Claren Grosz

Claren Grosz is a queer Canadian director, visual artist and writer. Originally hailing from Calgary, she currently lives in Toronto where she is the Artistic Director of Pencil Kit Productions, a company dedicated to generating new work for stage and screen. Her directing practice focuses on visually compelling work and collaborative, alternative creating processes exploring all that is strange, novel, chewy, and magic. She is the recipient of the 2018 Ken MacDougall Emerging Director Award and the 2015 My Entertainment World Outstanding Direction (Small Theatre) Award. She was nominated for the 2023 Dora Mavor Moore Award for outstanding projection design for her autobiographical solo show, I love the smell of gasoline (Nightwood Theatre, 2023). Her first illustrated chapbook of poetry, starting with the roof of my mouth, was published by Gap Riot Press (2022). Cat Sitters is Claren's film directorial debut. She is an experienced director for the stage, some favourite past projects including I love the smell of gasoline (Expanse Festival 2025; Nightwood Theatre, PKP, 2023); CHICHO (Theatre Passe Muraille, PKP 2019); Shadow Girls (Gladstone Hotel x PKP, 2018; Rhubarb Festival 2017). She produced CHICHO in 2023, which premiered at Outfest Fusion in Los Angeles before screening in Calgary, Philadelphia, Lima, Honolulu, Chicago, Seattle, Miami, Caracas and Toronto. clarengrosz.com