Author: Playwrights' Workshop Montréal

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The 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit

A graffiti-style background of indigo blue, turquoise, and black. On the top right, the PWM logo in white. On the left, in a white block, the words "Introducing the" in turquoise, followed by "Young Creators Unit 2026-2027" in black.
PWM is thrilled to introduce the 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit!

For the next nine months, these thirteen emerging playwrights and theatre artists will have the opportunity to develop their scripts, interdisciplinary projects, and artistic skills with individual dramaturgical mentorships, group workshops, professional development opportunities, and much more. Keep reading to learn more about each artist, as well as YCU’s Lead Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi.

We look forward to celebrating our 12th year of YCU with this exciting Cohort!

Meet the Cohort

ADRIAN DARWENT (they/them)

Adrian Darwent is in over their head. They are an artist born and living in Tiohtià:ke, attending a BA in Creative Writing at Concordia University. They’ve dabbled in spoken word poetry, short fiction, songwriting, and a number of other small passions. Though their official accomplishments are somewhat sparse (few mentions on any billboards of note) Adrian takes pride in the art they create, centering their works around the people and communities in their life that inspire them. Their close family is oftentimes the nucleus of the stories they tell, but this sentimentality does not limit them from exploring, engaging with, and criticizing today’s inescapable political reality.

Photo Credit: Hanesa Banks

AMY RING (she/her)

Amy Ring is a multidisciplinary artist with credits across theatre, film, and voice. She has performed in shorts, commercials, dubbing, and on stage, most notably in Imago & Geordie’s The Wolves. Her comedic short Scrappy which she wrote, starred in, and produced won Best Film at the ACTRA film Festival and screened at Fantasia. She wrote her first theatre script in elementary school, rehearsing it during recess. Now with dozens of scripts in progress, she’s ready to move deeper into writing and directing for the stage, and is thrilled to join the Young Creators Unit.

Photo credit: Emelia Hellman

JESSICA KINUYO BAKAR (she/her)

Jessica Kinuyo Bakar is from Northern California and lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). She is completing her B.A. in Creative Writing at Concordia University, where she serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief ofSoliloquies Anthology and received the Gabriel Safdie Award in Drama. Jessica’s background in creative nonfiction informs her instincts and interests as a playwright. Her nonfiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Geist, Grain, The Maine Review, Hippocampus Magazine, and elsewhere. She has recently received mentorship support under The Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) and The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), and she is excited to develop her first play with YCU.

Photo credit: Jessica Kinuyo Bakar

JUANITA (she/her)

Recently back from a well lived Artistic Hiatus, Juanita is ready to step back into the world of theatre and story-telling. After having trained in Dawson’s Professional Theatre Program, she has been looking for the perfect opportunity to further her artistic education and is excited to see what the YCU program brings.

Photo credit: WeAreArte.ca

LAURIE DUMONT-BAL (she/her)

Laurie Dumont-Bal is a biracial theatre artist with Indian and French-Canadian settler origins. She works as a playwright, director, producer, playback theatre artist and theatre teacher. Since 2023, Laurie’s play “Here” has received support from PGC’s Mentorship Program, Imago Theatre’s Nested Circles residency, and Teesri Duniya’s Fireworks Play Development Program. During 2024-2025, three public readings were presented across Canada at the Fireworks Festival (Teesri Duniya), Craft Bites International (PGC), and Gathering Divergence Festival (CPAMO). Laurie worked as co-writer for Climate Play (Imago Theatre and wâhkôhtowin project). She directed staged readings for Fireworks Festival (Teesri Duniya) and Park N Play (Infinithéâtre). She directed 18 musicals at the Segal Centre Academy, including four original musicals which she co-wrote. Laurie is passionate about collaborating on new works!

Photo credit: Brooklyn Melnyk Photography

LAUREN MOHAMMED (she/her)

Loves her grandparents. Loves when people come together to fight systemic oppression that leads to a revolution of workers overturning the ruling class and taking back the fruits of their labour by means of public ownership. Loves pasta.

Photo credit: Lily

MADELINE SAVOIE (they/them)

Madeline Savoie is a playwright, performer, producer, and dramaturg with a BFA in Performance Creation from Concordia University. Their writing has been featured in the NotaBle Acts and Plain Site Theatre Festivals in their hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and more recently as a finalist in Infinithéâtre’s Write-On-Q competition. Madeline is currently the General Manager of Out of Body Performing Arts, having initially joined the company as a dramaturg and performer on “THE WAVES” and more recently serving as co-producer of Out of Body’s “Cold Reads” series. Through their other company, Paper Sailor Theatre, they have developed projects such as “Personal Best,” “Exit Left at the End of the World,” and “MIXTAPE.”

Photo credit: Emily Savoie

MASHA BASHMAKOVA (she/they)

Masha is an actor/creator with a background in physical theatre and a love for new work development. She thrives in chaos, curiosity, and movement. Amongst trees, playfulness, and loved ones. Between two main activities: wondering and wandering. Born in Russia, raised in the Emirates, and primarily based in Tio’tia:ke, being on the move is second nature to Masha, and after graduating from Concordia’s Performance Creation program, she has continued her training internationally with ArtHaus Berlin, the Grotowski Institute in Poland, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and Frantic Assembly in London. As a writer, Masha is drawn to stories of motherhood and violence, belonging and community, climate futures, complicated familial dynamics, absurd satires, and sapphic love stories.

