2011 Playwrights’ Colony – May 8 – 22, Sackville, NB
May 9, 2011
PARC is hosting its annual Playwrights’ Colony from May 8 – 22 on Mount Allison University’s campus in Sackville, NB. The Colony serves as a retreat for playwrights from across the Atlantic region where they can get away from daily distractions and focus on writing new scripts in a supportive and nurturing environment. It provides assistance to the playwrights to develop their work with housing, travel, and per diems, as well as a company of professional dramaturges and actors. PARC’ Playwrights’ Colony provides the most intensive writing opportunity for playwrights in this region.
This year, ten playwrights have been selected to attend the colony, including:
- Christian Barry, Co-Artistic Director of Halifax’s 2b theatre
- Evan Brown, Halifax-based playwright, technician and designer in theatre and film productions
- Shauntay Grant, well known poet, writer, and broadcaster from Halifax
- Jason Hooper, visiting playwright from Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Lindsay Kyte, actor and playwright, originally from Reserve Mines, Cape Breton
- Bruce Allen Lynch, Fredericton-based playwright and freelance writer
- Tara Lee Reddick, actor and emerging playwright, originally from Antigonish and a student in the Radio and TV Arts Program at the Nova Scotia Community College
- Adam Reid, Artistic Director of Halifax’s QUEER ACTS Theatre Festival, born in St. John’s and raised in Moncton
- Lenora Steele, playwright, poet, and short fiction writer from Truro
- Annie Valentina, Co-Director of The Doppler Effect, an independent theatre in Halifax, and member of Eastern Front Theatre’s 2011 Playwright Unit; a native of Norway and a new Permanent Resident of Canada.
Hooper’s visit to Sackville from Manitoba is made possible by an exchange between PARC and the Manitoba Association of Playwrights (MAP). Scott Burke, Artistic Producer of Easter Front Theatre, represented PARC in this exchange in August 2010 when he was invited to attend MAP’s 30th Playwrights’ Colony with his script Fall in Paris.
During the Colony, PARC will also be working in association with the Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation (CCTC), workshopping Don Hannah’s new script The Cavepainter, which will be produced at CCTC in Edmonton in June, directed by Kim McCaw and featuring PARC’s Artistic Director Jenny Munday.
The dramaturges who will be working with the playwrights are Heather Inglis, former Dramaturge with the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre, and Kim McCaw, Artistic Director of CCTC and Professor of Drama at the University of Alberta. Actors Rob MacLean (PEI), Melissa Mullen (PEI), Breanna Moore (PEI) and Jacob Martin (Saint John, NB) will join the company in the second week of the Colony to do workshop readings of the scripts in progress. PARC’s AD Jenny Munday, will be lending her expertise and talents, not only as host, but also as both a dramaturge and actor to the playwrights. She will be assisted by the Colony Coordinator Robin Munro and Crake Student Intern Emily Armstrong in organizing and running this year’s program. This year’s Colony also provides emerging theatre artist, Karen Chung, the opportunity to participate in the Colony as an Apprentice Dramaturge.
Public Readings of New Canadian Plays
Date: Thursday, May 19, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm
Venue: Live Bait Theatre, 87 Main Street, Sackville, NB
Admission: By donation at the door
For info: 506-364-2122 / 1-877-845-1341 or parcoffice@ns.sympatico.ca
During the Colony, PARC will present an evening of readings of new works by some of the Colony participants. Playwrights whose works will be read include: Don Hannah, Christian Barry, Jason Hooper, Lenora Steele, Lindsay Kyte, Bruce Allen Lynch, and Evan Brown. There will be a cash bar and light refreshments will be provided.
PARC is grateful for the support of Mount Allison University; The Mount Allison Department of Drama; The Town of Sackville; The JEA Crake Foundation; The Canada Council for the Arts; The Arts Development Branch of the New Brunswick Department of Wellness, Culture and Sport; The Craig Foundation; Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture & Heritage; Live Bait Theatre; Sackville Save Easy; University of Alberta’s Department of Drama; The Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation; the United Church of Canada (Sackville, NB); Home Alone Pizza; The Manitoba Association of Playwrights; and Mulgrave Road Theatre.