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Exploring Practice: What’s Collective?

A rectangular photo of people working together in a studio. Beneath is a photo of a studio with three windows. Layered under is a graphic of overlaying black dotted lines, folded at right angles, behind a beige backdrop. The graphic is surrounded by black horizontal lines and other circular shapes on top of a lilac background. On the side, it reads: Exploring Practice.

A workshop with Public Recordings (Toronto) exploring strategies for working collectively within the artistic practices.

Application Deadline: Sunday, FEBRUARY 18TH, 2024 AT 11:59PM EST.

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

In this ongoing project Public Recordings researches ways and means of making that promote shared agency and authorship. Using the framework of a co-facilitated workshop, each iteration of What’s Collective? stages an artistic exchange through which collective approaches to art making can be shared, questioned, and renewed. The result is a gathering in which participants can more deeply consider their own artistic contexts, and develop new questions and ideas in response to the project’s title.

What’s Collective? is co-facilitated by associate artists of Public Recordings. Participants will explore systems and strategies borrowed from past Public Recordings projects and the personal practices of the facilitators, to uncover common issues of group work. The sessions will include physical practices, sound-making, listening, discussion, reading, writing, and reflection. The goal with What’s Collective? is to hold a space in which participants can reflect on past experiences of group work, better understand and articulate important aspects of collaborative and collective practices, and discover how we can work together better–inside and outside of art making.

SCHEDULE

Monday, March 18th, 2024, 11AM to 4PM

Tuesday, March 19th, 2024, 11AM to 4PM

Wednesday, March 20th, 2024, 11AM to 4PM

Thursday, March 21th, 2024, 11AM to 4PM

In person at the PWM Studio.

LOCATION

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

HOW TO APPLY:

If you are interested in applying, please fill out this Google Form by 11:59 PM EST on Sunday, February 18th, 2024.

Application results will be shared by email the week of March 4th.

Questions about this workshop can be sent to leila@playwrights.ca with the subject line: Exploring Practice with What’s Collective?.

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.

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.

FURTHER DETAILS:

SESSION FORMAT
There are four parts to each session of What’s Collective?, each led by a different facilitator. In each session, every facilitator changes roles.  Using this rotating structure and recurrent format we hope to deepen our knowledge through a variety of modalities and histories, both shared and individual.

WARM UP
A sense-led exercise for grounding ourselves and preparing for the day. The warm-up seeks to bring us into a shared, possibly harmonious, sense of space, time, awareness and receptivity.

READING & REFLECTING
A facilitated reading of texts provided by Public Recordings, which seek to focus our attention on a specific aspect of collaborative and collective work. The reading is followed by exercises that invite reflection and discussion in smaller groups. 

TUNING
A compositional exercise that considers ensemble thinking, proximity, and sensory driven approaches to group work.

REAL QUESTIONS
A speaking composition that centers participant perspectives and allows reflection and consideration with respect to the day, our lives and each other. 

WHAT ARE YOU MAKING IS HOW YOU ARE MAKING IT
In the past Public Recordings have used the statement above to describe an important aspect of our work and the intentions behind it. The statement proposes an inseparability of processes and outcomes, and is meant to emphasize that how we are working has both aesthetic and ethical implications. We recognize that processes of artistic creation, learning, and facilitation are not distinct from issues of social justice, democracy, equity. Therefore, active listening, consent, care, and responsibility to the group are values that we will be continuously working to center throughout this project. Thank you all for joining us for this edition of What’s Collective? We’re honoured that you’ve chosen to work and learn with us.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP FACILITATORS:

Christopher Willes (in person) is a multidisciplinary artist, musician/composer, dramaturge and facilitator. Moving across experimental music/sound, dance, and visual art forms, his work focuses on the subject and practice of listening. He is an associate artist and producer with Public Recordings, and has worked in dance and theatre as a dramaturge and sound designer for over a decade. He studied music at the University of Toronto, and holds an MFA from Bard College (USA). He is currently completing a certificate program in Conflict Mediation through the University of Waterloo and he actively tries to bring this learning to his work as a facilitator.

