The 2022-2023 Young Creators Unit Showcase

PWM’s Young Creators Unit is now in its 8th year, featuring an exciting group of Montréal theatre artists.

With a focus on building a home for artistic risk and discovery, this year’s YCU unit is preparing for our annual showcase! The private event will take place on Thursday, May 25th and Friday, May 26th at 7PM, each night showcasing a different group of artists.

You can go into more details on each cohort member by expanding the information beneath their names.

Due to limited seating capacity, this year’s showcase will be a closed event. To learn more about our showcase, or to be added to an attendance wait list, please contact our Programs Coordinator at alanna@playwrights.ca

Thank you for supporting the exciting new works of emerging artists!


THURSDAY, MAY 25

JEONG UNG SONG (he/him) | MISO

Jeong Ung Song (he/him)

Email: jeong.song97@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

• Cultural memories

• Asian-American diaspora

• Intercultural relationships

“My mom’s not a racist, she’s just… overly careful.”

bio:

Jeong Ung Song (부천송씨) is an emerging theatre director, playwright and producer currently residing in Montreal (Tiohtià꞉ke). He was born in Bucheon, South Korea and has an artistic background in Edmonton (amiskwaciwâskahikan). A recipient of Cultural Diversity in the Arts grant by the Edmonton Arts Council, he is interested in developing stories within his cultural memories. In the past, he directed Star Spawn by Erik Richards (ReadyGo Theater), CHANZO by Mukonzie Musyoki (ReadyGo Theater), Constellations by Nick Payne (ReadyGo Theater), Bash’d: A Gay Rap Opera by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow (Flaming Peanuts Theater). 

He is also producing several independent films which aims to decolonize love through Asian-Canadian perspectives. In his spare time, Jeong Ung studies neuroscience at McGill University.

Play description:

The story of a Korean American woman named Miso during the LA riots of 1992. Witness the event of the riots through Miso’s interaction with her Black boyfriend and her overprotective Korean mother. Experience frustration, solidarity, and marginalization of being a minority in the 1990s. By reflecting on the relationship between Korean and Black Americans during the 1990s Miso asks: what changed? What did not?

CASEY ECKER (she/her) | EMMA

Casey Ecker (she, her)

Email: caseymecker@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

• Humour in truth

• Immigration

• Unpacking privilege

• Being vulnerable.

bio:

Casey Marie Ecker is a queer multidisciplinary artist and performer. An American transplant with a passion/history in the arts! 

play description:

A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s infamous matchmaker. The story follows our title character Emma as she navigates her way through privilege and the bilingual advertisement world of Montreal, Quebec. 

“This is Emma Woodhouse’s world. We just live in it.”

CORBEAU SANDOVAL (he/they) | IT STICKS TO THE RYVER

Corbeau Sandoval (he/they)

Email: andreas.scal@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

They aim to create pieces that are effervescent, grounded, jubilant, and focused on changing assumed realities.

“Twas some time ago, upon this growing field at the peak of morn. Thou were’t spread unto the grass, laying, basking in light, albeit not properly as thy visage was smack’d upon the earth.”

BIO:

Born, raised, and based in Montreal (the unceded and traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka known as Tiohtiá:ke), Corbeau Sandoval is a multidisciplinary theatre artist and alumni of Dawson’s Professional Theatre program. An emerging artist of the industry, they’re exploring and solidifying their craft as a storyteller in many facets. They’ve composed original music for  After Fuenteovejuna, showcased their play Off-ish through NTS’s public playwrighting class, produced two short skits for Dawson’s medical symposium, and featured in various shows such as AUTS Mcgill’s Hair the Musical, Lucy Gibb Smith’s original podcast Darkstead, and the original short film Midnight Dove. With this year’s Young Creator’s Unit, they are excited to showcase their newest piece It Sticks to the Ryver

PLAY DESCRIPTION:

Born, raised, and based in Montreal (the unceded and traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka known as Tiohtiá:ke), Corbeau Sandoval is a multidisciplinary theatre artist and alumni of Dawson’s Professional Theatre program. An emerging artist of the industry, they’re exploring and solidifying their craft as a storyteller in many facets. They’ve composed original music for  After Fuenteovejuna, showcased their play Off-ish through NTS’s public playwrighting class, produced two short skits for Dawson’s medical symposium, and featured in various shows such as AUTS Mcgill’s Hair the Musical, Lucy Gibb Smith’s original podcast Darkstead, and the original short film Midnight Dove. With this year’s Young Creator’s Unit, they are excited to showcase their newest piece It Sticks to the Ryver

