Checkpoint

Rania Alharthi (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans theatre, film, sound installation, and dance. Based in Treaty 4 territory in Regina, SK, her work is deeply influenced by her cultural heritage and explores the complex intersections of diaspora and postcolonial identities. She previously worked as an independent artist across Palestine, Jordan, and Tunisia before immigrating to Canada in 2012. Rania’s writing journey began with screenwriting, culminating in a captivating six-minute script for CBC Gem. Her debut long play, Checkpoint, marks a significant milestone in her evolving artistic career.

Kathryn Bracht (she/her) is a theatre artist with interests and expertise in devising, directing, playwrighting and acting.  Some of her directing credits for the University of Regina include her own adaptation of AS YOU LIKE IT and the staged readings of six short plays for the new play festival TRIVIAL MATTERS OF SERIOUS IMPORTANCE. Professionally, she directed Caryl Churchill’s ESCAPED ALONE for Western Gold Theatre (Vancouver) in the fall of 2019, and co-created the original project titled ON PAPER with Maki Yi and Thomas Gallagher with support from the Canada Council of the Arts and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. Her most recent professional credit was the critically acclaimed production of Caryl Churchill’s HERE WE GO, again for Western Gold Theatre in Vancouver, BC in May 2025.  She is delighted to be working with Rania Al Harthi on her new play CHECKPOINT for Riser Regina.

Andrew Manera is a respected and sought-after arts administrator with nearly 20 years of senior management experience in the cultural sector. Most often working as a production manager, Andrew has helped stabilize, grow and develop programming at some of Saskatchewan’s leading arts institutions, including the Globe Theatre and the Regina Symphony Orchestra. Andrew has been closely involved with the Artesian on 13th Avenue since it opened in 2011, initially providing production and technical support for events and later serving as its Venue Manager. In 2016, he founded the not-for-profit and charitable organization Artesian Performing Arts Inc. and became the organization’s first Artistic and Executive Director. Andrew teaches technical production and stage management for the Department of Theatre at the University of Regina. He remains an in-demand consultant, collaborator, and mentor in production management, technical design, and theatre craft.

Mary Blackstone is Director of the Centre for the Study of Script Development and actively engaged as a dramaturg in the develop of new dramatic and performative work.  She is also Chair of the Steering Committee for On Cue Performance Hub, an artist-run shared platform focused on cooperatively produced productions of new work and events featuring the new work of independent artists and small companies, especially emerging performing artists and those individuals from emerging and equity-deserving groups.  She is retired as Professor Emerita from the Theatre Department at the University of Regina where she taught dramaturgy and theatre history and served as the first Dean of Fine Arts now the Faculty of MAP.

Arthur Milner is a playwright, theatre director and former artistic director of Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC). His play Facts, a murder mystery set in the Palestinian West Bank, premiered at GCTC in 2010, toured Palestine and Israel in Arabic, and was produced in Istanbul (in Turkish) and London, U.K.

Since moving to Regina five years ago, Curtain Razors commissioned and produced his play Tommy and Père; and Weyburn 1959 is now in development with Architect Theatre. Getting to Room Temperature (“a hard-hitting, sentimental and funny one-person play about dying”) was produced by Curtain Razors in February 2022, and Souffler la veilleuse, its French translation, was produced by Saskatoon’s La Troupe du Jour in February 2025. He has also worked with On Cue Performance Hub and SUM Theatre, and he's taught playwriting at the University of Regina.

Elke Richter is a German|English|Canadian multidisciplinary artist currently working in Treaty 4 Territory,the traditional territory of the Nehiyaw/Cree, Saulteaux, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota, as well as the traditional Home of the Métis.

She builds kinship between histories never lived and futures yet to be imagined through her ethereal landscapes and rituals structured around folk archetypes including wolves, witches, walkers, and Green Women.  Through reinterpretations of her deeply-held ancestral beliefs ranging across English, German, Baltic and Slavic regions (reflecting the porous nature of borders and migration has upon ancestral practices), her syncretic practice is a creation of folk culture and a reflection of its continued reinvention and relevance.

Bashar Sharaf is a  Multimedia Journalist and News Editor from Jordan, with over 18 years of experience working with leading international broadcasters, including BBC World Service and TRT. I specialize in live presenting, reporting, and digital-first storytelling, with a proven record of producing engaging cross-platform news content and conducting high-profile interviews. Fluent in Arabic and English, I bring editorial leadership, fact-checking expertise, and a deep understanding of global news and media law, delivering stories that meet the highest international standards.

Aren Okemaysim is an actor, musician, singer, songwriter, sound designer, sound technician, and devised theatre collaborator from Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation in Treaty 6 territory. In the theatre world, he has worked across the country as an actor or designer for stages such as the National Arts Centre, Arts Club, Belfry Theatre, Western Canada Theatre, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Globe Theatre, Caravan Farm Theatre, and Native Earth Performing Arts and more. In the music world, Aren has performed nationally with artists such as Nosedive, The Rebels, The North Sound, and Lancelot Knight. While taking his music project okimawᐅᑭᒪᐤ to festivals such as Winterruption, BreakOut West, and Luminato, he still finds time for session work. Recently, Aren has been making his home on the West Coast in Vancouver, BC; the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

An intermediate artist trying voice overs for the first time, dabbling in theatre and music. Checkpoint's self proclaimed #1 fan.

Tianna Chorney is an actor, singer, improviser and stage manager based in Regina. She completed her schooling at the University of Regina, with a degree in theatre performance. Since graduating, Tianna has found herself working in many aspects of the theatre, including stage management and admin. Recent stage management credits include As You Like It (University of Regina), We Will Rock You (SaskExpress), and Oak Floors! (All-Terrain Theatre). Recent performing credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (SaskExpress) and 9 to 5 (York St. John University). Tianna loves to spend her time dancing and training at Collective Studios Regina.