Photo credit: Emelia Hellman

RAE-MICHELLE COMODERO (she/her)

Rae-Michelle Comodero (she/her) is a professional actor and artist based in Montreal. An alumni of Concordia University’s Acting program and Imago Theatre’s ARTISTA Mentorship program, Rae-Michelle spent a year travelling and performing across Eastern Canada under Geordie Theatre’s 2PlayTour. Now a full-time confused adult and ever-evolving artist, she is hungrier than ever to create, to explore, to fail, to learn, to grow. She’s excited to finally take part in the YCU program! Who knew her years of experience as a teen writing fanfiction would come in handy?

Photo credit: Jeremy Cabrera

SERENA MASCIOTRA (she/they)

Playwright, director, performer, creator, crafter, masker, deviser, Concordia Theatre grad, jester, organiser, traveller, choreographer, daydreamer, sh*t-disturber, artist, and all around side-quest achiever. Not in that order. My art comes out political because everything that fed it was political to begin with. It is my privilege to make art while fascism is on the rise, so I work to make people laugh until we’re all uncomfortable enough to take action.

(Also)(I <3 public transportation) (It’s relevant, trust)

Photo credit: Diya Kapoor

SILAS JAMES (he/him)

Blessed with an unflappable Ontarian twang, SILAS JAMES is a queer and trans writer, literary performer, editor, publicist, producer, and nightlife anthropologist based in Tiohtià/Montreal. Part unreliable socialite, part field researcher, his work spans criticism, fiction, theatre, and long-form literary monologue. His writing is known for its dark humour, atmospheric tension, and fascination with social performance, emotional instability, and scenes in various stages of collapse. Drawing from queer nightlife, internet subcultures, and religious imagery, his work treats bars, parties, and art scenes as both fragile social ecosystems and apocalypse landscapes. His first play, We All Died at The Lesbian Bar, debuted at the 2026 Montreal Fringe Festival to a sold-out run and received the Patron’s Choice Award. He loves crosswords, Jesus, and aperol spritzes.

Photo credit: Rory Creelman

TRUSHA CHAUHAN (she/her)

Trusha Chauhan is an emerging writer from Leicester, England, now based in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Her work is often inspired by a physical sensation, taking shape around themes of taboo, pain, and the horrors and delights of the body. Over the past few years, Trusha has explored these ideas across fiction, film, poetry and playwriting. Her most recent work, a short rendition of ‘Gut Girl’, was staged as part of Imago Theatre’s Simmer Festival.

WREN DESLAURIERS (she/her)

Wren Deslauriers is a Montreal-based theatre artist of Caribbean and French Canadian descent from Toronto, Ontario. She recently received her BFA from Concordia University, graduating with distinction in Performance Creation and English literature. Wren believes in the enduring ability stories have to connect with people across time and space. Whether it be Greek theatre or Shakespeare, there’s something universal to the human condition that provokes us to hold onto these stories. Her work explores empathy, connection and the universality of the human experience.

Photo credit: Dillon Marshall

This program is facilitated by YCU Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi.

Leila Ghaemi (she/her) is a proud Persian dramaturg and theatre educator. She received her BFA in Theatre Arts and MFA in Theatre Education & Direction from Boston University’s School of Theatre, where she trained in dramaturgical methods. Having spent over a decade working for various theatre organizations in the United States and Canada, Leila has been fortunate to evolve her artistic practices professionally and academically, specifically in new play development. Her artistic pillars include MENASA representation, radical theatre empowerment, and creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces on and off stage. Leila also serves on the board for Persephone Productions Montreal. When not dreaming about theatre, her world revolves around her pit-pug puppy Gigi and her two very sassy cats: Leslie & Hiccup.

THE YOUNG CREATORS UNIT IS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY:
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Call for Dramaturgical Collaboration Applications for 2027-2028

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal is now accepting applications for Dramaturgical Collaboration for our 2027-2028 season.

Application deadline: Monday, October 12, 2026, 11:59PM EST.

All applicants will receive a response by the end of February 2027 informing them of the outcome of their application. Please note that some applications may require additional time following this period if external resources are required, but applicants will be informed of this in advance.

If you have any questions regarding accessibility, require assistance with your application, or would like to discuss alternative methods of applying and deadline flexibility, please contact Heather at accessibility@playwrights.ca. For accessibility information and video tours of our location, please click here.

The ASL video format of this section is viewable here.

About the Dramaturgical Collaboration program

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal works with playwrights, creators, collectives and companies who are making work for theatre and performance. Dramaturgical Collaboration is PWM’s invitation to artists from across Canada to work with us. We engage in deep explorations of story, form and process.

To remove financial barriers, the opportunities and resources offered through Dramaturgical Collaboration are free of charge to the artists.

As each artist and project is unique, all Dramaturgical Collaborations begin with a conversation and then may also include ongoing Dramaturgical Conversations, Mentorships, Workshops, Residencies, Readings and other development opportunities. To read more about these opportunities, visit the Dramaturgical Collaboration program page.

Stage of Development: We accept applications for projects at various stages of development depending on the nature of the work. It could be a proposal, a few scenes, or a first draft (in whatever form that may be), a new iteration of a project that has already been shared, or a draft that is in an advanced stage of development, for example.

Discipline: Your project could be a play, a translation, a performance work, a digital work (for example: AR/VR, interactive game-based presentation, live or prerecorded virtual performance), or something hybrid in terms of language, discipline, or technology.

