Rahul Varma

Artistic Director

Rahul Varma is a playwright, activist, and Artistic Director of Teesri Duniya Theatre. In 1981, he co-founded the company with Rana Bose. He co-founded a journal, alt.theatre: cultural diversity and the stage in 1998. Born in India, Rahul writes in Hindi and English, a language he acquired as an adult. His recent plays include Counter Offence; Bhopal; Truth and Treason; State of Denial and Dhara’s Revenge, among others. His unproduced new works include Kali’s Dance, Merchant of God and Talaq, etc. His plays have been translated into French, Italian, Hindi and Punjabi. He is honoured to have worked with India’s pre-eminent artist, the late Dr. Habib Tanvir.

Rahul has received the Quebec Drama Federation’s Juror’s Award (1986); the Montreal English Critics Circle award for interculturalism (1999); META’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award (2018); and a Lifetime Honorary Membership Award (2020) from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research.

Sean Ryan

Artistic Associate

Sean Ryan (they/he/she) is a queer actor/performer/creator who finds joy in the exploration. They started their journey near the water, on Treaty 13A territory- a territory which was and remains under the care of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation. They currently practice in Tiohtià:ke, the unceded territory of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka people, where they find themselves beginning a career that centers around love, death, decolonization, queerness, clown, and the chaos that comprises a life.

A recent graduate of Concordia University’s acting program, they just played Beauté in Infinithéâtre’s Extra/Beautiful/U and completed their first professional Assistant Director contract with Liz Valdez on Tableau D’Hôtes, Caravan. Through their practice, they hope to cultivate and create the spark that makes a room collectively and impulsively hold its breath.

Elsa di Paola

Rangshala Studio Coordinator

Elsa (she/her) is based in Montreal, she is a recent graduate from McGill University's English Department, where she now works as a costume assistant. She is continuously involved in various performing arts projects as a stage manager, production manager, and occasional costume maker.

📧 rangshala@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Gaby Rutter

Office Administrator

Gaby (she/her) is a recent graduate of Concordia’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program, where she majored in Music. With years of experience as a performer and teacher, she is deeply passionate about the arts and fostering creativity. Gaby recently joined Teesri’s office administration team, where she shares her enthusiasm for supporting creative communities.

📧 info@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Camille Mankumah

Administration and Fundraising Officer

Camille is a writer and arts worker. Her creative endeavours have been funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and awarded by Concordia University and Toronto Metropolitan University, where she completed her BA and MFA respectively. A past participant of the Fireworks Play Development Program, Camille is proud to return to Teesri Duniya in a new capacity.

📧 outreach@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Yolanda Chow

General Manager

Yolanda is an emerging filmmaker, based in Montreal. She has produced, written, and directed, for podcasts, campaigns, and short films. In her work, she combines her passion for storytelling and the arts to foster community and champion social causes.

📧 admin@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Jules Chanvillard

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Jules Chanvillard is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Montreal. He studied design at the École de design de Nantes in France and completed a Master in Immersive UX design. In his work for nonprofits, he involves his passion for visual creation at the service of social causes.

📧 marketing@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Janis Kirshner

Publicist

As a seasoned theatre/literary/arts publicist, Janis is passionate about promoting the stories & people that make remarkable, creative works. As an actor she takes performing comedic roles seriously and values serious roles. She has decades of experience working with most of Montreal’s respected independent and established theatre companies, festivals and incredibly talented artists, as well as the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival and numerous publishers and authors. 

In addition to her work as a sought-after publicist, Janis has written a range of feature articles, columns, and theatre interviews and reviews for diverse media, publications and organizations. She also enjoyed years on the radio as a traffic reporter, entertainment reviewer and host of open-line talk shows. Janis co-founded the comedy duo TITTERS (with Laura Mitchell), with shows featuring stand-up comedy, sketches, spoken word, monologues and songs, at Fringe Festivals, the Vancouver Int’l Comedy Festival, theatres, comedy clubs, fundraisers and events. She’s sat on a number of professional committees including the METAs, Canadian Actors' Equity Association and the MECCAs. Janis is honoured to be Teesri Duniya Theatre’s longtime publicist. 

Marie Barlizo

Fireworks Program Dramaturges

Marie Barlizo is a Filipino-Chinese playwright and dramaturg from Montreal. A graduate of UBC’s MFA in Creative Writing and the first visible minority to complete the NTS Playwriting Program, she teaches at NTS and mentors with Black Theatre Workshop.  With over a dozen plays to her name, her work includes Unang Pasko sa Montreal (Centaur Theatre’s Urban Tales, 2017), The Little Mighty Superhero (Geordie Theatre’s 2020–21 virtual school tour), and Lucky, which toured Canada starting in 2022 after earlier runs at the Montreal Fringe and Toronto’s Next Stage Festival.

Ouldooz Pirniya

Fireworks Program Dramaturges

Ouldooz Pirniya is a writer and dramaturg based in Montreal. Born and raised in Iran, she earned over 100 medals and set multiple national swimming records before graduating top of her class in Dramatic Literature from Tehran University of Art. She wrote, directed, and acted in student productions, and collaborated with Khaneh Theater Group on politically engaged plays about Syria. In 2015, she moved to Germany, where she earned her MA in Dramaturgy from the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg and worked with Theater Bonn and Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Deepa Nallappan

Artist in Residence

Deepa Nallappan, the artistic director of Param des arts, is a Bharathanatyam artist, performer, and teacher located in Montreal. With over three decades of dedication to learning and performing in this artistic domain, Deepa staunchly supports ethnocultural diversity, inclusion, and fosters intercultural and interfaith understanding. she tirelessly endeavors to bring pressing social issues to the forefront of the community's attention through her dance creations. Additionally, Deepa serves as the curator of the Montreal Natyanjali festival.