Fringe New Play Prize

Come as you are. Worship how you imagine.

WHEN: Running September 6, 8-10, 13-14, 2024

WHERE: Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St., Vancouver, BC)

TICKETS: https://www.vancouverfringe.com/events/gods-a-drag/

We are excited to announce that playwright Jessica Lemes da Silva will join PTC and the Vancouver Fringe Festival in an 18-month partnership resulting in a period of intensive play development and a world premiere of the show at the 2024 Vancouver Fringe Festival.

God’s A Drag, will receive dramaturgy and production mentorship from Davey Samuel Calderon (Dramaturg, Public Engagement), and in-kind venue and festival costs from the Vancouver Fringe Festival. Jessica joins a community of playwrights and theatre creators whose projects have continued on to be presented further in Vancouver, Canada and even some Internationally. The prize is an unprecedented opportunity that supports the work of emerging theatre artists creating exciting and exemplary works.

God’s A Drag explores the art of drag performance as an expression of spiritual ritual. Neveah, a young queer woman in a small BC town meets Luz, a genderqueer pastor who starts a holy queer hour in the town’s church. This little piece of heaven, a place where Neveah affirms her queerness and spirituality, doesn’t last long as protestors show up. After some unexpected consequences, Neveah guided by two queer saints goes on a journey of self-discovery to become who she was always meant to be. With a sprinkle of drag as prayerful worship — this story celebrates what it is to be unapologetically queer and holy.

“I am overjoyed and completely thrilled to have been awarded the Fringe New Play Prize. I’m deeply grateful to Playwrights Theatre Centre and The Vancouver Fringe for providing such a wonderful opportunity to move this work forward with guidance and support. I’m excited to collaborate with talented local artists and to connect with audiences near and far!”
– Jessica Lemes da Silva

The Frontliners

by Zahida Rahemtulla

Dramaturg: Davey Samuel Calderon

Vancouver, British Columbia—Late January 2016. Canada is in the throes of resettling the first wave of 25,000 Syrian refugees. As three frontline workers battle Vancouver’s housing crisis to move families out of an East Van hotel, their lives are brought together in ways that irreversibly shape them.

Unscripted: The Frontliners
A live stream featuring a mix of live and pre-recorded conversations with expert speakers and audiences engaging via Youtube Live. Unscripted: The Frontliners allows for deeper conversations about the representation of minority groups and their narratives in theatre, the immense pressure immigrant frontline workers are under during a refugee crisis, and larger conversations around how newcomers are and aren’t portrayed in news and media discussed with hosts Zahida Rahemtulla and Davey Samuel Calderon with their guest speakers. Along with filmed recordings of scene excerpts brought to life by the workshop team.

Workshop Credits
Curated and Written by Zahida Rahemtulla
Dramaturg: Davey Samuel Calderon
Sound Designer: Heather Kemski
Production Management: Maria Zarrilo
Production Coordinator: Olivia Etey
Technical Coordinator: Jack Goodison
Videographer and Editor: Gabriel Ordoñez Cifuentes
Cultural Consultants: Oussayma Canbarieh, Farooq al Sajee and Majd Dagha
Guest Speakers: Gulalai Habib, Bal Brach and Oussayma Canbarieh
Workshop Actors: Mostafa Shaker, Tom Pickett and Sabrina Vellani

Developed with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and BC Arts Council. This play has been developed through PTC’s New Play in Development Prize/Fringe New Play Prize.

Catalina La O presenta: Ahora Conmigo

Created by jk jk (khattieQ, musician/performer; Jenny Larson-Quiñones, director/writer)

Dramaturg: Joanna Garfinkel

Premiere Date: June 23, 2022

Catalina La O presenta: Ahora Conmigo, draws inspiration from Puerto Rican musical legends Myrta Silva, Lucecita Benitez, and Yolandita Monge. This interactive, bilingual cabaret performance is part (physical) clown show, part punk rock performance, y todo emoción performed by khattieQ.

Catalina La O’s mother is lost, unable to join her in Puerto Rico for the finale taping of Catalina’s one-hour TV program, “Ahora Conmigo.” Then a destructive hurricane hits Puerto Rico and throws Catalina into her darkest hour. Emerging from the aftermath, wet and wounded, Catalina seeks refuge in her television studio. Though her backing band and television crew have all gone missing, Catalina believes her beloved audience still survives. She sings and performs to them and to herself, sharing stories and songs of heartbreak, resistance, and survival.

Artists Involved:

2020

2019

2018

2015

Interested in applying for this program?

Fringe shows are the poster children for self-produced theatre – Fringe shows allow an artist or a company to develop their aesthetic and find their audience. Through the Fringe New Play Prize, PTC and the Vancouver Fringe offer BC artists a leg up in the process with material support – eighteen months dramaturgy, some free creation and rehearsal space, production mentorship, and a free space on the Fringe Mainstage. All told, the Fringe New Play Prize is a juicy package with a $18,000 value: ($800 Fringe application fee + $2500 Fringe venue costs + $2000 in studio space + $7000 of dramaturgy + $3000 of production mentorship + $2700 script copying + promotion + fundraising support etc).

Applications for the 2025 Fringe New Play Prize will open in July 2024 and are due in early October.