Applicants: We welcome individual playwright/creator(s) and collectives to apply directly through our Google form. If you are a theatre company, please contact dramaturg@playwrights.ca to discuss Dramaturgical Collaboration before submitting an application online.

Location: We welcome local and national applications. We work in-person, virtually (for example: by video chat or by use of online collaborative tools), or a combination of both.

If you have any questions regarding Dramaturgical Collaboration, please contact dramaturg@playwrights.ca. 

The ASL video format of this section is viewable here.

 PWM is committed to creating an environment where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect.  We are continuously working to make all of our programs accessible and inclusive. While recognizing that the identity of each person is fundamentally plural, and multidimensional, we strongly encourage applications from artists who are: Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit), Black, POC, racialized (including recent immigrants), 2SLGBTQQIPAA+, d/Deaf, neurodivergent, disabled, living with chronic illness and/or chronic pain. PWM is strongly committed to supporting a wide range of cultural identities and lived experiences, therefore we encourage applicants to self-identify in their application if they are comfortable doing so.

How to Apply for Dramaturgical Collaboration at PWM

The ASL video format of this section is viewable here.

Individual playwright/creator(s) can apply for Dramaturgical Collaboration via our Google form. Theatre companies are asked to please contact dramaturg@playwrights.ca to discuss Dramaturgical Collaboration before submitting an application online.

Audio and video answers to some of the questions in the form are also welcomed. Click here to preview the form as a PDF.

The application will ask you to provide: 

  • Name, pronouns (optional), age (optional), and contact information 
  • Information about your project 
  • How you would like to work with PWM
  • Your CV and bio and that of any collaborators
  • A sample of the proposed project (if available) or past work

Your proposal will not be sent until you click the SUBMIT button at the end of the application via the Google form. You will be able to edit your responses by reusing the same email address and login until you click the SUBMIT button.

The Dramaturgical Collaboration program is made possible and accessible through the support of our funders:

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Announcing the 2026 Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency Participants

A view of the mountainous region of Gros Morne National Park. On the bottom left, written in white, the words 2026 Gros Morne Residency Playwrights.

Dévoilement des Participant.e.s de la Résidence de Gros-Morne 2026

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) and le Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD), in partnership with Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Creative Gros Morne, the Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station, and with the vital support of the Cole Foundation, are pleased to announce the seven playwrights participating in the 2026 Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency. 

This dual-lingual residency welcomes playwrights from across Canada and gives the creative space to work and share in the unparalleled landscape of Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador. The program offers dramaturgical conversations in French and English. 

For 10 days, Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard, Caroline Bélisle, Caleigh Crow, Coleen Shirin MacPherson, Jojo O’Neil, Pascale Rafie, and Ian Iqbal Rashid will be staying at the Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station in Norris Point. The artists-in-residence will have the opportunity to explore their plays through unstructured writing time, one-on-one dramaturgical conversations, and group discussions, held in both French and English.

Help support the artists of the 2026 Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency by donating to PWM.

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) et le Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD), en partenariat avec Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Creative Gros Morne, le Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station, et avec le soutien essentiel de la Fondation Cole, ont le plaisir de dévoiler les sept auteurs et autrices qui participeront à la Résidence canadienne d’écriture dramatique de Gros-Morne 2026.

Cette résidence bilingue accueille des écrivains de tout le pays pour partager un espace et nourrir des échanges portés par le paysage sans pareil du parc national du Gros-Morne, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Le programme offre un accompagnement dramaturgique en français et en anglais.

Pendant 10 jours, Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard, Caroline Bélisle, Caleigh Crow, Coleen Shirin MacPherson, Jojo O’Neil, Pascale Rafie et Ian Iqbal Rashid séjourneront au Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station à Norris Point. Les résidents auront l’occasion d’explorer leurs pièces pendant des périodes d’écriture non structurées, des conversations dramaturgiques individuelles et des discussions de groupe, qui auront lieu en anglais et en français.

Soutenez les artistes de la Résidence d’écriture dramatique du Gros-Morne 2026 en faisant un don à PWM.

Meet the Playwrights | Rencontrez les auteurs

Jean-philippe baril guérard (québec)

Né en 1988, Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard est auteur, comédien, et metteur en scène. Il a signé quatre romans, six pièces, et plusieurs scénarios pour le cinéma et la télévision.

Photo credit:  Guillaume Boucher

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Le mal nécessaire

Un enquêteur de l’Autorité des marchés financiers voit sa vie chamboulée lorsqu’il tente de mettre au jour une stratagème de délit d’initié sur un marché de prédictions et se retrouve à faire lui-même l’objet d’un pari mettant en jeu sa carrière, sa famille, et sa vie.

Caroline bélisle (nouveau-brunswick)

Caroline Bélisle est une comédienne, autrice dramatique et féministe ben ben fâchée diplômée de l’École nationale de théâtre du Canada et de l’Université de Moncton. Elle remporte le prix Gratien-Gélinas pour son texte Les remugles ou La danse nuptiale est une langue morte, également finaliste aux prix littéraires du Gouverneur Général. Elle est également récipiendaire de deux Éloizes de l’artiste de l’année en théâtre. Ses œuvres sont produites par le théâtre l’Escaouette, Satellite Théâtre, le Théâtre Populaire d’Acadie, le Théâtre des Béloufilles, le Théâtre Catapulte et le Théâtre La Seizième. Ses livres sont disponibles aux Éditions Perce-Neige et chez Bouton d’or Acadie.