ARASH EBRAHIMI (he/him) | A RASH

Arash Ebrahimi (he/him)

Email: arash.himi@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

• Intercultural dialogue

• Exploring styles

• Engaging with the audience

BIO:

Arash Ebrahimi is an actor, singer and an upcoming playwright. He is an alumnus of the theatre program at Dawson College (Dome), where he was the recipient of the Victor Knight Memorial Scholarship for Perseverance. Arash was exposed to theatre at a very young age in Iran. However, he soon faced the political obstacles of becoming a performer in his country. At the age of 17, He made the tough decision of leaving his family behind to pursue his passion. He found the Montreal theatre community very welcoming and it did not take him long to feel home.

PLAY DESCRIPTION:

Arash, a struggling actor determined to make it big. His life takes an unexpected turn when he meets the love of his life. But as fate would have it, their love story is nothing short of a rollercoaster ride filled with laughter, tears, and a few twists and turns.

“I’m gonna tell you a secret boy. In this business, if you wanna make it, you gotta either sing, dance or be funny. You can’t sing for shit. You probably dance as good as you sing. And you’re boring as fuck which means you ain’t funny.”

VALÉRIE BOISVERT (she/her) | WHO, ME?

Valerie Boisvert (she/her)

Email: valerie_greenwood@hotmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

The use of comedy and psychology to explore the highs and lows of human relationships to themselves and society. 

“The reason I existed for four hundred and sixty six pages is because my life wasn’t perfect. There was always something to work on, some new objective to look forward to. That’s why the moment I got everything I wanted, you gave up on me.” 

BIO:

Valerie Boisvert is a bilingual, emerging theatre creator and actor born and raised in Montreal. Upon her graduation of Dawson’s professional theatre acting program, Valerie wrote and acted in her first play, Down the Rabbit Hole, which she produced under her theater company, The Loose Cannons at the Montreal Fringe Festival of 2022. It is under this company that she will be putting on her second Fringe play, Who, Me?, a comedic solo-show about finding one’s identity through fanfiction, which she has been developing at the YCU. Come see a small snippet of Who, Me? showcased at PWM (and then come see the full thing in June at the Montreal Fringe!). 

PLAY DESCRIPTION:

A comedic solo-show about the discovery of one’s identity through fanfiction. Valerie, amid cleaning out her childhood bedroom, finds a notebook she used to write fanfiction in as a teen. All’s well until the notebook comes to life, bringing alive all the characters Valerie has written in her past, and they’ve got quite the bone to pick with her.


FRIDAY, MAY 26

TYSON FRALEIGH (they/them) | THE MENTORSHIP

Tyson Fraleigh (they/them)

Email: tysonfraleigh@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

• Social commentary

• Satirical exploration

• Introspective horror

BIO:

Tyson Fraleigh is a writer and playwright based in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). Their work focuses on the mundane horrors that fill our day-to-day lives and how to survive them. Their past work includes The Mentorship (2022), Only Human (2019), Carry On (2018), and Swimming Solo (2017). Their artistic pillars are research-informed creation, social commentary (satirical or serious), and taking the piss out of stupid ideas. 

PLAY DESCRIPTION:

Indie film director Laurie is ready to enter the big leagues. When she is invited to dinner with legendary director-producer Charlie Jones, Laurie is ready to do anything to impress. But when Laurie and her partner Harper arrive at Charlie’s home, the night quickly descends from a simple interview into mind games and abuse. In the face of endless cruelties, will Laurie end this twisted cycle… or continue it?

That’s why you are a director, Laurie. Because the world pushed you and pushed you and pushed you, but you kept getting back up. You can only be genius if you are flayed alive. And now, it is our turn for butchery.”

KATHARINE DOS SANTOS (she/her) | THE LAND OF LONGER TWILIGHTS

Katherine Dos Santos (she/her)

Email: kath.a.dossantos@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

• Somatic movement

• Playwriting

• Feminist methodologies

“Why is Dad cutting down the trees? This is a good set-up we finally have going. Ken’s doing fine out there! He has shelter, you bring him food… What more could he need?”

