Events Archives - Playwrights' Workshop Montréal

avril 15, 2022août 23, 2023

Young Creators Unit Showcase 2022

Young Creators Unit graphic with green and pink lines; grey, black and white banners; and blue a background. The image has text which reads: “Young Creators Unit” and the dates: “May 19, May 20”

Join us May 19th and 20th at 7:00 PM EST for our Young Creators Unit Showcase on Gather. Tune in for 2 nights of staged readings from the YCU emerging creators!

Every year Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal produces two evenings of readings where creators from our Young Creators Unit (YCU) read excerpts of their work to an enthusiastic audience of peers, community leaders, and theatre lovers.

“We are so excited and proud to present to you this year’s Young Creators Unit. After an exceptional year of digging in and dynamic creation, these participants took on the challenge of working and meeting virtually during this socially distant and difficult time, held together as a group, and now want to welcome audiences at home to join our circle and witness some of the work in development.”

JESSE STONG
Young Creators Unit Leader

Starting today and until the showcase, we will be releasing content about the YCU on our social media! Learn about the process, what’s unique about the YCU, and what goes into their work. Follow us on social media to see more!

THIS YEAR’S YOUNG CREATORS

Click on the portraits to learn more about the creators and their work.

Alex Brault

Camille Mankumah

Elizaveta (Liza) Makarova

Aharon Elter

Anaïs Damphousse Joly

Charles Gao

JC Bitonti

Nelly Esméralda Zarfi

Brandon Adam

Eish Van Wieren

Laura Buchanan

Rachel Renaud

HOW TO CATCH THE SHOWCASE

At 7:00 PM EST on May 19th and 20th, our showcase will be livestreamed on Gather with introductions and commentary by YCU leader Jesse Stong. There will be ASL interpretation available for this event. Auto-generated captioning is available in Gather for people who use Chrome.

SCHEDULE

MAY 19TH SHOWCASE

(co-hosted by Anaïs Damphousse Joly) featuring:

Mayala-Kali’ Elter

Alex Brault

Charles Gao

Rachel Renaud

Eish Van Wieran

Nelly Esméralda Zarfi

MAY 20TH SHOWCASE

(co-hosted by Alex Brault) featuring:

Anaïs Damphousse Joly

Elizaveta (Liza) Makarova

Camille Mankumah

Laura Buchanan

Brandon Adam

JC Bitonti

You can RSVP for the YCU Showcase via the google form here:

RSVP

ABOUT THE YOUNG CREATORS UNIT

Thanks to generous funding from the RBC Foundation, Canadian Heritage and the Zeller Family Foundation, as well as the dedicated mentorship of PWM dramaturg Jesse Stong, the Young Creators Unit has become a mainstay for young Canadian playwrights. Since its beginnings in 2015, YCU has supported more than a hundred young creators as they take artistic risks, develop their voices and find their place in Canadian theatre.

LEARN MORE

ThE YOUNG CREATORS UNIT is financially supported by

février 15, 2022mars 18, 2022

Queer Reading Series

Abstract graphic art of shapes in shades of blue, purple, pink and red arranged with one larger blue square which has text that reads: "Queer Reading Series, March 18, March 19, 7:00 PM".

The Queer Readings Series is Presented by Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal’s Groupe des jeunes créateurs et Centaur Theatre with Festival Director Jesse Stong.

The Queer Reading Series- a selection of staged public readings showcasing emerging Canadian Queer Playwrights is back for two nights only at Centaur Theatre!

QUEER READING SERIES SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, MARCH 18 at 7:00 PM – NO JUSTICE/NO PEACE by Blxck Cxsper

With direction by Jesse Stong

Please note that for the reading of “No Justice/No Peace” by Blxck Cxsper, there will be strobe lights as well as loud music.

