Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays

Now in its 22nd 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. Six weeks of rehearsal lead to a five-week run in repertoire in the Martha Cohen Theatre, alongside a host of ancillary festive events. Three premiers are produced and presented on the Martha Cohen Theatre stage and on the BD&P Stage 2, our second Festival stage (located in the Big Secret Theatre) two plays are produced and presented. The BD&P Stage 2 process allows that the creation, rehearsal and presentation of these pieces are flexible and outside the traditional Enbridge playRites model.

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

Sample packages and scripts are reviewed by the play development team:
Vicki Stroich, Dramaturg, Amy Lynn Strilchuk, Assistant Dramaturg, Dianne Goodman, Artistic Associate and 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, work that has a heightened sense of theatricality, 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.

Sound a bit vague? That's because we won't know what we want till we've found it. All we know is that we want to respond to the new ways of making theatre that we see all around us and invite the new creators who are making it to be part of the Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays.

So if you're:

• a company, group, ensemble, duo or individual who has created least 2 or 3 professional/paid shows
• whose work is theatrical, unusual, dynamic
• whose working method/aesthetic goes beyond the traditional in some way whatever that means
• and who has a project underway that you'd like to premiere with us here in Calgary

Tell us about yourselves. We want to know.

The nitty-gritty:

• We program five projects in the Enbridge playRites Festival; three in the Martha Cohen Theatre and two in the BD&P Stage 2.
• Our venue is a small stage with about 150-200 seats.
• The Festival takes place in January/February.
• We make our programming decisions by March/April of the previous year but are looking to hear about things when they are early in their development.
• Programming decisions are made by the artistic leadership at ATP

If you're intrigued, if you think we might not know you, or if you think we know you but aren't thinking of you in this context and if you have a project(s) that you think we should know about, tell us. Here's how:

Check out our website to find out more about us.

Then 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 it 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 2008

February 14 - March 9, 2008
That Elusive Spark by Janet Munsil (Victoria, BC)
August by Jean Marc Dalpe', translation by Maureen Labonte' (Montre'al, QC)
The Gift of the Coat by Sean Dixon (Toronto, ON)
Train by Maiko Bae Yamamoto (Vancouver, BC)
The Drowning Girls by Daniela Vlaskalic, Beth Graham and Charlie Tomlinson (Edmonton, AB)

Platform Plays- works in progress
The other significant play development activity in the Festival is the Platform Play Series. Projects in development are given a week-long workshop and a public reading or work in progress presentation. These are projects ATP is considering for the festival the following season.

For more information on ATP's season and tickets, please call the Box Office at 403-294-7402.

Project selection criteria for playRites

• The vast majority of the scripts selected for production on the Martha Cohen Stage are plays that have received significant development at play development centres around the country, or at other theatres.
• The major criterion for play selection is quality: we are looking for the best available plays.

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.