IMPACT CREATION: 60 YEARS OF EXPLORATION

Celebrate the past six decades at PWM, and support the next generations of theatre creators!

As PWM’s 60th anniversary year comes to a close, we invite you to reflect on our rich history as collaborators and as a national hub for the theatre community, and support our programming by making a donation to our Impact Creation fundraiser.  

Our organization values the creative process first and foremost, and strives to foster an environment that allows artists to thrive. PWM is a space for theatre creators of all experience levels to connect, collaborate and advance their work. Donating to us is an investment in the future vitality of our artistic communities, in Montreal and across the country: Here’s to another 60 years of exploration ahead! 

Each year, your donations support new theatre creation through: 

  • 25-30 play development workshops, where everyone in the room (playwrights, dramaturgs,  translators, actors, directors and so on) is paid
  • 50-75 one-on-one dramaturgical consultations, including digital dramaturgy clinics, offered to writers and theatre-makers free of charge
  • 20 mentorships that connect early career artists with established industry professionals at no cost to the artists
  • 2 national residencies where playwrights and translators are paid an honorarium, and all travel, accommodation, and meals are provided by PWM
  • 4 professional development workshops for theatre creators, offered free of charge through our Exploring Practice series
  • Ongoing commitment and initiatives to strengthen accessibility and inclusion for theatre creators and theatre creation 
  • And much more!

Help us reach our goal of $6000 by the end of 2023 by donating today.

Giving Throughout the Year

Did you know that monthly donations allow PWM’s work to be more responsive to the ever-changing  needs of projects and artists by providing us with steady income we know we can count on? As an added bonus, donors who give $15 or more per month for one year receive the gift of a published play developed in collaboration with PWM, autographed by the playwright

Our Interconnected Community Crossword

Carol Libman, co-founder, speaking in regard to the 25th anniversary of PWM in 1988

Are you a PWM history buff? To honour our 60th anniversary, this year’s Interconnected Community crossword puzzle includes more people and plays of PWM past – and some solutions can be found on our History page

You can fill in the puzzle and “SUBMIT” through the app above, or you can print it out and email a picture of the completed puzzle to heather@playwrights.ca.

Every correctly completed puzzle is entered into a draw, giving you the chance to win your choice of one of the following published plays developed in collaboration with PWM! Be sure to give it a close look over, and enter your contact information, as you can only submit once. But don’t worry! If you leave and come back, your progress will be saved on this page. Submit by December 31, 2023 for your chance to win! 

Keep an eye on our social media in the month of December for some direct clues and answers!

Controlled Damage by Andrea ScottOkinum by Émilie Monnet (original in French, or English translation) Some Blow Flutes by Mary VingoeThe Law of Gravity by Olivier Sylvestre and translated by Bobby TheodoreAndy’s Gone by Marie-Claude Verdier and translated by Alexis DiamondThe Enchanted Loom by Suvendrini Lena and translated by Dushy GnanapragasamEverybody Just C@lm the F#ck Down by Robert ChafeSimone, Half and Half by Christine Rodriguez • Reaching for Starlight by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard


Your support is vital to the work we do, and we hope you can play a key part in creating new works for theatre by helping us reach our goal of $6000 by the end of 2023. Anything you can give is greatly appreciated: All donations, big and small, make this work possible. If you cannot donate at this time, consider being a PWM ambassador and spread the word about Impact Creation! Playwriting and theatre creation take a great deal of work and a lot of resources, but we know it is worth every bit of effort, and we also know the importance of celebrating and supporting the community! Thank you so much for helping us build a beautiful future for theatre.


PWM’s Impact According to:

ALEXIS DIAMOND

Alexis Diamond

Photo credit: Ron Diamond

“Without Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal, I would not have the career in theatre translation that I have. Nor would I have been able to sustain a career in Montreal as a playwright working in both English and French. PWM introduced me to the Francophone-theatre milieu as a potential translator in the 2010s. From there grew my familiarity with the agents and stakeholders of the milieu, which led to me serving as a kind of bridge between Anglophone and Francophone theatre in Montreal, a role I happily play today, along with a growing number of bilingual and multilingual artists who make their livelihoods in both English and French in this city.

I had my first experience with theatre translation in the PWM Translation Unit with Maureen Labonté in 2010-2011. That was when I initially started work on the translation of Amaryllis [Vipérine] by Pascal Brullemans. In 2016, I participated in PWM’s Glassco Translation Residency in Tadoussac for Amaryllis [Vipérine], this time with the guidance of Bobby Theodore. The book Amaryllis and Little Witch (Playwrights Canada Press) would later go on to be nominated for the Governor General’s Award for translation in 2021.

In 2013, I was the first ever recipient of PWM’s Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators to translate Je n’y suis plus (Marie-Claude Verdier), which was workshopped and received a public reading at PWM. I would go on to mount a production, directed by Jen Quinn, at Toronto’s SummerWorks Festival in 2016, to great acclaim.

In 2018, Talisman Theatre commissioned the translation of Minuit by Marie-Hélène Larose-Truchon. Workshopped through PWM, it gave me the opportunity to benefit from the tutelage of the Grande Dame of Québécois-theatre translation, Linda Gaboriau, and also to journey to New Orleans, where we had a workshop with local actors and a public reading at the Southern Repertory Theatre. 

In 2019, I participated in “Theatre Translation Workshop with Frank Heibert”, offered through PWM’s Exploring Practice program, to work on Marie-Claude Verdier’s touring play, Andy’s Gone (Playwrights Canada Press). The book was one of five selected in 2022 for Top Grade: CanLit for the Classroom, a program run by the Association of Canadian Publishers’ Children’s Committee.

