Kaden

Annika, a thirty-five-year-old woman, has been dumped yet again by an older man. In an attempt to find herself, she has started weekly swimming lessons at a local community centre. It is there that she gets to know Kaden, her seventeen-year-old swimming instructor. After a humiliating run-in with an ex and his much-younger girlfriend, she invites Kaden out for a walk, where the two begin to connect on a deeper level. Annika is forced to reckon with her decisions when Kaden’s supervisor calls her in for a chat.

  • Samantha Wan
    Director
    Second Jen, Lady Ada's Secret Society, Private Eyes, Kim's Convenience
  • Polly Phokeev
    Writer
    How We Are, The Mess, Seams
  • Mikaela Lily Davies
    Writer
    Cassandra, How We Are, The Mess, Seams
  • Mikaela Lily Davies
    Key Cast
    "Annika"
    Cassandra, Murdoch Mysteries, Remember Christmas
  • Mikaela Lily Davies
    Co-creator
    Cassandra, How We Are, The Mess, Seams
  • Polly Phokeev
    Co-creator
    How We Are, The Mess, Seams
  • Project Type:
    Short Script
  • Number of Pages:
    12
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Cayle Chernin Media Award Nominee: Kaden
    Toronto
    May 3, 2023
    Finalist: Cayle Chernin Media Award
  • Jon Kaplan Legacy Fund: Polly Phokeev
    Toronto
    May 8, 2019
    Young Canadian Playwright Award
  • Jon Kaplan Legacy Fund: Mikaela Lily Davies
    Toronto
    May 8, 2019
    Canadian Stage Performer
Writer Biography - Polly Phokeev, Mikaela Lily Davies

Born in Russia and raised in Canada, Polly Phokeev is a Toronto-based writer of plays and prose. Her plays include the critically-acclaimed How We Are, The Mess, and Seams. Recipient of the 2019 Jon Kaplan Legacy Fund Young Canadian Playwright Award and second place in the 2021 Toronto Star Short Story Contest, she holds an MFA in Creative Writing with the University of British Columbia. Polly is currently writing her debut novel and short story collection, as well as co-developing a musical theatre adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. Her short story Death of a Sparrow was longlisted for the 2023 CBC short story prize.

Mikaela Lily Davies is an award-winning actor, director and creator. She is a 2020 graduate of the Canadian Film Centre's Acting Conservatory. She has performed in eight shows with Soulpepper Theatre (Two Dora nominations for Best Ensemble) and spent four seasons at The Stratford Festival. Davies is the inaugural recipient of the Jon Kaplan Canadian Stage Performer Award. She holds a Sterling nomination for Outstanding Comedic Performance and a META nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance. Her short CASSANDRA, produced by the Canadian Film Centre, was a finalist for the 2020 Cayle Chernin Media Award.

Add Writer Biography
Writer Statement

As two female artists, Mikaela and I are perpetually examining the stories of women. What does it mean to be a woman in society, in relationships, in the solitary landscapes of our minds? In a world that, while changing, continues to set men as the default, pitting women as “the other,” we are conscious of how, as women, we have been socialized to pay meticulous attention to the ways in which we present ourselves. How do we look, sound, and move through the world? What are the ethical structures that underpin our actions? We want to honour womanhood and expand our understanding of what this means. Gender is, after all, a story. We are interested in picking this story apart, seeing whom it serves, and making edits.