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The conversation starts here. Join us in the lively discussion of all things theatre.
Are you an artist interested in boosting your dramaturgy skills? Applications for PTC’S Block D are open! Whether you identify as a dramaturg or are engaged in dramaturgical and devised performance work, we welcome your application! Block D is for artists who help to shape, nurture and create all kinds…
Be part of the development and explore the UNSCRIPTED: Mermaid Spring online! PTC and The Public Swoon invite you to enjoy a taste of the development of Mermaid Spring, a new work of interdisciplinary music theatre focused on deep co-creation, slow process and social handcraft. Witness textile artist and representative…
PTC Platforms is a space to explore the worlds of five projects in development. The playwrights and their collaborators are bringing their themes and imagery into film, audio, illustration, music, and interactives, following their ideas into new online spaces. It’s an invitation to think of theatre as a springboard that…
We are pleased to introduce you to the Block A Fall 2022 cohort. These 12 writers will work with mentors David Geary and Nicola Harwood for ten weeks starting this October. The writers working with David are Andy Kalirai, Ashley Chodat, Jessica Harvey, Krystal Kavita Jagoo, Marya Folinsbee, and Reese…
PTC is excited to announce a special Vancouver Fringe Festival presentation! A workshop production of The Frontliners by Zahida Rahemtulla is happening this November 2022. As our New Play in Development winner, Zahida is producing a limited run at the Waterfront Theatre. Get your tickets now, for… The Frontliners by…
UNSCRIPTED: Mermaid Spring links The Public Swoon’s performative work with the social handcraft that is a parallel thread in their exploration. Collaborating fibre artist Heather Cameron led a visible mending workshop as part of the Unscripted series in March. Heather Cameron is a visual artist of settler heritage, living in…
In our latest installment of our Playwright’s Process series, we chatted with playwright Zahida Rahemtulla, whose play, The Frontliners, will premiere at the Waterfront Theatre in November 2022.
Poetry is a gateway. It allows us to make connections and find meaning in mystery. In this workshop, we will wake up our poetic senses, begin to generate a sustainable and fulfilling writing practice, and embrace self-expression. This workshop is open to artists, writers, playwrights, actors, or anyone interested in picking up a writing practice.
On behalf of PTC and The Public Swoon, we invite you into the process of Mermaid Spring through a special package mailed directly to you.
Learn to work from archival documents, family history, personal memoir, and other “real” texts in this workshop with Joanna Garfinkel.
New to cold reads? Want to feel more confident in your cold reading skills? Whether you’re taping auditions for new or unpublished plays or prepping for podcast or online play reading recordings, Cold Reads and Fast Takes on New Material will give you tools to make the most of a text.
Join us to celebrate another year of cultivating and harvest as the DTES Neighbourhood House Urban Farm is back in full operation this year. Come for farm tours, food, a community market, workshops, and live entertainment. Great activities for everyone (kid-friendly)!
On behalf of the team behind The Frontliners, Playwrights Theatre Centre is looking to cast two actors
PTC would like to invite you to the final reading of the Tuesday Winter Cohort of PTC’s Block A Playwriting Workshop.
We connected with Argel, one of our current ECD producer-playwrights, to hear about his creation process, his work on The Parallel Project, and his vision for theatre.
You are invited to a Visible Mending Workshop hosted by the Public Swoon, where you will have the opportunity to learn and develop fibre arts techniques as used in the creation process of Mermaid Spring, including crochet and embroidery.
Wanting to write a play with dynamic characters? Or create a performance where your personality is bigger-than-life from yourself? Or do you want to try out a persona you’ve always been curious to play with?
PTC is thrilled welcome Amy Amantea to the team as Accessibility Consultant!
In preparation for UNSCRIPTED: Mermaid Spring, our Dramaturg, Creative Engagement, Davey Calderon, caught up with fibre artist Heather Cameron.
PTC welcomes Lili Robinson as our Community Engagement Producer.
Maraya Franca joins us as the PTC Platforms Assistant.
“I Cannot Lie to the Stars That Made Me” meets the need for shared experience by rooting itself to a living embodiment of community in the choral presence, and reminds us of the body frequently, “a guide to moving and healing for women of colour.”
PTC is thrilled to announce our 2022 ECD cohort of playwright-producers: Emmet Hanley, Argel Monte de Ramos, and Alexander Zonjic, with external mentor June Fukumura and dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel.
PTC is pleased to welcome Kit McKeown as our new Communications Manager
We are pleased to introduce you to the Block A Winter 2022 cohort. These 12 writers will work with mentors Joanna Garfinkel and Veronique West for ten weeks starting in January 2022.
Are you a people-person who is passionate about connecting artists and their communities? Do you have a vision for how PTC’s projects can connect with the community? Can you create a plan to make it happen? If this is you, we’d love to hear your ideas for the Community Engagement Producer role with PTC. Apply by Jan 4, 2022.
Do you have a passion for integrating theatre and accessibility practice together? Are you an advocate for underrepresented communities? Do you excel at working across platforms, from the digital to in-person events? If this is you, apply for the Accessibility Coordinator role with PTC by the EXTENDED DEADLINE: Tuesday January 11th, 2022 at 4:00 PM PST.
