Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays

Now in its 23nd year, the Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays is the signature event for the company. Our goal is simple: to provide a great first production of new Canadian plays in a Festival environment. The Enbridge playRites Festival rehearses in December and January with performances running five weeks in February and March.

On the Martha Cohen Theatre stage, three new plays are premiered in full production and presented in repertory format and are usually text based. On the BD&P Stage 2 (located in the Big Secret Theatre,) two new pieces of theatre are premiered in full production. The BD&P Stage 2 process allows for the creation, rehearsal and presentation of these pieces to be flexible and outside the traditional Enbridge playRites model. Alongside these premieres is a host of special events celebrating theatrical creativity and creation!

The major criterion for play selection is quality: we are looking for the best available plays. Programming decisions are made by the Artistic Leadership of ATP.

We are also concerned that the projects represent a balanced menu for our Calgary audience. The most successful festivals include an eclectic range of theatrical voices and experiences from across the country.

Martha Cohen Theatre Submission Guidelines

• The vast majority of new Canadian plays selected for premiere production at ATP have received significant development at play development centres around the country, or at other theatres.
• We respond only to full-length manuscripts that are recommended by a play development organization, director, dramaturg, agent or theatre, or that are sent by writers whose work we are familiar with. The recommendation can be in the form of a letter, email or phone call, or a mention in your cover letter.
• In all other cases, please send a sample package that includes a covering letter describing the play, where you feel it is in its development, any future plans, some information about you, and the first ten pages of your script.
• Please include your email address.
• If you include a self-addressed stamped envelope we will return your script if it is not for us. Otherwise we recycle it.
  

Send your script attention:
Amy Lynn Strilchuk, Assistant Dramaturg
Alberta Theatre Projects
#220 - 9th Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 5C4

Sample packages and scripts are reviewed by the play development team:
Vicki Stroich, Dramaturg
Amy Lynn Strilchuk, Assistant Dramaturg
Dianne Goodman, Artistic Associate
Bob White, ATP's Artistic Director

• How we respond:

• We indicate receipt of your sample package or script upon its arrival.
• If we are interested in pursuing production or further development we respond by email, phone or letter.
• If your play is not for us we send email or a postcard.
• We do not provide a critique or dramaturgical feedback.
• Response time varies considerably.
• A good time to send us your play in development or sample packages is between March and September. Sample packages received between November 1 and March 31 are unlikely to receive a response until the spring.
  

BD & P Stage 2 Submission Guidelines

In the BD & P Stage 2 we're particularly interested in creator-performers or ensembles. We are interested in work that has a heightened sense of theatricality, work with an unusual relationship to its audience, work that involves other disciplines and media and/or work that is not based primarily on the written words of a playwright - work that pushes the boundaries of theatre in some way.

We want to respond to the new ways of making theatre that we see around us and invite new creators to be part of the Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays.

We are looking for:

• companies, groups, ensembles, duos or individuals who have created at least 2 or 3 professional/paid shows
• creators whose work is theatrical, unusual, dynamic
• creators whose working method/aesthetic goes beyond the traditional in some way whatever that means
• creators who have projects in development that you'd like to premiere with ATP here in Calgary

Facts about the BD&P Stage 2:

• Our venue is a small stage with about 150-200 seats.
• We are looking to hear about projects from creators when they are early in their development as we offer development support for all projects in the Enbridge playRites Festival.

To submit a project to the BD&P Stage 2:

• Check out our website to find out more about us and previous companies and projects we’ve developed and produced.
• Send us a concise proposal, pitch or introduction to your work. One page should be enough to describe your project and your development/production plans for it. Please also include a brochure or one-page company description and history, no more than 2 pages of media response to your work and no more than one page of biographical information. A page of production photos of your work would be great as well.

Send your proposal attention:
Vicki Stroich, Dramaturg
Alberta Theatre Projects
vstroich@ATPlive.com
#220 - 9th Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 5C4

Premiering at the Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays 2009

February 4 - March 8, 2009
The Clockmaker by Stephen Massicotte (Calgary, AB)
The Good Egg by Michael Lewis MacLennan (Vancouver, BC)
Another Home Invasion by Joan MacLeod (Victoria, BC)
NiX created by The Only Animal (Vancouver, BC)