Albertus Koett
Artistic Director
Albertus has been Artistic Director of Tree House Youth Theatre since October 2018. He works with the Board of Directors to determine the overall artistic vision of THYT and the budget for the season. He leads the Theatre Program (Ages 13-17) and Film Program (Ages 13-17). He is also the primary contact for all things related to THYT and can be reached at info@treehouseyouththeatre.ca
Bio
Albertus was born in Red Deer, Alberta, and has lived in the area for his whole life. He attended the Red Deer College Theatre and Motion Picture Arts programs and has been working as a professional director, playwright, and actor in central Alberta since 2006.
He is the writer and director of the highly successful Central Alberta Theatre series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Albertus adapted eight short stories and novellas into plays, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series, and then directed a sold-out series, that spanned over two-years and 6-entries, at the Red Deer Memorial Centre.
His other past directing credits include Antony and Cleopatra for Prime Stock Theatre in 2017 for their Bard on Bower Festival, It's a Wonderful Life: The Live Radio Drama for Ignition Theatre in 2009, Alice in Wonderland (2008), Last of the Red Hot Lovers (2012), Steel Magnolias (2013), Soul Mates (2016), Some Girl(s) (2017) for Central Alberta Theatre, and various productions with Tree House Youth Theatre.
As an actor, Albertus has appeared as Hamlet in Hamlet and Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream for the 2014 Prime Stock Theatre Bard on Bower Festival, as various in The Laramie Project (2007) for Ignition Theatre, Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables (2009), Stanley in Brighton Beach Memoirs (2005), Tom in Opening Night (2003), and Geoff in Return Engagements (2002) for Central Alberta Theatre, as Tristan Tzara in ...the dada play (2006), as the Ferryman in The Bundle (2005), as the Tin-Man in Wizard of Oz (2005), The Rabbi in Village of Idiots (2004), and Lyle in Footloose (2003) while attending the Red Deer College Theatre Program.
As a playwright, Albertus has adapted nine of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories and novellas into plays. He has also created and directed adapted versions of Williams Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet. Additionally, Koett has written the award winning one-act plays Soulmates and Lasagna, Old Age of Horror, I Want to Wake Up, and Me and Hunter Thompson. Old Age of Horror was co-written with Against the Wall Theatre and Bullskit founder Jenna Goldade, and was featured at the Calgary Fringe Festival (2008).
For film, Albertus co-directed the award winning short film Bonjour (2011), which was featured at the Edmonton International Film Festival in 2012. A graduate of the Red Deer College Motion Picture Arts Program, Koett has directed a number of short films, including Misquote Romance (2009) for Artsparks at the Library, and an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (2021) for Tree House Youth Theatre.
Albertus was a professional mentor, director, actor, and facilitator for the Butt Ugly Anti-Tobacco Touring Company in Red Deer from 2006-2012. The aim of this program was to create original plays to tour to middle schools throughout central Alberta to teach the harms of tobacco. This award winning program utilized teens as actors and writers, and led to the central zone having one of the lowest rates of smoking for middle school and high school in Alberta.
Albertus lives in Red Deer with his wife, Tara, and their dog Daisy-Mae, and is an avid supporter of Nottingham Forest Football Club, a two-time European Champion (1979, 1980), and current member of the English Premier League (You Reds!!).