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 Groupe des jeunes créateurs.
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.
Calendrier
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.
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.