Yvette Hardie is a theatre director, producer, and educator active in the world of theatre and performance, with a focus on children and youth. She initiated the launch of ASSITEJ SA (the national center of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People) in 2007, and leads the organization as Director. She is currently serving her second term as President of the international ASSITEJ, a network for theatre for young audiences with members from around 100 countries. In these capacities, she creates opportunities for artistic exchange, mentorship, skills development and cross-cultural collaboration across the world, while working to invigorate the South African theatrical landscape with work of the highest quality and widest accessibility. In Africa, she serves as Deputy Chairperson of ACYTA (African Children and Youth Theatre Arena), the regional network of ASSITEJ centers. She has written and spoken extensively on issues relating to arts for young audiences, arts education and arts for reconciliation and conflict resolution around the globe.

She is valued for her work in Arts Education, having written national curricula and textbooks for both Dramatic and Creative Arts, and having been involved in teacher training over a period of some 15 years. Yvette also runs workshops in a variety of aspects related to theatre, including a focus on voice and speech, and is a certified teacher of the Lessac technique. She has an MA in Theatre Practice from Tshwane University of Technology.

Ernie Nolan is an award winning director and playwright who received the Illinois Theatre Association’s 2014 award for Excellence in Theatre for Young Audiences. For Chicago Playworks at The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago he has directed The BFG, The Giver, The Witches, A Wrinkle in Time, Number the Stars, and The Day John Henry Came to School. His work at The Broadway Playhouse includes A Charlie Brown Christmas, Fancy Nancy The Musical, Pinkalicious, The Cat in the Hat, Cinderella, Charlotte’s Web, and the world premiere of Hansel and Gretel: A Wickedly Delicious Musical Treat with Justin Roberts. Ernie’s playwriting has been produced nationally and at such theatres as The Coterie, First Stage, Walnut Street, Orlando Rep, and Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. He has written commissions for Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo, MD, La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, CA, The Milwaukee Zoological Society, and his latest commission, My Broken Doll, for the Institute for Holocaust Education and The Circle Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska. Also a resident artist of The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, MO, he has directed and choreographed world premieres by such Tony-nominated artists as Willy and Rob Reale, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and Bill Russell and Henry Krieger Ernie is an Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies at The Theatre School at DePaul University as well as the Vice-President of Theatre for Young Audiences USA. He is a proud graduate of both the University of Michigan Musical Theatre Program (BFA Musical Theatre) and The Theatre School at DePaul University (MFA Directing).