Caroline Aki Matsushita Guertin - Head of Professional Development and Coordinator, Acting Program

She is formally known as Caroline Aki Matsushita-Guertin, but you can just call her Aki. She is a biracial, Japanese-Canadian (nisei, second generation) dramaturg, arts educator and artistic administrator raised in Ottawa and Tokyo within a family of pedagogues.

Aki’s love for theatre began in her formative years at a francophone Arts High School in Ottawa. She completed a Bachelor’s of Arts specialised in theatre, during that time, she participated in an international exchange studying for a year at the University of Birmingham, UK to immerse herself in English and European Theatre. In the years that follow, Aki completed her Masters of Arts in Theatre Theory and Dramaturgy, successfully defending her Thesis that examined the Intercultural Adaptations of Japanese Post-War Theatre Director, Suzuki Tadashi.

Aki is fascinated by intercultural performance, as it fosters an exchange and seeks out connection between seemingly disparate entities, looking at the world through the lens of wanting to understand each other’s humanity across geographic, cultural, linguistic, temporal and cultural boundaries. Intercultural performance resonates deeply with Aki as a bi-racial artists whose mixed-identity has always been a centre point of her existence.

Aki began working at The National Theatre School (NTS) in 2015 as Coordinator of the Acting program and Assistant to the Artistic Director. Over the years, her role within the organisation has evolved and she is now also Head of Professional Development and teaches theatre history within the school’s English Section.

Aki has been working dramaturgically within the Playwriting Program at NTS, where she learns everyday about her own craft through exchanges with playwrights in training. Working closely with second year students under the guidance of the Program Director, Aki’s interest in and focus on process and artistic growth within the writing process is at the core of her dramaturgical approach.

Source: Playwrights.ca | Updated: July 7, 2022

Teachers in Playwriting