Barrie Theatre Lab |
Submission InformationTo have your script workshopped, just send it to create@theatrebythebay.com Important InformationDate & Time Admission is free! Next Lab DayMonday, February 6th | What will you create?Are you a budding playwright living in Simcoe County? The Barrie Theatre Lab is a once-a-month get-together for playwrights seeking to have new scenes and plays read out loud. No piece is too small, rough, or new! To date, the Barrie Theatre Lab has workshopped more than 100 plays by more than 40 playwrights from as far away as Toronto and Haliburton! Even if you’re not a playwright, come on out! The Barrie Theatre Lab is open to the local theatre community as a place where we can come together, talk about new work, and network. Actors are especially welcome as we will need lots of readers! For actors, reading new scenes and plays is an important way to practice your craft. Being able to read a scene you haven’t had much time to rehearse is a very important part of getting work as an actor.
Generously supported by: Anna Small and the City of Barrie’s Cultural Grant Program Mailing ListSign up for our free exclusive Barrie Theatre Lab mailing list to ‘keep in the know’ about upcoming BTLs, as well as local theatrical events, training opportunities, audition notices, and much more! Join the Theatre Lab Newsletter |
Professional Workshop Series |
Next WorkshopNo professional workshops are running at this time. Please stay up-to-date with our social media and website for details on upcoming events. | It all starts here!Are you looking to learn how to write, or create, a play? Wanting to expand your skill set as a theatre creator? Theatre by the Bay’s professional workshop series is the place for you! With the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Theatre by the Bay will host celebrated professional theatre artists as they provide workshops on different areas of theatre creation, for a nominal fee. Workshops will be held once a month and will run for between 2-4 hours - at the discretion of the instructor. To ensure a high level of quality training, only a certain number of spots will be available. The number of spots may differ depending on the approach/subject matter. To secure your spot, purchase a ticket through the Eventbrite link to the left. Please note: Theatre by the Bay is committed to the development of the local theatre community. To ensure accessibility to this unparalleled level of training, we are charging a nominal fee for participation in our workshops. However, we recognize that times are difficult and that fees can be a barrier to some. If your circumstances make participation difficult, but you are eager to learn, we ask that you reach out to us and we will look to accommodate you as much as possible at: create@theatrebythebay.com. The Professional Workshop Series is presented with support from
Past Workshops Include
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Indie Producer’s Co-Op |
Summer and Fall, 2022The Indie Producer’s Co-op provides two students from a professional theatre school training program with a ground-level education in producing theatre. Participants receive a two-week intensive that investigated the vital role of the producer. They learn what it took to run a professional theatre company, when to say yes or no to projects, how to develop a realistic budget, how to make sure your project stands out for grants, what factors lead to a well-attended production, and much more. This intensive is followed by four weeks of unparalleled job training. Participants work on Theatre by the Bay’s season in a variety of capacities. In the past, these have included marketing, audience development, fundraiser development, sponsorship accrual, and production management. The Indie Producer’s Co-op is run by Artistic Director (and inaugural Indie Producer) Iain Moggach, overseen by Leah Holder, and with assistance from Patricia Hammond. Guest instructors are also brought in to provide expertise in all aspects of theatre producing. NEW IN 2022:For the first time, the Indie Producer's Co-op will also have a fall session, this time with local aspiring producers from the Simcoe County region! They will receive the same instruction as the spring co-op session but work part-time on different Theatre by the Bay initiatives. |
Our 2022 Local Indie Producers are:Alondra Vega-Zaldivar and Sabrina Merks |
Alondra Vega-Zaldivar Soprano and Composer Alondra Vega-Zaldivar has found a passion in organizing and performing recitals since her university years. Now living in Barrie, Ontario, Alondra balances teaching five days at 88Keys with composing pieces for her students, her projects and various performers. Alondra holds a B.Mus and M.Mus in Composition from the University of Western Ontario and has been actively curating and organizing her own recitals since then. In 2016, she created The Art Song Collaborative Project, which brings composers and performers together in the collaboration of a new opera through art song. This year, the Project is preparing for its fifth opera, "Terra's Resurgence," about the importance of working together towards a green future. |