BIO:

Katharine dos Santos (she/her/elle) is an emerging writer, performer, and theatre-maker based in Tiotià:ke/Montreal. Originally from southern Ontario, she spent her childhood immersed in imagined worlds amidst stacks of library books, eventually stumbling into live performance, where she was struck by the joy and community that arises out of creative collaboration.

As a queer and biracial second-generation settler, Katharine is passionate about social change and decolonization and has worked in educational, psychosocial, and agricultural contexts. She holds a B.A. in English literature from Western University and has also trained in performance creation at Concordia University. 

PLAY DESCRIPTION:

A family drama that examines the needs of an intergenerational intercultural immigrant family, the effects of disability on a family dynamic, and the childhood loss of innocence. It is also about the unlived lives adults carry, the need for belonging, and how a family responds to circumstances beyond their control. It is told in a Trinidadian dialect in the style of Canadian “kitchen-sink realism.”

ELLA WILLIAMS (she/her) | MELT

Ella Williams (she/her)

Email: ellacaitlinwilliams@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

• Playwriting

• Dramaturgy

• Collective Creation

• The Six Viewpoints

BIO:

Ella grew up in central Vermont. After studying playwriting at The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Concordia University in Montreal. Ella is interested in applying feminist methodology in the performance creation process and likes to consider herself an emerging theatre artist. She is particularly excited about new play development, non-linear strategies in dramaturgy, Authentic Movement, and sound design.

PLAY DESCRIPTION:

The story of the seven people whose lives are changed when the ghost of an anarchist granite surfacer crawls out of a washing machine and begins to cause trouble in the town he worked and died in. The story of the love that invoked this ghost and the small doomsday cult the ghost will eventually help dismantle. Melt is an inquiry into what love means under capitalism. 

“Like, for forty years almost all of the granite workers died extremely young because they were exposed to so much dust that it literally killed them. And the granite shed bosses refused to do anything even though the unions were organizing and organizing and everyone knew exactly why all these people were dying!”

KAY KOMIZARA (she/her) | AFTER THE ORGY

Kay Komizara (she/her)

Email: kay.sophia.komizara@gmail.com


Artistic Pillars:

• Anarchist

• Cybernetic

• Dionesian

“I’m sure you’ve been honest, too. You ever heard the expression “glass walls make for poor neighbors?” Maybe, some things aren’t meant to be transparent.”

BIO:

Kay Komizara is a Tio’Tia:Ke(Montreal) based, self-taught theatre creator, improviser, writer, and director who has been producing shows since 2013. She draws inspiration from unconventional mediums and her anarchist politics to create effective stories that inspire others to create their own. In 2019 Kay was diagnosed with stage four cancer, and through chemotherapy she first conceptualized what would become After the Orgy: A Hyperreal Tragedy, her most ambitious work to date. You can see her directing talents in Death of a Starman at this year’s Montreal Fringe festival. 

Play description:

To capture the essence of cancer and hyperreality, After the Orgy is itself a copy of a copy. Remixing characters from played-to-death tragedies like Antigone and Othello in a neo-mythic sci-fi future. The story takes place when the world’s first trillionaire and their company, InterNXT, plan to end reality by launching a new version of the internet that can manipulate all connected systems and data. To commemorate this event, they host an end-of-reality party. However, plans go awry as the party turns into an end-of-the-world orgy and the detective hired to track down threats is seduced by a terrorist.

Headshots by Emelia Hellman.

This program is facilitated by YCU Dramaturg, Leila Ghaemi.

Leila Ghaemi (she/elle) is a first generation Iranian-Canadian theatre maker. She recently returned to her hometown of Montreal, Quebec after a decade of working for various theater companies in the United States, including American Conservatory Theater, New Repertory Theatre, and Boston Playwright’s Theatre. Leila received her BFA in Theatre Arts and MFA in Theatre Education & Direction from Boston University’s School of Theatre. She currently serves as co-artistic director of Persephone Productions and teaches theatre at The Study School. Leila’s specialties include theatre education, direction, and new play development. She is thrilled to be joining the PWM team and continue using her various platforms to advocate for intersectionality and empowerment in the arts. 