Photo credit: Annie France Noël

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Bleue (titre provisoire)

Bleue (titre provisoire) met en scène Nadine, qui a récemment perdu sa job et qui est en train de virer folle dans l’appartement que sa femme a redécoré de fond en comble…de différentes valeurs de gris. Pour sortir de son marasme, Nadine développe une relation malsaine (si une telle chose est possible) avec le bleu. Cette relation grandiose et poétique lui permettra d’entrer en contact avec quelque chose en elle qui défie les lois du quotidien. C’est une pièce sur l’écosystème que les humains sont en train de bâtir pour eux-mêmes. C’est en quelque sorte un texte sur la couleur ou plutôt, sur les effets qu’a sur nous son absence.

caleigh crow (alberta)

Caleigh Crow is a queer Metis director, playwright, and performer from Mohkinstsis in Treaty 7 Territory. In 2024 she was honoured to receive the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama for her play There is Violence, There is Righteous Violence, and There is Death or, The Born-Again Crow, published by Playwrights Canada Press. That play was also a nominee for the Indigenous Voices Awards, Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and the Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards. Most recently, she won the 2026 Betty Mitchell Award for Best New Play for Hucksterland, alongside songwriters Sacha Crow & Gus Rendell.

Photo credit: Sacha Crow

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: SUPERPARAMAGNETISM

SUPERPARAMAGNETISM is an expansive sci-fi, time-travelling exploration of electric and human connectivity. The play begins in the year 2335 where an AI supercomputer has been running the show on earth for a century. Two humans attempt to use the earths magnetic field to unify all of humanity’s knowledge to hopefully destroy the computer and return the earth to humankind’s stewardship. Their attempt causes the play to move backwards in time from 2335 to 2024 to 1975 to 1935 to 1886 to 1412 to 1 000 BC to 30 000 BC. We meet many different characters who all experience electricity & technology according to their time period, but who are all ultimately seeking to be understood.

coleen Shirin macpherson (ontario)

Coleen Shirin MacPherson is a theatre artist, playwright, director, and Artistic Director of Open Heart Surgery Theatre based in Toronto. A graduate of École Jacques Lecoq in Paris, she creates poetic and experimental physical theatre exploring cross-cultural collaboration. Her work includes This Is Why We Live, which toured Canada, Europe and had its U.S. premiere at La MaMa in New York City, and Erased, a Dora Award–nominated play named one of Toronto’s best productions of 2024 (Toronto Star) and represented Canada at the 2026 Heidelberger Stückemarkt in Germany. She is the recipient of the Ken McDougall Award for Directing and is writing a new adaptation of The Persians, first developed at the Stratford Festival. Coleen is currently Assistant Professor and Mainstage Director at the University of Toronto, St. George.

Photo credit: ​​David Leyes

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: The Persians Re-Imagined after Aeschylus

Coleen MacPherson’s adaptation of The Persians reimagines Aeschylus’ ancient tragedy for a contemporary audience, exploring how a 2,500-year-old text can speak to the realities of our world today. Building on Aeschylus’ radical choice to tell the story of his enemy, the adaptation expands the voices within the Persian Empire, including historical figures such as Artemisia of Caria, commander and advisor to Xerxes, King of Persia. Through a reimagined chorus of diverse and contradictory voices, the work examines the contradictions of power and ambition, and the devastating consequences of both. The Persians asks how ancient stories can illuminate our present and confront the human cause of war.

Jojo o’neil (Québec, ontario)

Jojo O’Neil is a playwright, storyteller, and solo-performer originally from Markham, Ontario. A recent graduate from The National Theatre School of Canada’s Playwriting program, her plays often explore themes such as madness, intergenerationality, desire, home, and love. Some of her plays include: The Harpy (solo-play, development funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, staged reading at The Pipeline Reading series 2024, directed by Barry Bilinsky) which won Infinithéâtre’s Write-On-Q! playwriting competition, Holes (staged reading at Centaur Theatre’s WinterWorks Festival 2026, directed by Christopher Morris & dramaturgy by Andrea Romaldi), & No Jumping (NTS New Words Festival 2026, directed by Azal Dosanjh).

Photo credit: Maxime Côté

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Sarah

Sarah follows six transexual women gathering in a crumbling Chinatown apartment in the midst of an ongoing eradication. War seeps through the cracks of the failing foundation as these women all look for one particular person who shares their name; Sarah, the only hormone dealer left in the city, who has gone MIA during an age where being trans gets you killed. Exploring blame, gatekeeping, & sisterhood, Sarah is a political drama using verbatim text to tell a story of six women’s struggle for life in a world that seeks to wipe their existence off the face of the Earth.

pascale rafie (QUÉBEC)

Diplômée de l’École nationale de théâtre en Écriture dramatique et également titulaire d’une maîtrise en Théâtre de l’UQAM, Pascale Rafie a écrit au fil des ans tant pour les jeunes publics (signalons Charlotte Sicotte) que pour les adultes (membre du collectif d’écriture de Cabaret neiges noires). On lui doit, entre autres, Soleil, Le Paradis mobile et Les Filles Lafaille. Plus récemment, on a pu voir La Recette de baklawa en traduction anglaise au Théâtre Centaur.

Enseignante au département de théâtre du Cégep de Saint-Laurent depuis 20 ans, elle est aussi active en médiation culturelle – mentionnons Belles-Sœurs d’ici et d’ailleurs, projet développé et animé en collaboration avec des femmes immigrantes de l’arrondissement de Saint-Laurent. Toujours traversée par les questions liées à l’immigration et à la place des femmes dans la société, elle poursuit sa route.

