PWM is a national theatre development centre dedicated to nurturing the creation and exploration of new plays, translations, and performance works. Through rigorous and artist-centred dramaturgical processes, we empower playwrights, translators, and performance makers to develop their voice, take creative risks, and bring bold, contemporary work to life. Committed to advancing dramaturgical practice, we aim to evolve how theatre is developed and experienced. Rooted in Montreal and engaged nationally, we champion diverse perspectives and practices, foster cross-cultural dialogue, and cultivate work that reflects the richness and complexity of our current times.
Since 1963, PWM has created opportunities that empower artists to develop their work and strengthen their craft. Our core resource is dramaturgy, an artistic practice that explores the composition of theatre and performance works, their structure, meaning, and context. We accompany playwrights and creators through the development process, focusing on individual artists and their goals for their work.
We collaborate with theatre creators with exceptional voices, stories and perspectives – particularly those exploring complex, urgent questions which reflect the vibrancy of Turtle Island/Canada. We also collaborate with producing theatre companies, helping ensure a project’s long-term creative viability from idea to stage.
PWM’s collaborative process is tailored to a project’s unique needs to help ensure that artists are creating their work according to their own vision. Through a combination of programs and individual support, we offer opportunities such as workshops, dramaturgical collaborations, mentorships, residencies, and more. We support artists working across disciplines, embracing collaborative, decolonial, digital, and hybrid approaches to creation. Our dramaturgical practices adapt to new ways of working while remaining grounded in deep listening, curiosity, and thoughtfulness. All of our programming and development opportunities are offered free of charge to participants.
As a key support for anglophone artists in Quebec, we are central in ensuring ongoing visibility and resources. We are also a vital bridge connecting artists working in English to opportunities outside Quebec and advocating for francophone work nationally through our translation programs and national residencies. By supporting the ecology of artists and theatre nationwide, PWM serves as a catalyst for fresh, exciting work that transforms and enriches stages across Canada.
Dramaturgy at PWM
At PWM, dramaturgy is recognized as a multifaceted practice in its own right, an essential part of theatre-making. Dramaturgs collaborate with artists to develop bold ideas, ask meaningful questions, and discover the form their work wants to take.
PWM Dramaturgs work alongside creators to:
- Imagine and explore the world of their play/piece as it’s being written/created, how it might look, sound and feel in 3-dimensions
- Generate a process that is optimized for the project’s needs which can include programs, workshops, mentorships, residencies and readings
- Explore interdisciplinarity and experiment with multimedia tools to prototype digital propositions for performance
- Identify and suggest professional artistic opportunities and offer guidance through our programs
- Support the artist in finding the right collaborators for their work including directors, designers and actors
- Think about the impact of a piece on an audience and how it could be supported and contextualized in production
Every creative process is unique. That’s why our dramaturgical support is flexible, responsive, and shaped by the needs of each artist and project rather than by a prescribed model. Dramaturgical collaborations can include artistic guidance, process design, research, facilitation, critical dialogue, and creative partnership. We create space for experimentation, reflection, and collaboration, recognizing that strong theatre emerges through an iterative process of exploration and exchange.
Dramaturgy remains a little-understood artistic practice and as a result dramaturgical processes are often underfunded or excluded from producing models. This can limit the ability of artists to deeply explore and refine their work before it reaches audiences. We accompany creators, often from the spark of an idea, through numerous drafts, workshops, and even into production. Whether an artist is at the earliest stages of an idea or refining a work in development, we offer dramaturgical collaboration that meets them where they are, both supporting and challenging the work, helping move the creative process forward.
