Playwrights Canada PressTag

Fairy Tale Lovers' Delight: Read an Excerpt from Kat Sandler's Dark & Funny Play, Yaga

The story of Baba Yaga, the forest-dwelling witch who grinds bones in her chicken-legged house, is one of the most enduring, strange, and iconic images from world folklore, and that's saying a lot. So ...

"I Knew I Wanted Big Stories" Susanna Fournier on Crafting Hundreds of Years of Dystopian History for Her Plays

Imagine creating not just a fully realized world, but an entire history that spans hundreds of years. That is the creativity Susanna Fournier brought to her suite of three plays, The Empire (Playwrights ...

Read an Excerpt from Hannah Moscovitch, Maev Beaty & Ann-Marie Kerr's Painful & Beautiful Exploration of Motherhood for Modern Artists

We're continuing our week-long spotlight on excerpts at Open Book, bringing you delicious free samples of some of the most exciting Canadian books out this year. Today we've got something special: our ...

Playwright Makambe K Simamba on Fearlessly Exploring "How Far Characters are Willing to Go in Order to Live Their Truths"

CW: discussion of anti-Black violenceIt's a gutting image: a seventeen-year old Black boy, a child in a hoodie, dead far too soon because of hateful and unchecked anti-Black racism. Makambe K Simamba's Our ...

Playwrights Team Andrea Mapili & Byron Abalos on Creating a Magical Adventure Story Where Filipinx-Canadian Kids Can Feel Seen

What book loving kid didn't dream of being literally transported into the pages of their favourite adventure? For 12-year old Philly, that dream becomes a reality when opening a mysterious old book whisks ...

Michael Grant on His (Naked) New Play & Creating a Fictional Small Town Across His Works

Norm and Ruth were just trying to get their marriage back on track. A simple idea: to head back to a place they knew they'd been happy and see if they can re-capture the spark there. But the struggling ...

Trina Davies' Brilliant New Play, Silence, Brings an Overlooked Figure in History to Centre Stage

It would be hard to find anyone who doesn't know who Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was. But Mabel Hubbard Bell isn't a name that pops up in many history classes. The untold story ...

"Theatre is Collaborative at its Core" Norman Yeung on Writing for the Stage, Shower Thoughts, & Going Full Carnival

In the age of social media and lives lived partially online, the issue of free speech is perhaps more heated than ever. When Isabelle, a film professor, creates an unmoderated online discussion for her ...

"I am a Firm Believer in the Need for a Beautiful Cry and a Hearty Belly Laugh" Lose Your Heart to Playwright and Master Puppeteer Ronnie Burkett

Dora Award-nominated playwright Ronnie Burkett is an internationally renowned master puppeteer, known for his ability to create puppet characters for the stage who seem to come truly alive. His latest ...

On Stage: Jordi Mand on the Freedom of Playwriting and What To Do When The Work's Not Working

Brontë sisters Emily, Charlotte, and Anne have come to a crossroads. While they've long enjoyed writing as a hobby, with a father gravely ill and a brother struggling with addiction, it's up to them ...