Staff and Board

Beatriz Pizano

Artistic Director
beatriz@alunatheatre.ca

Beatriz Pizano is an actor/director/playwright and the founder and Artistic Director of Aluna Theatre. Over the last two decades, she has built Aluna into an international company recognized for its unique approach to creation, its daring political work, and its experimentation with multiple-language productions. Her bold creations, in English and Spanish, are marked by a distinct theatrical language drawing from the heritages, cultures, and languages from across the Americas.

She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the John Hirsch Prize, the Chalmers Fellowship, K.M. Hunter award, 100 Colombianos and Colombiano Estrella. She is the first Colombian actress to win the Toronto Critics award and a Dora for her performance in Blood Wedding. She has been recognized twice by the Colombian government (President Santos and President Duque) for her work as a promoter and a mentor to the Latinx artists living and working in Canada. In 2019 she was named TD Bank’s 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians. In 2023 she received the Trailblazer & Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition (Caltac).

She has written and directed a number of award winning and touring productions for Aluna, including: For Sale, Madre, La Comunión and has co-created touring productions such as What I learned from a Decade of Fear, The Refuge of Freidel, and The Solitudes. Her TYA play, La Maleta, has been produced by Roseneath Theatre touring extensively across Canada and the US, and earning numerous accolades each time. In 2022 Playwrights Canada Press published her one woman show Dividing Lines | Líneas Divisorias.

She is passionate about her work as a playwright, dramaturge and director. In 2019 she was the senior playwright at the Banff Centre’s Playwright’s Lab. She also continues to be a guest speaker and lecturer at York University, UofT, Glendon College, Sheridan College and others.. Her writing challenges Eurocentric approaches to theatre creation. She is a fierce activist who creates spaces and opportunities for racialized artists and playwrights.

“Colombian-born Beatriz Pizano is one of Canada’s important Latin-Canadian writer/directors.” — Paula Citron, Classical 96.5 FM

Trevor Schwellnus

Artistic Producer
trevor@alunatheatre.ca

Trevor is a Toronto-based Scenographer – designing sets, lighting, and video for performance with independent artists. He has developed his approach to direction and dramaturgy through Collaborative creation in a designed environment at Aluna, leading the creation of Nohayquiensepa (Nooneknows) and What I learned from a decade of fear. His design work for Aluna’s La Comunión, Madre, and For Sale launched him on his artistic path. One of his chief obsessions is the intersection of design, dramaturgy, and cross-cultural art-making.

Trevor has collaborated in theatre and dance with Modern Times, Jumblies, Fixtpoint, Cahoots, The Theatre Centre, Buddies in Bad Times, Independent Aunties, Obsidian, Tarragon, Small Wooden Shoe, One Reed, Marie-Josée Chartier, Ame Henderson / Public Recordings, selfconscious Theatre, Dancemakers, Theatre Passe Muraille, and others. He has 6 Doras (of 17 career nominations), a Harold, and a Children’s Choice Award. In 2015 he was shortlisted for Canada’s Siminovich Award.

Maria escolán

Associate Artistic Producer
maria@alunatheatre.ca

María Escolán is a theatre artist and producer from El Salvador living in Toronto. Recent workshop showings of her work in development La Mujer Fragmentada have taken place in Toronto with Aluna Theatre’s CAMINOS Festival, in San Salvador with Asociación Cultural del Azoro,in Victoria BC with Intrepid Theatre’s UNO Fest, and in Vancouver, BC with rice & beans theatre. Past collaborations include live translation performance in Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción with Teatro Linea de Sombra, Assistant Directing/Performance with Nightwood Theatre’s Children of Fire at Aluna Theatre’s Rutas Festival 2022 in Toronto, and Assistant Directing Peace Country with rice & beans theatre. María holds a BFA Degree in Theatre Performance from the School for Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University and a BA Degree in Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice from the University of British Columbia.

FLAVIA MARTIN

Studio Coordinator
alunaspace@gmail.com

Flávia F. Martin (she/her) is a Portuguese Canadian creative who has been spending most of her time stage and assistant stage managing for theatre. Flávia has had the privilege of working with Aluna Theatre, Modern Times, Peggy Baker’s Dance Projects, Victoria Mata Productions and Necessary Ange. When she is not stage managing, Flávia can be found answering the Aluna studio emails.

andrea perez

Marketing & Outreach Coordinator
alunaoutreach@gmail.com

Andrea Perez (she/her) is an emerging performer & director, fig tree lover, and book enthusiast studying Drama, Classics, and Creative Writing at the University of Toronto. She is incredibly excited to collaborate at Aluna Theatre for the third summer in a row! Select directing credits: Lord of the Flies (Hart House Theatre), Palisade: A Musical Workshop (Thaumatrope Theatre), Never Swim Alone (VCDS). Select acting credits: A Girl in School Uniform (A Front Company), A Streetcar Named Desire (TCDS), Twelfth Night (Thaumatrope Theatre), Crab Mentality (CDTPS Alumni Project).