Evan Webber (in person) is a writer, playwright, performance maker and dramaturge. His theatre, dance and interdisciplinary projects explore the limits and potentials of shared experience and common narratives. Evan’s an associate artist and producer with Public Recordings and studied acting at the National Theatre of School of Canada. From 2014-17 he was curator and facilitator of the HATCH performing arts residency at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre.

Brendan Jensen (in person) is a dancer, choreographer and teacher who lives and works in Tkaronto-Toronto. He is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada and has worked with many dance artists and companies including the Toronto Dance Theatre. Brendan’s artistic work has been presented at P.S. we are all here, Flow Chart and the Fluid Festival. He was a recipient of the DanceWeb Europe scholarship in conjunction with the ‘2008 Impulstanz’ festival in Vienna, Austria. He is an associate artist with Public Recordings. His current research investigates ‘practice as performance’, in relation to his work as a dance and movement teacher, and his ongoing training in the Alexander Technique. 

Bee Pallomina (remotely) is a dance artist making and performing work for stage, installation, film/video and puppets. Bee’s work often explores themes of relationship, identity and belonging and her practice is centered on movement, care and the everyday. She is an artist, educator and mom. She is an associate artist with Public Recordings and an active performer and collaborator who has worked with many choreographers over the years. She also has an active teaching practice and is certified to teach Open Source Forms, and Modo, Yin and Restorative Yoga. She is a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, holds an MFA in choreography from York University, and is currently studying Expressive Arts Therapy.

Germaine Liu (remotely)  is a scenario-maker and percussionist based in Tkaronto-Toronto (born in Hong Kong). Liu is interested in exploring and sharing things she finds joyful in collaborative settings, with hopes that participants are open and willing to participate. Her work explores tactile, movement, sonic and physical explorations of found objects and percussion. She has composed solo and ensemble works and is a co-founder, along with Parmela Attariwala and Nicole Rampersaud, of Understory––a web-based, inter-provincial series dedicated to showcasing improvising artists working across Canada and to building a network between the artists and their audiences.

About Public Recordings:

Public Recordings is an artist-led collective based in Toronto. We develop and present hypotheses about group work using dance, theatre, music, publication and other collective gestures. And our work has been shown and distributed in theatres, art galleries, museums, bars, clubs, civic, outdoor and digital spaces across Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia.

Public Recordings is a non-profit, registered charity. Founded in 2003, the challenges and possibilities of collaboration and shared leadership have been a perennial subject, touching all of the work we do––within artistic projects and in the evolving structure of the organization itself. In 2015 Public Recordings officially adopted its current organizational model: an interdisciplinary collective led by its associate artists, two of whom also work as producers and lead administrators. Working and managing resources collectively, this team supports each other to produce their work together, and help cultivate new projects.

Artistic Producers: Evan Webber, Christopher Willes. Associate Artists: Brendan Jensen, Bee Pallamino, Germaine Liu, Evan Webber, and Christopher Willes. Board of Directors: Chris Dupuis , Lee Henderson, Lauren Vandervoort. Design: Jeremy McCormick. Bookkeeping: Emma Walker. Public Recordings was founded in 2003 by choreographer Ame Henderson and new media artist Daniel Arcé.

For More information: publicrecordings.org

LEARN MORE ABOUT EXPLORING PRACTICE WORKSHOPS

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THIS WORKSHOP IS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY
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Germination with Kalale Dalton-Lutale and Gillian Clark

More about Exploring Practice Workshops

Application Deadline: Sunday, December 17TH, 2023 AT 11:59PM EST.

Sometimes the hardest step in a project is the beginning. You have an idea but it’s based on a tiny kernel, unshakeable feeling, something that is indescribable. You know there’s something in there, but it’s hard to get from a to b. Germination is a 5 day workshop designed to take your idea to the next stages of development, whether that be putting pen to paper, starting to gather a team, or finding a medium that can best support your idea. Germination is for collectively dreaming, to nourish you for the future steps of your project.

Kalale Dalton-Lutale and Gillian Clark will lead participants through collective exercises to support idea sharing and world building. This is a collaborative workshop to get your idea off the ground. Germination is looking for participants who are eager to share their ideas and work collectively to aid others in allowing their projects to grow.

This workshop is designed to support the often lonely initial stages of development. Five meetings will offer you tools to allow your idea to grow some roots and be in community with other collaborators.

