“Dayna Lea Hoffman is a performer, director, writer, designer and mentor. In addition, she is a remarkably accomplished creator/performer of original clown and satire. Dayna’s work is incisive, edgy and hilarious and her practice traces direct lineage to a proud Alberta tradition defined by national performing icons Mump and Smoot and Karen Hines (Pochsy). It is thrilling to see Dayna grab the mantle of this tradition and carry it forward with such authority, skill, confidence and success.”
— 2026 Emerging Artist Jury
– Emerging Artist adjudicators
Dayna Lea Hoffmann (she/her) is an award-winning multidisciplinary theatre artist based in Edmonton and co-founder of Batrabbit Collective, an ad-hoc ensemble that seeks to redefine the unseen limitations of marginalized bodies in comedy. She is the creator of Batrabbit’s Rat Academy, an award-winning physical-theatre series debuted at the 2023 Edmonton Fringe Festival that has since toured to festivals across Canada and the US. In 2026/27 Rat Academy 2: Gnaw and Order tours nationally. These works sit at the intersection of the grotesque, the tender and the absurd – often with hilarious results.
Dayna has performed in more than 20 professional productions with companies including Northern Light Theatre, Shadow Theatre, Skirts-a-Fire, Freewill Players, TheatreYES, Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre, Theatre Network, and more. She is a core member of the artistic leadership trio of Thou Art Here Theatre, an artist-driven theatre collective creating audience-engaged immersive experiences.
She holds a BFA with distinction from the University of Alberta’s Acting Program; a diploma in Theatre Arts from Douglas College. She formerly performed and taught at the Vancouver Circus School, where she specialized in juggling and aerial silks.
Dayna Hoffmann has fast become one of Edmonton’s strongest emerging devised theatre performers, with a deep commitment to specific, fully engaged (physically, vocally, imaginatively) storytelling and performance. She has great strengths physically with her background in circus and clown that invite brave and bold choices in character.
Mieko Ouchi
Associate Artistic Director, The Citadel Theatre
2023 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist
