MEET THE MAKERS

Quote Unquote Collective is a Canadian multi-disciplinary performance company that aims to work outside the boundaries of tradition and expectation. Engaging with urgent social and political themes, the company is founded on the firm belief that art and performance are tools to provoke conversation and change. Co-founders Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, who both have a strong background in physical theatre and music, have joined forces to produce work in a variety of genres and disciplines as a means to make new, experimental, and provocative performance work that ignites conversation within the community and the world at large. Defying conventions of style and form, the collective is built on the idea that individual ideas demand to be expressed through different forms, and should be expressed by whatever means necessary.

Amy Nostbakken Co-artistic director of Quote Unquote Collective and a core member of Theatre Ad Infinitum UK. Amy is an award-winning director, writer, performer and composer She has created and composed numerous productions including First Class (2009), The Big Smoke (2011) Ballad Of the Burning Star (2013), Bucket List (2016) and Mouthpiece (2015) - which she directed, co-wrote, composed and performs. Mouthpiece has won multiple awards around the world, toured internationally and was published by Coach House Press, Oberon UK and Mitos Boyut in Turkey. It has been translated into French, Turkish, Romanian, Albanian and Spanish and was adapted into a feature film directed by Patricia Rozema which opened the Special Presentation program at TIFF 2018. Now You See Her (2018), which Amy co-wrote, directed, performed and composed premiered in Toronto and is published by Coach House Press. Amy co-created, composed and directed QUC’s most recent production Universal Child Care which premiered in Toronto in 2024. She is currently developing and performing a movement installation piece with FKA Twigs for Sotheby’s Gallery in London premiering Sept 2025. A graduate of Concordia University and École Internationale de Théatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, Amy teaches theatre and voice for both adults and young people.

Norah Sadava Co-artistic director of Quote Unquote Collective, is an award-winning director, playwright, and performer. Norah has been involved in the writing and creation of new work with numerous companies both in Canada and internationally including QUC’s premiere production Mouthpiece (2015), which she co-wrote and performed for over four years. Mouthpiece has won multiple awards globally, and was published by Coach House Press, Oberon UK and Mitos Boyut in Turkey. It has been translated into French, Spanish, Romanian, Albanian, Japanese and Turkish, and was adapted into a feature film in collaboration with acclaimed Canadian director Patricia Rozema (TIFF 2018). Norah also co-wrote, conceived and performed in QUC’s productions Now You See Her (Buddies in Bad times, 2018) and Universal Child Care (Canadian Stage, 2024). Most recently, she developed and performed a movement installation piece with FKA Twigs for Sotheby’s Gallery in London. She is currently working on Quote Unquote Collective’s forthcoming collaboration with Mexican company El Ingenio del Caldero - Little White Room (premiering at Summerworks, Toronto 2027). A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California, Norah teaches theatre for both adults and young people.