SCHEDULE

Monday, January 29th: 1-4PM

Tuesday, January 30th: 10AM-1PM

Wednesday, January 31st: 10AM-1PM

Thursday, February 1st: 10AM-1PM

Friday, February 2nd: 10AM-1PM

In person at the PWM Studio.

LOCATION

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

HOW TO APPLY:

If you are interested in applying, please fill out this Google Form by 11:59 PM EST on Sunday, December 17th, 2023.

All application results will be shared by email the week of January 15th, after the selection process is completed.

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.

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 LEADERS:

Gillian Clark is a disabled multidisciplinary theatre creator and the artistic co-director of Keep Good (Theatre) Company. She is a settler of British descent, with a smile that consumes most of her face, resembling a Troll Doll, and scars that cover most of her legs, resembling birch trees. She currently resides in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal, with a large part of her heart in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Gillian is a graduate of the National Theatre School’s playwriting program and aims to create with joy, innovation and risk. Her plays include: Trojan Girls and the Outhouse of Atreus (Outside the March, Factory Theatre, Neworld Theatre, The National Arts Centre), POOF, (Geordie Theatre), The Ruins (Two Planks and a Passion Theatre), Let’s Try This Standing and Adventures (Keep Good (Theatre) Company). She has held residencies with Nightswimming, Outside the March, 2b theatre and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre. Gillian is grateful for everyone who has intersected and shaped the Germination community!

Photo Credit: Fortunat Nadima Nadima

Kalale Dalton-Lutale is a Black queer performance maker and dramaturge from Tkaronto/Toronto. Her work embraces experimentation, mothers, loss and pop culture. Some of her plays include Pinky Swear, Crybaby, and i am entitled to rest. Kalale is the recipient of the 2021 RBC Tarragon Emerging Playwright Prize and a graduate from the National Theatre School of Canada. She is currently the Associate Artistic Director of Factory Theatre.

Photo Credit:  Maxime Côté

This workshop is financially supported by
Intervention -- Compētences. Un soutien aux activités de formation continue en culture. Compétence Culture. Comité sectoriel de main-d'œuvre en culture. Avec la participation financiére de Quebec.
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Announcing the 10th recipient of the Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators: Katherine Turnbull

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal and The Cole Foundation are thrilled to announce Katherine Turnbull as the 10th mentee OF the Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators.

Katherine Turnbull is a writer, translator, theatre creator, and actor.

She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts [Honours] in Acting with a minor in French Studies from the University of Windsor. Based in Montreal, she works in French and English in theatre and film. Katherine is fascinated by the messy and complex aspects of life, and so she explores the nitty-gritty of humanity in her projects.

In 2021, Katherine translated La nuit du 4 au 5 by Rachel Graton, commissioned by Talisman Theatre. The resulting translation, The Night From the 4th to the 5th, has recently been shortlisted for the Tom Hendry Best Drama Award. In May 2022, Talisman Theatre presented it as a digital reading, which has since won awards at the 2023 Snow Leopard International Film Festival (Madrid, Spain) & Sweden International Film Festival for Best Drama, Best Black and White Film, and Best Stage Play. It also received four (4) nominations at the 2023 MAGMA Film Festival (Best Feature & Experimental Film, Best Directing, Best Original Concept, and Best Ensemble).

She is honoured to have been selected as the 10th mentee of the Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators and thrilled to dive into this process working on Rachel Graton’s 21 under the mentorship of Maureen Labonté.

Supporting the translation of new work for the stage is a core part of Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal’s (PWM) programming. Since its inception in 2013, the Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators has been guiding the next generation of French to English theatre translators.

With the skilled guidance of acclaimed translator Maureen Labonté and in partnership with the Cole Foundation, PWM has built a program that mentors emerging translators through every stage of their process in writing a new translation of a play. The successful applicant to this year’s program receives a $1,500 honorarium and a mentorship with Maureen Labonté, which includes a workshop with actors and a reading. Learn more about the program here.

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New Stories Project Creators

The New Stories Project is a PWM storytellers unit which offers accessible creation workshops, as well as customized development labs and additional support, to emerging and established neurodivergent theatre-artists. 

