The Troika Collective
About the Company
The Troika Collective is a multi-disciplinary performance collective that uses Eastern European history and culture as a lens to explore universally resonant stories and themes.
Vostok is a female vocal trio that was born from The Troika Collective and is involved in many of their creations and performances. You can read more about them on the VOSTOK page of this website.
The Troika Collective and Vostok acknowledge and are grateful to create and perform on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples.
About the Artistic Team
Aliya Griffin - Founding Artistic Director
Aliya is a director, creator, performer, producer, and facilitator with a keen interest in political and socially engaged theatre. Past projects with the Troika Collective include directing Chernobyl: The Opera and Nevesti Vodih, as well as producing and directing two pieces for the only Canadian presentation of the internationally performed Belarusian Dream Theater. Other projects include directing Chile con Carne by Carmen Aguirre, performing in Neworld’s Mixie and the Halfbreeds, creating and performing in Troika!, an original piece about growing up Ukrainian-Canadian, acting in ACTivist Theatre's The Apartment, throwing the mother of all tantrums in Ensemble Fou's Matador versus Minotaur by Brette Little, and directing two monologues written by youth in Gaza as part of the Vancouver presentation of the internationally performed The Gaza-Monologues. Aliya also performs with her own vocal group Vostok, specializing in music from Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Aliya holds a BA in theatre performance and political science and an M.Ed. in Arts for Social Change, both from SFU.
Lauren Kresowaty - Former Co-Artistic Director, Board Member, and Frequent Collaborator
Lauren Kresowaty most recently collaborated with The Troika Collective on Dva Bratih (Two Brothers) after a long hiatus during which she became a parent and moved to the Okanagan. Favourite Troika Collective credits include writing the text of the short piece Nevesta Vodih (Bride of Water), production dramaturgy for Torsten Buchsteiner’s Nordost, and performing in the HIVE: the Newbees 2 version of Voices from Chernobyl. Lauren's one-act play Libation Bearers (The Flame), an adaptation of the Electra tragedy, was produced by rice&beans theatre and her poetry has been published in Poetry is Dead Magazine, The Capilano Review, and BookThug’s journal BafterC.
Our Board Members:
Lauren Kresowaty
Caroline Sniatynski
Kelly Ho
Pedro Chamale
Gina Allen