Join our New Play in Development Prize winner, Zahida Rahemtulla with co-host Davey Samuel Calderon (Dramaturg, Public Engagement & NPiDP Dramaturg) and learn about working on the frontlines during the intake of refugees to Canada back in 2016, today, and even in Canada’s future. Nov. 19, 2021 – 7-9pm, PWYW!
Playwright’s Process is a new blog series inspired by Marcel Proust Character Questionnaire, where we introduce you to playwrights and theatre artists that are creating exciting new works. We ask them to choose seven questions from our list that resonate with them. Our first theatre artist for the series is Kagan Goh, a multidisciplinary writer and mental health advocate based on unceded Coast Salish territories.
Meet our Fall 2021 Block A cohort, a group of emerging theatre artists matched with mentors David Geary and Fay Nass.
WE’RE HIRING! Are you an exceptional communicator searching for a creative home? Do you have a vision for how PTC connects with the world? PTC is looking for a Communications Manager! APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED to Fri Nov. 5, 2021!
PTC caught up with Tai about her writing journey, Metis storytelling and her self-made career.
An audio and text geolocation experience in partnership with The Cultch Digital Storytelling Team. How does your lineage shape the language you use for mental health? What will you find as you travel through UNSCRIPTED: Szepty/Whispers? What’s beyond “breaking the silence”?
Join mentors Joanna Garfinkel and Kamila Sediego for a workshop on the basics of applying to the Canada Council for the Arts and BC Arts Council for project grants. Dates; Sept. 15 or Sept 22, 2021. Apply by Sept. 8.
Up for testing immersive digital art? Interested in joining a conversation about mental health, language, and lineage? Have a phone? We want you! We’re seeking test audience members for the app-based experience of Szepty/Whispers: Dialogue, as part of the Unscripted Series.
What is the artist’s role with activism and politics? How do we start tackling social and political issues with our art? Are there best practices when making art as activism? PTC Dramaturg – Public Engagement, Davey Calderon and playwright Pedro Chamale dig deep into these questions and more.
We are thrilled to welcome participants in the Vancouver leg of the Digital Dramaturgy Initiative. The cohort will meet September 20-25, 2021 to explore digital dramaturgy for theatre on- and off-line.
PTC is looking for an audience services assistant for our upcoming Unscripted: Szepty/Whispers, an audio and text geolocation app and QR reader experience, Sept 27 – Oct 3, 2021. APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED: Tuesday, September, 2021, midnight PDT
PTC is looking for a producer to manage digital works or recordings created by 7 – 8 artists as part of our upcoming season, Sept. 2021 to Oct. 2022. Application deadline: September 9, 2021
Often we want to reach out to strangers from other experiences: is there a best practice for that? We asked MSG Lab Emerging Dramaturg Jesse del Fierro for their perspective on the subject.
Application deadline: July 15, 2021, midnight PDST This position requires in-person work in Vancouver. Access to a vehicle is an asset. Are you at home in OBS or Streamyard? Can you troubleshoot meeting platforms without skipping a beat? Can you make a beautiful online schedule to create order out of…
PTC is calling for applications for our most popular program for emerging theatre artists and established writers interested in performance: Block A 2021-22. APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED to August 24, 2021
We are pleased to announce that we have chosen four playwrights as PTC Associates 2021-24! Find out who they are and learn more about their fabulous projects.
PTC will host 4-6 projects in residence, September 20-25, 2021, to explore digital dramaturgy for theatre on- and off-line. We continue investigations begun by our partners in Montreal and Winnipeg into digital forms in theatre practice.
María Escolán and Dominique Wakeland interviewed each other about PTC’s Dramaturg Launch Pad, theatre, holding each other accountable, and the joy of not knowing.
New to cold reads? Want to feel more confident in your cold reading skills? Whether you’re taping auditions for new or unpublished plays or prepping for podcast or online play reading recordings, Cold Reads and Fast Takes on New Material will give you tools to make the most of a text.
Do you want some tips and tricks to write, rewrite or finish songs? Join our Pay-What-You-Will songwriting workshop with singer-songwriter Belinda Bruce (PTC’s Communications Manager) and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jon Wood (Flophouse jr), over two sessions – June 14 and 28 from 6:00-8:00pm.
Davey’s personal reflections on online security – an unlikely dramaturgical device – in the making of UNSCRIPTED: yellow objects
PTC AED Heidi Taylor talks with dancer/choreographer/teacher Amber Funk Barton about the creation of her piece How to Say Goodbye, which gained new meaning in the context of the pandemic, coupled with Amber’s decision to leave her company, the response. after 13 years.
We are excited to announce that playwright Zahida Rahemtulla will join PTC for a new program: the PTC New Play in Development Prize.
Put you best fool forward this April! Our PWYW Studio Workshop Series starts with Clowning Online with Davey Calderon. Keep your performance life alive in this 2-hour workshop (April 16, 5:30-7:30pm) learning to develop your “clown” for the online stage.
Playwrights Theatre Centre is searching for four playwrights working towards their best and most ambitious work to date for our Associates program. DEADLINE TO APPLY EXTENDED TO MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021.
PTC is delighted to partner with Visceral Visions to offer our Indigenous and racialized members/associated artists the opportunity to get one year of membership FREE in CultureBrew.Art – a $25 value! Promo code expires midnight on March 31, 2021.
Scott Button reflects on Queer history and storytelling through the lens of adapting his play Night Passing into an audio drama.