In 2020, I was commissioned by PWM to translate Camille : le récit by Audrey-Anne Bouchard and Marc-André Lapointe and in 2022, Camille: The Story was produced at the Segal Centre, where it won a META Award for best production.

Having benefited from the tutelage and mentoring of the giants of Québécois theatre translation – Maureen Labonté, Linda Gaboriau and Bobby Theodore – PWM then deemed me ready to serve as a mentor to emerging translators. Since 2019, I have had the honour of being the translation mentor for Traductions Croisées, the program jointly organized by Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal and Centre des auteurs.trices dramatiques (CEAD) to encourage the emergence of new translators for Québécois plays. 

As part of the Traduction Croisées mentorship program (Introduction to Theatre Translation), I mentored Katherine Turnbull for her translation of La nuit du 4 au 5 by Rachel Graton, which was produced by Talisman Theatre in 2022. Katherine Turnbull was just selected as the 10th mentee for the Cole Foundation Mentorship for Emerging Translators.”

-Alexis Diamond

ELENA BELYEA

Elena Belyea

Photo credit: Brianne Jang

“Ever since my graduation from theatre school in 2015, Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal has been an invaluable support, both institutionally and personally. They supported further development of my solo show Miss Katelyn’s Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable, which went on to have over 75 performances in English and French, as well as my site-specific Everyone We Know Will Be There, which ran in residential houses in Edmonton in Calgary back in 2016. They’ve offered me ongoing access to an environment where I’m able to witness new play development in action. As a playwright, it can be rare to receive support that has no agenda, where your supporters’ only objective is to help you germinate a story that you yourself are happy with before anyone else. This has always been my experience with PWM, making it one of my favourite theatre institutions in Canada, and a place that I recommend to other playwrights enthusiastically and often.”

– Elena Belyea

JAMILA SHANI JOSEPH

Jamila Shani Joseph

“I really got involved in activities during the pandemic, searching for ways to stay creative and stay sane; I came across PWM’s call for submissions – online opportunities. PWM’s Digital Dramaturgy Initiative – Montreal residency in 2021 was my first experience and I had a wonderful and enlightening experience learning and deepening my understanding of theatre and the art of thinking and writing for theatre. I went on to also participate in:

  • PWM + MAI Joint Support for Artists (2021 2022)
  • Exploring Practice workshop – Spatial Dramaturgy: Developing an Urban Performance Practice with Shauna Janssen (Apr – May 2022)
  • Exploring Practice – The Dramaturgical Process: First Principles and Practical Applications with Andrea Romaldi (Jan – Feb 2023)
  • PWM X Arrivals Legacy Project (2023)
  • PWM’s Cross Cultural Adaptation Lab (Jul 2023 – Oct 2025)

I enjoy the fact that they always have interesting offerings for development and mentorship. I love the staff, as well as the individuals they bring in to facilitate workshops. They have all been down to earth, open, knowledgeable, and just fun to be around and speak to on a human level.

Having the opportunity to incorporate theatre and writing into my dance practice has been a very rewarding journey. I am grateful for the time I’ve been able to spend with both Sarah and Aki in conversation and for the relationships fostered. The individuals who make up an organization are important and PWM has wonderful individuals all throughout.

As I’ve been working on my first play, ‘Wild Roots’, PWM has been gently riding the wave, supporting my explorations and development in playwriting. I never feel pressured to present as anything or one other than me, allowing myself to feel the freedom to really find my own voice and solidify my own footing. That is huge for me.

In the end, what I can say is PWM, ‘Thank you for being a friend!’”

– Jamila Shani Joseph

JULIE TAMIKO MANNING

Julie Tamiko Manning

Actor, theatre creator, playwright, mentor, independent producer 

Montreal/ Tiohtià:ke/ Mooniyang

“For as long as I can remember, PWM has been an artistic and social hub of the community. One can always depend on great conversation and artistic exchange when you spend time there. As a young actor it was always a point of pride to be hired to read a new script in workshop: it was a wonderful job no matter how quickly you passed through their doors or how long you stayed; it has been some of the best training I have ever received as an actor. It taught me how to be clear and rigorous and respectful. As a playwright, I have received an incredible amount of support from the folks at PWM and would have never completed my last play without their belief in me. The relationship I have with PWM is a rare one. I have taken that and used it to build the artist I have always wanted to become. Dramaturgy received through PWM: The Tashme Project: The Living Archives and Mizushōbai- The Water Trade. Residencies through PWM: Gros Morne, ÉsterELLE- 2019. I have participated in endless workshops and a multitude of invaluable Master Classes, like playwriting with Daniel MacIvor, Carole Fréchette and Robert Chafe.”

-Julie Tamiko Manning 

SCOUT REXE

Scout Rexe

“Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal has completely transformed my experience of being an artist. Fatma Sarah Elkashef and I had our first dramaturgical conversation in 2018, and in a way, it hasn’t stopped. For the past five years, we have collaborated on two very different projects: a five character play with music about a rockstar family and the complicated legacy of our cultural icons, and a digital-hybrid solo show about power, coercion, and escaping a cult. We share a belief that how we make work is as important as the work itself. From ongoing dramaturgical conversations, to dramaturgical residencies (2022, 2023), to full-cast workshops (2020, 2021, 2023), to the Gros Morne Residency in Newfoundland (2022), Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal has provided me with unparalleled and essential support. I wouldn’t be the playwright I am today without this organization.”

– Scout Rexe

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