ThE YOUNG CREATORS UNIT is financially supported by
Canadian Heritage
Zeller family foundation

Applications are open for our first Cross Cultural Adaptation Lab

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal is excited to announce a new program for practicing playwrights led by PWM dramaturg Aki Matsushita: the Cross Cultural Adaptation Lab


Aki  is a biracial, Japanese-Canadian (nisei, second generation) dramaturg and arts educator.

She  is fascinated by intercultural performance, as it fosters an exchange and seeks out connection between seemingly disparate entities, looking at the world through the lens of wanting to understand each other’s humanity across geographic, cultural, linguistic, temporal and cultural boundaries.

Find out more about Aki here.


The intention of this lab is to form a working group of four playwrights residing in Montreal, to  create cross-cultural adaptations of published plays (from the public domain) into their own specific cultural context* in English. Exploring different approaches to adapting cross-culturally, the writers will develop their plays through a combination of group discussions, in which work and feedback are shared, as well as one-on-one dramaturgy, and exploratory workshops as the work evolves over an extended period.

*For example, your cultural context may refer to ethnicity, ability, gender but is not limited to these examples.

We are seeking play into play adaptation proposals from playwrights with projects that are in the germination stage. 

Selected participants are supported with an honorarium of $1200. 

This lab is created with the support of Centaur Theatre. 


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+, 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.

If you have any questions about the Cross Cultural Adaptation Lab, please contact Aki Matsushita at aki@playwrights.ca.

If you have any questions regarding accessibility, or require assistance with the form, please contact Heather accessibility@playwrights.ca.


How to Apply

Fill out this Google Form by May 15, 2023. Your application will require the following information:

  • Your name, pronouns and contact information 
  • A description of your interest in the Lab (PDF, video or audio, maximum length 1000 words); 
  • A description of your proposed cross-cultural play adaptation (PDF, video or audio, maximum 1000 words/2-minute video or audio) with 
  • A CV (2 pages maximum) and a bio (500 words maximum);
  • A copy of the text you are adapting from
    (The source material may include published plays from anywhere in the world that exist in English or French translation and that are in the public domain).
  • A copy of your most recent play that has been workshopped, presented or published.

Group sessions will take place on Wednesdays from 5pm-8pm every 6 weeks for up to 2 years, starting July 12th, 2023. The lab will meet in PWM’s studio at 7250 Rue Clark in Montreal. To learn about what it’s like navigating our space, click here.

Please only apply to the Lab if you can commit to the schedule. All applicants will receive a response by June 12th, 2023

Click here to preview the application form as a PDF.

Selection Criteria

An internal committee will be reading the applications and selecting the participants for the Lab. There are many factors that go into the selection process in addition to the proposal such as group dynamics and the range of experience within the group. 

The 2023 Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency is now accepting applications.

The Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency is a dual-lingual residency that welcomes writers from across the country to Gros Morne, Newfoundland and Labrador.

This is a Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) and Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) program, 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.

Les candidats souhaitant postuler à la résidence d’auteurs dramatiques Gros Morne en français doivent se rendre sur le site web du CEAD et faire application auprès d’eux.

Application deadline: May 22nd, 2023
Selected applicants will be contacted by July, 2023.


About the Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency

The Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency will bring together seven playwrights living in Canada / on Turtle Island over a twelve-day period, from October 12 to 23, 2023. This unique dual-lingual residency is offered by two national organizations, PWM and CEAD,  in partnership with Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. It will take place at the Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station in Norris Point, located in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador.

English language playwrights should apply through PWM and French language playwrights through the CEAD. These two organizations will consider applications from across the country and select three English and three French applications. A seventh spot is reserved for a playwright from Newfoundland and Labrador working in English. 

The residency will be led by Fatma Sarah Elkashef, Artistic Director of PWM, Aki Matsushita, dramaturg at PWM, Sasha Dion, dramaturg at CEAD, and by Robert Chafe, Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. The residency is an opportunity for solo writing, punctuated with moments of exchange and reading work in progress as a group. The host dramaturgs are available to read your work and engage in one-on-one conversations centered around your process and questions.

The Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency provides playwrights with transportation, accommodation at Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station (private bedroom and bathroom), meals, an honorarium of $800.00, and dramaturgical support.