This season, participants from the New Stories Project have been invited to tour with us across the province, presenting excerpts from their works in development. These pop-up performances and talk-backs will be a chance for our artists to share their unique creations in intimate settings, and will all take place in selected community centers and schools that serve neurodivergent populations. 

More information to come in January 2024. 

The NSP takes on new participants on an ongoing basis. Read more about the current storytellers and their projects here. For more information on getting involved, contact Jesse Stong at jesse@playwrights.ca.

Meet the storytellers:

stephen booth

Stephen Patrick Booth is an actor/playwright based in Montreal who works in theatre and film. A graduate of Concordia University’s with a BFA in Theatre and Political Science. Stephen has worked with the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre won “The Dybbuk,” VillageScene Productions on “A Twin’s Tail,” and Cote Saint Luc Dramatic/Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre on “The Producers.” Most recently, he appeared in La Tigressa Productions’ “The Autism Monologues” in the 2018 Montreal Fringe Festival.

Other Worlds

On a small island overrun by land developers, two radically different strangers’ lives collide after an unexpected ecological disaster. Seeking safety in a bunker, they clash and connect over their shared dislike of the developers, and their conflicting dreams of a utopia where they can do more than just survive. Other Worlds celebrates their unique journeys to claim and strengthen their own self-identity, while working to make deeper connections with the outside world. A play about well-being, friendship and belonging, and the importance of community.

Aharon Elter

Aharon Elter; a transmasculine, neurodiverse, multidisciplinary artist. A white settler of Danube Swabian, Austrian, Scottish and Irish descent; living and creating in Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyang/montréal. They are a being of dreams, regularly getting lost but always finding their way home. Often found daydreaming about atoms; the ways in which they dance, the memories they may collect and the events they witness as they exchange form becoming this then that. They create work about neurodiversity, bravery, brats, agency, belonging, grief, survival, divinity and magick.

Play description:

A story about a young trans boy. His exploration and discovery of queer identity, explored through dress-up and play. Paying homage to iconic queer elders and ancestors, recognizing the lineages queer people grow from and into. A story of celebration and euphoria. With a narrative infused with somatic teaching around the embodied YES! vs. NO. Intended as a resource for continued learning and growth around queer history, community, and pride. An illustrated children’s book intended for people aged 3 to 8 years old.

Robert Girolami
Headshot of Sam Melnick
Sam Melnick 

Sam Melnick is a Montreal born-and-bred emerging theatre creator and graduate of John Abbott College’s Professional Theatre program. 

Sam has been involved in the community theatre scene as an actor and assistant stage manager. Sam has recently turned his hand to writing and is a member of the New Stories unit with Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal. Sam spends most of his time watching foreign films, delving into the world of electronic music-making, and hanging out with his lovable dog, Benji.

Helpful/Positive

The play is a look at the lives of individuals on the autism spectrum through an intersectional perspective. Topics include gender and sexual diversity, political non-conformity, and ethnicity. In a world that wasn’t built for you, how do you create a space for yourself and those you love?

Headshot of Blxck Cxsper.
Kyng Rose

BLXCK CASPER

The Blxck Cxsper universe is a multidisciplinary work of fiction based around a vigilante who questions super hero culture and the many ways it negatively affects society.

Image of Erika Squires
Erika Squires 

Erika Squires is a theatre artist from Newfoundland. Erika has an English degree, with a specialization in Theatre and Drama, and a diploma in Performance and Communications Media from Memorial University of Newfoundland. An emerging playwright, Erika has written three plays: Hush (for PerSIStence Theatre) Baby and Fixed (self-produced with support from ArtsNL and the CCA). Erika is an acting student at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Special

Special explores lateral ablism following dual-protagonists Katherine (26) and Dee (17) as they struggle within the same post-secondary institution. This play challenges notions of what autism looks like in storytelling – centring two women who are successful, sexual, and sometimes ableist adults who are constantly searching for a shared language about the way they interact with, and around, their worlds.

Philippe David

Anne Tremblay

The New Stories Project is facilitated by arts educator and dramaturg Jesse Stong.

Jesse Stong (They/Them) is a proud parent of twins, a graduate of Playwriting from the National Theatre School of Canada, and received a Master’s in Art Education from Concordia University. They are an award-winning queer creator, dramaturg, and educator.