Sabrina Merks Sabrina currently hails from Barrie, Ontario and was born and raised in Dutton, a small 'country' town in southwestern Ontario. They promise if you blink, you will miss it. Sabrina pursued their education in musical theatre at St. Lawrence College and will graduate from Queen's University (B.A. Musical Theatre) this winter. Sabrina is currently the Artistic Director of Black Cat Theatre Company, an organization dedicated to providing an inclusive space for artists to play, create and tell their personal stories. Black Cat's most recent production was at the Simcoe County Theatre Festival called B-O-D-Y (a letter to myself). When Sabrina isn't creating, you can currently find them working as the Pre-School Co-ordinator and dance instructor at Kreative Dance Co. in Barrie. |
Past Participants
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Emerging Director Project |
Presented by the RBC Emerging Artist Project
March - August 2021
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Alexandra Gaudet Alex's passion for theatre started in high school. Her interest in directing was sparked with her participation in the National Theatre School Drama Festival with her own written work, Dear Adam. After high school she partnered with the Barrie Native Friendship Centre to write and direct Stage Three: The Wandering which was presented at the Five Points Theatre in 2018. The following year, Stage Three: The Wandering toured throughout Simcoe County high schools. Recently, Alex is an aspiring playwright and director studying at York University. She is going into her fourth year of the Performance Creation stream with a focus on playwriting. She has begun to tackle pandemic theatre with online resources. This can be seen in the performance of The Ashley Plays in the fourth year Playwriting and New Play Dramaturgy class (available on YouTube!), and through stage managing Falling In, Walking Out in the student run playGround Festival. She is excited to see what comes next, and is forever grateful for opportunities like the Emerging Director Project to further her growth and education. | Keara Voo Keara Voo is a showtune-singing, book-loving, trash-TV-binging thespian who grew up in Barrie. Theatre stole her heart at the ripe age of 8 when she starred in her first elementary school production of Mighty Minds: The Musical, and she hasn’t looked back. Since then, she has worked both on stage and backstage for a variety of productions, most recently directing a live-streamed performance of the original 10-minute play Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Not Even Me for the OR Festival in Vancouver, BC and performing as Daphne Stillington in Knockout Theatre Company's Zoom Performance of Present Laughter. She also has taken an interest in film, studying screenwriting at Vancouver Film School and producing “Talk It Out” – an official selection of the Montreal Independent Film Festival. She is excited to come back home to work with TBTB and is grateful to her friends and family for their support as she chases this crazy dream of finally one day creating a show-stopping show. |
Past Emerging Director Participants2020 - Korol Pikulik and Valeria Bravo Past RBC Emerging Artists2019 - Delphine Guet-McCreight 2018 - Brandon Nicoletti 2017 - Abigail Kennedy 2016 - Leah Holder 2015 - James Wallis |
The 24 Hour Playwriting Contest |
Contest Date and TimeContest Starts: September 24th, 2022 at 6pm Our 2022 Judges were:
The contest is now closed.Thank you to all our participants! | And the winner of this year's contest is...The Prom Queen of Junktopia, written by Gordon James Haney! Congratulations also go Kristian Diesen, the runner-up with his script A Moment of Beginning. On Saturday, October 15th, both scripts received a live dramatic reading that was streamed on our YouTube channel. If you missed the event, and want to hear these scripts, click the button below! The perfect opportunity to dive into playwriting!Are you a budding playwright from the Simcoe County region? As part of the City of Barrie’s Culture Days festivities, Theatre by the Bay is back with its 24 hour playwriting contest for the third year in a row! You will have 24 hours to write a one act script (ie. no more than 45 minutes to read) that must incorporate three secret requirements. Those requirements will be published here on our website, as well as through our social media channels at the start of the contest. 24 hour contests are a fantastic way to dive into playwriting, or to push yourself to create something in a condensed amount of time. No procrastination allowed with this one! This initiative is generously supported by the City of Barrie and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Mailing ListTo find out about more events like these, sign up for our free exclusive Barrie Theatre Lab mailing list to ‘keep in the know’ about upcoming opportunities, as well as local theatrical events, training, audition notices, and much more!
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