by Liam Zarrillo The storytelling process has arrived at a fascinating and complex intersection. Historically speaking, stories and stages have seen a devastating lack of representation of folks who come from marginalized or barrier-facing communities. (This has been both in terms of characters in stories, as well as the artists crafting the stories themselves.) It appears that we are now reckoning with this reality and want to do something about it. But what do we do? Who do we need to see in stories and on stages? Who has the right to include such characters? Surely the answer cannot be: one ..read more

by Scout Rexe I had the honour of spending last week with dramaturg Fatma Sarah Elkashef (she/her) and cultural dramaturg and performer Liam Zarrillo (they/them) at an invited residency at Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) to work on my play with music, O Death. O Death is a nuanced exploration of trans and queer identities, accountability culture, and the impact of our cultural icons. After being called out by a fan, trans musician James and his queer sister Caddy must reckon with pressure from their family, the media, and the public whilst launching their musical career in the shadow of t ..read more

AN OVERVIEW OF OUR PROCESS SO FAR Over the past several years, Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal (PWM) has been researching ways to create more accessible and inclusive spaces. In 2019, we hired Kéroul to conduct an accessibility audit of our physical spaces, and they gave PWM a report with many recommendations. As tenants in the building, we have been limited in what changes we can make to the physical spaces, and so we shifted our focus to areas where we have more immediate agency to make changes: digital and cultural accessibility. In 2020-2021, PWM worked with Accessibility and Inclusion Cons ..read more

With the onset of COVID-19, Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal quickly shifted gears to move its operations online in order to maintain the safety of the organization’s staff, artists, and audience. In the time since, we’ve learned a few key things as a dramaturgical centre, and want to share our findings with you. This is a fairly broad overview, and as time and resources permit, we will be adding to this blog post.  Online day by day: maintaining community. Staying connected while upholding a sense of community was a priority very early on. The PWM’s team was lucky as we had just started ..read more

A week ago on April 22, Sharon Pollock, an oft-produced playwright who was known for works that explored Canadian history and identity at a time when few of her contemporaries were doing so, died at her home in Calgary, Alberta. She was 85. Playwright and PWM’s board member Corrina Hodgson was fortunate enough to work with Ms. Pollock on one of her first plays. The following text is Corrina’s personal recollection of Sharon’s impact on her work and life. I was in my 20s, living my dream as an MFA student at the University of British Columbia, navigating life in Vancouver and living by myself f ..read more

The impact of play development goes beyond the walls of the theatre. The buzz in the room was palpable as more than 40 members of the Montreal theatre community funnelled into the PWM studio for a pilot event unpacking the practice of dramaturgy. Demystifying the Dramaturgical Process was conceived by Artistic & Executive Director Emma Tibaldo, as a conversation starter on how Montreal theatre artists and cultural workers understand dramaturgy both in theatre creation and in society. To kick off the evening were presentations from world-renowned dramaturgs Diane Roberts, Katalin Trencsényi ..read more

… but because I was too shocked and amazed, I have no idea what I really said at the podium. On November 3rd, I was awarded the Unsung Hero of the Theatre Award at the 7th Montreal English Theatre Awards ceremony. It was a beautiful and completely unexpected moment that I will treasure for years to come. Since I have no idea what I said when I walked up on stage at the Monument National, I’ve written some more organized thoughts and thank yous here. I want to thank those who nominated me for this award. It feels incredible to be recognized for my role as an Arts Advocate. It’s part of my work ..read more

–  by Maureen Labonté, PWM Translation Dramaturg Lire l’article en français How It All Began Emma Tibaldo and I meet for lunch every now and then. It’s a way for us to stay in touch, to catch up on what the other is doing, to gossip a little, to get into a few heated discussions and to make plans. We talk dramaturgy, play development and, of course, translation. At one such lunch, way back in 2009, we ended up discussing the actual process of translating. That led us to wondering about where the next generation of translators would come from and then to a long discussion about whether tra ..read more