SATURDAY, MARCH 19 at 7:00 PM – SCORPIO MOON by Adjani Poirier

With direction by Murdoch Schon. Financially supported by Y4Y Québec

SATURDAY, MARCH 19 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM – QUEER LEADERSHIP IN THEATRE PANEL

Centaur Theatre and PWM are delighted to present the Queer Leadership in Theatre Panel as a part of our Queer Reading Series! This panel discussion, moderated by Jesse Stong, will be looking at how queerness intersects with art-making. We will talk about the shows, the movements, and the key players making amazing Queer art. Then, we will open the discussion to the community to gather more stories, insights, and questions. This panel will take place in the Centaur Theatre gallery.

Panelists:
Gabe Maharjan, Co-Chair, Quebec Drama Federation
Corrina Hodgson, Artistic Director of Rose Festival
Greg MacArthur, Playwright & Professor at Concordia University
Alisa Palmer, Artistic Director of the English section of the National Theatre School of Canada

Jesse Stong, Moderator

RESERVE YOUR TICKETS

Admission is free. Space is limited.

QUEER READING SERIES VENUE: CENTAUR THEATRE

453, rue Saint-François-Xavier
Montréal, QC H2Y 2T1

For questions regarding accessibility, please email accessibility@playwrights.ca. Please refer to Centaur Theatre’s accessibility webpage to plan your trip to this venue.

ABOUT THE PLAYS

NO JUSTICE/NO PEACE

By Blxck Cxsper

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.

Kyng “Blxck Cxsper” Rose (they/them) is a multidisciplinary hip hop artist based in Montreal best known for being the founder of Trans Trenderz, the world’s first record label dedicated to trans musicians. In 2021 they were named by Billboard in their Change Agents list alongside names like Jay-Z and The Weeknd, the same year they debuted their fictional Blxck Cxsper universe at the Montreal Fringe Festival.

SCORPIO MOON

By Adjani Poirier

Night, the hot summer air hangs heavy with regret. Two estranged friends find themselves together again in a crumbling abandoned warehouse. Lily wants absolution, Koa has other ideas. A story about the complexities of Blackness, queerness, art, love, and the ever agonizing question: is forgiveness possible in the face of heartbreaking betrayal?

Adjani is interested in creating work that explores the beauty and the ugly of the human experience. She’s drawn to stories that reveal the complexity of navigating a world where systemic “isms” oppress and yet love and connection still seep through the cracks, strong and fierce, giving us life. Her plays include Celebrity Dogs, part of Boca del Lupo’s national project “Plays2Perform @ Home”, Still Gay When I’m Not In Love and On Life and Living: A History of AIDS Community Care Montreal. She curated the 2021 edition of QueerCab with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and currently lives and writes in her hometown of Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal where she studies playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada.

ABOUT THE QUEER READINGS SERIES

Centaur Theatre and Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal believe in the importance of providing young theatre artists with tools for developing and showcasing their work. The Queer Reading Series is a free reading series that seeks to provide a platform for emerging artists to experiment with their writing.

The Young Creators Unit was not created as a queer-specific program, but over the past three years has become a vibrant space for self-discovery and political/personal creation. I am so proud that we’ve gained a reputation for being a supportive space for emerging queer artists to be bold, dive deeply into the intersections of their identity, and make work for the stage that reflects their unique existence in our contemporary world.

JESSE STONG
Festival Director and
Young Creators Unit Leader

Centaur Theatre is so happy to collaborate with PWM’s Young Creators Unit by supporting the process of bringing the voices of the next generation of Montreal’s diverse artists to the stage. They are the future of theatre.

EDA HOLMES
Artistic Director of Centaur Theatre

About the Young Creators Unit

Thanks to generous funding from Canadian Heritage, RBC Foundation, the Zeller Family Foundation, and the dedicated mentorship of PWM dramaturg Jesse Stong, the Young Creators Unit has become a mainstay for young Canadian playwrights. Since its beginnings in 2015, YCU has supported more than a hundred young artists as they take risks, develop their voices and find their place in Canadian theatre.

Click here to find out more about the Young Creators Unit.

PRESENTED IN COLLABORATION WITH

FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY

novembre 29, 2021novembre 30, 2021

Impact Creation — Our year-in-review crossword puzzle!