Over the years, Jesse has supported over 140 emerging Canadian storytellers as director of our Young Creators Unit.  Jesse also leads our New Stories Project for Neurodiverse Storytellers.

Jesse is an occasional content creator/editor for Moment Factory, and was recently Manager of Children’s Programming for Watchmojo.com, Associate Curator for the National Arts Centre Disability Summit, and Host of the Montreal English Theatre Awards.

Current & Past Writing Coaches

Laura Buchanan
Anna Burkholder
Michaela Di Cesare
Sophie Gee
Erin Lindsay
Gabe Maharjan
Darragh Mondoux
Johanna Nutter
Laurent Pitre
A.J. Richardson
Gabriel Shultz
Anne-Marie St-Louis
Jen Viens

THE NEW STORIES PROJECT IS FINACIALLY SUPPORTED BY
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Announcing the 2023 Gros Morne Residency Playwrights | Dévoilement des Participant.e.s de 2023 Résidence de Gros-Morne

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 2023 Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency. 

The Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency is a dual-lingual residency that welcomes playwrights from across the country to share space and conversation in the unparalleled landscape of Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador. The program offers dramaturgy in French and English. 

From October 12th to 23rd, 2023, Elena Belyea, Guillaume Corbeil, Cole Hayley, Emmanuelle Jimenez, Breton Lalama, Mishka Lavigne, and Christine Rodriguez, will be staying at the Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station in Norris Point. The residents will have the opportunity to explore their plays during unstructured writing time, one-on-one dramaturgical conversations, and group discussions.

Look out for future social media posts about the artists and the residency!

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 vital de la Fondation Cole, ont le plaisir d’annoncer les sept auteurs et autrices dramatiques qui participeront à la Résidence canadienne d’auteurs et d’autrices dramatique de Gros Morne 2023.

La résidence d’écriture théâtrale de Gros-Morne est une résidence bilingue qui accueille des dramaturges de tout le pays pour partager un espace et la conversation dans le paysage sans pareil du parc national du Gros Morne, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Le programme propose de l’accompagnement dramaturgique en français et en anglais.

Du 12 au 23 octobre 2023, Elena Belyea, Guillaume Corbeil, Cole Hayley, Emmanuelle Jimenez, Breton Lalama, Mishka Lavigne et Christine Rodriguez 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.

Ne manquez pas les prochains messages sur les médias sociaux concernant les artistes et la résidence!

Meet the Playwrights | Rencontrez les auteurs

ELENA BELYEA (ALBERTA)

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Untitled

Elena Belyea (they/she) is a queer playwright, performer, producer, arts educator, and Artistic Director of Tiny Bear Jaws. She was born and raised in amiskwaciwaskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory and have had work produced across Turtle Island and internationally (including Hungary, Austria, Berlin, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Quebec, and Wells). Her play “Smoke” was recently published by Playwrights Canada Press. They’re also half of queer sketch duo “Gender? I Hardly Know Them” (on Tiktok + Instagram at @genderihardlyknowthem). Elena was the recipient of the 2023 Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical. Her company, Tiny Bear Jaws’ production of “Smoke” won the 2023 Sterling Award for Outstanding Indie Production. 

Photo credit: ​​Brianne Jang

Guillaume Corbeil (QUÉBEC)

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: La vérité sur David Alpis
(titre de travail)

Guillaume Corbeil a écrit des livres (L’art de la fugue, Brassard, Trois princesses), des pièces de théâtre (Tu iras la chercher, Unité modèle) et des scénarios (À tous ceux qui ne me lisent pas).  En 2021, il présente Pacific Palisades à Paris, au théâtre Paris Villette, puis au Poche, à Genève. Sa pièce Cinq visages pour Camille Brunelle s’est vu décerner le prix Michel-Tremblay. Avec À tous ceux qui ne me lisent pas, il a remporté l’Iris du meilleur scénario.

COLE HAYLEY (newfoundland)

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: And they Found Them Melted into the Carpet 
(working title)

Cole Hayley is a creator originally from Elliston, Newfoundland and Labrador, but now is based between St. John’s and the “Mainland,” as he continues to pursues a life in the arts.

