Little Mountain Lion Productions acknowledges that we create and stage works in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Our collaborators have been born, raised on, or have travelled to this land, and it as well as the stories of its peoples are very dear to our hearts.
The Stories
These short plays have been written by the grade 6 and 7 students of Strathcona Elementary. They will be performed by Leah Fong, Nyla Carpentier, Chirag Naik, and Chris Cochrane live at The Cultch Historic Theatre, directed by Laura McLean with co-direction from the students themselves!
This project is supported through ArtStarts in Schools, the City of Vancouver, and the Canada Council for the Arts, and is sponsored by the IGNITE! Youth Arts Festival and The Cultch Theatre.
Thank you to the teachers, the school staff, and of course the students for making this project possible!
Leah Fong
Leah is a META and Dora award winning theatre practitioner with a BFA in Theatre Performance from Concordia University. She has been teaching performing arts to young people ranging in age from 2- 22 for over 10 years alongside pursuing her career in theatre, acting and voice over. Leah’s greatest joys come from collaborating with young aspiring artists, and being able to watch them grow, and discover themselves through theatre.
Nyla Carpentier
Nyla Carpentier (Tahltan, Kaska, French, Scottish) is a multifaceted performing artist currently residing in North Vancouver. She’s a new mom, a powwow dancer and workshop facilitator. Theatre acting highlights: Battle of the Birds (Savage Society), The Flats/Les Flats (Prairie Theatre Exchange and Theatre Cercle Moliere), The Berlin Blues and Ipperwash (The Blyth Theatre Festival) and Busted Up: A Yukon Story (Openpit Theatre). Nyla performed her solo show Dissection of a… Mixed Heritage Woman at the Victoria and Vancouver Fringe Festival. She is currently working on a second solo show and her first full length play.
Chirag Naik
Chirag Naik is a theatre, film and voice actor who’s worked across Canada. He’s worked with renowned theatres across Canada including Bard on the Beach, the National Arts Centre, Persephone, Greenthumb, Electric Company, amongst many others. On top of his exuberant and fervent love for theatre he delights in performing in other mediums including film/TV and particularly in voice-over work. Notable film credits include Upload, Rogue, and No Tomorrow. In cartoon form, he can be heard voicing Chip in Luna, Chip, and Inkie, Hiko in Momolu, as well as Bread Pudding in Strawberry Shortcake.
Chris Cochrane
Chris is incredibly excited to be working on this project with all these brilliant young writers. Chris has worked professionally in theatre and film/TV in Vancouver for the past 12 years. Selected theatre: Once, Avenue Q, King Charles, She Stoops to Conquer (Arts Club), Measure for Measure, The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing (Bard on the Beach). Selected TV: Fringe, Supernatural, iZombie, and Supergirl. Chris is a graduate of the Stella Adler Studios (NYC) and Studio 58, and has been nominated for 2 Jessie Richardson theatre awards.
Laura McLean – Director
A local theatre artist, Laura is a director, producer, and teacher. She is the co-Artistic Director of Vancouver based theatre company Delinquent Theatre. A Jessie Award winning director, selected credits include Never the Last, STATIONARY: a recession era musical, and Our Time (Delinquent Theatre), Dry Land (Rumble Theatre), Gramma (Pacific Theatre), Shaw Shorts (City Stage New West), Little One (Brewery Theatre, Bristol), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (The Guild Theatre, Yukon). She has been teaching theatre to children aged three to eighteen at Arts Umbrella for over a decade. She has her BFA in Theatre from UBC and her Masters in Directing from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Little Mountain Lion
Directed by
Laura McLean
Starring
Leah Fong, Nyla Carpentier, Chirag Naik, and Chris Cochrane
Stage Manager
Lucien Lum
Production Design
Johnny Hamilton
Video Editor
Birdie Hamilton
Sound Design
Matt Clarke
Produced by
Ariel Mertz-Oberlander, Matt Clarke, and Johnny Hamilton
Photography by
Duy Nguyen Photography
The Cultch
Filmed at
The Cultch Historic Theatre
Assistant Technical Director
Kaden O’Reilly
Assistant Production Manager
Siobhan Powell
Video Director
Cameron Anderson
Audience Services Manager
Charlotte Wright
Technical Director
Cody Biles
Production Manager
Andrew McCaw
IGNITE! Youth Program Manager
Valentina Acevedo Montilla
Financially Supported by
ArtStarts in Schools, the City of Vancouver, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Sponsored by IGNITE! Youth Arts Festival and The Cultch.
Community Sponsors
Vancouver Film School
Toys R Us Broadway
Kids Market on Granville Island
Produced by Little Mountain Lion Productions
