ANAIS WEST
NEWS
NUITS CLAIRES
National Arts Centre French Theatre & Théâtre La Seizième, September 2024
The National Arts Centre is proud to announce that Nuits claires, a major pan-Canadian project initiated by Mani Soleymanlou, artistic director of NAC French Theatre, and Cory Haas, artistic and managing director of Vancouver’s Théâtre la Seizième, will kick off in a few weeks.
Writing the night: on and during the night, to see what this space liberates by moving away from the usual questions of identity and language. Taking twelve authors on a journey from West to East – against the spindle, in other words – this ambitious adventure will unite them in a creative exploration of the night and its mysteries.
The participants will be chosen to reflect the diversity of the contemporary world, with close supervision by the two dramaturges-accompagnateurs to script and edit the material produced. The project, combining play, nocturnal exploration and transnational collaboration, promises to reveal new voices and visions within the Francophonie in relation to the vital issues of our time.
Writers:
Anais West - Théâtre la Seizième (Vancouver)
Geneviève Doyon - Open Pitt Theatre (White Horse)
Josée Thibeault - L'UniThéâtre (Edmonton)
Michael Bowden - La Troupe du Jour (Saskatoon)
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TOMBOY (CHŁOPCZYCA) WINS WILDFIRE
NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
Major Matt Mason Collective, 2023
The Wildfire National Playwriting Competition is a free opportunity for young Canadian playwrights. We want to read awesome plays and we are willing to offer cash money! We are looking for playwrights 30 years of age or under to submit fresh, young scripts that embrace risk, grit and innovation. Submitting a play to the competition is free and the two winning scripts selected by our jury receive a cash prize, a development workshop, and a staged reading at MMMC’s Wildfire Showcase in association with Sage Theatre’s IGNITE! Festival. Congratulations to our 2023 winners!
1st Place: Tomboy (Chłopczyca) by Anais West
2nd Place: Gringas by Mercedes Isaza Clunie
THE CAFÉ AT PUSH INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL
Aphotic Theatre and ITSAZOO Theatre, January 2023
Here is an invitation to be a voyeur, to eavesdrop on private conversations, to witness intimate relationships up close and personal. The Café invites audiences to explore seven vignettes by nine playwrights of various ethnicities, ages, beliefs, sexual orientations and gender identities. This critically lauded live production has now been transformed into an online immersive experience that allows audience members to wander through the virtual Café from home, using only a web browser.
The plays include: Mango Cake by Amy Lee Lavoie & Omari Newton, Father’s Day by Sebastien Archibald, 50 Cent Lemonade by Kelsey Kanatan Wavey, Submission by Fay Nass & Diana Garcia, Space Aliens and Tropical Ducks by Derek Chan, Anna’s Story by Manami Hara, Przyjaciółki by Anais West
CONJURE RESIDENCY AT MORROW
Dumb Instrument Dance, February 2023
Dumb Instrument Dance welcomes Tasha, Harmanie, Justin and Anais to Morrow for creative work and play! We’re honoured to support these artists whose revolutionary practices conjure change and healing. Each artist has 3 weeks of studio space at Morrow plus funds to support their work and the artists they collaborate with. The project is about experimenting what we dream. Nobody above us or below us. Many people beside and with us.
UNE.DEUX.TROIS. CANADIAN TOUR
Orange Noyée and the National Arts Centre, September - November 2022
Anais West joins nearly 40 performers on stage, forming a chorus from all four corners of Canada. Born here or abroad, Indigenous, Metis, men, women, non-binary people, but all French-speaking, these creatives investigate our roots and our dreams, revisit our heritage and dare to raise questions about identity: who are we collectively? What defines us? What divides us and unites us? And what does it ultimately mean to be francophone in Canada?
WHITE NOISE
Savage Society & Firehall Arts Centre, April 2022
A new play by Taran Kootenhayoo, White Noise is a comedy about two Canadian families who have dinner together for the first time during the Truth and Reconciliation week, White Noise explores what it means to live in Canada from two different paradigms. How do we deal with internalized racism? Do we keep pushing it away and pretend to live safely in our day-to-day?
Directed by Renae Morriseau, featuring Sam Bob, Columpa Bobb,
Braiden Houle, Mike Wasko, Anita Wittenberg and
Anais West...
UNDERGROUND ABSOLUTE FICTION AUDIO WALK
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (October, 2021)
In a journey that begins on Victoria Drive, Anais West uses story and song to transport you to her mother’s homeland, Poland. From a punk concert in Praga to the bloc apartments of Communist Gdansk, she searches for queer belonging and family history. The through-line is a protest anthem, “Rota,” written by lesbian Polish poet Maria Konopnicka and then re-appropriated through the centuries by revolutionaries, nationalists, and now queer punks.
The songs and narration are part of Underground Absolute Fiction...
UAF IN RESIDENCE FOR THE DIGITAL DRAMATURGY INITIATIVE
Playwrights Theatre Centre, August 2021
We are thrilled to welcome participants in the Vancouver leg of the Digital Dramaturgy Initiative. The cohort will meet September 20-25, 2021 to explore digital dramaturgy for theatre on- and off-line.
Jk Jk bring their multi-venue performance-film adventure Always Boy. Anais West, Kimberly Ho and Julia Siedlanowska will work on their project Underground Absolute Fiction, a docu-fantasy film, accompanied by social media storytelling. Mind of a Snail will explore the hybrid digital/live possibilities of their show Improv in Five Dimensions. Lili Robinson and Celeste Insell will be working on online and podcast elements of their project The Vancouver Black Theatre Archival Initiative.
UNDERGROUND ABSOLUTE FICTION IN RESIDENCE WITH WRIGHTSPACE
Playwrights Theatre Centre, December 2020
Each year, PTC welcomes a small group of professional Canadian playwrights to join us for a short-term residency to work on one of their projects.
WrightSpace is led by PTC’s most seasoned dramaturg AED Heidi Taylor and the Dramaturg, Creative Engagement, Joanna Garfinkel. PTC works with each participant to create a process tailored to their play or project, which may include workshops with actors, dramaturgical sessions, studio work, or design consults.
The Wrightspace participants for 2019-2020 were Tanya Marquardt, Anais West, Lili Robinson, Derek Chan, June Fukumura, Keely O'Brien, Lili Robinson and Scott Button...