PTC is seeking a Foundation Grant Writer for a short term contract (April – July 2021). Apply by March 15th.
Our workshop series returns for 2021! Led by PTC staff, these workshops will help hone your skills and move you deeper into your process. And PTC and New(to)Town Collective have teamed up for a Summer Training Jam Series, adding 4 more theatre workshops for you to access!
In this 3-hour workshop, Joanna Garfinkel will lead participants through the basics of applying to the Canada Council for the Arts and BC Arts Council for project grants. Workshop Dates: March 3 and 17, 2021. 6:30-9:30pm. Deadline to Apply: February 24, 2021 @5pm PST
Joanna asks: What is the capacity of theatre, or really of any art, to effect social action?
Playwright Pedro Chamale invites you into the test kitchen of his new work, which highlights the unseen people who plant, tend and harvest our food. This live-streamed event is part cooking show, part “kitchen table talk” with special guests who explore the fallout from our reliance on the exploitation of migrant workers to put food on Canadian tables and the roles artist might play in making change. Join us, we have saved you a seat at our table!
A tribute to Indigenous artist, actor, advocate, poet, and playwright, Taran Kootenhayoo, who passed away suddenly on New Year’s Eve 2020.
In the days after experiencing Japanese Problem at the barns at Hastings Park, Kathleen had heard from Joanna that the piece that Universal Limited created on the subject of the Japanese Canadian incarceration during WW2 had significantly steered her dramaturgical practice going forward.
We are pleased to announce that as our Fall 2020 cohort wraps up, we welcome another group of wonderful emerging writers coming into Block A in January 2021.
PTC welcomes three artists joining us January to June, 2021 as part of our Dramaturg Launch Pad, funded by the BC Arts Council’s Early Career Development program.
Meet the WrightSpace 2020 cohort, who will be investigating and applying different means of increasing access under COVID, “Beyond the Zoom.”
A conversation between PTC’s Dramaturg, Creative Engagement – Joanna Garfinkel and Fringe New Play Prize Winners JK JK, Jenny Larson and khattieQ, about the making of Catalina La O presenta: Ahora Conmigo in a constantly changing world.
PTC, in collaboration with rice & beans theatre, will hold its Annual General Meeting on Monday, December 7, 2020 at 7:30pm, online. Register now!
November 19-29, 2020, Digitally Streaming Online. PTC is excited to support the independent launch of JK JK’s Catalina La O Presenta: Ahora Conmigo. Originally selected as the Fringe New Play Prize winner, Catalina is being released digitally outside of the festival context to respond to the creative opportunities and challenges of the pandemic. The independent production, set in an abandoned television studio, translates beautifully to the screen. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Digital Originals, JK JK has crafted a digital theatre experience that brings the best of both media together.
Kathleen Flaherty (Dramaturg Emeritus/Project Dramaturg) talks with Davey Calderon (Dramaturg, Public Engagement) about how he keeps track of what his body does as he devises new work through exercises and improvisations.
PTC is proud to present Harvest Lens Series + Roots and Seeds with Heart of the City Festival, October 28 – November 8, 2020. In the Harvest Lens Series, PTC’s Davey Calderon collaborates with theatre artists in a series of short videos featuring DTES Neighbourhood House’s Urban Farm. And we relaunch our podcast Roots and Seeds.
In PTC’s first online Unscripted on Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 7:00pm PST, join playwright Derek Chan and co-host Davey Calderon (Dramaturg, Public Engagement) as they bring the voices of Hong Kong democracy activists in Vancouver into conversation with Derek’s play-in-development, yellow objects.
We are pleased to announce that, once again, the number of playwrights submitting to Block A, PTC’s popular program for emerging writers, has been plentiful, so four sessions are being convened, two in the fall and two in winter.
The Vancouver Fringe Festival and Playwrights Theatre Centre are calling for applications for the ninth year of the Fringe New Play Prize. Through the Fringe New Play Prize, PTC and the Vancouver Fringe offer emerging BC theatre artists a leg up in the process of creating and producing with material support. BC writers and creative producing teams with a project underway for the 2021 Fringe season are encouraged to submit.
Kathleen finds three big takeaways from her eight years as Dramaturg at PTC.
Kathleen Flaherty, PTC’s Dramaturg since 2012, will retire on October 1, 2020. We celebrate her illustrious career and future endeavours.
PTC is proud to welcome Joanna Garfinkel to the team in the new position of Dramaturg, Creative Engagement. After a robust search and in consultation with the community, Joanna’s excellence in engaged practice, her deep connections in the community, and her significant producing and management knowledge made her the unequivocal choice.
In December of 2019, PTC’s WrightSpace residency program put Catherine Joell MacKinnon and Heidi Taylor in the Studio for 10 days to work on Catherine’s play Inaudibility World. This was PTC’s first engagement with a bilingual ASL/English work. Dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty sat down with Heidi Taylor to talk about the Inaudibility World workshop and some of the discoveries she and Catherine and the team made during those ten days in December.
PTC is recognizing the exceptional leadership contributions of Melanie Yeats, our Operations Manager, as she moves into the new position of Creative Managing Director.
