— ABOUT THE PROJECT

Do you remember what it was to be eighteen? What about, when you were thirteen, and who you thought you’d be when you turned eighteen? When you could understand that the world was restless, and you felt invincible, and powerless, in the same breath.

puppy teeth. is a two-hander centering on queer age gap relationships and child loss, following ADAM and STEVEN, star crossed and half faded, destined by a pack of India to meet once again. While difficult to call the play a love story, at its core, it serves as a love letter to rural Newfoundland.

The play is heavily influenced by movement, blending text and physicality. In a 2023 workshop funded by ArtsNL and Untellable Movement Theatre’s Movement Theatre Incubator, Carter explored how movement could enhance the text. Working with movement dramaturg Lynn Panting, they discovered how movement shaped the narrative, adding new layers to the story. This experience highlighted the importance of movement, which Carter plans to further develop in a workshop in the summer of 2025.

The 2025 workshop will focus on expanding the movement vocabulary and further exploring the text. Carter is excited to continue working with director Sharon King-Campbell and Lynn Panting. The three-week workshop will include preparation, rehearsals, and culminate in documenting the movement created, and through the TEC grant, continued conversations of queer authenticity in rural environments.

— BIOGRAPHY

Owen Carter (they/them) (Acting, 2026) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist, born and raised across the East Coast. 

Prior to coming to train at the National Theatre School of Canada, they worked professionally as an actor in both classical text and musical theatre with many theatre companies across Newfoundland including Terra Bruce Productions, Stephenville Theatre Festival, Untellable Movement Theatre, Resource Centre for the Arts, and three seasons with Perchance Theatre. 

Throughout their training, they have been challenged with a multitude of complex roles allowing them to expand on their range as an actor, from Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Victor in Yerma. They have also had the privilege of learning from Gregory Doran, Marla McLean, Graeme Somerville, Brad Cook, Tawiah M’Carthy and Thomas Morgan Jones. 

Their first play, puppy teeth.’ which revolves around age gap relationships and child loss in rural Newfoundland, is currently in development with support from ArtsNL, the National Theatre School’s Theatre Engaging Communities grant, and Untellable Movement Theatre. Through Untellable Movement Theatre, parts of the puppy teeth. script have been adapted into an upcoming virtual reality movement piece. 

They are excited to get back into the world, freshly armed with new skills from their time at NTS and driven by an incurable love for theatre. 

“The readiness is all”