About STO Union
Live and digital art, performing arts and creations
Live and digital productions, new theatre and multi-disciplinary creations, our projects are unique and yet speak to things we share in common. Often deceptively simple, their impact can last a lifetime.
For over thirty years, STO Union productions have won awards and toured nationally and internationally. Projects connect artists of all levels of experience and engage all art forms to create public experiences that resonate with realness and intimacy. The company’s founder and artistic director is Siminovitch Prize winner Nadia Ross.
Projects come in many sizes, from larger mainstage touring shows or large community collaborations to much smaller intimate black box performances or small community engaged actions.
STO Union is located in the Outaouais region in western Quebec on unceded Algonquin territory at Place des Artistes de Farrellton, the only multi-arts establishment in the region. Our mandate is to support the arts by:
- Being creative in our explorations of new methods in artistic practice and production to produce new, original professional works for the stage and other spaces, including digital spaces.
- Sharing these projects through touring of new works both physically and digitally.
- Inspiring people at all levels – from established through emerging artists and the yet-to-emerge artists in all of us – through knowledge sharing and exchange opportunities.
A registered not-for-profit performing arts company, STO Union’s productions are made with the generous support of individual and corporate partners, through grants, fees and donations. Please see a list of our public, private, and production partners below.
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The 2023 STO Union Team
Nadia Ross (founder/artistic director)
Shauna Kadyschuk (artistic producer and tour manager)
Rob Scott (technical director)
Renée Richard (translator and production assistant)
Nadia Ross
Founder and artistic director
Ross is the 2016 recipient of the Siminovitch Prize, Canada’s most prestigious prize in Theatre. She has also been awarded a Contra-Guy Award, a Dora Mavor Moore Award (ensemble), and is a co-winner of the Chalmers’ award. Her work has been presented at venues and festivals in Canada and across four continents. Ross has chosen to create her work on the periphery. Born, raised and returned to the rural Outaouais region of Quebec, Ross often engages the residents of her small town as inspiration for STO Union’s national and international touring productions. Recognized for her fierce vision, Ross’ projects consistently challenge what we think a stage is and what kinds of stories are being told on it. Under Ross’ direction, the company produces completely unique creations bringing together amateurs and professionals, rural and urban, anglophone and francophone, and a kaleidoscope of art forms to create public experiences that resonate with realness and intimacy.
Rob Scott
technical director
Rob is a thirty-five year veteran of CBC television where he primarily worked for Newsworld’s “Power and Politics”. During his time there he worked as a switcher, cameraman, director and soundman for different genres of live and recorded shows and events. His experience has influenced STO Union projects: from creating a three camera tv studio for the infamous Earle’s Hall Live shows (2011-16), to building sets and props for a number of STO Union’s shows. Since 2006, Rob has done a bit of everything at STO Union, including touring with the company’s mainstage shows and supporting the development of new concepts and creations.
Shauna Kadyschuk
Artistic Producer and Tour Manager
With STO Union since early 2017, Shauna Kadyschuk is the company’s operations manager, focused on operations, financial management and touring. Raised in finance, trained in narrative sociology and political management, Shauna has a long history of translating her diverse skills in and out of the arts in finance, strategic management, production, policy and advocacy. Shauna has served on boards of directors, as well as committees and an international delegation with CAPACOA. She is an active member of her local community and supports a number of organizations and individuals in a variety of roles, including management, finance, and strategic planning.
STO Union HIGHLIGHTS
STO Union’s productions and its collaborators have been recognized with the Chalmers Award, the Dora Mavor Moore Award, and the Contra-Guy Award. In 2016, artistic director Nadia Ross also received the Siminovitch Prize, which spotlights excellence and innovation in Canadian Theatre.
STO Union productions have premiered at established venues in Canada and abroad.
Our national and international co-production partners have included:
- Le Festival de Théâtre des Amériques/ Festival TransAmériques (Montréal)
- Hebbel am Ufer (Germany)
- Bit Teatergarasjen (Norway)
- Theater der Welt (Germany)
- Brut Kunstlerhaus (Vienna, Austria)
- The National Arts Centre (Ottawa)
- The Theatre Centre (Toronto)
Our work has been presented at theatre festivals around the world, including:
- UCLA Live! (Los Angeles, California)
- Festival TransAmériques (Montréal, Québec)
- The National Arts Centre (Ottawa, Canada)
- The Rotterdamse Schouwburg (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
- Kulturhuset (Stockholm, Sweden)
- Hebbel Theater (Berlin, Germany)
- Théâtres du Monde and FTA (Montréal, Canada)
- The Simple Life Festival (Berlin, Germany)
- SummerWorks (Toronto, Canada)
- Belfast Theatre Festival (Belfast, Ireland)
- Theater Regentes (The Hague, The Netherlands)
- The Hong Kong Festival (Hong Kong)
- Magnetic North (Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada)
- The Melbourne International Theatre Festival (Melbourne, Australia)
- Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium)
- Vienna Festwochen (Vienna, Austria)
- Undercurrents (Ottawa, Canada)
- Theater der Welt (Bonn, Germany)
- Mousonturm Kunstlerhaus (Frankfurt, Germany)
- Theatre Grand Junction (Calgary, Alberta)
- The Baltic Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia)
- PuSh Festival (Vancouver, Canada)
- The Meteor Festival (Bergen, Norway)
Behind-the-scenes
We also wish to acknowledge the hard-working people, volunteers, and partners that help make STO Union productions a reality.
Board of Directors
- Franceska Gnarowski, President
- Denise Deziel, Secretary
- François Édouard Bernier, Treasurer
- Agnes McMillan, Past President
Partners and Volunteers
STO Union engages in multiple partnerships with different organizations and artists on a project-by-project basis. Please see credit listings on each project.
STO Union has had the support of hundreds of volunteers, many of them residing in the small communities of the Outaouais. We are eternally grateful to all of the hundreds of people that have lent a hand in all aspects of show creation, production and dissemination.
STO Union’s volunteers inspire us to keep going.
Last, but certainly not least, STO Union wishes to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the other public funding agencies that have supported STO Union projects throughout the years.
Thank you.
Policies
Complaints Procedure: Click here to download.
Complaints Form: Click here to download
Code of Conduct Agreement: Click here to download
Workplace Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Harrasment and Bullying Policy:
Click here to download
STO Union recognizes that its head office in Farrellton, Quebec is located on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation whose presence here dates back to time immemorial.