Cole is a recent graduate of the National Theatre School and an alumni of Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he received a BA in English and Communications. He’s a current member of the inaugural Poverty Cove playwrights unit, and is currently working on publishing a collection of poetry.

Photo credit: Maxime Côté

emmanuelle jimenez (québec)

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Grand feu 
(titre de travail)

Emmanuelle Jimeneza suivi une formation en interprétation au Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal. Tout en poursuivant sa carrière de comédienne, elle se consacre à l’écriture dramatique. Parmi ses textes qui ont été montés, on compte Du vent entre les dents (Théâtre D’Aujourd’hui), Rêvez, montagnes! (Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental), Centre d’achats (Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui), Cendres (Des pieds des mains), Bébés, spectacle coécrit avec Alexis Martin (Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental) et Alice! (Théâtre du Trident). Elle est dialoguiste pour la série dramatique NOUS (Duo Productions), de Dominick Parenteau-Lebeuf. Elle a mené de  nombreux projets de médiation culturelle, notamment avec La Maison bleue à Côte des-Neiges et la Maison culturelle et communautaire de Montréal-Nord. Elle a été  membre du conseil d’administration du Festival du Jamais Lu de 2003 à 2010. Et elle siège au conseil d’administration de l’Association québécoise des autrices et auteurs  dramatiques (AQAD) depuis 2014.

Photo credit: Eva Maude TC

BRETON LALAMA (ONTARIO)

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: quid pro quo

Breton Lalama (he+they) is a multimedium artist fascinated by the intersections of truth and performativity and how they tangle with our amoebic identities of public and private self. He’s a proud co-founder of the Spindle Films Foundation, an initiative created to support transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse Canadian filmmakers. They’ve received Merritt and Dora award nominations, and won a Broadway World Award and a Tootsie Award. His play, THE LAST SHOW ON EARTH! TRADEMARK SYMBOL, premiers at Neptune Theatre in 2024, and is featured in Playwrights Canada Press’ upcoming 2SLGBTQIA+ Monologue Anthology. They’re Tarragon Theatre’s RBC Emerging Playwright in Residence. @bretonlikethecrackers

Photo credit: Dahlia Katz

Mishka Lavigne (QUÉBEC)

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: Lichen

Mishka Lavigne est autrice dramatique, traductrice littéraire et scénariste basée à Ottawa/Gatineau. Ses textes ont été produits et développés au Canada, aux États-Unis, en Europe, en Australie, à Haïti et au Mexique. Son texte Havre, créé à la Troupe du Jour (Saskatoon) a remporté le Prix du Gouverneur Général en 2019. Copeaux, produit par le Théâtre de Dehors (Ottawa), a remporté ce même prix en 2021 en plus du Prix Jacques-Poirier. 

Mishka écrit aussi en anglais. Son texte Albumen, produit par TACTICS en 2019 (Ottawa), est récipiendaire du QWF Playwriting Prize et on a récemment pu voir Shorelines (TACTICS) en 2023.

Autant vers le français que vers l’anglais, Mishka signe près d’une vingtaine de traductions de théâtre, de prose et de poésie.

Photo credit: Marianne Duval

Christine Rodriguez (QUÉBEC)

PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT: The Civil Suit

A recent alumna of the CFC, Christine Rodriguez is a writer from Montreal who creates from a mixed-race, Afro-Trinidadian perspective.  Her play, Dreaming in Autism, received third prize at Ottawa Little Theatre’s 72nd National One-Act Playwriting Competition. Her TYA play, Simone, Half and Half, was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2022.  Christine is also a filmmaker whose first short film, Fuego, earned her a nomination for Best Filmmaker of the Year from Gala Dynastie. She’s been a part of the WBD Access x ACCT Writers Program and has received two Rogers – BSO development grants.  Christine has a Certificate of Professional Screenwriting from UCLA and is currently working on a Major in Hispanic Studies at Université de Montréal. 

Photo credit: Janice Reid

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APPLY NOW: PWM + MAI joint support for artists interested in working with a dramaturg.

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) and the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) are partnering once again to offer a joint support program for artists in theatre, performance, dance, circus, interdisciplinary arts and visual arts (with a performance component) who are interested in working with a dramaturg from theatre and performance. One selected artist or collective will receive resources and support from both PWM and the MAI.

