Canada’s first-ever National Queer and Trans Playwriting Unit launches, spearheaded by Vancouver's Zee Zee Theatre
Theatre companies across the country announce paid mentorship and play-creation program for 2SLGBTQIA+ emerging and mid-career artists
Zee Zee Theatre Transcripts: Josie Boyce, Carolynn Dimmer, Amy Fox, Quanah Style, Morgane Oger, Sabrina Symington and Julie Vu. Photo by Tina Krueger Kulic.
VANCOUVER’S ZEE ZEE Theatre is spearheading the establishment of Canada’s inaugural National Queer and Trans Playwriting Unit. It has joined forces with theatre companies from across the country for the paid 10-month mentorship and development program for 2SLGBTQIA+ emerging and mid-career theatre makers.
In addition to Zee Zee Theatre, the consortium members include the frank Theatre (Vancouver), Gwaandak Theatre (Whitehorse), Theatre Outré (Lethbridge), Persephone Theatre (Saskatoon), Theatre Projects Manitoba (Winnipeg), Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (Toronto), Native Earth Performing Arts (Toronto), Imago Theatre (Montreal), and Neptune Theatre (Halifax).
The inspiration for the Queer and Trans Playwriting Unit came when Zee Zee Theatre identified a gap existing in the Canadian theatre ecology. While programming for their own season, countless conversations came up with curators, producers, and presenters across the country who were consistently struggling to find works by and representing queer and trans communities.
The underrepresentation of such works in the Canadian theatre canon means that the 1 million Canadians who belong to the 2SLGBTQ+ community do not have adequate opportunities to see themselves, their lives, or their families reflected on stage, according to a release. The new model for play creation and dissemination aims to create more equitable representation of 2SLGBTQIA+ artists and stories on Canadian stages.
Cameron Mackenzie.
“Art has the power to elevate voices and ideas that can change the world. Now, more than ever, the arts sector needs to prioritize those who have been systematically left out of the conversation,” Cameron Mackenzie, Zee Zee Theatre’s artistic and executive director, said in the release. “The impacts of this project will be far reaching and numerous: For the playwrights, it offers growth, stability, and a national platform for their voice and stories to be heard. For the consortium companies, it creates a new body of work and connects them with vital queer and trans communities. For our sector as a whole, it offers new representation and reflection in ways that are meaningful and non tokenizing.”
The consortium will act as a selection committee in identifying five emerging and mid-career artists to participate in the unit, which will be run virtually across Canada. Each selected artist will be paid a living wage for the 10-month program, during which they will work as a collaborative cohort and with an assigned dramaturg mentor in a one-on-one relationship.
At the end of the 10-month process, each artist’s play will be produced as a staged reading by one of the consortium members, while the other companies will offer streaming access to their communities. The consortium will then commit to full productions or further development of all five of the new scripts.
Applications are being accepted until July 5.
For more information, see zeezeetheatre.ca.
Related Articles
