2025 NEW WORKS FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
PLAYWRIGHT’S CIRCLE
APPROPRIATE PLAYWRIGHTS
This circle is for emerging and established writers interested in creating theatrical work suitable for young audiences and/or families. Past participants have included playwrights and other theatre professionals as well as writers from a variety of genres.
PLAYWRIGHT CIRCLE ELEMENTS
Over the course of the full circle, which can be attended in person in Edmonton or virtually via zoom, playwrights can expect to create a short, yet complete, play suitable for young audiences and/or families under the guidance of Mike Czuba and Stephen Heatley. The elements of Kompany’s New Works for Young Audiences Playwrights Circle include:
**Playwright Circle Sessions – You will participate in seven, Sunday evening sessions with a group of fellow playwrights led by Mike or Stephen to develop your play.
March 2 – 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Introduction to Writing Plays for Young Audiences with Stephen Heatley & Jan Taylor (Optional)
March 2 & 9 – 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. “Getting Started” Idea Generation with Mike Czuba
March 16, 30, April 13, 27 & May 4 – 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Playwright Circle Sessions with Stephen Heatley
**Professional Actor Read Through – Your play will be read through by professional actors led by a professional director. With dramaturgical assistance from Stephen Heatley, you will have an opportunity to revise your play in preparation for the reading/workshop with your intended audience.
May 17 to 19 (Specific Times TBD – this will be conducted in Edmonton and it is preferable that playwrights attend in person. We may offer an actor read through in Calgary if there are enough participants.)
**Intended Audience Workshops – Your play (or a portion of your play) will be eligible to be workshopped with its intended audience (usually in schools), led by professional actors and a director. You will be given an honorarium for the use of your piece in this part of the process.
May 20 to 24 – exact scheduling TBD
APPLICATION FEE, APN MEMBERSHIP & STUDENT DISCOUNTS:
Workshop fee: $120.00 includes all sessions and the professional actor read through. Playwrights will be paid an honorarium for use of their work during the target audience workshops.
APN members & Student discount: $20.00. Please register by March 1, 2025 (Link for the google registration form:
*** https://forms.gle/17SLDnpn3etgGkSWA ***).
Fee Waiver/Reduction: Kompany Family Theatre believes that economic barriers should not prevent participation. Contact Jan Taylor, Artistic Director of Kompany Family Theatre (kompanyfamilytheatre@gmail.com) if the fee is prohibitive to your participation and for any other questions.
PLAYWRIGHT CIRCLE INSTRUCTORS
MIKE CZUBA
Mike Czuba is a writer with a BFA and MFA in Playwriting. Originally from Montreal, he is currently an Instructor at the University of Calgary and co-founder of the performance collective Dancing Monkey Laboratories. In 2023 he released a book called NO SHORTCUTS – The Five Chambers, a Practical Guide to Finding Your Own Creative Process. His play I AM I (Original Works Publishing) has been internationally produced. A scene from his play REPRISE is published in Playwrights Canada Press’ new anthology, Refractions: Scenes (2020). Multiple plays have been presented in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Texas and Amsterdam. His most recent play AFTER MOURNING, BEOFRE VAN GOGH, about Johanna Bonger, the woman who saved van Gogh’s art, has had staged readings in Calgary, Red Deer, Beaumont, Texas, Ontario, in Chicago, and in Edmonton – with a full production by Shadow Theatre, in March 2025.
STEPHEN HEATLEY
Stephen Heatley, B.A. (Brock), MFA (Alberta) is newly retired as the Head of the Department of Theatre and Film at UBC and has worked in professional theatre for over 50 years. As Artistic Director of Edmonton’s Theatre Network, he directed over 30 world premieres. His other credits in Alberta include the Citadel where he was Associate Artistic Director and the head of the Theatre School for 5 years, Stage Polaris, Free Will Players, Chinook Theatre, and Alberta Theatre Projects. Stephen has been involved with the Saskatchewan Playwrights’ Centre’s Spring Festival since 2000 as director and dramaturge.
