TotE 2025 Artists and Performers
Kenthen Thomas
Kenthen Thomas is a Secwepemc from Salmon Arm. His grandparents are Dr. Mary Thomas, Mark Thomas, Herbie and Vera Johnny. His parents are Phyllis and Gerry Thomas. His son is Susep Soulle. He has a partner Melissa who has children named Trystan and lexxus. Kenthen is an educator and a storyteller. He has performed all over British Columbia and with many theatre companies. The last being Caravan in the summer of 2019 in the production of “Coyotes.” Today Kenthen teaches and shares stories back home in the Salmon Arm area.
Jeremy Kneeshaw
A songwriter and performer, Jeremy made the leap from full time carpenter to musician in 2015. From early beginnings in piano at aged 2, music has been his passion for his entire life. He plays drums, guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, banjo, flute, accordion and more.
Having released his first album at 19, the self-titled 'Jeremy Kneeshaw Album' recorded entirely by Jeremy himself, he won the Akedamia Jazz/Funk/Fusion award for November 2016, and was given a spot at the Akedamia Awards Ceremony at the Rosebowl Stadium in LA. Now, he, his duos, and his trio are working to take over the western Canada and US music scenes to inspire a younger generation of upcoming musicians to follow their passions.
Justin Young
Justin Young Thunder Sky is a Heart Speaker and Circle Keeper, he embodies wisdom and compassion, dedicating his life to supporting others on their journeys of growth and transformation. He serves as a guide, listener, and facilitator, fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment within communities. Through his gentle and nurturing presence, he creates safe and inclusive circles where individuals can gather, share their stories, and collectively navigate life’s challenges. Jeremy continually seeks knowledge, practices self-reflection, and embraces various healing modalities. He recognizes the interconnectedness of all beings and the importance of collective well-being. He advocates for social justice, environmental stewardship, and honoring indigenous wisdom and traditions. His deep reverence for Mother Earth and all her inhabitants drives him to be an agent of positive change and an advocate from harmony and balance.
Devon More - Berlin Waltz
Devon is a perennial Favourite at TotE - This year she's returning with her hit show, Berlin Waltz - updated and more relevant than ever as she prepares for her fringe tour this summer.
Achtung, Baby! The Cold War is hot again! Two-time CBC Critics’ Pick Devon More (Flute Loops, Hits like a Girl) returns with a rare and rhythmic portrait of a gritty city. History and high jinx collide where East meets West in this “masterful blend of musical storytelling” (Plank Magazine). Cycling all 100 miles of Berlin’s infamous Wall in her captivating cabaret uncovering the history of its rise and fall, “This show is a work of art.” (Radio CJLO Montreal).
Devon More is a dynamic singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and genre-bending stage performer whose alternative folk songs captivate with storyful lyrics, infectious melodies, and orchestral nuances. Her solo album, Sky Is Falling, explores themes of wanderlust, revolution, and love in 3 languages.
● Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/devon.more
● YouTube: https://youtube.com/@devonmoremusic
● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moredevon
● TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@devonmoremusic
● Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5kqa23YAydgc2qgVSUE9jC ● Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/devonmoremusic
FATAMORGANA
FATAMORGANA is an oneiric tale for adults, spoken in the language of children. Shadow puppetry and object theatre performance, visual art experiment, analog projection. Using flashlights, prisms, recycled objects, paper marionettes, and performers’ bodies, the piece mirrors the mirage —ephemeral visions hovering between reality and imagination. Conjuring a silent, hypnotic narrative about creation, destruction, and fragile beauty of life, it takes the spectators on a journey through the birth and unraveling of worlds, from the fusion of first atoms to the fragmentation of modern existence and back. It touches on the topics of childhood and the power of imagination, the war, the migration, the intimate relation between nature and culture. It is both a poetic meditation and a gentle critique of our impact on the planet and life on it. Bringing deeper philosophical and political undertones, it carries our subtle comment on the current reality on our lands, and on many other lands of the world. It reflects on impermanence, illusion, the cyclical nature of existence, and eventually speaks to universal existential questions. Grappling with themes demanding scream—it is not another performance fueled by anger. Shadows, a small screen, rhythms of calm, soothing music and a very few words. These are our tender screams in the darkness. A peaceful protest.