PTC is convening our fourteenth annual 10-day residency, WrightSpace, in Vancouver, BC, December 7 – 19, 2020. Each year, PTC welcomes a small group of professional Canadian playwrights to join us for a short-term residency to work on one of their projects. This year, we are inviting proposals for projects engaged with creatively increasing access for audiences.
Dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty interviewed Elysse Cheadle, the Writer/Director of High Water, about the unique dramaturgy of this creation in a fish tank.
Join the PTC team in this part-time role focused on researching, developing and leading in the dramaturgy of new plays at PTC. Deadline to apply is July 31st, 2020!
Always wanted to write for theatre? Or already have a script you want to work on? Join our most popular program for emerging artists: Block A.
PTC’s Artistic and Executive Director acknowledges and provides context for her acceptance of the Vancouver NOW Award.
Finding what you know already. Join Heidi for this 7-evening workshop that offers a container for creative discovery. Using improvisation (for movement, writing, or aural/oral creation), emergent structures, and self-dramaturgy, participants will discover a performance seed that is all their own.
PTC is thrilled to welcome Davey Calderon as our new Dramaturg, Public Engagement. In this position, Davey will lead on our Unscripted program, our Blocks, and our ongoing commitment to engaging communities in the development of new work. He will also continue his own active dramaturgical practice. Learn more about Davey.
We are excited to share vAct’s announcement of the 2020-21 MSG Lab Playwrights. The MSG Lab is vAct’s Playwrighting Theatre Program for developing new Asian Canadian work. Over the next eight months, the MSG playwrights will be receiving development support for their new scripts and working with PTC dramaturgs.
In the late winter of 2020, Kathleen Flaherty asked Fay Nass, Artistic Director of the frank theatre company, for an interview about the company’s plans for their project called “Diaspora” (then just finished phase one of its process). That request led to a fascinating conversation that went much further than the project. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is taking on new form and content.
During the spring and summer of 2019, PTC Associate Veronique West and Dramaturgical Intern Kathy Feng followed a group of Chinese seniors through a season of planting, tending, and harvesting their community garden. PTC has released the audio podcast Roots and Seeds, created from interviews and found sound during the gardening season, in three versions: English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
Today is #GivingTuesdayNow – a new global day of giving and unity to support those most impacted by COVID-19. Join us in supporting DTES Response or an organization closest to your heart, and make a difference where it’s needed most.
In the coming weeks, PTC will be amplifying some of the community leaders who are supporting our community’s essential needs. Whether you can share their story or contribute resources, we invite you to celebrate the resilience and solidarity of our friends and neighbours. For six years, PTC called Vancouver’s Chinatown…
PTC is beginning a new chapter in its creative development, as we bring in two new staff dramaturg positions between June and September 2020. The two positions will be creative partners to the Artistic & Executive Director, playing complementary roles in the development of PTC’s vision for reimagining theatre. The…
This spring, PTC will be hiring a new dramaturg to join Kathleen and Heidi. It will be a part-time staff position based in Vancouver. Are you a dramaturg, engaged with community, and with skills for producing and planning? Watch this space in April for a full job description and application details.
Playwright/director Rzgar Hama, Artistic Director of Sky Theatre, is never idle. Over the last year, he put together a cohort of refugees to share their stories in a three-phase project whose first phase finished in January 2020. Dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty asked Rzgar to talk about the project just as he was ramping up for Phase Two.
As a precaution in light of rapidly developing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 in our community, our office will be closed until further notice. PTC staff are working remotely and some of our programs and workshops will proceed virtually. We are sending much love and compassion to our community. We are compiling an ongoing list of resources to help you through this.
PTC, in partnership with the GVPTA (Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Association) asked María Escolán to reflect on her experience participating in Coyuntura 2020: An International Latinx Theatre Gathering. Coyuntura was sponsored by the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition (CALTAC) and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs (SFUW).
We are pleased to announce the participants in the Block P 2020.
Our workshop series is back for 2020! NOW OFFERED ONLINE. Led by PTC staff, these workshops will help hone your skills and move you deeper into your process. Whether you are an actor, producer, playwright, or all three, there’s a workshop that will inspire you, engage you, and give you some practical skills to move your practice forward.
PLEASE NOTE: The Reading of Rick Tae’s “My Little Tomato” TONIGHT (JAN. 15 at 8PM) has been cancelled due to inclement weather!
Come and experience new plays in development as part of VACT’s MSG Lab program (in association with PTC).
Dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty interviews the curators of DBLSPK, a series of events responsible for raising some fascinating questions about language and meaning in theatre.
PTC and the Vancouver Fringe Festival are pleased to announce the winner of the 2020 Fringe New Play Prize.
During the last year, Japanese-Canadian multi-disciplinary theatre artist June Fukumura has been developing a new practice in dramaturgy, both at Banff Playwrights Lab and as the first ever MSG Emerging Dramaturg supported by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and PTC. Kathleen Flaherty sat down with June to ask her about this new(ish) arrow in her professional quiver.
Pritchard believes that the investigation of dramaturgy and curation is fundamental to the continued transformation of the theatre industry. This is a reprint. This article was first published by ArtsHub on Friday 15 February, 2019.
We are pleased to announce that, once again, the number of playwrights submitting to Block A, PTC’s popular program for emerging writers, has been plentiful, so four sessions are being convened, two in the fall and two in winter.
