Alana Perri is an Expressive Arts Therapist & Educator, Improvisor, and baking enthusiast!

With the help from a successful KickStarter project, she created APexat; her personal operation as an Expressive Arts Therapist, while she continued her education at The CREATE Institute, after graduating from Brock University with a BA (Hons) in Drama in Education and Society.
She has been a featured guest during Brock University Students Union’s Wellness Week program (2014-2017) – providing open Arts Therapy group sessions to students during exam season, York University’s Mental Health Initiative – Love Fest 2015, the York University’s Psychology Students’ Association, and the Turn Around Project. She has also guest-lectured at Brock University and Fieldstone King’s College School. Additionally, she has provided programming at The RAFT, alongside Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects.

Alana has provided Expressive Arts Therapy sessions and facilitated Arts and Life Skills workshops with Hospice Toronto, the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), Better Living Health and Community Services, Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, and Soldiers of Creation. She has worked alongside populations experiencing life-altering situations, grief and bereavement, transition, living in palliative & hospice care, managing stress, as well as, simply coping with the struggles of everyday life.

She served 3 years as Treasurer for the Ontario Expressive Arts Therapy Association (soon-to-be The Canadian Expressive Arts Therapies Association) and is a professional member in good-standing.

In January 2020, Alana joined the Expressive Arts facilitation team at Mohawk College as a Post-Secondary Professor; educating students on the topic of integrating Expressive Arts into treatment for those living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And starting September 2021, she will be facilitating the course Movement: Applications for Education & Theatre in the Dramatic Arts department, at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts (Brock University).

Her goal is to educate & provide Expressive Arts Therapy to anyone willing to play, share, and explore!

Purple Carrots is the perfect place for Kevin to combine his love of drama, theatre, and play with his knack for working with children and youth.
As he works towards finding a permanent teaching position at TDSB, Purple Carrots has given him a chance to continue to grow as a creator and educator while working and playing with students of all ability levels.

He's extremely grateful that the Purple Carrots community has welcomed him with open arms and will continue to bring his own sense of fun, wonder, and humour to every workshop he teaches and assists!!

Michaela is a singer-songwriter, sound therapy practitioner, yoga teacher, storyteller, and arts facilitator. She is honoured to hold space for self-discovery and imagination to be explored and nurtured with people of all ages and abilities. Michaela is a passionate advocate for the arts as a tool for fostering stronger community, communication, self confidence and holistic wellbeing.
Michaela hails from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, where she worked for two seasons as an actor with the Shaw Festival Theatre. She had the joy of growing up with the theatre community and learning life lessons such as self expression, body awareness and active listening. Michaela completed her BA from the University of Toronto in English, Drama and Music, with an emphasis on musicology and community health. She is a certified yoga teacher and sound therapy practitioner offering regular yoga classes, sound baths, and community wellness gatherings across Toronto for youth, elders, and everyone in between.

Michaela believes all humans have a unique gift and story to tell. She is so happy to be a part of the Purple Carrots Drama Studio team, supporting the development of inclusive spaces where everyone is welcomed to unleash their innate super powers within a safe and supportive community circle.

Erica Gellert began her career in the arts by attending Humber College and graduating with a diploma in Performance and Writing in Comedy. She continued her education at Toronto Film School, originally pursuing a career in entertainment. After a summer job as a Drama and Arts camp counselor with the YMCA, Erica was offered a permanent position as a Kindergarten daycare teacher at Alexander Muir Gladstone Public School. During her time at AMG, Erica realized she had a passion for supporting children and youth experiencing daily challenges or who are coping with complex behaviors. Throughout the three years she spent as an Early Childhood Assistant, Erica took every opportunity to gain more knowledge and develop valuable skills such as training to understand how to support children living with ASD and trauma, and frequently met with a Behavioural Consultant as the main point of contact for children's behavioral progress from 2019-2020. Erica also volunteered regularly at Sick Kids with a non-profit charity known as Funnies for Families before the Covid-19 pandemic. In the spring of 2021, Erica made the decision to return to college for a diploma in Child and Youth Care at George Brown College. She received a certificate in Supporting Youth Experiencing Exploitation as well as Crisis Prevention and Intervention. During the fall of 2021, Erica began working with a participant of Purple Carrots and quickly became connected to the wonderful company. From there, she was able to complete her final field placement for her program with Purple Carrots and is honoured to be an official member of the team. Erica is now officially a Child and Youth Care practitioner and is eager to begin a career dedicated to therapeutic arts, connection, and healing.

Eliza Martin is a Toronto-based theatre artist, writer, child and youth care practitioner, and award-winning solo performer. She is a graduate of the Theatre and Drama Studies program at the University of Toronto and Sheridan College, and holds a Masters in Child and Youth Care from Ryerson University (M.A. CYC). Eliza has performed and written three solo shows: O (United Solo Award, Best Satire, All About Solo, Critics’ Choice), Harvey & The Extraordinary (My Entertainment World - Critics’ Pick Award Nominee, Outstanding Solo Performance) and BLOOM (Bad Hats Theatre 2019 Creator-in-Residence).

Some of Eliza’s favourite acting credits include: Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Isabella in The Changeling (Shakespeare BASH’d), Molly in Peter and The Starcatcher (LOT), Hedvig in Wild Duck Project (Re:Current Theatre), Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest (Hart House Theatre), Hellena in The Rover, Mary Warren in The Crucible (Theatre Erindale), u/s Louise in Gypsy (Hangar Theatre), Emily in Bodies, and Patricia in Hiding Like Elephants (Hangar Wedge Series).

In her off-stage life, Eliza works in children's mental health and teaches creative workshops around the city. Her first children's novel Harvey and the Extraordinary (Annick Press) based on her play of the same name, will hit bookshelves November 2021.

Eliza offers creative skill-building and therapeutic services through Purple Carrots Counselling.

Steph Crothers is a graduate of both internationally acclaimed clown school Ecole Philippe Gaulier and Humber Theatre Performance Program.

She is an enthusiast of theatre, aerial skills, attempting to be musical, laughter, the outside, magic, all things 80's, and making stuff with her hands. She is a camp girl at heart having worked and attended both Camp Gay Venture and Camp Oconto.

A proud Slytherin and believer that, though the world is a big place, it is the stories we share with strangers we meet that make it seem small. When Steph is not working as an actor or educator she is the proud co-producer and host of Girl Gang Cabarets; an unboxed and/or feminist variety show.