— ABOUT THE PROJECT

Myself, and several other NTS grads/students are producing The Last 5 Years at the 2023 Winnipeg Fringe Festival. The show (by Jason Robert Brown) is a musical outlining the last 5 years of a relationship between successful writer, Jamie Wellerstein and aspiring actor, Cathy Hiatt. It details the complexities of relationships, and how they may crumble when personal journeys and trajectories are not conducive to the trajectory of a relationship. The story is nuanced, causing audience members to feel conflicted about just whose ‘side’ they are on. Both Cathy and Jamie are incredibly fleshed-out and flawed characters – making them lovable, hateable, and ultimately relatable. The Last 5 Years is a two-hander musical featuring myself and graduate Kira Chisholm (she/her). This show, typically depicting a complex relationship between a wife and husband, will be shifted to a queer lens that is not typically represented onstage, especially within musical theatre. This not only engages and represents the queer community, but also exposes non-queer folks to an important and often untold narrative (I will further discuss this within the intended impact portion of my submission). It has a high annual turnout, meaning many community members will be engaging with our show over the 2-week festival span. The Winnipeg Fringe also has a myriad of large national and provincial sponsors; including BellMTS, Winnipeg Arts Council, Manitoba Public Insurance, and more. This means that the Festival and the shows within it reach far beyond the arts community, into the wider-Winnipeg community.

— BIOGRAPHY

Anaka Sandhu (Acting, 2022) is a South Asian and gender non-conforming artist born and raised on Treaty One Territory (also known as Winnipeg, Manitoba). As someone who has a deep love for human connection and a fascination with everyday life, Anaka has always been attracted to the shared experience that comes with theatre and performance. Shifting a perspective, mirroring someone else’s complex feelings and providing catharsis through laughter all move Anaka to their core.


Before their time at NTS, Anaka studied political science and film at the University of Manitoba. This field of study in conjunction with Anaka’s lived experience often brings advocacy to the forefront of their work and makes current global contextualization essential to their artistic practice. Along with acting, Anaka has experience with screenwriting, directing and stage management at various companies in Winnipeg.
During their time at NTS, Anaka has gained invaluable experience working with and being mentored by Canadian theatre makers such as Mike Payette, Jackie Maxwell, Jani Lauzon and Alisa Palmer. Some of Anaka’s favourite credits include portraying Mr. President in An Irresistible Urge to do Something Inadvisable (written by the acting cohort of 2022 under the direction of Jani Lauzon), and Herr Schultz in Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret (directed by Matjash Mrozewski). In addition, Anaka has been involved in several student groups at NTS, including the IBPoC Artist Student Coalition, and served as the President of the Student Association for 2 years. As a genderfluid IBPoC artist, Anaka seeks to create space for stories that have historically been erased. They’re especially interested in challenging the notion of Western “classics,” examining stories that were not written with people like them in mind and reimagining said classics in a manner that reflects our ever-evolving world.