Photo credit: Jean-Pierre Gosselin

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Elle court

Adela, 39 ans, croit encore au bonheur. Entre l’amour qu’elle porte à ses deux enfants et l’emprise silencieuse d’un mari aussi absent que destructeur, elle vacille. Marquée, comme lui, par l’abandon, elle hésite entre fuir ou rester, jusqu’au jour où… un choix s’impose. Son cheminement se déploie en un tourbillon de souvenirs, de rêves grotesques et anxiogènes. La violence du mari est incarnée par les forces de la nature – orage, inondation ou séismes qui envahissent le monde d’Adela. Alors que tout tombe, elle trouve refuge dans le jardinage ou dans la garde-robe de la cave. La terre devient un espace de résistance et de transformation, où l’enfermement pourrait peu à peu se métamorphoser en germination et renaissance.

Ian Iqbal rashid (newfoundland and labrador)

Ian Iqbal Rashid is a poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. A writer and co-executive producer of the Peabody and Canadian Screen Award-winning comedy Sort Of (CBC/HBO Max), he previously wrote for the BAFTA-winning drama This Life (BBC). His feature films Touch of Pink and How She Move, both of which he directed, premiered and sold to Sony and Paramount, respectively, at Sundance.

His work has been commissioned by broadcasters and studios including the BBC, HBO, Showtime, Amazon, CBC, Crave, and Channel 4. Alongside screenwriting, he is an award-winning curator and poet, and the author of three collections, including Black Markets, White Boyfriends and Other Acts of Elision. His first play, Cocktail Hour, received a public workshop production in Halifax in 2026. Also in 2026, he served as a juror for the International Emmy Awards.

Born in Dar es Salaam and raised in Toronto, Rashid lived for many years in London, England and now resides in Corner Brook.

Photo credit: Liane Harris

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Cocktail Hour

1996. The AIDS drug cocktails have arrived, offering a future to men who had almost stopped believing in one. Over the course of a single evening, two long-time lovers invite a younger couple home for drinks. What begins as flirtation becomes a dangerous game of wit, seduction and psychological brinkmanship, as buried grief, artistic rivalry and old betrayals rise to the surface. Inspired by Maxim Mazumdar’s unrealized all-male production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cocktail Hour is an intimate, darkly funny play about the stories we tell ourselves until history asks us to imagine a different future.

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2026 Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators

A lime green background with green and yellow circles on the top right and bottom left. On the left, the words Call For Applications, on the bottom right, the words Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators.

SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2013, THE COLE FOUNDATION MENTORSHIP FOR EMERGING TRANSLATORS HAS BEEN GUIDING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FRENCH TO ENGLISH THEATRE TRANSLATORS.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2026 AT 11:59PM EST.

If you have any questions regarding accessibility or require assistance with your application, please contact Heather at accessibility@playwrights.ca. Click here for more accessibility information.

In partnership with the Cole Foundation, PWM offers this early-career program to mentor emerging translators who are ready to develop a more nuanced understanding of their practice.  The successful applicant to this year’s program will receive a $2,000 honorarium and a mentorship with acclaimed theatre translator, Alexis Diamond, for guidance on every aspect of creating a new French to English translation. This development process will include a workshop with actors and a public reading. The mentorship begins in November 2026, and lasts for approximately one year.

PWM welcomes all applications. While recognizing that the identity of each person is fundamentally plural, and multidimensional, we strongly encourage applications from artists who are: Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit), Black, POC, racialized (including recent immigrants), 2SLGBTQQIPAA+, neurodivergent, living with disability, chronic illness and/or chronic pain. PWM is strongly committed to supporting a wide range of cultural identities and lived experiences, therefore we encourage applicants to self-identify in their application if they are comfortable doing so.

If you have any questions regarding the Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators, please contact dramaturg@playwrights.ca.

Who Can Apply?

To be eligible, emerging translators must reside in Montreal, be a Canadian citizen or hold permanent residency status in Canada, and have completed either: 

  1. At least one translation of a script which has received a workshop, public reading, publication or production, or 
  2. PWM/CEAD’s Introduction to Theatre Translation/Traductions Croisées program. 

Applicants must not have completed more than three play translations.

With What Play(s)?

Before applying for the Mentorship, applicants must choose the play they wish to translate as part of the program and contact the playwright for permission. Obtaining permission from the playwright to translate the script in advance means that the applicant would be in a position to begin work immediately following the announcement of the selected project in late November.

Translations must be from French into English only. 

Full-length scripts, one-acts or TYA (theatre for young audiences) projects are all welcome. Please note, our experience does not extend to the translation of musicals.

Application Process

Fill out this Google Form by September 7, 2026. Click here to preview the application form as a PDF.  You will be asked to provide the following information:

  • Your name, pronouns (optional) and contact information 
  • A one-page letter of intent describing the project, its challenges, your reasons for wanting to translate the work, including the potential impact of the play in an Anglophone context, and how you hope to grow in your practice through the mentorship. PDF documents, video or audio responses are accepted. If submitting a video or audio response, please answer in one video/recording, maximum 5 minutes.
  • Your biography (maximum 250 words);
  • A copy of your chosen play;
  • Written permission from the original playwright of the play;
  • A 10-12 page sample of your previous translation work, please include the corresponding original text;
  • If you require any accommodations to participate in the program should you be selected.

Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee.

All applicants will be notified of the results by the end of October 2026.

