Theatre du Poulet and Parker

Welcome to It Takes Two! On this podcast, we pair five emerging artists with five professional mentors to work together on an informal mentorship process. Over four weeks, pairs will develop and create a performance piece as well as record an interview together to talk about their process.

In this episode, Parker Koepnick and Chun Shing Au (Roland) & Carmen Lee of Theatre du Poulet talk all things puppetry!

Parker Koepnick (he/they/ils) is a movement based actor, playwright, and poet residing in win-nipi/ Winnipeg Treaty 1 Territory. Parker has his certificate in Theatre Foundations, and enjoys the continuous learning theatre brings. They are excited to be back in the wonderful wonderland of win-nipi/Winnipeg. Past projects include A Sliver of a Moment (One Trunk Theatre Artist Residency Program), Catching Foxes (RSA, dancer). Film credits include Cotard’s Delusion (Sound mixer/boom operator), and Dichrome (production assistant). Parker likes working on everything at once, and when they aren’t creating something theatre related, you can find them experimenting with photography, music, or exploring nature.

Before Theatre du Poulet was born in 2016, Roland and Carmen first met in The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts where Roland majored in Acting and Carmen majored in Stage, Events, and Arts Management. With a combined experience of nearly two decades, the couple has travelled and performed in Ireland, Hong Kong and Canada. The duo’s passion for theatre is led by fusing political, environmental, and social issues with art: it is their belief that using puppetry and physical theatre is a powerful and language-free tool that reaches the widest of crowds.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Arts Council, as well as our producing partner the Crescent Arts Centre, in making this podcast possible.