Call for Applications: Wildfire Development Unit Text Based/Interdisciplinary Stream
Facilitated by members of the Major Matt Mason Theatre Collective, the Wildfire Development Unit is now accepting submissions for 2024. This unit supports the work of early career playwrights and theatre creators aged 30 and under. This call is seeking submissions for either text-based or interdisciplinary projects. We are looking for Albertan artists or groups who are in the early stages of creation with a written theatrical project OR a theatrical work that intersects with non-theatre-based disciplines (animation, dance, installation, music, etc.).
This development and dramaturgical program culminates in a work-in-progress presentation in Calgary in June of 2024. A more detailed schedule will be developed with the selected artist that fits the piece’s current needs; there is no specific availability commitment required. We are excited to design a unique collaboration alongside the chosen artist that includes:
- Ongoing dramaturgical/development support from MMMC’s Co-Artistic Director and Resident Dramaturg Evan Medd (see bio below for reference)
- Work-in-progress presentation as part of MMMC’s Wildfire New Work Showcase Series presented with support from Sage Theatre’s IGNITE! Festival
- Producing mentorship from MMMC’s production team
- A $1,000 honorarium for the artist or group selected (if a group of artists is selected, one honorarium would be split between group members)
- A modest budget for workshop supplies, creation space, additional artist fees, and travel costs (if applicable)
Who can apply?
The Wildfire Unit is for early career artists aged 30 or under who are developing their own work and feel their practice would be elevated by the support of MMMC’s dramaturgical
and production mentorship. Artists from anywhere across Alberta are eligible to apply.
What are we looking for?
Early stage works-in-progress that have not had a professional production or brand-new concepts that are completely untested. Works that have had workshop presentations can be submitted, so do please provide a brief development history if it’s applicable.
How to apply?
Please submit the following to mmmtheatrecollective@gmail.com:
-One page written OR a 5 minute video telling us who you are, about your past work, your goals as an artist, and a statement of interest (What would you be interested in exploring through the unit? What about your work are you seeking support with?) -CV or resume
-Any support materials that you think will give us the best sense of your work as it currently exists: video, photos, text, collage, and a sample of up to 10 pages of written text will all be accepted.
*Please limit the time needed to review all materials to a maximum of ten minutes.
When to apply?
The deadline for submissions is November 8th, 2023, 11:59 pm MST.
Have questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us at mmmtheatrecollective@gmail.com. **********************
More about company dramaturg Evan Medd
Evan Medd (he/they) is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist primarily based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 territory, but who also works across Turtle Island, on unceded Coast Salish territory in Vancouver and out east in Prince Edward Island on Mi’kmaq territory.
His practice primarily focuses on intensive dramaturgical strategizing of process design, community engaged art that intersects with environmental dialogues, and collaborative new play development and production with their Alberta-based company the Major Matt Mason Collective. A BFA graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Performance Creation program, Evan is passionate about how dramaturgical practice can intersect with communities and artists from a multitude of perspectives and how interdisciplinary performance can integrate and explore environmental messaging and activism.
Recently as a dramaturg, Evan has been working with playwright Makram Ayache on The Hooves Belonged to the Deer, which premiered at the Tarragon Theatre earlier this year and is being presented in Edmonton this Fall. Collaborations have also been unfolding with artists Ashleigh Hicks and Hayley Moorhouse through Edmonton’s RISER Project, on their pieces MINE and Tough Guy, respectively. Ash and Evan are also working on Ash’s new play Brick Shithouse, which will premiere at Edmonton’s Found Festival next summer. Evan is an active dramaturg within MMMC’s programming, this past year working on Saeid Asgarian’s Absense, Sage Cannon’s Un/Welcome, and providing research support and dramaturgical mentorship on Donovan Hayden’s play Suitable Climate, all through the collective’s Wildfire Development Unit. Evan also dramaturgs their co-collaborator Geoffrey Simon Brown’s work, mostly recently working on his plays Night and Progress.
Evan spends his summers working in PEI at The River Clyde Pageant, a community integrated outdoor performative spectacle that celebrates a social ecology while drawing attention to the impact of climate change on PEI’s waterways and ecosystems. Evan has also spearheaded an initiative called Dreaming Climate Consciousness, a collaborative process where participants work together to imagine eco-conscious futures through the lens of speculative/science fiction. Evan is passionate about utilizing creative practice as a means to stimulate imaginations while interrogating and examining the tensions that define our world.
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