Call for submissions

This comes from Vanessa Porteous at ATP:

Alberta Theatre Projects has expanded its Festival!

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays we’re opening the doors to new kinds of work and artists.

In addition to premiering 3 new Canadian plays in the Martha Cohen Theatre, from now on we’re also seeking Canadian work and artists that don’t fit the model in the Martha Cohen. 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 change things up a bit, 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 Festival. We want our Festival to usher in the next 20 years of new Canadian work.

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 it. We want to know.

The nitty-gritty:

- Our new second venue, the BD&P Stage 2, is a 181 seat proscenium/cabaret space with a small stage and no wing or fly space. It’s delightful but definitely on the small side.
- The Festival takes place in January/February.
- We make our programming decisions by March/April of the previous year
- This is not a competition. Programming decisions are made by the artistic leadership at ATP.
- We program 5 projects a year, 3 in the Martha Cohen Theatre using an ensemble company of actors and 2 in our new second venue.
- The size of the project, number of artists, and design needs should be smallish. At least until we take over the world!

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 for some reason, and if you have a project 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 too.

(As always, we continue to be interested in receiving new plays or sample packages of any description for our consideration.)

Send it attention:

Vanessa Porteous, Festival Dramaturg
Alberta Theatre Projects
vporteous@ATPlive.com
#220 - 9th Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 5C4