Apply Here
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
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Digital Dramaturgy Integration Strategy (DDIS): The Process Beast

A reflection on process written by DDIS researcher, Erin Lindsay

Graphic of the Beast by Emily Soussana

The project 

I had the privilege of being a researcher on the DDIS (Digital Dramaturgy Integration Strategy) conceived by Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal in partnership with potatoCakes_digital and with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. The project involved a long-form process supporting artist collaborators across the creation of 4 new Canadian live performance works focused on digital experimentation. It was led by digital dramaturgs Andrew Scriver and Emily Soussana (potatoCakes_digital) in collaboration with the following PWM dramaturgs: Fatma Sarah Elkashef, Aki Matsushita, and Leila Ghaemi. The collaborating creators/playwrights on the project were: Amanda Smith, Maxime Corbeil-Perron, Gillian Stone, Panthea Vatandoost, Scout Rexe, Emma Tibaldo and Lois Brown. A core facet of the project was its more than two-year duration, as well as the funds, time, and resources allocated to artists to foster experimentation and ongoing conversations across several workshops.

Dramaturg Aki Matsushita in the Blood Moon process 

The project also involved interviews with external artists and organizations whose work is informed by digital art to deepen the project and the team’s insights into digital processes in other sectors/disciplines. These external consultants included: Amy Chartrand (freelance narrative strategist;NFB: digital arts), Andrea Peña and Bobby Léon (digital arts, film and choreography), SAT (digital arts), Rilla Khaled (Concordia/TAG), Oasis Immersion (digital arts), Nadia Ross: STO Union (digital arts and theatre) and Kyungseo Min: Blizzard (narrative writing for video games). The DDIS process concluded with a public event in PWM’s studio that featured digital installations related to the process across all 4 workshops and a one-hour panel discussion with the project’s creators and dramaturgs.

Panel discussion at PWM

DDIS aimed to explore the dialogue, questions, conversations, prototypes and connections that can emerge at the intersection of dramaturgical and creation practices and digital technology. 

We decided to name the project’s research outcome a “process beast” because of its various generative, sensing, evolving, and open-ended tentacles. The research work began in a more closed and conclusive container. We felt the need to broaden and open the research’s structure in favour of the “process beast,” because we felt its tentacles spoke to the porosity, sensitivity and agility needed for ongoing, process-centred learning. 

Context and Care

Over the course of the DDIS process, I became pregnant, birthed my son (a beautiful sweetie named Lawrence), and navigated the choppy and, at times, seemingly impossible waters of postpartum. PWM and potatoCakes_digital decided to keep me on the project, and they were incredibly accommodating, gentle and caring with me in this first tender year.

The DDIS team also ensured that another collaborating artist had a dark room to nurse in during her workshop. I will forever be grateful to PWM for being so understanding and flexible to this new artist parent. It is hopeful to know that this is possible in the arts. I want to sincerely thank interim DDIS researchers Tiernan Cornford and Madeline Scovil who stepped in with incisive insights and questions during my maternity leave. Thank you for your work. 

The learning and impact 

The learning (around process, collaboration, dramaturgy, experimentation, interdisciplinary work, modes of communication and ways of thinking about and approaching creation) was endlessly rich throughout this process. It is hard to fully take inventory of the impact DDIS has had on my life and practice. It is also nearly impossible to clearly define dramaturgy, let alone digital dramaturgy. I do think an attempt to reach at different articulations, definitions and perspectives of the practice is important. Sharing and making process visible feels essential to generative exchange. 

With this articulation and sharing around process in mind, let’s move on to the beast. 

SHARING RESEARCH: Excerpts from The Process Beast

Actor Cara Rebecca in the Cult Play process

The Four Workshops

DDIS provided long-term dramaturgy to 4 projects at different stages of development. The workshops involved digital explorations with: audio-visual experiments, the genre of horror, live and projected translation and explorations with language, the impact of analog and digital technologies on memory and storytelling, the narrative tension that can exist between live and pre-recorded digital materials, possibilities of inclusive livestreamed performances, experimentation with illusion and architecture to convey dissociation and embodied emotion, and the role movement tracking can play in conveying setting and mood.

Singer Jacqueline Woodley in the Blood Moon process

Research Methods 

As a researcher, the methods I used to gather information throughout  DDIS were: mind maps of key themes in each workshop; open-ended questions; overheard dialogue and conversations during the workshop process; recurring interviews with artist collaborators, external artists and organizations, and participating dramaturgs; and observation of rapid prototyping or media sketches from potatoCakes_digital that were created as part of each workshop’s development process and archived throughout the duration of the DDIS.

A process log was created for each workshop.
You can view one for the Blood Moon creation process here.

Excerpts from conversations with artist collaborators and dramaturgs

Ongoing conversation is essential to a dramaturgical practice and collaboration. Here are some excerpts from the dramaturgs and creators/playwrights who participated in the DDIS process.

