Reflecting on a decade in theatre

“Make the opportunities for yourself.”

That’s a key piece of advice for aspiring and emerging theatre artists from University of Saskatchewan (USask) graduate S.E. Grummett (BFA’16), who is marking a decade since earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts (honours) degree in drama at USask’s College of Arts and Science.

“Making a show, writing a show, trying new things, putting it up with your friends—that’s going to give you as many skills and experience as going out and auditioning, and you’re going to learn so much more,” said Grummett, a queer, transgender theatre artist from Treaty Six Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.

“That’s definitely my advice, and that’s how I managed to work full-time as a theatre artist for a decade without having to rely on the fickleness of auditions,” they said.

The advice has certainly worked for Grummett, who is an award-winning theatre artist and the co-creator of notable shows such as SCUM: a manifesto, Girl in the Box, Pack Animals, and Creepy Boys. Saskatoon theatregoers may also recall Grummett’s solo show, Something in the Water, which received acclaim when it was showcased at Persephone Theatre in 2022 following a run at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, where it won Best Theatre and sold out its entire season.

A performer, director, writer, designer, puppeteer, and video artist, Grummett has continued to work non-stop since graduating from USask in 2016. They have created and toured original queer work around the world, including in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Korea, and throughout Europe.

Though they travel internationally quite often, Grummett continues to be an integral part of the Canadian Prairie theatre community; for example, they worked for 25th Street Theatre, which produces the annual Saskatoon Fringe Festival, and years ago became involved with Live Five Theatre, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a home for local professional theatre artists to develop their careers in Saskatchewan.

“I did my first show there in 2019,” they said.

More recently, Grummett’s queer puppet musical The Adventure of Young Turtle, which they performed at Persephone Theatre in 2025, won two Sterling Awards in Edmonton, including Outstanding Production for Young Audiences.

Earlier this month, Grummett served as the producing mentor for The Wives, The Concubine, The Ritual, which was created and performed by Peace Akintade. Grummett enjoyed the opportunity to support younger emerging artists by offering them advice when needed.

“It kind of came full circle this year for me,” they said.

For Grummett, the decision to focus on making their own work was made after coming out as transgender following the completion of their bachelor’s degree.

“I came out as trans shortly after graduating and there weren’t really any parts for me. I wasn’t getting booked for acting roles and that sort of thing, so I started making my own work,” they said. “That would be the advice that I would give to prospective students or to current students, is make the opportunities for yourself.”

Today, Grummett is a driving force behind So.Glad Arts, which has been creating queer theatre since 2014. Grummett spoke to the Green&White during a stop in their hometown of Saskatoon, where they are performing in the new show SLUGS with their partner, Sam Kruger, on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24 during Winterruption YXE.

Looking back on their career in theatre, Grummett noted that they first became interested in theatre in high school. They further pursued their passion for the arts while they were at USask, where the drama classes offered in the College of Arts and Science proved to be the perfect fit for them.

“I absolutely fell in love with the community of artists that were there—the other students,” they said. “I’ve always been a kid that was writing stories and putting on plays with my cousins and that sort of thing, so this was the perfect outlet for that.”

For Grummett, one of the best parts of studying at USask was the wide-ranging education that is offered to drama students. At USask, drama students study the evolution of theatre as well as learn the practice of acting, directing, stage management, writing, costume design, lighting, and sound production. That multi-disciplinary approach has benefited Grummett’s artistic career post-graduation.

“I like to do it all,” they said. “I like to have a hand in what the poster looks like; I like to do the sound design. I like to have my finger in all the pies—not just acting, not just performing. I want to be writing the script; I want to be a part of the entire creative process.”

Along with Kruger, Grummett has been touring steadily in recent years with their original shows. Under the name Creepy Boys, Grummett and Kruger have co-created SLUGS, which they describe as “a comedy-music-clown-puppet nightmare.”

SLUGS has attracted international attention and was a hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe—the world’s largest arts festival—where the show was nominated for Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. It also received glowing reviews from various media outlets, including The Guardian.

Grummett’s dedication to creating theatre and to uplifting queer and transgender voices has been lauded around the world and at home. For example, they were the recipient of the 2022 RBC Outstanding Award in recognition for their contribution to the queer and trans community across Saskatchewan. In 2023, they were honoured with the Multidisciplinary LGBTQ2S+ Artist/Art Award from the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts.

“I feel like a decade in, I’m starting to find my artistic voice through having done a lot of different things,” Grummett said.

“Then, within that, I feel like every show is doing something really different—like SLUGS, for example, is the most technically complicated show we’ve ever made. It’s combining live electronic music with live-feed video and puppetry and a giant multiplane table; as well, we’re singing on stage, we’re dancing on stage, we’re performing interactive clown comedy on stage—and it is the hardest show I’ve ever made, both in terms of how it was to make it and how it is to perform. There’s hundreds of tiny paper puppets that I made in the summer.

“So, I think that that’s something I’m proud of—that every show is very different. Sam and I, in everything we make, we try and push further than the last thing.”

While Grummett and Kruger have been on the road for the last several years, they also continue to return to Saskatoon to work on various projects. Grummett said the Prairie theatre community is full of interesting, unique people, and the USask theatre program is special because it prepares artists “for what the world is like.”

 “If you want to work full-time as an artist, you’re going to have to do a lot of different roles and use a lot of different skills,” they said.

Grummett said their USask education informs the work that they make today. Their time at USask also gave them the confidence to create their own work.

“That’s my advice—get out there and make the opportunities for yourself,” they said.