Graphic image of a starry night sky with colourful stars. The image has text which reads: IMPACT CREATION

A shining star in PWM’s seasonal tradition

the Impact Creation – 2021 year-in-review crossword puzzle!

This puzzle highlights how interconnected we all are, the transformative nature of our past year, and shines a light on how artistic creation impacts our world- It is also a draw!

This puzzle will test your PWM knowledge, but feel free to star-gaze through our website to search for hints – or subscribe to our newsletter to stay connected with PWM for years to come. You can also follow us on social media for the free hints which we will be dropping throughout the month of December!

Graphic image of a starry night sky with colourful stars.

Impact creation contest rules

After you complete the puzzle, submit your name before December 31, 2021 for a chance to win your choice of a published play that was developed in collaboration with PWM!

You can print the crossword above, or fill it in online. Feel free to star-gaze through our website and social media for clues! If you choose to fill the puzzle in online, press the SUBMIT button at the end for your chance to win a play that was developed in collaboration with PWM. If you choose to print the puzzle, you must enter your name manually at the link below!

Some of the amazing plays you can choose from include:

Controlled Damage by Andrea Scott
Okinum by Émilie Monnet
Some Blow Flutes by Mary Vingoe
The Law of Gravity by Olivier Sylvestre and translated by Bobby Theodore
All Things at Once by Don Druick
Andy’s Gone by Marie-Claude Verdier and translated by Alexis Diamond

This special prize is similar to the year-end gift for our monthly donors: Did you know that if you donate $15 or more to PWM, as a monthly donor for one year, you will receive an autographed play as a gift?* You can become a monthly donor ici!

The draw will be held, and the winner announced, early in the new year.

*Selection may vary. In the past, monthly donors have received The Tashme Project: The Living Archives by Julie Tamiko Manning and Matt Miwa, autographed by Julie Tamiko Manning, and Jabber, autographed by playwright Marcus Youssef.

SUBMIT YOUR NAME MANUALLY

This past year, we have all continued to experience changes that were beyond our control. We moved forward together, despite feeling star-crossed at times, transforming our practice every day.

Even with all this change, we have remained constant in our commitment to centre artistic voices that have been, and continue to be, underrepresented, so their stories may be shared, and shared widely. Your donations and support are vital to this mission, and we are so grateful.

As the stars rotate around us, the nights grow longer, and the winter settles in again- we are reminded that transformation is part of life. Together, we play a part in shaping the world around us and our future.

IMPACT CREATION – DONATE TODAY

mai 17, 2021juin 23, 2021

Tune in to the Young Creators Unit – Virtual Showcase 2021

Join us June 3-4 at 7 PM EST for our livestreamed Young Creators Unit showcase on YouTube — 2 exciting nights of staged readings by emerging theatre creators!

Every year Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal produces two evenings of readings where creators from our Young Creators Unit (YCU) read excerpts of their work to an enthusiastic audience of peers, community leaders, and theatre lovers.

MORE ABOUT THIS YEAR’S
YOUNG CREATORS

HOW TO WATCH
THE SHOWCASE

Last year, our first virtual showcase was a resounding success, with more people tuning-in than we ever had in-person in our studio space. Since then, our organization dived deep into the digital rabbit hole — launching programs such as the Digital dramaturgy initiative, the Digital dramaturgy clinic, and adding Digital dramaturgs Emily Soussana and Andrew Scriver from collective potatoCakes_digital to our team — we are excited to leverage these new skills to bring you an even better virtual event.

JESSE STONG
Young Creators Unit Leader

Starting today and until the showcase, we are also releasing video interviews of the Young Creators. Learn about their process, what’s unique about the YCU, and what goes into their work. Follow us on social media or subscribe to our YouTube channel to see them as soon as they are released!

WATCH THE FIRST INTERVIEW

SEE ALL THE INTERVIEWS

THIS YEAR’S YOUNG CREATORS

Click on the portraits to learn more about the playwrights and their work.