This year’s PTC WrightSpace residency (January 10-19, 2020) welcomes Catherine Joell MacKinnon to Vancouver to develop her bilingual (ASL-English) play, Inaudibility World.
After attending her first LMDA conference in 2019: “Crossing Borders, Pt.2”, Daniela Atiencia reflects on the role of the dramaturg in fostering positive social change.
Lili Robinson is the creator/playwright of Mx, the project that won our hearts and minds in the 2019 Fringe New Play Prize competition. As we prepare for the launch of this new work on September 6 and as we solicit entries for FNPP 2020, we asked Project Dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel to interview Lili about how she perceives the process from this point just before final rehearsals begin.Joanna Garfinkel
In October of 2018, Reneltta Arluk and Patti Flather took part in a research project facilitated by Nightswimming’s Pure Research wing. They were interested in discovering how languages, specifically Indigenous languages known to few people, could be part of theatrical presentations. They created and refined several live experiments to carry out over a few days. Kathleen Flaherty interviewed Reneltta and Patti about the project.
This piece, A Look into Theatre’s FutVRe by Carly B. Johnson, was originally published on HowlRound Theatre Commons (howlround.com/look-theatres-futvre), on April 18, 2019. Johnson explores the possibilities of burgeoning VR and AR technology to expand upon and enhance theatrical experiences.
PTC is convening our thirteenth annual 10-day residency, WrightSpace, in Vancouver, BC, in January of 2020. This year, we are interested in creating an opportunity for creative exchange with Deaf artists.
This essay, published 30 years ago in the Canadian journal Theatrum, authored by two dancer-choreographers and a dramaturg: Denise Fujiwara, Tama Soble, and DD Kugler, is a pioneering document, one of the first case studies describing the working processes of dance dramaturgy, around the time when this “new craft” was just emerging.
At Unscripted: Kuroko, join Tetsuro Shigematsu for a behind-the-scenes party exploring the world of his upcoming new play, Kuroko. Test virtual reality environments, discover the ideas that sparked Kuroko, and see a sneak peek of the play.
In our random occasional “What do dramaturgs do?” series, PTC Dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty talks about two of her more unusual company collaborations.
Heidi Taylor shares her experience as a learner and observer at SOUND OFF, Canada’s national festival dedicated to the Deaf performing arts, presented by Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre at the Chinook Festival in Edmonton, Alberta.
We asked WrightSpace 2018 Guest Dramaturg Jiv Parasram to write a piece about his experience in the program. This is Jiv’s thought experiment.
We are pleased to announce the participants in this year’s Block P (Producing for Theatre): Mairy Beam, Kagan Goh, Rebecca Walters and Ilana Zackon, join the producer of the Fringe New Play Prize 2019 winning project (Mx) Shanae Sodhi.
PTC and the Vancouver Fringe Festival are pleased to announce that Lili Robinson has won the Fringe New Play Prize with her work Mx.
Reflections on Deaf theatre in our country after attending The Awakening Deaf Theatre in Canada conference in November 2018.
In this reprint from Got Your Back. Heidi Malazdrewich talks about shifting to a more feminist process as a director, and creating a safe space for her actors
Can developing an autobiographical play be legitimate research? Tetsuro Shigematsu holds up his play “Empire of the Son” to the academic lens for consideration.
PTC is pleased to announce that Jess Amy Shead joins us as our Community Engaged Producing Intern from October 2018 – July 2019.
Where does our food come from? Who grows it? Who is nourished by it? Join playwright Pedro Chamale for words and music from his play-in-progress that brings temporary foreign farm workers centre stage – the unseen people who plant, tend, and harvest. Share food and stories in a family-friendly event that reveals the links in Canada’s food chain.
We believe in the creative impulses of our artists. Help PTC say, “Yes, let’s” to new Canadian plays by WrightSpace 2018 playwrights Barbara Adler, Tai Amy Grauman, Robert Hamilton and Yvonne Wallace. Our goal is to raise $3000 by November 15 to ensure these artists have cultural consultants, designers, actors and space to dream! Donate at CanadaHelps.org today.
In this piece by Katherine Swimm, reprinted from HowlRound, she discusses how working closely with the projection designer from the beginning of development of the play “Ripe Frenzy” resulted in a unique production with a deep connection between the design and the script.
PTC is pleased to welcome our longtime friend and colleague mia susan amir into a co-mentorship with Artistic & Executive Director Heidi Taylor. As PTC’s Dramaturgy Research Associate, mia will advise on inclusive process design for our upcoming WrightSpace residency, and bear witness to the residency in December. Heidi will support mia’s development of access protocols and visioning for future projects.
This year’s PTC WrightSpace residency (Dec. 5 – 15, 2018) brings four writers together with dramaturgs, actors, designers, and language consultants to crack open four scripts through bespoke dramaturgical processes. Barbara Adler, Tai Amy Grauman, Robert Hamilton and Yvonne Wallace are exploring the content as well as the processes they…
We are delighted to announce that, once again, the number of playwrights submitting to Block A – PTC’s popular program for emerging writers – has exceeded our expectations, so four sessions are being convened, two in the fall and two in winter. The fall 2018 cohort has six writers who…
In this video interview, Fringe New Play Prize winners Sara Vickruck and Anais West share their thoughts about the development of their slam poetry musical “Poly Queer Love Ballad”.
