

Rachel lives in on the traditional territory of the Lhtako Dene People in Quesnel, BC with her husband Kyle, daughter Elliot, and two ridiculous chihuahuas. She is currently working on her first novel. 

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Howard Dai (he/him) is a Taiwanese actor, writer, director, and theatre maker based in so-called Vancouver whose work has been seen across Canada. His performances and creations have existed in theatre, films, public spaces, Zoom screens, Google Sheets, automated phone calls, interactive websites, and virtual reality. As an actor, he was most recently seen onstage in Halifax, Ottawa, and Stratford. He is a member of the Five Blessings Collective, an associate artist with rice & beans theatre, and holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU School for the Contemporary Arts . He is a recipient of a2025 Siminovitch Theatre Foundation Emerging Artist Grant, selected by finalist Adrienne Wong. Just a city boy, taking the midnight train going anywhere. www.howarddai.com

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Sewit Eden Haile (she/her) is an emerging actor and writer based on the unceded, traditional homelands of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh(Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations in “Vancouver.” Most recently, she participated in Ruby Slippers' Advance Theatre Festival and Caravan Farm Theatre's National Playwright's Retreat. She won the Studio 58 Writing Award in 2024. This spring, a piece she wrote for Momentum 180’s Parallel Project will be published in their anthology of monologues for BIPOC actors by Playwrights Canada Press. Sewit most loves movement, new work, and comedy. She is a graduate of Studio 58!

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Tebo Nzeku was born and raised in South Africa and made her way to Vancouver to chase a dream, and catch it. After graduating from UBC with a BFA in Acting, she dove headfirst into the local theatre and screen scene, racking up credits that include A Doll's House Part 2 (and a Jessie Richardson Award nomination to go with it), Much Ado About Nothing, Netflix's Firefly Lane, and Hallmark’s Picture of Her.

Having spent years inhabiting other people's words on stage and screen, Tebo is now turning the page. Literally. A firm believer in the magic of theatre, she's excited to step behind the scenes and bring her performer's instincts to the storytelling process itself. She has written for young audiences in community and church contexts, and is thrilled to be deepening that practice as part of the Playwright’s Gym.

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Chhavi Disawar is a Vancouver-based actor, writer, and recent graduate of Studio 58.Drawn to psychologically intricate, non-linear characters, she brings boldphysicality and emotional precision to both stage and screen.

Her work includes internationally screened short films at CAAMFest, Chicago South Asian Film Festival, and Edmonton International Film Festival. She received a Best Performance nomination at the Durgapur International Film Festival for Maya, a short film she also co-wrote. Her screen credits include A Little Racist and Modern Whore.

Asa writer and performer, Chhavi has also created and performed original work for the Vancouver International Children's Festival under the direction of Deb Williams. She is humbled and excited to be part of Green Thumb Theatre’s PWG cohort. A two-time Canada Council for the Arts recipient, her work centers immigrant women and culturally layered voices in contemporary storytelling.

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Nathan is thrilled to be continuing work in the Playwrights Gym. He is a multi-hyphenate theatre-maker from Saskatoon, Treaty 6, living on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh(Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations in Vancouver. He has an MFA in Scriptwriting & Story Design from TMU, BFA in Acting from U Sask, and is a graduate of The Globe Theatre Conservatory. His plays include Radio Town(Blyth Festival 2025); The Love Interest (Theatre Howl 2022); Endurance, an historical musical co-written with Andrew Taylor and Clinton Ackerman; The Wild Dog Waits On The Concrete Path (Howl/Embrace 2018); the wordless prairie Frankenstein adaptation, Aiden Flynn Lost His Brother So He Makes Another , co-written with Morgan Murray (Howl 2014-16); and Matchstick, a not-very fairytale folk musical (GCTC 2016, Persephone 2015, Howl 2013). He is the recipient of Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards for his acting, composing, and sound design work. As an actor Nathan has appeared onstage at The Stratford Festival, Crow’s Theatre, Canadian Stage, Mirvish and multiple times at The Blyth Festival, Belfry Theatre, Persephone Theatre, Globe Theatre, Shakespeare On The Saskatchewan, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, and in independent productions with Live Five, Sum Theatre, Theatre Howl, and ten summers of Canadian Fringe Festivals.

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Chhavi Disawar, Howard Lai, Tebo Nzeku, Sewit Eden Haile, Nathan Howe

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Adonis King, Alex Masse, Ashleigh Giffen, Nathan Howe

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Ashley Chodat, Necko Smart, Tristen Foy, Vivian Li

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Tanya Banerjee, Lynette Bonin, Jenny Larson-Quiñones, Sangeeta Wylie

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Issiah Bull Bear, Ashley Cook, Alisha Davidson, Laura Anne Harris, Hannah Johnnson, Katie Voravong

Green Thumb acknowledges the support of Y.P. Heung Foundation