Actor Kimia Pourazar in the Zaboon process

On the Cult Play process 


SCOUT:

It’s transformative to get dramaturgical support that is curious, holistic and flexible rather than being prescriptive in a way that looks for a neat and tidy way of answering a question for a playwright. Creating outside of the pressures of production… that dramaturgical
support can provide a beneficial kind of companionship; a creative companionship in an endeavour that’s so existential. – Playwright, Cult Play

On the Blood Moon process


GILLIAN:
I do have forms of synesthesia that I work with internally. So to have that projected outside and to be informed by other brains, to have this external kind of synesthesia, it’s something I haven’t really done before. So that was really cool. Working in this way really expanded so much of this project.” –Gillian Stone, Blood Moon co-creator

AKI:

For Blood Moon, it was a very unconventional way of working. The affective explorations built with the singer in the room were especially interesting. I could see the anxiety build up as I watched the performer behind the scrim. I felt very open and receptive. It was a process that pushed me not to overprepare. It was one of those rare occasions where I’m responding in the moment. Not to a story or text yet. I wasn’t getting too heady. It was the excitement of starting from a premise that is not necessarily narrative-based. Through sound and projection mapping. Through exploring distortion as well. Exploring the feeling of a piece. Having an understanding of this feeling physically and viscerally before understanding what story we’re following. –Dramaturg on the Blood Moon process.

On the Invisible Me process 

Playwright/co-creator/performer Lois Brown in the Invisible Me process 

LOIS:

We were really not sure how all of the equipment would work. It looks like we would have to rehearse it in a studio and then compact it down into a rig that could fit in my bedroom or downstairs, which would be made to look like my bedroom. Then I could do a performance from my house. A live Zoom. A digital format. It would also include some objects that are not live, and by objects I mean pieces of animation and design. Recordings. It’s interesting, when something is recorded I don’t think of it as me anymore. – Lois Brown, Invisible Me playwright/performer 

EMMA:

I think some of the false starts in terms of what kind of animation or technology was needed, what effect we were looking for…this was the dramaturgy. It was trying something and figuring out that wasn’t the way we wanted it to go. That also helped to simplify the text. It helped me figure out the order of everything. I do think that one of the biggest lessons for me was keeping the playwriting at the centre of it. I think reading the script every day recentered us because you didn’t come in with any idea of what the play was, but more of a concrete understanding of the play that day. – Director and Dramaturg for Invisible Me 

On the Zaboon process 

LEILA:

I think there is a lack of preciousness with digital dramaturgy. With kind of throwing stuff at the wall. It forces us to do the doing rather than the talking, which I think is great. It’s more than visual. It’s six senses. I operate with the six senses in a way where I try to create an ecosystem. I like to revisit Small Planet by Eleanor Fuchs to discover the six senses of a piece. To explore the initial impulses. I think digital dramaturgy is a tool. A tool for the six senses. –Leila Ghaemi, Dramaturg on Zaboon

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS

Director/Creator Amanda Smith in the Blood Moon process 

After reviewing observations, conversations, questions, and prototypes from the DDIS project, the following two key dramaturgical findings emerged in connection with the “process beast” that exists at the intersection of digital and other forms of dramaturgical creation practices: experimental and holistic collaboration, and sensory worldbuilding.

We observed that experimental and holistic collaboration was explored through: 1) a lack of scarcity made possible through institutional support and funding 2) rapid prototyping (with writing and digital design) that embraced improvisation, failure, experimentation and trial and error 3) a shared vocabulary and group cohesion established through room set-up, choice of collaborators, and a structured container for experimentation and ongoing conversations before, during and after the workshops 4) fluidity between roles and disciplines: a willingness to work across disciplinary and role-oriented codes towards the goal of each collaborator working dramaturgically. 

We observed that sensory worldbuilding was explored through: 

Spatial thinking and memory as story structure

1) an architectural way of thinking about story (plot, character, setting theme, style, form and stage space. For ex: exploring the layering of 2D and 3D spaces 2) a third space: an exploration of the storied third space that occurs when digital and analog stage spaces overlap, collaborate and interact 3) illusion, memory and perspective: explorations of memory, the subconscious and the spectrum of reality and the surreal. 

Visual and auditory landscapes as story structure

We observed that the collaboration between digital dramaturgy and other forms of dramaturgical collaboration catalyzed a unique visual and sonic vocabulary that could be used as the building blocks for story or as prompts for collaboration in the creation work. Some of the observed visual/narrative techniques involved in that storied world-building are:

1) juxtaposition: of visual media, digital and analog stage space, and sound 2) imagery, colour and metaphor as story through visual and audio media 3) rhythm, pattern and repetition through visuals and sound as a narrative structure 

These observations represent tentacles of the beast and are by no means conclusive.
We hope that they continue to offer a container or touchpoint for future dialogue about process. 

On attempting to articulate digital dramaturgy:

These words point at articulating, but not too cleanly or narrowly defining, digital
dramaturgy. This is an ongoing articulation. A living list of possibilities. This text was built by
researcher Erin Lindsay in response to the DDIS process.

Digital dramaturgy is…

a rich dramaturgical approach to sensory world building

a generative, spatial, visual and auditory method for holistic experimentation

an often design-based prompt for collaboration, creation and a lateral way of working

a sometimes non-verbal way to engage with a play and creator or collaborative team

a space for exploration of texture, genre, architecture, emotion, theme, plot, structure;

all the interlocking elements of a play or performance experience

a way to explore the relationship between form, medium, media and writing

a proposal, a challenge, a collaboration, a process and an observation

a mycelium network of evolving relationships, questions and conversations

a reaching and tentacled way of working, creating and seeing

Thank you for exploring process with us.

We will be sharing the full website with more research questions, findings and digital archives in the near future, so stay tuned!

Sincerely,
A dramaturgical nerd.