PTC is pleased to welcome Jiv Parasram as guest dramaturg for the 2018 WrightSpace residency. Each year we bring a new guest dramaturg into the fold to enrich the company’s dramaturgical perspectives and offer our writers the most interesting and dynamic theatrical collaborators possible. Jiv is no stranger to PTC-developed…
PTC is happy to announce the stellar group of participants in this year’s Block SAT.
A chat with Rzgar Hama about the premiere of the English language version of his play “Soldierland” (The Annex May 18-24, 2018).
Project Dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel and Fringe New Play Prize winners Sara Vickruck and Anaïs West share thoughts about the development of “Poly Queer Love Ballad” and the unique relationship between songwriting, slam poetry and playwriting.
Join PTC at the premiere of Weaving Reconciliation: Our Way, a new play and cultural encounter that gives voice to those who have lived within Canada’s long shadow of colonialism.
Set yourself up for a successful summer. These workshops will help hone your skills and move you deeper into your process. Whether you are an actor, producer, playwright, or all three, there’s a Studio workshop that will inspire you, engage you, and give you some practical skills to move your…
Veronique West reflects on the concepts of truth and fiction in her family history, her life and her art.
SECRET LOCATION…. In the ’80s in Poland under Martial Law, people gathered in secret in basements and school gyms, gaining entrance with a bottle of vodka and a password whispered to the janitor. To join us for Veronique West’s “Unscripted: Where the Devil Can’t Go”, you won’t need to bring vodka, just meet us at Progress Lab 1422 (1422 William St.) this Thursday, May 3. The password is “DEVIL”.
How deep can a fraud go? Tim Carlson – writer and host of “Victim Impact: The Fraudcast” – discusses the impetus behind this podcast series about one of the largest fraud schemes in Canadian history and how tunnelling ever deeper into the layers of the case altered his perceptions of victims, criminals and human nature.
We are pleased to announce the participants in this year’s Block P (Producing): Diana Bang, Kris Fleerackers, Matthew Horrigan, Ian Kent, Lenore Rowntree, Maria Zarrillo, and our Fringe New Play Prize winners, Anais West and Sara Vickruck.
Join us for readings of new works by MSG Lab playwrights Gary Mok, Yumi Ogawa and Sangeeta Wylie. PTC Test Kitchen Feb. 22-24, 2018. FREE.
We checked in with the playwrights involved in MSG Lab – VACT’s program that supports new theatrical work by emerging and mid-career Asian Canadian artists – to find out about their experience with their PTC dramaturg.
by Leanna Brodie Beijing, June 2017: Of all the possible barriers to researching a play about Arthur Miller in China, I didn’t think that one of the most pressing ones would be figuring out how to cross the street. Jovanni – my partner in this project, as in life –…
PTC Presents Unscripted: Salesman in China, a border-crossing time-travelling community event. Performances, talks, food and images bring Beijing, 1983 and Vancouver, 2018 into relationship through Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. How do we translate language and cultural differences? How do we bridge the gap between generations? PTC Associates Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy welcome you into the world of their new play.
For two months in 1983, two of the world’s great artists struggled to bridge the abyss between two of the world’s great cultures. UNSCRIPTED: Salesman in China is a border-crossing time-travelling community event that unearths their incredible story.
Playwright/actor/director/producer Pedro Chamale shares his experience of discovering more about himself and his Latinx identity at the El Encuentro del las America 2017 conference in Los Angeles, CA.
Find out who is participating in the 2017-18 MSG Lab, VACT’s annual new play development program in association with PTC. Facilitating the creation and development of new theatrical work by emerging and mid-career Asian Canadian artists, this program is VACT’s commitment to the next generation of Asian Canadian theatre makers. The MSG Lab showcases stories from the Asian Canadian points of view, and develops new Asian Canadian work to a professional level for future production opportunities.
PTC and the Vancouver Fringe Festival are pleased to announce that the team comprised of Anais West and Sara Vickruck is the winner of the 2018 Fringe New Play Prize for “Poly Queer Love Ballad”. The Prize includes a free Mainstage spot at the 2018 Vancouver Fringe, the design and execution of a development process for the play with PTC’s Project Dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel, and a free spot in PTC’s how-to-produce-theatre seminar series, Block P.
Join PTC and rice & beans for our AGM and performances from our Company Collaboration: Play Dates.
Refreshments and a window into some fresh new work.
Doors at 6:30
Meeting at 7 pm, followed by refreshment break
8 pm reading
PTC’s Kathleen Flaherty was having one of many passionate and enlightening conversations with theatre maker (and PTC Associate 2010 -13) Lisa C. Ravensbergen when Lisa spoke briefly about asking a director whether she was to portray a character as white. Kathleen admits that the idea was so startling to her that, at first, she didn’t stop to inquire. Later, Lisa agreed to talk about what she meant and we have edited that conversation for sharing.
You are invited to follow Vancouver Moving Theatre and PTC in the next phase of development of the theatrical production (and cultural encounter) Weaving Reconciliation.There are three events taking place at the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival (Oct. 25 – Nov. 5) in Vancouver as part of the process: Slahal Story and Demonstration; Trickster Talk and Play Reading: Weaving reconciliation.
We’re thrilled to bring Anjela Magpantay on board as Producing Intern for 2017-18.
