Human Theatre Performing Arts Society is a non-profit society registered in BC, Canada. It was founded in 2006 with the intention of providing training and performance opportunities for;
- practitioners of any fine arts discipline intent on finding unique and provoking methods of collaborating with a performance-based outcome
- technicians, animators, computer programmers and event managers willing to experiment and research new methods and practices that incorporate media and mediated/mediatized content with ‘the event’, be it a performance, installation, digital artifact or ‘one-off experience’ intended for an audience.
The Directors:
The directors believe strongly in an interdisciplinary approach to creating performance. They come to Human Theatre from diverse backgrounds in traditional theatre, film, television, new media and postdtamatic performance.
Education, Industry, Community and Creativity.
Sandra Ferens (Board of Directors) has been an arts educator for over twenty years. She was a co-founder of Bard on the Beach’s Young Shakespearians program, creator of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre’s Summer Intensive for the Young Artist, developed and facilitated the Vancouver site of the National Arts and Youth Demonstration Project for McGill University in collaboration with Arts Umbrella, and has facilitated the Blackbird Shadow Cast initiative since its inception. She currently instructs at the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver Waldorf School and the Arts Club Theatre’s Summer Music Theatre Intensive. Sandra is also the co-ordinator of the Capilano University Studio Art program, a Jessie nominated playwright, a director and has worked steadily as a professional actor on both stage and screen. Sandra has an MFA in theatre from University of Victoria, British Columbia.
Stuart Aikins (Board of Directors) has been a casting director for over twenty years. Selected achievements and credits include casting “Moonstruck” (1988 Best Picture Oscar), “Unforgiven” (1993 Best Picture Oscar). In 2007 he was awarded The Vancouver Film Critics Circle Achievement Award for Contribution to British Columbia Film. In 2004 he received an Emmy Nomination as well as winning the Casting Society of America Award for Best Casting of a Miniseries for his work in “Traffic, the Miniseries”. Stuart’s many industry credits include some of the most popular films to emerge from Hollywood including the Twilight Saga. Stuart is also an accomplished instructor with many years of experience teaching and developing courses for universities and industry training centres such as the CBC. Stuart has an MFA in directing from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Anthony Wade-Cooper (Board of Directors) is an active member of the community theatre and opera scene in Vancouver. He has logged many hours through the years as a volunteer with Vancouver Opera, has performed as a super in La Scala with the Royal Ballet during Expo 86 and more recently with Vancouver Opera in their productions of Carmen and Salomé. Anthony’s stage management credits include work with opera companies such as Vancouver Opera, Dragon Diva and Vancouver Concert Opera Co-Operative, as well as a working in a number of Vancouver’s co-op and community theatre seasons. He has also been a background actor in such movies as Miracle, Night at the Museum Two, 2012, and several TV shows including Reaper, Inseparable, No Heroics and Psych. Anthony has a certificate in Hotel Management from Brighton Technical College, Brighton, England. He is retired from a 37 year career as a flight attendant with Air Canada.
Stephen Atkins (Artistic Director) 
is a theatre artist with experience in production for film and web-based media. He has been an instructor and director for over twenty years. In Canada he has taught, directed and/or devised theatre for Capilano University, Simon Fraser University, Circus West, Main Dance and Tooba Physical Theatre Centre. In Australia He has worked with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre, and Queensland University of Technology. He has also worked for short periods on Projects and workshops in London, Prague and Hong Kong. Stephen has an MFA in theatre and film from Simon Fraser University and is currently undertaking doctoral research in the Creative Industries faculty of the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Tora Hylands (Co-Artistic Director) is a Vancouver-bases Australian actress. Tora is a trained actor in the Suzuki Method of Actor Training, The Viewpoints, the Meisner Technique and Practical Aesthetics. She has worked extensively with Australian companies Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre, The Danger Ensemble and Vena Cava Theatre Company. She has also trained and performed in Japan with artists from Dairakudakan and Sankai Juku. International touring credits include a 6 month world tour with The Danger Ensemble supporting Amanda Palmer in the live performance tour of her solo album “Who Killed Amanda Palmer”. Tora is a working actor on stage and screen as well as a photographer.