Matt white

Co-founder & artistic director

Matt has worked as a director, actor, dramaturg, educator and theatre producer for over 20 years. For five years Matt was the Associate Producer and then General Manager of multiple award-winning Necessary Angel Theatre Company, one of Canada's foremost contemporary theatre companies. He has also held administrative positions with The Company Theatre and Factory Theatre in Toronto and Theatre & Company in Kitchener. Earlier in his arts career, his focus was on acting and his work included 3 seasons performing with Theatre & Company in Kitchener-Waterloo (acting credits include Mourning Dove, Metamorphosis, A Christmas Carol and The Boys Own Jedi Handbook I&II) as well as running their arts education programming. Most recently Matt appeared on stage again in Green Light Arts’ production of Late Company.

Directing credits for GLA: Izad Etemadi: Let Me Explain, This is How We Got Here, WE COULD BE, Touch, Will You Be My Friend, The Amish Project, Andy Warhol presents: Valerie, You Be Me, Camp Knot-a-Cult. Other select directing credits: Trading Post (Treading Theatre Festival), There Are No Gays (Page1 Productions); #churchtoo (Theatre of the Beat); The Seagull and Eurydice (University of Waterloo); Adam Bailey is on Fire (National Fringe Circuit); Twelfth Night and Hamlet (KW Youth Theatre); Bone Cage (Hart House Theatre), and Eirlys and Eckhart (Cart/Horse Theatre).

Matt is currently an adjunct professor for University of Waterloo Drama and Speech Communication program, National Theatre School of Canada, and taught for three years at Sheridan College/University of Toronto at Mississauga. Matt holds an M.A. from the University of Toronto’s Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama and is a member of the Canadian Actors' Equity Association.

Originally from Kitchener, Matt has proudly returned to his roots and shifted his focus to building a great arts organization in Waterloo Region.

Carin lowerison

Co-founder & managing director

Carin has been working as a professional theatre producer, arts administrator, educator, choreographer and performer for over 20 years. Before co-founding Green Light Arts, she was the General Manager and Producer of fu-GEN Theatre Company in Toronto, the longest running professional Asian Canadian theatre company in Canada. Carin began her theatre career as an actor/singer/dancer and is a member of the Canadian Actors' Equity Association. Most recently she appeared as ‘Debora’ in Green Light Arts’ production of Late Company directed by Kwaku Okyere.

Carin is an occasional sessional instructor for the Theatre & Performance Program at the University of Waterloo and is a senior teacher and part of the teacher training faculty at The Branches Yoga. She holds an Honours B.A. in Theatre & Drama Studies from University of Toronto, a Diploma in Acting from Sheridan College, and a Diploma in Voice Recital from Trinity College London. She has thrice been nominated for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award and in 2025 was a finalist for the K-W Oktoberfest Rogers Women of the Year Awards in the category of Arts & Culture.

teneile warren

Associate Artist; playwright-in-residence

Teneile is a Jamaican-born, Black, non-binary, and queer playwright and activist living on Turtle Island and based in Kitchener. They are alumni of the Obsidian Playwrights' Unit (2013), and they were the Artist-In-Residence at Buddies in Bad Times (2016). Their work has been staged independently and a part of various festivals across the country. They are also the Editorial Director of Textile Magazine, an arts collective that supports emerging writers and artists in Waterloo Region, particularly those from historically excluded and marginalized groups. Teneile’s art is a vehicle for social commentary and activism. Teneile holds an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Guelph. They are the recipient of the 2024 Ken Murray WRCF Community Catalyst Award and received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025. Teneile is GLA’s 2024-25 Playwright-in-Residence and Artistic Associate. Their play Beyonsea and the Mothers (which they also directed) had its World Premiere with GLA in Jan/Feb 2025.

Steven Elliott Jackson

playwright-in-residence

Steven Elliott Jackson is an award-winning playwright based out of the Region of Waterloo. His play, “The Seat Next To The King” won Best New Play at The Toronto Fringe in 2017, performed in Kitchener and in Buffalo in 2019, and was published by Scirocco Drama in April 2018. In 2020, his play, “Three Ordinary Men” won Best New Play for the Hamilton Fringe Festival, selected as a finalist in the ScreenCraft Stage Play contest and was 5 times nominated for the 2022 Dora Awards (Canada's biggest theatre awards). In 2022, Steven premiered two shows at the Toronto Fringe, the acclaimed drama, "The Garden Of Alla" and the critically loved family musical, "The Prince's Big Adventure". In 2023, his immersive play, “The Will Of A Woman” premiered at the historic Spadina House. He also received funding from the Region Of Waterloo Arts Fund with Olivia (Eun-Jung) Jon to develop the drama, "The Walls We Build" and was commissioned by Green Light Arts to develop "Poppies For Bukkan" for a future season.

Ciarán Myers

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Ciarán Myers has been working in the performing arts since he was a child and has been a mainstay in the Region of Waterloo’s vibrant theatre scene for more than a decade. He is proud and grateful to juggle his time and energy between producing for Green Light Arts, advancing his own creative practices, and parenting a precocious kiddo. Ciarán feels very much at home with Green Light Arts after Carin and Matt produced and directed three of his plays in their first decade as a company. He has since cut his teeth in arts administration as a Metcalf Intern at The Theatre Centre in Toronto.

Ciarán has produced original world premieres in Edinburgh, Kitchener, and Toronto. His plays have also been performed to critical acclaim Off West End in London, inside the Grand Valley Institution for Women, and in a private bathroom in Washington DC. He is an alumnus of Director’s Lab North, the Stratford Festival Playwrights Retreat, and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. When people ask nicely, Ciarán is also an actor, director, and teacher ... you can sometimes find him making a fool of himself and others at the Pinch Cabaret in Waterloo. Linktr.ee/CiaranMyers

jenni grandfield

Marketing SPECIALIST

After spending her childhood giving mediocre performances on stage, Jenni (thankfully) discovered that her true calling was staring at a computer monitor. A trained graphic designer and marketing specialist, Jenni has had the privilege of working with arts organizations located across Canada; from the Yukon Arts Centre to the Luminato Festival. She has lightly dabbled in set design for Smile Theatre and Drayton Entertainment, spent nearly a decade baking bread at a living history museum, and now devotes most of her free time to plucking white dog hairs out of her crochet projects. Jenni is elated to be part of the Green Light Arts team!

NATHANAEL OLENEWA

FUNDRAISING (2025 Canada Summer Jobs)

Nathanael is thrilled to be joining the Green Light Arts team this summer! He began working with the company in the Fall of 2024 as a high school co-op student, and couldn’t get enough of it. Typically, Nathanael spends his time performing onstage or working in the lighting booth, having performed in shows such as Footloose (DEYA), School of Rock: The Musical (LHSS), and with Pop Nation Canada, as well as having been a lighting designer for a variety of performances at his high school. He is also an avid piano player and accompanist, most recently having been the rehearsal pianist for The Sound of Music (KWMP). Nathanael looks forward to expanding his area of work in the theatre industry by dipping his toes into the world of fundraising!