Find Fatamorgana on Instagram: @shadow_teatro
Ellie Reynolds - The Red Thread (and other Mingled Yarns)
Ellie Reynolds creates autobiographical solo theatre with a distinctly Kootenay flair—part myth, part funny memoir, and all heart.
Are the events of your life inevitable? Are you destined—or doomed—to love one person? And how do you get your kids to get dressed on time without screaming?
In The Red Thread - Ellie weaves personal stories with mythic echoes in a search to follow the thread to some answers.
Guided by three mysterious Fate goddesses, she navigates the labyrinth of (increasingly middle) life, untangling the knots of motherhood, marriage, and memory.
From Greek myth to Shakespeare, from North London to Denver to the Kootenays, The Red Thread is a playful, poignant journey through love, loss, and the mingled yarns we spin to make sense of it all.
A returning performer – Reynolds last show was called Matchmaker on the Roof and was a big hit with TotE audiences.
Find Ellie on Instagram: @ellie_z_reynolds
The Only Animal - Slow Socials: How We Gather
Hosted by The Only Animal with Barbara Adler, Erin Stodola and Libby Chisholm
Join The Only Animal for two days of gathering, making and performance at the Theatre on the Edge Festival, in collaboration with the Salmon Arm Art Gallery.
On Saturday, we’ll learn how to create botanical prints with natural materials found close to home. While our dye pots cook, Christie Watson and Cathy Stubington will lead an informal conversation about what it means to gather as a community, sharing from their experiences in the Shuswap and beyond.
Visit us again on Sunday to see the fabrics we’ve dyed incorporated into The Only Animal’s textile installation as part of the Kumé exhibition. Our soft, immersive space will become the stage for eclectic local performers who use gathering, foraging and ‘patchwork’ in their creative practice.
While you watch and listen, we’ll show you how to create cordage - a simple rope - using local materials and studio scraps from the project. Take your creation home, or add it to the installation, which will grow throughout the summer.
The Only Animal (TOA) is an interdisciplinary arts company whose mission is to bring art and artists to the heart of the climate crisis. Our current projects explore how place-based creativity can set the stage for climate care and sensitize relationships between people and place. We prioritize long-term and porous relationships with the public and our artist collaborators, shifting what we do in response to local curiosities and needs.
theonlyanimal.com
Leah Parenteau - The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon
A Youth Led Initiative with Support from The Chop
Directed by Leah Parenteau, this action-packed play features two narrators and a cast of beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tale characters attempting to recreate as many stories as possible. From childhood classics like Cinderella to the disturbing tale of the faithful Johannes, The Brothers Grimm Spectaculaton is a rollicking, madcap show!
Plan B Improv
Make your plan “a” Plan B! Join us for a night of ridiculous and hilarious made to order theatre, served up fresh and on the spot by Salmon Arm’s favourite funny folks. Homegrown out of Shuswap Theatre’s very own Laughing Gas Improv group, these performers are ready to take things to the next level. Laughs are guaranteed, audience participation may occur.
shuswaptheatre.com
Runaway Moon
Runaway Moon Theatre is a small, but mighty theatre company based in Enderby BC, a tiny city in Secwépmec traditional territory of Splatsin First Nation in the interior of BC, that has produced puppet theatre, community plays and community spectacles for the last 20 years in locations across BC. They are best known for creating innovative, magical productions that infuse the communities it works in with robust, creative, inclusive activity and offers audiences narratives about contemporary themes through a lens of folklore, awe and curiosity — what could we learn about this if we looked at things a little differently?
runawaymoon.org