How to Apply

You can apply for the 2023 Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency via our Google form, by May 22nd, 2023. Audio and video answers to some of the questions in the form are also welcomed. 

In the form, you’ll be asked to provide the following information:

  • Your name, pronouns and contact information; 
  • Geographical location you will be departing from to get to Gros Morne;
  • A statement of your interest in the residency and how it will benefit your process (written, video or audio); 
  • A description of the play in progress (written, video or audio);
  • An excerpt of the play in progress (10 – 12 pages);
  • A CV (2 pages maximum) and a bio;
  • A copy of your last published, workshopped or produced play.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Selection will be made by a committee set up by PWM and CEAD. All applicants will be notified during July 2023.  

If you have any questions regarding the Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency, please contact heather@playwrights.ca.

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.

Click here to preview the application form as a PDF.


Eligibility

  • Be a playwright, writing in English, and have had at least one dramatic work workshopped, published, or professionally produced;
  • The play should ideally be in the early stages of development (first draft or slightly beyond);
  • Be available for the whole residency;
  • Be willing to participate in group activities prepared during the residency;
  • For playwrights writing in French, please visit the CEAD website. Please note that the CEAD only accepts applications from their members.

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+, 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.


Schedule for the Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency

October 12, 2023

Travel via plane and taxi to Norris Point, Newfoundland and Labrador (anyone departing West of Ontario will have to add a day of travel).

PWM organizes the travel for the artists, from their point of departure to the residency, and back again. 

October 13-22, 2023 

  • Unstructured writing time at Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station;
  • Individual sessions with residency dramaturgs as determined in collaboration with the playwright;
  • Daily sixty-minute group meetings to read and discuss the process;
  • 2 presentations by local artists; 
  • Shared catered dinner every evening;
  • A public reading of excerpts from the plays in progress with the local community.

October 23, 2022

Departure for home.

Places to create during the Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency

Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station

Since 2002, the Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station, located on the magnificent west coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, has had the primary mission of expanding knowledge in marine ecology. In addition, the station also engages in community and artistic activities. Nestled in the small coastal community of Norris Point and with breathtaking views, it is equipped with laboratories, offices, a library, a multimedia theatre, an aquarium, and an attached building with individual bedrooms. 

The residence is wheelchair accessible. However, the library and theatre space at the Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station, which is often used by the playwrights, requires the participant in a wheelchair to leave the residence, travel across the parking lot, into the main lobby entrance to access the library/theatre space.


Gros Morne National Park

Soaring fjords and moody mountains tower above a diverse panorama of beaches and bogs, forests and barren cliffs. Shaped by colliding continents and grinding glaciers, the ancient landscape of Gros Morne national park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Logo of the Cole Foundation

Queer Reading Series 2023

We are delighted to announce the return of The Queer Reading Series, produced by Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal in partnership with Centaur Theatre, featuring projects created in PWM’s Young Creators Unit.


Taking place on April 28th and 29th at Centaur Theatre, this two-day event will feature public readings of the works of two emerging playwrights, curated by Jesse Stong. Our panel discussion will explore the interplay between 2SLGBTQQIPAA+ identities and art-making, providing a space for thought-provoking conversations and insightful commentary.

Join us for a meaningful gathering that celebrates the power of queer storytelling in the performing arts. We invite you to engage with the complexities of queerness and artistic expression, and to be inspired by the innovative voices of tomorrow’s queer playwrights.

Visit Centaur Theatre’s website to book your free tickets.

If you have the means to support the QRS, donations will be accepted at the door.


Schedule

Friday, April 28 at 7:30PM:

Three Halves Make a Whole,
by Camille Mankumah (she/her).
Directed by Warona Setshwaelo.

With Alyssa Angelucci-Wall and Riel Reddick-Stevens.

Two sisters wait in an airport lounge. Thirty minutes seem like an eternity as they contemplate the future and the inevitable changes a new arrival will bring. A play about family, race, self-identity, and the space in-between. Three Halves Make a Whole explores the possibility of reconciliation and the hope for a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The playwright wishes to thank Deborah Forde and the 2019 – 2020 cohort of the Fireworks Playwrights Program at Teesri Duniya Theatre, where this piece underwent initial development.


