Riot King

is a Tkaronto based arts hub that connects art lovers with the natural world by experimenting with performance, print, music, and visual art. Through our work, we hope to find new ways to bring our community together to think critically about our lasting effect on the world we live in.

brendan kinnon (he/they)

creative director

Brendan is a queer, non-binary theatre performer, producer, and director who is inspired every day by the beauty of the natural world. They have produced a variety of projects across the country including new-Canadian plays, audio dramas, short films, and festivals! They have worked as a producer with the Paprika Festival and Theatre of the Beat. Brendan is passionate about new play development and loves to work with writers and directors to bring a story to life for the first time.

Hideout Co.

Simply put, our hideout is a place for audiences and artists to come in from the cold. Say the password, have some soup, and share some tales. We are two queer theatre creators with the shared appreciation of magic, mythology, spectacle, and the goal of never forgetting the importance of play. Hideout Co. was founded by Madeline Kennedy and Gabbi Kosmidis in 2023.

Co-Producer for “Foolscap’s Christmas Pudding”

spindle collective

Spindle Collective is a multidisciplinary horror-theatre collective of female and non-binary artists founded by actor and writer Natalia Bushnik. Framing contemporary fears into the structure of dark folklore, they combine original music, dance, digital design, and visual art to construct immersive, unnerving theatrical experiences. Their first work, ‘SAMCA’, won First Place at the 2022 Hamilton Fringe New Play Contest, placed in the Top Ten Finalists for the 2021 Wildfire National Playwriting Competition, and will be presented site-specifically at the 2023 In The Soil Festival in St. Catherines this June.

Co-Producer for ‘SAMCA’

kathleen welch

Kathleen is a writer, composer, and theatre creator from Toronto. She is passionate about new works and loves creating projects with people she cares about. Kathleen is a member of Spindle Collective where she co-wrote and composed the music for ‘SAMCA’. She is also the co-creator of the ‘Dark Crop Festival’, an all-night camping performance festival. Some favourite plays she has directed are ‘The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine’ and ‘12 Angry Juror’s and favourite past roles include Catherine in ‘Widow's Wedding Dress’, Mrs. Forthright in ‘False Claims’, and Clara in ‘Fermata’. She is currently in the early stages of creating her newest play, ‘Bluebeard's Wives’.

Director for ‘Suddenly Last Summer’
Co-Creator/Producer for ‘Dark Crop’