Rebecca Bauer

Miriam Cummings

Victoria Hall

Darragh Mondoux

Nicolas Retson

Anna Burkholder

Sophie El Assaad

Megan Hunt

Tyson Night

Kyng Rose

Willow Cioppa

Steven Greenwood

Sam Melnick

David Noël

Anne-Marie St-Louis

HOW TO CATCH THE SHOWCASE

At 7PM EST on June 3rd et 4th, our showcase was livestreamed on YouTube Live with introductions and commentary by YCU leader Jesse Stong. We are not planning to release the complete recordings of the nights, but will release individual excerpts in the coming months!

GO TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

More about the Young Creators Unit

Thanks to generous funding from Canadian Heritage and the Zeller Family Foundation, and the dedicated mentorship of PWM dramaturg Jesse Stong, the Young Creators Unit has become a mainstay for young Canadian playwrights. Since its beginnings in 2015, YCU has supported more than a hundred young artists as they take risks, develop their voices and find their place in Canadian theatre.

LEARN MORE

ThE YOUNG CREATORS UNIT is financially supported by

mars 3, 2021mars 19, 2021

Mise en lecture de Behaviour

Poster for the play Behaviour. A collage of photographs representing a woman is on the forefront of a pastel background on which we can discern a city skyline

À venir les 20 et 21 mars prochains, assistez à la mise en lecture de Behaviour, produite par Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal et présentée par le Centre Segal des arts de la scène!

Une exploration des genres, du pouvoir, du travail et de leurs abus, Behaviour, écrit par Darrah Teitel et mis en scène par Emma Tibaldo, sera lu sur place au Centre Segal les 20 et 21 mars, et diffusée en direct sur internet.

Dates

Samedi 20 mars 2021 à 17h.
Rediffusion à 20h.

Dimanche 21 mars 2021 à 16h.

Lieu

Diffusion en direct via le site du Segal Centre.

Billets

GET TICKETS

Tous les billets sont à prix libre.

Un don sera fait au Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal et Chez Doris correspondant au montant collecté via la vente de billets.

« L'une des pièces en réponse au mouvement #MeToo les plus intelligentes »

– Kelly Nestruck (The Globe and Mail)

« L'une des pièces actuelles les plus importantes, les plus puissantes, les plus traumatisantes et tout simplement essentielles. »

– Ryan Pepper (Capital Critics Circle)

« Behaviour dérange et nous oblige à nous remettre en question vis-à-vis des structures existantes. »

– Patrick Langston (ArtsFile)

Behaviour est l’histoire de Mara, une femme qui semble vivre son rêve : elle a une carrière en politique où elle fait la différence, et elle est amoureuse d’un artiste défiant les normes. Mais ce qui se cache derrière cette façade est dévastateur. Avec humour, précision et une honnêteté implacable, Behaviour dissecte ce que nous considérons comme normal. La pièce remet en question notre acceptation des structures existantes, explorant les interactions entre pouvoir et abus. Behaviour reflète le monde tel que nous le vivons, où dénoncer les abus sexuels est anormal.

Cette pièce arrive à un moment crucial du démantèlement des hiérarchies au travail et entre les sexes. La pièce de Teitel se passe sur la Colline, où les travailleurs sont particulièrement vulnérables aux abus de pouvoir. Behaviour s'attaque à la normalisation du silence contre les situations abusives, au point que Teitel dit : « ce qui est anormal, c'est d'en parler ». Cette lecture est donc une tentative de prononcer à voix haute ce qui reste généralement non-dit.

The play premiered at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, co-produced with SpiderWebShow. The script was developed in collaboration with Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal through a variety of programs, including the Gros Morne Playwrights’ Residency.

