YOCTOtheatre was born in 2015 with a production of Sean Bowie's one-man show, Genuis.  YOCTO is a collaboration of husband and wife team, Sean Bowie and Mary Rose and many other wonderful people who have joined on different projects.  With our roots firmly planted in the principles of the gift economy, our motto is, "Play it forward".  We want everyone to have access to quality theater.  All shows are pay what you can and no one is ever turned away for lack of funds. 

Originally from Souris, Manitoba Canada, Sean has been an actor/writer/director and producer for going on 30 years. He completed a minor in theatre at Brandon University and a theatre arts diploma at Mount Royal University. As an actor he has performed on stage, TV, Film and Radio. As a director he
has directed everything from cutting edge one-person fringe shows to a promenade style adaptation of Marlowe’s Dr Faustus with 19 actors. He
has written several plays and short films. In the last 10 years or so he has been concentrating on writing and performing his own solo shows. Over the
years he has started three theatre companies and produced many shows, all independent.
Sean was fortunate enough to act as stage manager/sound improviser for Blind Date produced by “The Producing Office” out of New York. Blind Date has toured all over Canada and the northern US including a successful run Off-off Broadway and a stint in the West End in London. It continues to
tour today.

Mary Rose is an improviser, actress, teacher, director and, mother. For the past 14 years, she has been focusing her training and teaching on Action Theater—a practice that has its roots in physical theater improvisation, dance and meditation. She received her teaching certification in 2014 and started Portland Action Theater which is now a collaboration with another local Action Theater teacher,Nathaniel Holder.  Mary periodically performs improvisations on various stages around Portland.  After receiving her B.S.S. in theater at Northwestern University, she moved to Portland to work with Sojourn Theatre in 2003. Since Sojourn, she has been spotted on stage in various performances including Many Hats Productions’ Break, Then Open, Dance Naked Productions’ Inviting Desire, Yocto's Free Box and Too Late! and off stage directing Kristin Olson-Huddle’s Going On and Yocto’s productions, Genuis and Cocktales.