Announcing… The Rita Joe Canadian Playwriting Award

 As part of our bold Radical Access program, the Highland Arts Theatre in Sydney, NS is proud to launch a new national award for Canadian BIPOC playwrights, named after Rita Joe, one of the most esteemed writers of Cape Breton Isand/Unama’ki.

Our 2021 winner will receive a $10,000 commission towards the writing of a new play or musical as well as dramaturgical and workshop support from the Highland Arts Theatre as part of our 2021 Playwrights Unit.

All prizes and programming have been made possible through the HAT’s Radical Access Program, funded by the donations of thousands of supporters from across North America.

From Artistic & Executive Director, Wesley J. Colford (they/them):  

“Rita Joe was a national treasure who is often referred to as the “poet laureate of the Mi’kmaw”. She grew up right here in Cape Breton/Unama’ki and went on to impact the world through her powerful writing. We seek to honour her memory through this award with the hopes that she can help inspire a new generation of Canadian writers and playwrights from the BIPOC community.”

AWARD SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

All applicants must be Canadian playwrights or theatre creators and identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Colour).

There is no fee to submit a proposal, however, each playwright can submit only one submission per deadline.

We will be accepting proposals for full-length projects only and proposed scripts must intend to be a minimum of 60 minutes in length.

Projects must be primarily text-based, however, if there are large musical, movement, or dance-based components please describe these in detail in your proposal, as well as your intended creation process.

Projects must be based on original work or adaptations of work within the public domain.

Plays need not be written in English, however, we will expect an English translation which is the responsibility of the playwright to provide.

Co-writers and collaborators (composers, etc) are permitted to apply together and if chosen will split the award evenly. Only one submission per writing team.

Applicants who are successfully chosen for our shortlist may be contacted to provide additional information, writing samples, or interviews.

If chosen for this award, the winner and Highland Arts Theatre will determine an appropriate timeline for work, feedback, and payment that is mutually acceptable and beneficial to both parties. The Highland Arts Theatre will retain first right of refusal for production of the finished work, within a mutually agreed upon deadline.

All proposals will be read by the 2021 Highland Arts Theatre Rita Joe Award Jury, which includes:

HAT Artistic & Executive Director, Wesley J. Colford
Tell Your Story Project Coordinator, Robyn Lee Seale
Canadian Actor and Playwright, Marcia Johnson

PLEASE SUBMIT:

Play Proposal for a new Canadian script (play or musical) that does not already have a completed first draft. Please include a short summary of the plot, why this story is right for the theatre (as opposed to a novel, etc), and why the project is vital and important to you (maximum 3 pages).

Script Sample from the proposed (incomplete) project, a past theatre project, or a combination of the two (minimum 10 pages, maximum 20 pages).

A CV documenting playwriting experience and training.

Please send all Submission Materials to the following e-mail address:

admin@highlandartstheatre.com

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:

March 15th, 11:59 PM (Atlantic Standard Time)

ABOUT OUR JURY:

HAT Artistic & Executive Director, Wesley J. Colford (they/them)

Wesley is a non-binary, Dora-Nominated playwright & theatre artist from Cape Breton who is currently based in Sydney, NS where they serve as the inaugural Artistic & Executive Director of Highland Arts Theatre (or HAT). After completing the Musical Theatre Performance program at Sheridan College, Wesley studied classical acting at George Brown College in Toronto. Their plays have been produced in three provinces, won awards, been published, and have been adapted for film.

While living in Ontario, their plays have been workshopped by Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Alumnae Theatre, and The Paprika Festival and produced at the Toronto Fringe and Atlantic Fringe. Their first professional production was in 2014 with The Wakowski Brothers at Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, ON.

In 2014 they moved home to found the Highland Arts Theatre, which under their leadership has produced 79 major theatrical productions and won numerous awards including “Community Impact” and “Favourite Thing to Do in the CBRM” from the Sydney & Area Business Awards. During this time, Wesley wrote and developed seven original works for the company which were later produced by the HAT.

They were recently honoured as one of the Globe & Mail’s “Canadian Arts Heroes of 2020” for their work developing the HAT’s bold new funding model, Radical Access.

Tell Your Story Project Coordinator, Robyn Lee Seale (she/her)

Robyn Lee Seale is a Cape Breton based performer who works in economic development with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. She runs the Highland Arts Theatre’s Tell Your Story Initiative which brings together performers from under-represented communities and diverse cultural backgrounds to create new Cape Breton art while exploring BIPOC identities.

An advocate for social and workplace inclusion, she helped to originate programs including Network It, a reverse job fair for people with disabilities which was developed into a networking series for workforce inclusion. Her work has led her to be a part of many advisory boards and committees across the island where her values of cultural sharing and community outreach shine. In addition to her acting and advocacy work, Robyn Lee made her assistant directing debut with the newly commissioned play, All I Want for Christmas in December of 2020 and will co-direct the Mainstage Tell Your Story production for the spring of 2021.

Canadian Actor and Playwright, Marcia Johnson (she/her)

Marcia Johnson is a theatre artist in Toronto. Serving Elizabeth, in which she also acted, had its world premiere at Western Canada Theatre (co-produced with Thousand Islands Playhouse) in February 2020 and published by Scirocco Drama.

Her 5-minute play A Magical Place written for Zoom is available as part of the National Transformations Project produced by the National Arts Centre and Stratford Festival. She directed the two-hander starring Kaleb Alexander and Amaka Umeh.

Other plays include Binti’s Journey, an adaptation of the teen fiction novel The Heaven Shop by Deborah Ellis (Theatre Direct Canada/Manitoba Theatre for Young People/Black Theatre Workshop); Courting Johanna (Blyth Festival) based on Alice Munro’s “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage,” and Late, an original piece produced by Obsidian Theatre Company.

Marcia has participated in playwrights’ groups at Thousand Islands Playhouse, Obsidian Theatre Company, Theatre Passe Muraille as well as Ontario Arts Council Playwrights’ Residencies at Blyth Festival and Roseneath Theatre. She also participated in Tapestry New Opera’s Composer-Librettist Laboratory twice. Her training also includes a musical theatre workshop with William Finn at Canadian Stage Company and the Siminovitch Prize Playwriting Master Class with Carole Frechette. Marcia collaborated with Stephen Taylor on Paradises Lost, (opera) based on the Ursula K. Le Guin novella for the University of Illinois.

Marcia Johnson is a core member of Got Your Back Canada; a juror and dramaturge for Ergo Pink Fest; co-founder of the CASA (Canada/South Africa) mentorship award and a member of the senior advisory board of Women Playwrights International.