Note:
Due to its hands-on approach, this workshop will be held physically in accordance to PWM’s COVID-19 safety procedures. Contact harris@playwrights.ca for any questions about the workshop.

UPDATE – May 25, 2021
Application deadline extended to Friday, May 28 2021 at 5 PM EST.

Open to playwrights, puppeteers and other theatre creators, this bilingual four-day workshop led by Olivier Ducas and Francis Monty, co-artistic directors of the Théâtre de la Pire Espèce will guide participants through a creative process where image and text intermingle, a process in which the form emerges from the tension between all simultaneously examined scenic elements.

The unique form of object theatre is built around three key aspects: clear and poetic language, the possibilities of the object itself, and the actor’s performance, both manipulator and storyteller. Through hands-on exercises and practical discussions, La Pire Espèce will immerse you in the exciting, specialized and minimalist art of object theatre.

Schedule:

(4-day workshop)

9:30AM to 3:30PM EST every day

Session 1: Friday, June 25, 2021
Session 2: Monday, June 28, 2021
Session 3: Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Session 4: Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Location:

June 25^th:
PWM Studio
7250 Clark St., #103
Montreal, QC
H2R 2Y3

June 28^th-30^th:
Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette
30, Saint-Just ave.
Montreal, QC
H2V 1X8

Creating Object Theatre is presented in collaboration with the Association québécoise des marionnettistes (AQM). The workshop is open to playwrights, puppeteers, performers and interdisciplinary creators. Members of the AQM are encouraged to apply. Please note that this is a hands-on workshop with some performance-based exercises. The workshop will be led bilingually in English and French, participants will be encouraged to express themselves in either language.

Application Instructions

Please send us a bio and/or artistic CV as well as a brief (1-2 paragraph) statement explaining why this workshop interests you, how it is relevant to your artistic practice, and what your expectations are.
Send applications and any questions to harris@playwrights.ca with the subject line: Exploring Practice with Pire Espèce.
You may send your application in English or French.

Apply before 5PM EST on May 28, 2021 to ensure that your application will be considered.

About the Workshop Leaders

Photo by Mathieu Doyon

Olivier Ducas studied acting at the National Theatre School of Canada. His decisive encounter with Francis Monty led in 1999 to the founding of Théâtre de la Pire Espèce, for which they act as co-artistic director. He also cofounded Théâtre Aux Écuries (2005) a creation center and theatre venue in Montreal and was one of Carte Premiere’s initiators. A playwright, actor, director and object/puppet manipulator, he is the co-creator of the company’s productions (Ubu on the Table, Perseus, Gestes impies et rites sacrés, Die Reise, Futur intérieur and L’Effet Hyde) that have toured across Canada, Europe, Mexico and Brazil over the last 20 years. In 2008, he single-handedly wrote and directed Roland, la vérité du vainqueur, a show for two actor-storytellers for teen audiences. In 2014, he repeated the experience with Cities, adding solo performer to his list of credits. He is currently working on the Contes zen du potager, a series of short, minimalist forms, where vegetables display all their substance. Ducas is a leading object theatre director in Canada. Research in object and image-based playwriting is at the core of his actions as a creator. In addition to his creative work, Ducas also gives object theatre classes for professionals, theatre school professors and theatre students.

Photo by Mathieu Doyon

A 1997 graduate of the playwrighting program at the National Theatre School of Canada, Francis Monty is a theatrical jack of all trades – directing, clowning, puppetry and his many writing projects all intertwine. In 1999 he co-founded Théâtre de la Pire Espèce with Olivier Ducas, and both share the position of artistic director. He has co-created many of the company’s plays, including Ubu on the table and Perseus. A number of his plays have travelled across Canada, and to Brazil and Europe, including Par les temps qui rouillent, Déclownestration, Traces de cloune, Léon le nul, Ernest T., Petit bonhomme en papier carbone and Nous sommes mille en équilibre fragile. He received the 2005 Masque award for best original script for Romances et karaoké, the 2014 Cochon dramatique for best original script for Petit bonhomme en papier carbone at the Gala des Cochons d’or and Ernest T. was nominated for best original script for young audiences for the Louise LaHaye Award.

WITH THE collaboration of

This workshop is financially supported by

Lire cette annonce en français

Dates: November 5-8th, 2019 (4-day workshop)
Time: 10 AM – 3 PM Each day
Location: Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette: 30 Avenue Saint-Just, Outremont, QC
Fee: $60 (please contact us if this fee would be an obstacle to your participation)

Writing and Devising Puppetry: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Creation

Presented in collaboration with the Association Québécoise des marionnettistes (AQM)

This four-day workshop is designed as a laboratory to explore and experiment with puppetry and the interdisciplinary creation methods it employs as unique form of scenic writing.

In puppetry, narratives unfurl as interrelated threads woven from; objects and materials, movement and presence, light, sound and/or text. As performers activate these elements: bringing them into relationship with each other, with time, and with space: a singular poetic language is formed.

This workshop asks the question, what does it mean to create and compose in a language that is both material and time based? What are visual dramaturgies? And, where do we begin when we wish to ‘write’ with images?

Throughout the workshop, participants will be invited to engage in puppetry and performance exercises, as well as to experiment with visual mediums and creative writing techniques, in the construction of performed visual narratives.

This workshop is not designed as an introduction to technical aspects of creating or manipulating puppets, but views the puppetry arts as a large family of theatrical forms wherein material and performer meet. The workshop invites participants of diverse backgrounds (performance, puppetry, design, writing, stage technique, visual arts etc…) to gain greater perspective on the unique storytelling opportunities that puppetry presents.

In addition to structured improvisations, individual and group exercises, participants will be given (some) opportunities to explore projects of personal interest within the context of the workshop.

Note: This workshop will take place primarily in English, but many of the exercises and discussions will be led in English and French in order to best accommodate all participants.

How to Apply:

Please send your CV and/or bio as well as a brief paragraph explaining why you are interested in this workshop, and your experience with puppetry, and/or interdisciplinary approaches to creation to harris@playwrights.ca using the subject line: Exploring Practice with Clea Minaker. The deadline to apply is Thursday October 3rd, 2019 before 1pm

Biography of Clea Minaker

Clea Minaker is a puppeteer, designer, director, and interdisciplinary creator who graduated from the sixth promotion (2002-2005) at L’École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette in Charleville‐Mézières, France. Through her personal creations, Clea has explored an interest for shadow, light, live video projections, as well as the poetics of manipulation and corporeal gesture.

She has collaborated across artistic disciplines: in theatre, live music, opera, dance, film, and visual arts, including collaborations with Feist (The Reminder Tour 2007/2008), Atom Egoyan, So-called, Kid Koala. She has created works for: the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Convergence: an International Summit on Art and Technology at the Banff Centre, IF! Istanbul, The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and Festival Casteliers. Clea premiered her first full-length solo performance The Book of Thel, at Théâtre Lachapelle, Scènes Contemporains in 2013.

Clea has taught puppetry, shadow puppetry, and interdisciplinary creation at; U.Q.A.M ‘d.e.s.s marionette contemporain’, Concordia University, National Theatre School of Canada, Playwright’s Workshop Montreal, U.B.C.O, Mcgill University. She is currently co-director of the Banff Centre Puppet Intensive offered by The Old Trout Puppet Workshop.

In 2009 Clea was awarded the Siminovitch Protégé Prize for Theatre Design by prize Laureate and puppeteer Ronnie Burkett.

This workshop is presented in collaboration with: