Keshia Palm and Claren Grosz working on Shadow Girls. Photo by Colin Murray, 2017.
About our indie theatre collective
Pencil Kit Productions is a Toronto based, ever-evolving theatre and events organism. We’re dedicated to generating new work and building community with an emphasis on alternative, collaborative processes that prioritize the wellbeing and creative fulfillment of artists. We’re interested in all things strange, delicious, novel, magic, experiential, sensorial and imagistic. We know that at its heart, theatre is a social art form. We aim to cultivate spaces where artists and audiences can have fun-- from workshops to parties to performances.
You want to be part of a happening.
We want to incite one for you.
Fun can’t be had until everyone feels safe, respected, supported. We recognize the autonomy and vision of each artist we engage with. We’re committed to centring and amplifying racialized, queer and otherwise marginalized voices. We’re working to continuously expand our circle of active inclusivity and recognize that there is always more learning, more work to be done.
Hold us to it: if you think we aren’t doing it right, drop us a message.
Artistic Director
Claren Grosz is a queer Toronto based director and multidisciplinary artist. She’s also a Capricorn (x7), a chickpea enthusiast, and a math tutor.
Her theatre practice focuses on physical, visually compelling work and holistic, non-hierarchical theatre making processes. She is the recipient of the 2018 Ken MacDougall Emerging Director Award and the 2015 My Entertainment World Outstanding Direction (Small Theatre) Award. She was nominated for the 2023 Dora for Outstanding Projection Design. Her first illustrated chapbook of poetry, starting with the roof of my mouth, was published by Gap Riot Press (2022).
Selected credits: Director, Cat Sitters the short film (PKP, 2024); Writer, Performer and Co-Director, I love the smell of gasoline (PKP/Nightwood Theatre/RUTAS Festival 2022/23); Director/Producer, CHICHO (PKP/Theatre Passe Muraille, 2019); Co-Creator/Producer/Director, Shadow Girls (PKP/Gladstone Hotel/Blank Canvas, 2018); Director/Producer, The Hungriest Woman in the World (PKP, 2017); Director, The Tenth Muse (Filament Incubator, 2017); Director, Thirteen Hands (Alumnae, 2017); Director/Producer, Persephone (PKP, Toronto/Hamilton Fringe 2016); Director, Macbeth (Wolf Manor Theatre, 2015).