This partnership between PWM and the MAI accompanies creators on their journey to develop a project and explore their practice, and is intended for artists who identify as 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. 

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) is a national creation and development centre for theatre and performance led by a team of dramaturgs and arts administrators. While playwriting has been at the core of what we do for 60 years, our work also includes devised, digital, and interdisciplinary forms of creation. In addition to seeking collaborations across diverse artistic practices, we are strongly committed to supporting work which reflects a wide range of cultural identities and lived experiences. 

This joint support is part of the MAI’s Alliance program, an artist-support platform that welcomes 10 – 15 artists, collectives and companies per year. MAI’s Alliance program provides assistance and project coordination support, and the possibility for a wide range of services related to the artists’ learning, creation, mentorship, collaboration and professionalization needs.

What’s provided with the joint support program:

• Personalized project coordination support;

• $5,000 fund allocation from the MAI for the development of a project* ;

• Training, referrals, collective reflection opportunities, and other support meetings;

• 80 hours of access to the MAI rehearsal studios;

• 30 hours with a PWM dramaturg, including a 20 hour workshop in PWM’s studio.

Refer to the Artist’s Guide for more details about what this joint mentorship includes, eligibility criteria and other conditions.

Artists’ Toolbox:

MAI’s allocations: How they work (PDF)
Alliance’s intercultural vision (PDF)
ARTIST’S GUIDE (PDF)
Example Application Budget (.excel)

*The PWM + MAI Joint Support Program is not a grant program. The program offers an allocation of funds ($5,000) for the artist to establish mentorships and collaborations, supporting their learning and creation process (for example, to work with a mentor, a sound designer, a choreographer, a grant writer, or other experts and collaborators). You can read  ‘MAI’s allocations: How They Work’ for more information about what is eligible and ineligible in spending these funds on your work.

Working with a dramaturg at PWM

Dramaturgy is an exploration of all the elements that make a work, how they are brought together to create meaning, and what the process for developing that work might be. PWM primarily works on projects that centre text and narrative but also on pieces where text and storytelling are not the primary components or concerns.

PWM’s work centres the artist and our dynamic collaborative process is tailored to meet the needs of their project. We listen deeply to understand who an artist is, what they are making and how they want their work to evolve. We offer feedback and reflection through questions and conversation and often accompany the artists from draft to draft or iteration to iteration. We work one-on-one, but also through workshops and residencies.

PWM understands that the work of playwriting and performance making is not created in a vacuum, but that it interacts with society. Theatre can be impactful, and therefore PWM considers not only how a piece is made and by whom, but also its effect and meaning beyond the walls of its creation studio.

How to Apply:

Fill out this Google form by October 22, 2023, 11:59PM EST. You will be asked to provide the following information:

  • Your name, pronouns (optional), and contact information ;
  • Your bio or the background of your collective;
  • An explanation of your work’s relevance to the program’s mandate: as a member of the eligible groups, as an artist with an interdisciplinary/intercultural/intersectional approach, and/or an artist working with Indigenous methodologies or ways of knowing;
  • Your proposal for support, which describes: your artistic practice, your intended project, your interest in collaboration with a dramaturg, the types of supports or services you might request through the MAI’s allocation of funds, and how this support will impact your artistic journey;
  • A proposed schedule or calendar of activities (beginning December 2023, ending by September 2024);
  • A proposed budget outlining expenses related to your proposa (refer to our budget example in the artists’ toolkit;
  • A CV;
  • Documentation of your work.

Video or audio responses are also accepted through the Google form.

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 accessibility@playwrights.ca. If you require any accommodations to participate in the program should you be selected, please let us know in your application.

Click here to view the Google form as a PDF.

Selection Criteria

Applications are considered by a committee made up of members of PWM’s team and of the MAI team. One recipient will be selected based on the following criteria: relevance to the partnership’s mandate, impact on the artist/project, and the feasibility of the support proposal. A complete breakdown of these criteria can also be found in the program’s Artist’s Guide.

All candidates will receive a response by email by the end of November 2023 informing them of the outcome of their application.

This program is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture and Communications and the City of Montreal as part of l’Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal, as well as by the Canada Council for the Arts.
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