This year’s WrightSpace (Dec. 6-16, 2017) brings four writers together with dramaturgs, actors, designers, and cultural consultants to crack open four scripts through bespoke dramaturgical processes. Tania Carter, Joseph Dandurand, and Taran Kootenhayoo are all from the greater Vancouver area, while Frances Koncan will come in from Winnipeg. This year,…
Lindsay Lachance, Guest Dramaturg for WrightSpace 2017 (the recently renamed Colony) , introduces a discussion of her experience and understanding of Indigenous dramaturgies.
This year, we are delighted to announce that the number of playwrights submitting to Block A, PTC’s popular program for emerging writers, has exceeded the capacity by 500% so four sessions are being convened, two in the fall and two in winter. Check out our cohorts and find out who is the recipient of The Virago Play Series scholarship.
Playwright Dave Deveau returned from the ASSITEJ conference in South Africa with fresh excitement about the power of theatre for young audiences. Kathleen talked to him about the conference and TYA in general. ASSITEJ is the acronym for the French name of the International Association of Theatre for Children and…
Setting Bones, winner of the Fringe New Play Prize 2017, premieres at the Vancouver Fringe Festival Sept. 9 -17, 2017.
The Virago Play Series is offering a bursary to support a female or femme identified playwright who is accepted to one of PTC’s two cohorts for Block A in the coming season.
The winners of the 2017 Fringe New Play Prize – lee williams boudakian, Kamee Abrahamian and Anoushka Ratnarajah – have been working with Associate Dramaturg mia amir on their play Setting Bones for the last seven months. Anoushka shares the challenges and deep explorations embedded in creating this far-reaching and personal work.
In Facing the Fuck-Ups (originally published Jan. 24, 2017 on SpiderWebShow, a knowledge commons by and for the theatre community), Debbie Patterson talks about her journey to fully incorporate her disability into her theatre work, including discussion of internalized ableism, common disability narratives in popular culture and, perhaps most importantly, how to fail.
The Fringe New Play Prize work-in-progress (Untitled) Boxes has undergone many transformations in the last few months, including a new title. Read about the playwrights’ progress.
Elaine Avila is just finishing her three years as a PTC Associate with a July workshop of her play Fado. This essay, which we consider a stellar example of the kind of dramaturgy playwrights engage in, was originally published as part of a blog salon called “Stages of Resistance”, curated by Caridad Svich for The Lark Theatre. The series welcomes reflections on themes related to making work for live performance in political and aesthetic resistance to forms and systems that oppress human rights and censor or severely limit freedom of expression.
Originally published on Ruby Slippers’ Flying Monkey blog, here Heidi Taylor talks about her own experience with disability and the broader issues of inclusion in theatre.
Playwright/director/teacher David Geary responded to a query in the LMDA digest about post performance feedback sessions, whether they are useful and how they should be conducted.
Block A winter session mentor Joanna Garfinkel is experimenting with bringing this cohort of writers into PTC’s Test Kitchen for physically-based work to help with script writing. We asked her to share her thoughts about this unique process.
We are pleased to announce the participants in this year’s Block P (Producing): lee williams boudakian, Moses Clyde Caliboso, Rachael Goddard-Rebstein, Peg Keenleyside, Jessica Leung, Ariel Martz-Oberlander and Anoushka Ratnarajah. Over the next six weeks these five artists will be learning the ins and outs of indie producing with UpintheAir Theatre’s Daniel Martin and Dave Mott. Read their bios…
Both Melanie Yeats and Kathleen Flaherty attended the PuSh Festival workshop Page to Stage: The Craft of Adaptation with Vincent Murphy in late January 2017. Murphy offers what he has learned and taught about adaptation-specific strategies for theme, dialogue, character, imagery, storyline, and action. Belinda Bruce and Kathleen Flaherty asked Melanie to share her thoughts on the workshop.
PTC is pleased to announce that we have chosen five playwrights as PTC Associates 2017 – 20. We will work on their new plays over the course of the next three years.
Sometimes we neglect to honour and celebrate our theatre mentors and elders while they are among us. We feel this keenly at the passing of the indefatigable, the inspiring, the irreplaceable Joy Coghill. Kathleen had some enviable opportunities to collaborate with Joy, so we asked her to do put some of her feelings into words.
PTC’s Dramaturgy & Programming Intern, Davey Calderon, is often in the studio these days developing a new theatrical creation. We know how eclectic and interesting his training and influences are, and we are intensely curious about the sounds coming from the Test Kitchen, so Kathleen asked him to share something about the work and his unique process with us.
PTC and the Vancouver Fringe Festival are pleased to announce that the team comprised of lee williams boudakian, Anoushka Ratnarajah and Kamee Abrahamian is the winner of the 2017 Fringe New Play Prize for (Untitled) Boxes. The Prize includes a free Mainstage spot at the 2017 Vancouver Fringe, the design and execution of a development process for the play with PTC’s Associate Dramaturg mia amir and production mentoring from PTC.
PTC Holiday Hours:
Please note that PTC will be closed for the holidays on December 22, 2016 and will reopen on January 3, 2017.
Joint AGM with Itsazoo Productions. Join us at our AGM, an evening of celebration and free Associate-ing. The end of 2016 marks the final days of our three-year collaboration with PTC Associates Carmen Aguirre, Hiro Kanagawa, Quelemia Sparrow, Adrienne Wong, Dave Deveau and Elaine Avila.
