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Back to Artists

We seek new works and previously produced plays through literary agents, literary managers, play-development centres, artistic directors and playwrights themselves. We are looking for scripts that share stories that entertain and delight, and speak to the diverse audiences of Theatre Calgary.

 

Script Submissions

To propose a script submission for production consideration or creative development, please send the following information:

  • A one-paragraph synopsis of the play
  • Background about its development or production to date
  • A cast breakdown
  • Bios of the playwright(s), and key creative collaborators (if applicable)
  • If available, a short excerpt from the script (10 pages max.)
  • Musical projects should also include an online source for selected songs

It is always nice to see a writer’s work in person, so do feel free to invite us to see the work itself if it is in production.

If we are interested in further information, a full-length script will be requested upon review of these materials. Please be aware that due to the high volume of scripts we receive and the amount activity during our production season, response times can vary greatly. We appreciate your patience.

All script submissions are currently paused until the fall of 2023.  Please check back here for an update of when submissions will once again be accepted.

Paula-Jean Prudat, Monique Mojica & Tracey Nepinak in Honour Beat.
Photo by Brian Harder

Projects Currently Under Commission

Forgiveness 

by Mark Sakamoto, Adapted by Hiro Kanagawa
This project is a co-commission with Vancouver’s Art Club Theatre.

Forgiveness is Mark Sakamoto’s family memoir of World War II. The book won the Canada Reads 2018 competition, and is currently being developed into a TV miniseries. This theatrical adaptation is particularly meaningful for Artistic Director Stafford Arima as he has a personal connection to the subject matter of the Japanese Internment.

Mark Sakamoto is a lawyer by training, and has enjoyed a rich and varied career. He began his professional career in live music, working with several international acts. He has worked at a national law firm, a national broadcaster and has served as a senior political advisor to a national party leader. He is an entrepreneur and investor in digital health, digital media and real estate. He sits on the Board of the Ontario Media Development Corporation. Mark lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.

Hiro Kanangawa is an actor and a Governor General’s Award-winning playwright who lives in Vancouver. His distinctions include Jessie Richardson Awards for both acting and writing, an Asians on Film award, and numerous other nominations. His plays Tiger of Malaya and The Patron Saint of Stanley Park have been performed across Canada. His most recent play, Indian Arm received the 2017 Governor-General’s Literary Award for Drama.

Theatre Calgary is thrilled to be collaborating with Ashley and the Arts Club on bringing Mark Sakamoto’s Forgiveness to the stage. I am excited to see how Hiro Kanangawa shapes these intriguing characters into a narrative for theatre.
Stafford Arima

Maudie

Book by Kent Staines, Music and Lyrics by Sarah Slean

Based on the original dramatic motion picture MAUDIE written by Sherry White and produced by Mary Young Leckie, Heather Haldane, Mary Sexton, Bob Cooper and Susan Mullen. 

Originally a 2017 film starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, Maudie has been commissioned as a new musical based on the movie. Kent Staines (playwright for The Louder We Get) will write the book, with Canadian songwriter Sarah Slean composing songs and lyrics. Maudie explores the the love-affirming, however complex, relationship between Canadian folk artist, Maud Lewis and a fish seller named Everett Lewis.

 

I fell in love with this beautiful film called Maudie. The love story between Maud and Everett was meant to sing, and I’m so thrilled to be collaborating with Kent Staines, Sarah Slean, and Mary Young Leckie on this exciting new musical.

Stafford Arima

Run

by Lisa Codrington

Run is an exploration of why black people run. Whether it’s for fun, for work or for their lives; the play asks whether black people should keep pace, stop, or run even faster. 

Lisa Codrington is a Toronto-based actor and writer. Her writing has been produced in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. Select writing credits include The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God, Up the Garden Path, and Cast Iron, which was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Lisa is a recipient of the Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights and the K.M. Hunter Theatre Award.

Lisa Codrington is a thrilling force to be reckoned with. I am deeply moved by her ideas, thoughts, and mile-long investigations within this project entitled, RUN.
Stafford Arima

The F Word

by Keshia Cheesman and Bianca Miranda

The F Word (the f word, in this case, being “fat”) is a piece that fuses song, movement, poetry, and narratives confronting fat phobia, diet culture, and celebrating Keshia’s and Bianca’s personal journeys towards body acceptance. Through this piece, they challenge audiences to re-define the type of bodies deserving to be seen or heard on stage.

Keshia Cheesman is a Caribbean-Canadian Calgary based creator, educator, and performer who is passionate about experiencing and creating performances rooted in the truth of humanity, and stories based on diverse and marginalized communities. In her work, she loves to combine her love for dance and movement with her passion for theatre.  Recent Credits include: Unganisha (Woezo Africa Music & Dance Theatre) Trophy (High Performance Rodeo), invisible (Handsome Alice Theatre), In and Out of Love (One Yellow Rabbit), and Hamlet (Theatre Calgary's Shakespeare by the Bow).

Bianca Miranda is a Filipino-Canadian actor and theatre-maker based in Treaty 7 territory (Calgary, AB) and also the Artistic Associate at Handsome Alice Theatre. As an artist, she aims to authentically tell stories, elevate and support underrepresented voices, and continuously advocate for diversity and equity in the arts. Some of her favourite credits include: Itty Bitty Arts Day (Arts Commons), Trophy (High Performance Rodeo), inVISIBLE (Handsome Alice Theatre), In & Out of Love (One Yellow Rabbit), Little Red (Ghost River Theatre/ Major Matt Mason Collective), and Timmy, Tommy, and the Haunted Hotel (Pape & Taper).

The F Word brings together a diverse treasure trove of theatrical delights through the incredible voices of Keshia and Bianca. These Calgarian artists have been willing and open to bare their souls, their lives, and their art within this unique piece.

Stafford Arima

Past New Works Supported by Theatre Calgary

Boom X

by Rick Miller (2019)

Mary & Max A New Musical

based on the film by Adam Elliot, Music & Lyrics by Bobby Cronin, Book By Crystal Skillman (2018)

Honour Beat

by Tara Beagan, FUSE 2017, 2018

Liberation Days

by David van Belle, FUSE 2013, 2014

Pride and Prejudice

adapted by Janet Munsil, FUSE 2012

LOST – A Memoir

adapted for the stage by Cathy Ostlere and Dennis Garnhum, FUSE 2019, 2010

Beyond Eden

by Bruce Ruddell, FUSE 2008

W.O. Mitchell’s Jake & the Kid

by Conni Massing, FUSE 2007, 2008

Skydive

by Kevin Kerr (revised production), FUSE 2008

Timothy Findley’s The Wars

adapted by Dennis Garnhum, FUSE 2006, 2007

Lindsey Angell, Byron Allen in Liberation Days.
Photo by Trudie Lee