The Digital Dramaturgy Integration Strategy was made possible through the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Canada Council logo



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Young Creators Unit 2026-2027 Call for Applications

A graffiti-like background of blue, turquoise, and black. On the left side, the words Young Creators Unit 2026-2027, Call for Applications. On the top right, the PWM logo in white.
Calling all emerging playwrights and theatre creators: The 2026-2027 Young Creators’ Unit is now accepting applications!

Offering theatremakers innovative workshops, 1:1 consultations, and group activities that focus on creation, dramaturgy, and professional development, applications for the 12th edition of the Young Creators Unit program are now open!

Application deadline: Sunday, July 19, 2026, 11:59PM EST.
All applicants will receive a response by August 16, 2026. 

If you have any questions regarding accessibility, require assistance with this application, or would like to discuss alternative methods of applying, please contact accessibility@playwrights.ca.

“I’ve loved being in this year’s Young Creators Unit. Leila facilitates our cohort with a fervent loyalty towards our plays and what our writing wants to say. Here I have learned to revere my creative impulses and to lean on my peers’ expertise. Leila, the other YCU playwrights, and the theatre professionals I’ve met during our outings have made me feel like my play has found its home in this city. Thank you PWM!”

— Hanesa Banks (’26)

About the Young Creators Unit

Are you a theatre maker under 30, looking to hone your craft in storytelling? Do you have a brilliant idea for a play, but are not sure how to get it on paper? Or maybe you need feedback and guidance to elevate your first draft to the next level?

If any of this sounds like you, then PWM’s Young Creators Unit is the place to develop your craft. This creative incubator supports emerging artists to find their voice, make connections, and learn new storytelling skills, all while developing the practical skills they need to establish a successful career in the arts. All you need to apply is an idea, question, theme, image, or more! 

The YCU will once again be led by PWM’s Artistic Producer & YCU Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi. From September 2026 -June 2027, participants will receive 1:1 dramaturgical sessions with Leila, mentorships with industry professionals, and group writing sessions and workshops. YCU participants are also provided professional development resources and opportunities, such as grant writing support and guidance, access to local theatre experiences and performances, and networking opportunities. 

The program will run from September 9th, 2026, to June 2nd, 2027. Group sessions will take place weekly on Wednesdays from 5-8PM in the PWM Creative Studio, located at 7250 Rue Clark, suite #103.

If you are interested in learning more about the Young Creators Unit and PWM, or about the YCU 2026-2027 Application process, please email Leila at leila@playwrights.ca.

PWM welcomes all applications. While recognizing that the identity of each person is fundamentally plural, and multidimensional, we strongly encourage applications from artists who are: Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit), Black, POC, racialized (including recent immigrants), 2SLGBTQQIPAA+, neurodivergent, living with disability, chronic illness and/or chronic pain. PWM is strongly committed to supporting a wide range of cultural identities and lived experiences, therefore we encourage applicants to self-identify in their application if they are comfortable doing so.

Eligibility 

  • Be an artist aged 30 or younger;
  • Be a Canadian citizen or hold permanent residency status in Canada;
  • Be located in Montreal and able to attend sessions in person; 
  • Be available for the whole program, September 2026 – June 2027;
  • Be willing to participate in group activities during the program.

How to Apply

If you are interested in applying, please fill out this Google Form by 11:59 PM EST by July 19th, 2026. Your application will require the following information:

  • A brief bio of yourself, and your experience as a storyteller/creator.
  • A brief description of the work you would like to develop (writing and / or artistic samples are encouraged).
  • A brief description sharing why you would like to join the Unit, and what you hope to get out of the experience.
  • Any additional writing and/or artistic materials you would like to have considered with your application. This can be a current script excerpt, mood boards, music playlists, past work, etc.

This helps us get to know you and what sparks your interest as an artist and how you might fit into the YCU ensemble!

Due to the high level of interest in the YCU each year, we will be holding interviews with some of the potential candidates  to learn more about their interests and goals, and what they hope to gain from the program. This is also a great opportunity for you to ask us questions! Please note that not all applicants will be contacted for an interview, and that an interview does not indicate whether or not you have been accepted into the program.

The number of Cohort members we can accept are limited. Participants are expected to attend the group sessions, 1:1 meetings,  as well as commit to additional self-directed activities. Please only apply to the Unit if you are able to commit to the full intensive schedule. All applicants will be informed of their results by Sunday, August 16th, 2026.  Click here to preview the application form as a PDF.

The Selection Process

Once the application period is closed, all applications will be reviewed and considered by a selection committee. Please note that there are many factors that go into the selection process, such as group dynamics and the range of experiences and points of views within the Cohort. Decisions will not be based on training or competencies; we therefore encourage applications from all backgrounds and experience levels.

If you have any questions, please contact YCU’s Lead Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi, at leila@playwrights.ca. 

YCU is led by PWM’s Artistic Producer & Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi.

Leila Ghaemi (she/her) is a proud Persian dramaturg and theatre educator.  She received her BFA in Theatre Arts and MFA in Theatre Education & Direction from Boston University’s School of Theatre, where she trained in dramaturgical methods. Having spent over a decade working for various theatre organizations in the United States and Canada, Leila has been fortunate to evolve her artistic practices professionally and academically, specifically in new play development. Her artistic pillars include MENASA representation, radical theatre empowerment, and creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces on and off stage. Leila also serves on the board for Persephone Productions Montreal. When not dreaming about theatre, her world revolves around her pit-pug puppy Gigi and her two very sassy cats: Leslie & Hiccup.

Learn more about the Young Creators Unit.

The YCU is made possible through the generous support of our funders:

Wordmark of the Government of Canada


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