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About Us

We strive to provide a Total Theatre Experience in a safe, inclusive, and fun environment. 

Established in 1988, by Richard O'Brien, at the Red Deer College, Tree House Youth Theatre has been providing extraordinary theatrical experiences for youth in central Alberta for the past 35 years. We do this by utilizing a Total Theatre Experience approach by allowing for multiple opportunities for youth to try out everything that theatre has to offer, including:

  • Acting, Design (Costumes/Lights/Props/Set/Sound), Stage Management, and Backstage Crew

Total Theatre Experience. Modern theatre requires a team of people, and the theatre industry rewards those with a diverse set of theatre skills. This program will teach industry standards in theatre creation, which includes acting, writing, directing, stage management, design, and running crew.

Each January and June we will present works that have been created by our participants and alumni. These larger scale productions will be staged on the Red Deer Memorial Centre Main Stage. Each production will be written, performed, directed, stage managed, and designed by our participants. Work created by our Devised Theatre Program goes through a process of workshops in a process called dramaturgy. 

Every summer we will have summer camps geared at introducing youth to theatre in a games/play centered approach. For more information on our programming. head here: THYT PROGRAMS

Our Artistic Team

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Albertus Koett (He/Him)

Artistic Director
2018-Present

Oversees overall artistic direction of THYT, runs the 13-17 Devised and Production Programs.

Writer and director of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes theatre series.

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Nicole Leal (She/Her)

Associate Artistic Director
2021-Present

Nicole leads all programming for ages 9-12, and is the main THYT summer camp facilitator.

Artistic Director of Improv Jelly. THYT A.D. from 2015-2018, and stage manager in 2021.

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Braden Guido (He/Him)

Technical Director
2021-Present

As Technical Director, Braden manages the stage craft portions of our program. 

Stage Manager for THYT from 2018-2019.

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Gwendolyn McCagg (She/Her)

Costume Design
2008-Present

Gwendolyn maintains all of the THYT costumes, teaches the craft of costume design, and oversees the costumes design of our programs.

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Vahn-James McCagg

Fight Director
2022-Present

As an FDC Certified Fight Choreographer, Vahn joins THYT as a professional mentor this season. In addition to ensuring all of our stage combat is done to industry standards, they will also be leading a stage combat workshop twice in the season, and it will be open to all THYT 2022/23 participants at no additional cost. 

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Cassandra Klaudt

THYT Assistant
2022-Present

As a teacher, Cassandra has experience working with children and youth of all ages. She is a graduate of the Bachelor of Education Middle Years Collaborative Program with Red Deer Polytechnic and the University of Alberta, and is looking forward to applying her knowledge of designing for learning in a theatre setting

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