Saturday, April 29 at 2:30PM:

Queer Leadership Panel, Queer Performance: from the Underground to Centre Stage.

A community discussion with panelists Kyng Rose, Richard Burnett, and Alex Tigchelaar, moderated by Jesse Stong.


Saturday, April 29 at 7:30PM:

the apostles of falling off the bone,
by kurichka (they/he).
Co-directed by Corrina Hodgson, Alexei Perry Cox and kurichka.

With Anna Morreale and Faïz/a Boukaria.

Two lovers, SYNTH and GALINA, untangle the enigmatic nature of their (profound) love, (complex) existence, (ghostly) past, and (uncertain) future in an attempt to gain agency over their stories and legacies. Incorporating tapestry, music, movement, and interwoven tales of queerness, THE APOSTLES OF FALLING OFF THE BONE explores the necessity of transforming spaces for lesbians to challenge our erasure, center tenderness and growth, honour/protect our sacred homes and histories, and break through heteronormative narrative conventions.

Personal Statement from Jesse Stong

I am thrilled for this year’s Queer Reading Series, which features two captivating plays from former participants of the Young Creators Unit. These plays wonderfully explore the notions of time, space, and identity. The theme of this year’s series is all about in-betweenness, which invites us to examine those liminal moments that open up when we explore queer identities. 

I am particularly proud of our talented playwrights, who have poured their hearts and souls into these works. Their innovative and thought-provoking plays are a testament to the future of queer storytelling. I am confident that their works will inspire and engage audiences in deep and meaningful ways, offering a fresh perspective on the complexities of queer identity.

I want to thank everyone for coming out to support these amazing playwrights as they step into the spotlight. This is a rare opportunity to witness the emergence of the next generation of queer storytellers. Let us celebrate their talents and encourage them to continue pushing boundaries and creating transformative works of art.


About the Playwrights

Camille Mankumah is a multidisciplinary storyteller whose work draws inspiration from the inner and outer lives of women. A graduate of the Communication Studies department at Concordia University, she is currently completing her MFA in Scriptwriting and Story Design at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Image of Camille

kurichka (they/he) is an interdisciplinary artist and experimental poet playwright currently living in Tio’tia:ke. they feel an inner pull toward the stars, toward the future, at all times.


About the Directors

Warona Setshwaelo is a storyteller, mother and activist. Since moving to Tiohtià:ke (Montréal) 16 years ago from Southern Afrika, Warona has immersed herself in the theatre community, working with companies such as  Geordie Theatre, Black Theatre Workshop, The Segal Centre, Tarragon, Centaur, Royal Manitoba Theatre Company in Winnipeg and the Belfry in Victoria. As well working in films, TV shows and video games, she is currently the Co-Manager of the Artist Mentorship Program at BTW.

Corrina Hodgson is a QueerCrip disability advocate, playwright, dramaturg and uninvited settler living in  Tiohti:áke.  Corrina specializes in subverting traditional structure to enable playwrights who belong to Equity Priority groups to create stories and characters with full autonomy and agency. Her dramaturgical practice focuses particularly on working with other Queer and/or disabled writers and mentoring them through the productions of their first scripts.

Alexei Perry Cox is a scholar and writer whose work engages the enduring global effects of colonization through attention to ecology, race, gender and sexuality. She works and teaches across fields of literature, decolonial studies, experimental feminisms and queer studies, the humanities, and creative writing. She is the author of PLACE (Noemi Press 2022), Under Her (Insomniac Press 2015) and three chapbooks, Finding Places to Make Places (Vallum 2019), Re:Evolution (Gap Riot Press 2020), and  Night 3 | اليوم الرابع  (Centre for Expanded Poetics 2021). Her forthcoming novella To Garden: To Grave was written in Tio’tia:ke|Montréal and Beirut.


READ MORE ABOUT THE QUEER READING SERIES.
THIS PROGRAM IS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY:
Canada Council logo
CALQ_logo
CAM Logo

Interdisciplinary Dramaturgy Lab with Studio 303

APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 24, 2023, 11:59 PM.

SCHEDULE

Dates: April 17th-21st, 2023 (5-days)
Time: 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM each day at Studio 303

FEE

As this Lab is primarily offered by Studio 303 as part of their workshop series, there is an associated fee of $85. Those selected for participation will be required to complete the Studio 303 registration form and pay at that time. Please be in touch if the fee presents a major barrier to applying.

