Submissions Info

New Play Production and Development at Alberta Theatre Projects

The vast majority of new play development at Alberta Theatre Projects has production at the Enbridge playRites Festival as its goal. The Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays showcases world premiere productions of 4 new Canadian plays in a Festival environment.  For a list of the more than 100 plays premiered at the Enbridge playRites Festival in its 25 year history, please visit  the Archived Play List.

Every February and March on the Martha Cohen Theatre stage, the home of Alberta Theatre Projects, three new plays are premiered in a repertory cycle with a shared company of actors. On Stage 2 (located in the Big Secret Theatre), the process allows for creator-driven world premieres that can fall outside the traditional text based model.  Alongside these 4 premieres is a host of special events that celebrate Canadian creativity and showcase Canadian theatrical talent. 

We select projects with the Enbridge playRites Festival in mind, and development of these projects has production as its goal.


Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays

Now in its 26th 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 Stage 2 (located in the Big Secret Theatre), a new piece of theatre is premiered in full production. Stage 2 process allows for the creation, rehearsal and presentation 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.
  • Full-length manuscripts will not be accepted or read unless they 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 with no more than 10 pages of manuscript, and a cover letter 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:
Laurel Green, Assistant Dramaturg
Alberta Theatre Projects
#220 - 9th Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 5C4
lgreen@ATPlive.com

Sample packages and scripts are reviewed by the play development team:

Dianne Goodman, Artistic Associate LEGACY
Laurel Green, Assistant Dramaturg
Vanessa Porteous, Artistic Director
Vicki Stroich, Artistic Associate - Festival

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.

 

Stage 2 Submission Guidelines

In the 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 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 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:
Laurel Green, Assistant Dramaturg
Alberta Theatre Projects
#220 - 9th Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 5C4
lgreen@ATPlive.com

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

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


Banff Playwrights Colony

An alliance of the Canada Council for The Arts, Alberta Theatre Projects, and The Banff Centre for the Arts.

The Banff Playwrights Colony is a five week long playwrights retreat in the Rockies intended to serve Canadian playwrights involved in text-based creation. A company of professional actors is on hand to read the work in progress. Playwrights can meet with a collaborator (director or dramaturg), and/or make use of the dramaturgs in residence at the Colony. ATP reserves several spots at the Colony for its own projects. These are generally plays that ATP has slated for production.

All other Colony plays are chosen though a process independent of Alberta Theatre Projects (November deadline.)

 

For more information or for an application form (November Deadline) please contact:

The Banff Centre for the Arts
Office of the Registrar
Box 1020, Station 28
107 Tunnel Mountain Drive
Banff, Alberta, Canada T1L 1H5

Phone: 1-800-565-9989 or (403)762-6180
Fax: (403) 762-6345
Email: arts_info@banffcentre.ca
Website: www.banffcentre.ca