Lemons

Nikki Shaffeeullah (she/her) is a theatre & film artist, facilitator, producer, writer, equity worker, and community organizer.

Her work has included serving as Artistic Director of The AMY Project; Editor-in-Chief of alt.theatre: cultural diversity and the stage; and Assistant Artistic Director of Jumblies Theatre. Nikki has also taught in the performance departments of University of Toronto Scarborough and the University of Alberta. She produces theatre, film, and sector-change projects through her organization Undercurrent Creations, and is a a founding member of Confluence Arts Collective, a group of artists-activists who believe in transformative justice and a world without prisons. An award-winning theatre artist, Nikki works as a director, writer, actor, improvisor, and producer, and collaborates with companies and artists from across Canada. She has held residencies with organizations including Canadian Stage, Why Not Theatre, The Theatre Centre, SummerWorks, and others, and she is a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators.

Nikki's work in film includes playing Jaine in "The Lower Plateau", a role that earned her Best Actress at the Transparent Film Festival, and a spot on Montreal's Top 10 Favourite Actors in CultMTL's 2019 year-end list. An emerging film writer/director, Nikki's first short is "Fly Away With Me", which she wrote, and co-directed with Maude Matton and Amina Mohamed. "Fly Away With Me" premiered at the Glasgow Short Film Festival and is touring across Europe and North America to festivals including Montreal's prestigious Fantasia Film Festival.

Nikki holds an MFA in Theatre Practice from the University of Alberta, where her thesis won the Canadian Association for Theatre Research award for Intercultural Theatre, and a BA from McGill University.

A queer Indo-Caribbean born and living in Toronto, Nikki’s work is informed by a family who loves music, puns, justice, and food. She believes that art should disrupt the status quo, centre the margins, engage with the ancient, dream of the future, and be for everyone.