Studio 303 and PWM invites theatre, dance and circus makers, dramaturgs, and interdisciplinary creators to the fifth edition of the Interdisciplinary Dramaturgy Lab. 

Facilitated by Kathy Casey (dance), Dana Dugan (circus) and Fatma Sarah Elkashef (theatre), this 5-day lab is a space for artists from various disciplines to exchange dramaturgical tools; share challenges and experiences;  and explore how we are thinking and working dramaturgically in these interesting times.

The Lab is centered around a series of conversations anchored by the questions and interests of the participants. We share articles as prompts, engage in large and small group discussions, compile resources and share experiences as case studies to explore a variety of dramaturgical approaches.

This lab is open to theatre, dance and circus makers, dramaturgs, and interdisciplinary creators.

LOCATION

STUDIO 303
372 Sainte-Catherine St W, 
Montréal, QC
H3B 1A2

Click here for accessibility information in regards to Studio 303’s location.


HOW TO APPLY:

To apply, please send us your artistic CV/bio and a brief (1-2 paragraph) statement explaining why this lab interests you, how it is relevant to your artistic practice, and what your expectations are for this lab.

Please send your application and any questions to: helena@playwrights.ca using the subject line: Interdisciplinary Dramaturgy Lab

If you have any questions regarding accessibility, or require assistance with this application, please contact accessibility@playwrights.ca

Apply before March 23rd, 2023


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+, 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.

Workshop participants are selected based on the complementary experience and disciplines of the collective group. We encourage all levels of experience to apply.


ABOUT THE WORKSHOP LEADERS:

Kathy Casey

Artistic Director of Montréal Danse since 1996, Kathy Casey works as a dramaturge with choreographers who are rethinking and redefining what is dance. Through a process of deep questioning of performance and the body, she encourages bold ideas and discovering ways to express them and give them form. She also organizes and facilitates an annual choreographic research workshop, runs research labs and facilitates or co-facilitates dance and interdisciplinary dramaturgy workshops. In addition to her responsibilities with Montréal Danse, Kathy Casey works as an artistic advisor for several independent choreographers in Montreal.

Dana Dugan

Dana Dugan is a Montreal based artist-scholar, mother, performer, teacher, and dramaturg. She was a founding member of the Chicago Contemporary Circus Festival (Chicago, 2014-15) and CirqueOFF (Montreal, 2017). Currently, she is a member of Le PARC (Performance Arts Research Cluster) at the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology (Montreal); works as research assistant for the Dramaturgical Ecologies Research Collective (Montreal); Diasporic Dramaturgies Working Group (Montreal); and serves on the editorial board for TURBA: The Journal of Global Practices in Live Arts Curation (Montreal). Dana completed her master’s degree at Concordia University (Montreal, 2018) under fellowship as a practice-based researcher investigating her circus body as a site for cultivating critical dialogues through the concept and practice of (dis)obedience. She continues her embodied research on (dis)obedience as a doctoral candidate in the Humanities Interdisciplinary Program at Concordia University (Montreal), using the body as an interface with Performance Studies and Black Studies toward an ontogenerative disruptive, transformative and affirmative politic.

*** To honor the complexity and tensions inherent in the work and in our different racial positionings in the current socio-political climate, I take inventory and acknowledge my positionality. My body is not neutral and I reject the centrality of Whiteness. To do this, I must first locate my whiteness and acknowledge its inherent centeredness. As Dana, situated in this moment with my own embodied dramaturgy, I move though the world as a white, artist, lover, mother (fuck the rest!) toward queering Whiteness – to uncrown Whiteness and resist its re/production. 

