✻ SCRIPT SUBMISSIONS
✻ SCRIPT SUBMISSIONS
Workshop West is committed to supporting playwrights’ visions, from inception through to production, building relationships with writers over the long term, and ensuring that development processes are uniquely designed to serve their needs. We are dedicated to encouraging all Albertan playwrights through our Reading Service.
From October to May each year, Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre welcomes script submissions from playwrights currently residing in Alberta, for one-on-one dramaturgical support and/or production consideration.
Available from Oct to May each year, this program gives Alberta writers an opportunity to work directly with our Resident Dramaturg to discuss works in progress via in-person, phone, or zoom consultations. Oct-May of each year we can accept one draft, per playwright, of any script written for performance in the theatre by playwrights residing in Alberta. The program is free of charge. We are unable to support musicals and works written for television, radio, or forms other than stage plays.
To submit: Fill out the online form (available in Oct 15 - May 15). Our Dramaturg in Residence will read scripts and respond to them in the order they are received. Usually the wait is 4 to 6 weeks.
Workshop West programmes original plays (dramas, comedies, and everything in between) that investigate the problems and possibilities of our time by asking bold questions of the modern world. We program outstanding small-cast, full-length plays which are formally or thematically original. For us, a small cast is 6 characters or less. A full-length play is usually at least 50 pages in length and around 35-40 pages if it is a monologue. We accept submissions from Oct - May each year.
To submit: Email a cover letter, c.v., synopsis of the play, and a 20-page (maximum) excerpt of the work to dramaturgy@workshopwest.org. A full manuscript may be requested upon review of initial submissions.
Dramaturg In Residence
Conni Massing
Conni is an award-winning writer working in theatre, film and television. Recent stage credits include Dead Letter (Workshop West Playwrights Theatre), Fresh Hell (Shadow Theatre), Matara and The Invention of Romance, both premiered at WWPT, Oh! Christmas Tree (Roxy Performance Series), and her widely produced stage adaptations of W.O Mitchell’s Jake and the Kid and Bruce Allen Powe’s The Aberhart Summer. Conni has written several short films and worked as a screenwriter and story editor on television series such as Mentors, The Beat, North of 60, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, Taking it Off, Horse Warriors, and Family Restaurant. Her published work includes seven plays and a full-length comic memoir, Roadtripping: On the Move with the Buffalo Gals. Her writing has been recognized by the Betty Mitchell Awards, the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards, Alberta Film and Television Awards, Academy of Cinema and Television, Writers Guild of Alberta, Writers Guild of Canada, and the Alberta Playwrights Network Playwriting Contest. A recipient of a Queen’s Jubilee Medal (for contributions to the arts), she was also honoured as one of 100 people who have made a contribution to Alberta theatre in the last one hundred years.
“I’m very excited to be involved in new play development at WWPT. I know from experience how important it is to have creative and critical discussions about your play after months of solitary work. Looking forward to connecting with the wonderful playwrights in our community!”
-Conni Massing, Playwright
Dramaturg in Residence
“I submitted each of my first two plays to the script reading service at WWPT. Free development support is rare- the feedback, encouragement and networking opportunities it provided led to productions of both of my plays, including my first professional production ever here with WWPT!”
-Kole Durnford, Playwright
HORSEPLAY, May 14 - June 1, 2025
“Being able to speak with professional writers was integral to [the] process, as it really helped me hone my instincts as a writer, to know when it was the right time to change or add things, and to be more confident in the work.”
-Spenser Kells, Actor/Writer/Musician
Springboards, 2024