Page to Stage New Works Festival, supported by Global Calgary & 770 CHQR

Theatre Calgary’s new, annual Page to Stage New Works Festival provides resources for writers to have their work developed towards a next step opportunity at Theatre Calgary.

Each year, our Page to Stage New Works Festival highlights a different theme. In this, our inaugural year, Theatre Calgary has reached out to Southern Alberta-based writers, who explore the landscape and expression of queer identity (LGBTQ2S+).

From more than 50 submissions, three scripts have been chosen to receive a week-long workshop, followed by a public online reading (presented over Zoom).

Below are our three new works, along with the date and time of their online reading.

BOLLYWOOD BASEMENT BOUTIQUE by Sharanpal Ruprai (She/Her)

Online reading on Saturday, Mar. 20, at 3:00 p.m.

In this hilarious family drama, Nimm is trying to be a good Punjabi daughter, but her body does not fit into all the wedding outfits her widowed Mum demands for her while she plans both of her daughters’ weddings. Priya runs a successful clothing boutique with her son Ravi, from their basement. Ravi, a drag performer at night, has his own ideas of running a business, and they create their own clothes from the discarded or unsold items from their mother’s store. Meanwhile, Ravi and Nimm hatch a plan to bring Jas, Ravi’s lover from India to Canada. Bollywood Basement Boutique is anchored in identity, multiculturalism, and the impact of religious symbols that inform our understanding of our communities, influence our world, and how we shape ourselves.

AWOWAKII by Sable Sweetgrass Katoiyissa (She/Her)

Online reading on Saturday, Mar. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Chrissy Two Guns is a Blackfoot Awowakii (Transgender) mother, struggling to make ends meet. When her father, who she hasn’t seen in years, shows up on her doorstep offering his residential school settlement money, and asking for a second chance, Chrissy is forced to make a decision that decides the fate of a family. Awowakii is a family drama about the resilience of Blackfoot Matriarchy.

AGÁPI STI FURY by Matthew Oliver van Diepen (They/Them)

Online reading on Sunday, Mar. 21 at 3:00 p.m.

Set in the 1820s, this period drama tells a compelling story that combines the worlds of the Navy and Shakespeare in a riveting tale about love, censorship, and comradery. While England was going through a theatrical dry-spot as a result of censorship laws, Navy ships HMS Fury and Helca were deployed to the Arctic with exploration crews. In an attempt to keep spirits high and hands busy, a theatre known as the Royal Arctic Theatre was created. However because the ships consisted of all-male crews, certain men onboard would cast in female roles…and this is where Agápi sti Fury takes a real piece of history, and gives it a twist from the imaginings of a Modern-day Queer!