Heidi Taylor reveals the inner workings of PTC’s Company Collaborations – how projects are chosen and what happens behind the curtain.
Want to be part of an international performance commons? Meet Ramona Ostrowski (Associate Producer) and Jamie Ghalon (Co-founder & Senior Creative Producer) of HowlRound TV while they are in Vancouver to introduce their platform and program content for the online theatre portal.
Join us for a conversation of how theatre contributes to the fabric of Vancouver’s Chinatown – where food and language intersect on Coast Salish territory. Come at 6:30pm for the DUMPLING CHALLENGE! Stay for readings in English and Cantonese from Jovanni Sy’s play A Taste of Empire/食盡天下, translated into Cantonese by Derek Chan. With Bob Sung, Jovanni Sy, Derek Chan and Andrea Yu.
Thoughts about working with the Cantonese language after a decade in self-exile. In part two of this two-part series, Derek Chan, co-artistic director of rice and beans theatre, reflects on the experience of translating Jovanni Sy’s hit play A Taste of Empire from English to his first language, Cantonese.
This year’s Writers’ Colony (Dec. 6-16, 2016) brings four writers together with dramaturgs, actors, designers, and cultural consultants to crack open four scripts through bespoke dramaturgical processes. Peter Anderson (Vancouver), Sunny Drake (Toronto), Debbie Patterson (Winnipeg), and José Teodoro (Toronto) will spend ten days together to move their work to the next stage.
Derek Chan shares his thoughts on rekindling his relationship with the Cantonese language through translation of Jovanni Sy’s play “Taste of Empire” from English to Cantonese.
Announcing the participants in the 2016-17 Block A, PTC’s popular program for emerging writers.
This is the second of a series of notes by Deneh’Cho Thompson on creating and developing his Fringe play. Deneh won the Fringe New Play Prize based on a statement of intention and some writing on a piece called “The Girl Who was Raised by Wolverine”.
An in-depth look at PTC’s process for creating an accessible online presence.
Tinkers is an adaptation of the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Paul Harding. This new transcendentalist work features an intimate and dazzling relationship with the natural world, woven into a story of family karma.
June 21-25, 2016 at the Firehall Arts Centre
O’wet/Lost Lagoon is a solo performance about reclamation and change that weaves real-life stories with the visceral experience of a spiritual canoe journey. Written and performed by Quelemia Sparrow, it grapples with the identity of a mixed-race aboriginal woman in a present-day, colonized world.
How does Jordan Hall engage with comic forms in her new play “How to Survive an Apocalypse”? Embedded critic Kelsey Blair investigates.
How to Survive an Apocalypse by Jordan Hall is the winner of the 2016 Flying Start Program, a collaboration between PTC, Touchstone Theatre and the Firehall Arts Centre. The 18-month development process for a new play culminates in a first production at a PACT theatre. The play opens June 2…
In this reprint from Howlround, PTC Associate Elaine Avila talks about her path to playwriting, her Azorean-Portuguese roots and telling stories missing from the stage. Playwright Elaine Avila’s grandfather, João Henrique Avila, was one of the first photographers in his village Ribeiras, Pico, in the Azores, Portugal. He came to…
This is the first of a series of notes by Deneh’Cho Thompson on creating and developing his Fringe play. Deneh won the Fringe New Play Prize based on a statement of intention and some writing on a piece called The Girl Who was Raised by Wolverine. It was apparent that…
Dave Deveau sent in this photo of what his new play, Dead Peoples’ Things, looks like the Friday afternoon before the workshop on Monday. Part of the development process can be spreading the pages out on the floor and moving them around. Or cutting pages into bits and moving the bits…
Sometimes it happens that a new year begins with new projects at PTC. Dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty burbles through the office about two of her fresh collaborations. Unsolicited, she declaims quotes from obscure sources without context, which prompted us to ask for more detail about the sometimes confounding origins of her newest theatrical musings.
November 14, 2015: Shawn Macdonald invited me to speak to participants in LEAP, which he runs with Christine Quintana at Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre. It’s a training unit for playwrights ages 15–23, culminating in public readings in April–May. [I draw a straight chalk line across the floor between the students…
We continue our series about this unique version of the Writers’ Colony, featuring brief interviews with the participating artists. PTC is convening its ninth annual Writers’ Colony in Vancouver, December 2-12, 2015 with playwrights Janet Hinton, Heidi Janz and Adam Warren. Also collaborating on Colony 2015 as dramaturg/directors are the…
Theatre and new technologies with Mallory Catlett February 1, 2016, 6 – 10pm PTC Test Kitchen (#202 – 739 Gore Ave., Vancouver) Register via the PuSh Festival website AED Heidi Taylor had a chance to see a workshop production of Decoder 2017 in New York in June, and is excited…
In July, AED Heidi Taylor headed to the Sunshine Coast for a collaboration with Kendra Fanconi and The Only Animal team on a site-specific workshop of Tinkers. The show is an adaptation of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning novel Tinkers by Paul Harding. This new transcendentalist’s work features an intimate…
“…an innovative, sensual feast. ” –Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight PTC is excited to support the remount of This Stays in the Room. The play animates the PTC Test Kitchen for its rehearsal period, and dramaturg Heidi Taylor will again be part of the creation team. Second productions are a valuable and…