GET TICKETS

À propos de l'auteure

Darrah Teitel est une socialiste canadienne et une auteure dramatique, vivant actuellement à Berkeley en Californie en tant qu'artiste en résidence 2020 de Peleh International. Ses crédits les plus récents comprennent The Omnibus Bill (Counterpoint Players, May 2019) Behaviour (GCTC, 2019) Corpus (Teesri Duniya 2014, Counterpoint 2014) The Apology (Alberta Theatre Projects 2013, Next Stage Festival 2011) Marla’s Party (SummerWorks 2008) la pièce radiophonique CBC Palliative (2007) She Said Destroy (École nationale de théâtre du Canada, 2007). Darrah était l'auteure dramatique en résidence du GCTC en 2015 et 2017, où elle a écrit ses deux dernières pièces. Son journalisme, sa fiction et sa poésie ont été publiés dans divers périodiques et revues à travers le pays. Darrah est lauréate de plusieurs prix, dont le Canadian Jewish Playwrighting Award 2011 et le Canadian Peace Play Prize 2007. Ses pièces ont reçu des nominations pour les prix Dora, Betty Mitchell, Rideau et META Prizes for Outstanding New Plays. Darrah travaille également pour Action Canada pour la santé et les droits sexuels et est un membre fondateur de la Coalition Courage ainsi qu'une fière membre des Independent Jewish Voices.

À propos de la metteure en scène et dramaturge

Photo par Bernardo Fernandez

Emma Tibaldo est devenue directrice artistique et exécutive de Playwrights ’Workshop Montréal début 2008. En 2020, elle a reçu le prix Elliott Hayes pour réalisation exceptionnelle en dramaturgie.

En plus de collaborer dramaturgiquement à des pièces par le biais de son travail à PWM, elle a mis en scène de nouvelles pièces canadiennes à travers le pays, telles que Winter’s Daughter de Jesse Stong, SCUM: A Manifesto de S.E. Grummett et Caitlin Zacharias, Okinum d'Emilie Monnet (co-metteur en scène), Miss Katelyn’s Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable d'Elena Belyea, The Baklawa Recipe de Pascale Rafie, Refuge de Mary Vingoe, Falling Trees de Megan Coles, Model Wanted de Step Taylor. En 2005, elle a cofondé le Théâtre Talisman pour lequel elle a dirigé la production primée That Woman de Daniel Danis, Down Dangerous Passes Road de Michel Marc Bouchard, et The Medea Effect de Suzie Bastien. Elle vient de terminer Skin, une nouvelle performance avec la compagnie interdisciplinaire The Bakery, diffusée en direct lors du Centaur’s Wildside Festival en janvier 2021.

Elle va bientôt co-mettre en scène une pièce radiophonique pour le théâtre Imago, Ringtoned'Audrey Dwyer.

Elle a été artiste invitée à l'École nationale de théâtre et à l'Université Concordia. Emma est diplômée du département de théâtre de l’Université Concordia et du programme de mise en scène de l’École nationale de théâtre du Canada.

Elle fait vivre son punk-rockeur intérieur (et extérieur) en jouant dans le groupe familial The Tibaldos et The Dépanneurds.

Équipe technique et artistique

Amelia Sargisson

Mara

Victor Trelles

Evan

Erin Shields

Jordan

Felicia Shulman

Lydia | iTrance | Police

Emily Soussana

Conceptrice de production

Luciana Burcheri

Régisseuse

potatoCakes_digital

Collectif de dramaturgie digitale

GET TICKETS

Présenté par

décembre 9, 2020décembre 9, 2020

Impact Creation — Our year-in-review crossword puzzle

Illustration of 2 characters carrying PWM from 2020 to 2021. This is the year-in-review crossword puzzle for the Impact Creation campaign.

Here is our gift to you, our community: a 2020 year-in-review PWM crossword puzzle!

Every artist needs a home — a place where they can fully be themselves to create, a place where they just belong. Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal is that place for countless artists. This puzzle offers you a glimpse of what we did to keep us all interconnected during this roller coaster ride of a year.

It is also a draw! All correctly completed puzzles are entered in the draw for a chance to win their choice of Controlled Damage by Andrea Scott, Okinum by Émilie Monnet, or Some Blow Flutes by Mary Vingoe. All plays were created with the support of PWM.

Send us a correctly completed puzzle by December 31, 2020, and you will automatically be entered for the draw. You can submit your entry by clicking the submit button after filling it online, or if you choose to print it, send us a picture of the completed puzzle ici. Don’t forget to leave your email or phone number when prompted, so we can contact you.

DONATE TO IMPACT CREATION