Fatma Sarah Elkashef

Sarah is a theatre maker, primarily a dramaturg, and the Artistic Director of Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM). Prior to this Sarah worked as a freelance dramaturg in Montreal and has been a part of the evolution of numerous plays and performances. Born and raised in the U.K. to Egyptian and Dutch parents, she has been based in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) since 2010. Prior to settling in Canada, Sarah became the Senior Reader at Soho Theatre in London, U.K. after having lived and worked in New York City for more than a decade. Curious about  the creation and development process across performance disciplines, Sarah began the Interdisciplinary Writers’ Lab at PWM to explore ways of working not centered around text. At the National Theatre School of Canada she has worked as a dramaturg, teacher, and creator across programs since 2012. In 2016 she was a recipient of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas’ (LMDA) Bly Creative Fellowship Grant for artists who are creating new approaches to dramaturgy. In 2018 she co-created and co-directed a circus show for families, Eat Sweet Feet with Krin Haglund and The Radiant (TOHU). In March 2021 Sarah co-directed (with Sylvia Cloutier) an audio play Lâche pas la patate by Yvette Nolan for Imago Theatre. Sarah’s artistic preoccupations are rooted in her hybrid identity and practice, and she is excited by the possible futures for collaboration and process sharing across performance disciplines. 

Headshot photo credits: George Dutil, Dominic Brunet, Emelia Hellman


PRESENTATION IN COLLABORATION WITH
Studio 303 Logo
This workshop is financially supported by
Compétence Culture Logo

The MBA for Lefty, Anti-Capitalist Theatre Artists: staging the next act of your theatre career with Tetsuro Shigematsu

More about Exploring Practice Workshops
Application Deadline: March 17th, 2023

You’re a mid-career theatre artist, and you’ve found your voice, you have done some things.

People know who you are. But thanks to the pandemic, maybe you’re thinking about quitting the game. But there is another option. Taking your work to the next level. Not artistically, but professionally: bigger grants, more sustainable side-hustles, better press coverage, and exporting your work out of Montreal. This is a hands-on workshop for anyone who is thinking not just about their next play, but leveling up their career. Learn the tools that can keep you in the game, without losing your Marxist soul.

Participants will be encouraged to share the following for discussion within the group: a draft of a grant proposal you’re working on, an unsuccessful past grant application, or a project you are currently working on. Please note that this is not mandatory. 

The workshop is open to a broadly inclusive definition of “mid-career” artists. There’s no requirement on the number of years worked, or projects produced. Participants should have a body of work and be committed to their practice, having established a sense of their art form and voice. This workshop is not intended for recent graduates from an artistic training or BFA program.


SCHEDULE

April 17 to April 21,
1:30 PM to 5:30 PM.

In person at the PWM studio.

LOCATION

PLAYWRIGHTS’ WORKSHOP MONTRÉAL
7250 Clark Street, #103
Montréal, QC
H2R 2Y3

If you have any questions regarding accessibility, or require assistance with this application, please contact accessibility@playwrights.ca

Click here for accessibility information and video tours of our location.


HOW TO APPLY:

Applications, or questions, can be sent to helena@playwrights.ca with the subject line: Exploring Practice with Tetsuro Shigematsu. Audio and video applications are also welcomed. 

Please attach a letter of interest, as a PDF OR 1 link to an audio or video application, which includes:

1. Why you are interested in this workshop and what you hope to learn from it

2. A brief artistic biography

3. A short description of a project you’re currently working towards, developing, or looking to produce. You are also welcome to share visual aspects (photos, artwork, etc) of this project. If you are not currently working on a project, what are you hoping to work towards in the future? 

4. Whether you would be willing to share a grant proposal or current project with the group. This answer will not affect your selection for participation, but will be used to help plan the hands-on aspect of the workshop. 

Apply before March 17, 2023, at 11:59 PM


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+, 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.

Participation is free. Workshop participants are selected based on the complementary experience of the collective group. We encourage all levels of experience to apply.


ABOUT THE WORKSHOP LEADER:

Tetsurso Shigematsu

A former writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Tetsuro became the first person-of-colour to host a daily national radio program in Canada. His theatrical solo-work Empire of the Son was described by theatre critic Colin Thomas as, “one of the best shows ever to come out of Vancouver. Ever.” His other solo-work, 1 Hour Photo, was named as a finalist for the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Drama, and was the co-winner of the Holden Street Theatres’ Edinburgh Fringe Award, 2021. The Vancouver’s Georgia Straight declared him to be,  “one of the city’s best artists.” In 2018, he earned his PhD in Arts-Based Research from the University of British Columbia, and now serves as Creative Director of the Research-based Theatre Lab. Visit him at shiggy.com

Headshot photo credit: Mika Shigematsu


This workshop is financially supported by
Compétence Culture Logo