Lara Lewis (she/her) – Chair of the Board

Lara Lewis (she/her) is a queer and trans Mi’kmaw theatre artist of mixed settler descent living in Kjipuktuk. As a dramaturge, she has worked with artists from across Mi’kma’ki, as well as Ontario, Quebec, and New York. She has been a dramaturge both independently, and in cahoots with the Fall Festival of New Plays, NotaBle Acts (both Fredericton, NB), the PARC Retreat (Sackville, NB), and Fresh From the Island (Georgetown, PE). A Merritt Award-nominated actor, Lara has worked with companies like Theatre New Brunswick, Heist, Atlantic Repertory Company, Zuppa Theatre, and the Villains Theatre, among others. In her spare time, Lara is a textile artist and occasionally writes. She lives with her cat, Lou Lewis, and is a founder of the Glitter Bean Café Co-op.

(Photo by James Arthur MacLean Photography)

Nicholas Cox (he/him) – Vice-Chair of the Board

Nicholas Cox is an actor, producer, songwriter, musician, and playwright from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the Co-Artistic Director of Terra Novella Theatre, a theatre company dedicated to working with emerging artists. Nick began his relationship with the Bus Stop in 2012 and has been an avid supporter since, both as a volunteer, board member, and interim technical director in 2015. In 2016 Nick won the Atlantic Fringe Festival award for Best Emerging Playwright for his play The Wrath Of Ponzi. When he isn’t making art, Nick is a butcher with Osprey’s Roost. He has a love for the art of local butchery, farm to table food and sharing a good meal.

(Photo by Stoo Metz)

Allison Watkins (she/her) – Treasurer

Allison Watkins is a senior accountant with Grant Thorton. She graduated from Mount Allison University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and completed her Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation a few years later. Throughout high school and university she was an avid ballet dancer. During her time in Calgary she continued to be involved in the dance community by volunteering at a dance studio for autistic children. Since moving to Halifax in 2019, Allison has enjoyed supporting the local arts community and is excited to combine two of her passions…numbers and the arts! 

Mahya Tench (they/she) – Secretary 

Mahya (they/she) started their artistic journey in childhood, performing for friends and family. Now with a BA and under the Peace and Friendship treaties, they continue to perform, live and work as a multidisciplinary artist near Kjipuktuk (the Great Harbour, aka Halifax Harbour) in Mi’kma’ki: the traditional unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) peoples. A radically compassionate Queer Black, Indigenous, Genderfluid/Trans Woman of Colour, she is dedicated to equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and reindigenizing. Always an avid volunteer, they sit on the board of the Villains Theatre, the Bus Stop Theatre Cooperative and is a part of the Queer Theatre Ensemble Collective (QTEs).

Sam Ramsay (they/them) 

Sam Ramsay is a non-binary person working in Quality Assurance (software testing). Although born and raised near Kjipuktuk, their family moved to the US when they were a teenager and they lived there until moving back to Nova Scotia in 2019. They have a deep love for the arts and were involved in theatre in high school, and ballroom and swing dance through high school until the pandemic. Sam cares deeply about everything they do, and brings their meticulousness and passion with them in their endeavors.

Dr. Cat MacKeigan (they/them)

Dr. Cat MacKeigan is the Executive Director at Theatre Nova Scotia (TNS) and is actively involved in the performing arts sector through management, consultation, and production activities. They have held research and faculty appointments at Dalhousie University and Acadia University in business management, public policy, and arts management and are past Director of External Relations at Strategic Arts Management. Cat regularly sits on arts and policy advisory councils, boards of directors, and Canada Council peer juries and has presented their work at national and international levels including at the Creative Cities Network of Canada and the Brokering Intercultural Exchange Network in Germany. Cat’s research focus underlines the relationship between cultural policy and the performing arts.

Jason Edwards (he/him)

Jason is a Halifax/K’jipuktuk lawyer practicing in the areas of labour, employment, human rights, and administrative law. He primarily represents employees and unions, though he also represents some employers, mostly not-for-profits and small businesses. In his not-for-profit practice, Jason provides advice and representation to societies on matters such as organizational governance, policy development, and employment. Jason is a founding member of the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre and coordinates its legal information and support clinics. He enjoys live theatre, comedy, and all the performing arts.

Liliona A. Quarmyne (she/her)

Based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), on the powerful, unceded and unsurrendered land of the Mi’kmaq people, Liliona is a dancer, choreographer, actor, singer, community organizer, and activist. Originally from Ghana and the Philippines, she has an eclectic background that has taken her through many performance styles on four different continents. Liliona performs across the country and internationally, creates original works as an independent artist, facilitates community programming, and is the Artistic Director of Kinetic Studio. The scope of Liliona’s artistic work is broad, but is particularly focused on the relationship between art and social justice, on the body’s ability to carry ancestral memory, and on the role the performing arts can play in creating change. Liliona loves to work in collaboration and community, and is mom to two wonderful kids.

(Photo by James MacLean)

Adam Norton (he/him)

Adam Norton is an associate lawyer with Patterson Law specializing in the areas of Tax, Corporate Commercial, and Estate Planning. He previously worked in Civil Litigation for the Province of Nova Scotia. He has a Bachelor of Arts Hon. in political science from Carleton University and a J.D. from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie. He has previously been a board member of the Artists Legal Information Society and currently is a board member with Trips by Transit, a society that provides accessible nature experiences using the Halifax transit system. Adam mainly participates in community theatre with the Dartmouth Players and Theatre Arts Guild and is a fan and supporter of local theatre.

(Photo by Bernadine Umlah – Studio Umlah)

Masuma Khan (she/her)

Masuma Khan is a local community organizer and artist, born and raised in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). She is known for her overwhelming passion and commitment to dismantling systems of oppression. At most actions, you’ll find her on the megaphone chanting. Those closest to her know her for her big smile and an even bigger heart. For Masuma poetry is an expression that is tied to her cultural practice as a Pashtun. Her first album Wrath of Khan, released on April 30th 2021. Her art style is influenced by her lived experiences with white supremacy, colonialism, displacement, racism, islamophobia disability justice, and more.

Laura Vingoe-Cram (she/her)

Laura is a co-artistic director of Keep Good (Theatre) Company in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her directing credits include, Mexico City (Matchstick Theatre), Love and Information (The Fountain School of Performing Arts), The Children (Keep Good (Theatre) Company), Miss N’ Me (Eastern Front Theatre) Interactions with Art (Halifax Theatre for Young People) Time of Trouble (Opera Nova Scotia) Constellations (Keep Good (Theatre) Company). In 2018 she completed a year at the Stratford Festival working as an assistant director under Nigel Shawn Williams and was a member of the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction. In 2015 she graduated from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow with a masters in theatre directing.