Apply now for the vAct Creation Lab
Are you an Asian Canadian writer and creator? Would you like to get your play off the page and on a stage? Submit to our vAct Creation Lab!
The vAct Creation Lab is our annual new work development program (previously known as the MSG Lab). The deadline to apply is February 16, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
Your submission can be in the form of a script, an experimental piece, performance art, a musical, installation art, immersive theatre – wherever your imagination can take you!
About vAct Creation Lab
Facilitating the creation and development of new theatrical work by emerging and mid-career Asian Canadian artists, this program is our commitment to the next generation of Asian Canadian creators. The vAct Creation Lab showcases stories from Asian Canadian perspectives and develops new works for future production opportunities. This year’s vAct Creation Lab runs from April to December, with a series of 6 writers’ seminars and two 5-day writing/creation residencies (non-live-in). Our 2024 dramaturgy team will be Derek Chan, Leslie Dos Remedios, Kamila Sediego, assisted by Katie Voravong.
During the vAct Creation Lab, each writer will have a personally designed process that will propel the current script/proposal to a more fully realized version for an informal public presentation. Selected applicants will receive development support including:
- A $4000 stipend per project;
- 16 hours of in-studio workshop time with actors and collaborators
- Approximately 60 hours of dramaturgical support (inclusive of workshops and a public presentation);
- In consultation with the dramaturg, each writer will have the opportunity to design a personalized writing/creation process that best serves their creative needs.
Program Timeline
- Application Deadline: February 16, 2024
- Adjudication Result by: April 1, 2024
- Writers’ Seminars: April – October 2024 (Exact dates dependent on cohort availability)
- Creation Residencies: July and September, 2024 5 consecutive half-days each (Exact dates dependent on cohort availability)
- Individual Project Workshops: Fall 2024
- Public Presentation: Week of December 9, 2023
Eligibility
- Ideally be able to be physically attend in-person sessions in Vancouver, BC
- Identify as emerging or mid career Playwright / Theatre Maker
- Identify as Asian Canadian (does not have to be legally defined)
- Legally eligible to work in Canada
- *We are looking for engagements with a broad spectrum of Asian playwrights (including but not limited to Pan-Asia Pacific, South Asia, Western Asia and the Middle East, Pacific Islanders, and Asian Canadians of mixed ethnic/cultural backgrounds).
Submission Checklist
- Ensure that you can make the time commitments found on the timeline
- A cover letter (2 pages maximum) discussing the rationale behind your proposed project, for example: What is your project about? What is your vision for this project? Why this particular project now? Why the vAct Creation Lab? What are your needs and expectations of this process?
- Curriculum vitae of the applicant (2 page maximum)
- A brief work plan of the entire project, including development history, if applicable OR a detailed outline of your creation process and the feasibility of your project (1 page maximum)
- The piece you wish to develop with the vAct Creation Lab. Submissions include but not limited to:
- A current draft of a script (if submitting a full draft, please suggest 10 – 15 pages for the adjudication team to read);
- A collection of scenes;
- A detailed sketch of the proposed project with numbered pages;
- A proposal for an experimental creation
Assemble cover letter, CV, work plan in ONE PDF file. Please submit your piece in a SEPARATE PDF for adjudication purposes. If you would like to submit a video application instead, please upload a five minute max video together with your CV.
Submit your completed application package to this form by February 16, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
Adjudication
Submissions are read by a panel of curatorial staff led by vAct Resident Dramaturg Leslie Dos Remedios.
Shortlisted candidates may be contacted for a follow-up interview.
Decisions will be made by April 1, 2024
If you have any questions regarding the application process, access needs/accommodations, or your eligibility, please contact Leslie Dos Remedios at leslie@vact.ca. We look forward to receiving your submissions!
