Year End Reflections.
Workshop West’s 2023-24 season Borderlands – Encounters on Outskirts has been a year of heart-stopping theatre, buzzy openings, and luminescent performances. We’ve seen work by seasoned pros from across the country, new stars in the making, emerging artists just starting their journey, and Edmonton mainstays who we are fortunate live and work in our city.
In Catherine Anne Toupin’s MOB — a slick, modern, nail-biting thriller from Quebec (translated by Chris Campbell) —loneliness was the match to the gasoline of the internet, leaving no one unscathed. This is the Story of a Child Ruled by Fear by David Gagnon Walker invited us into a reprieve from the unrelenting storm of news, reminding us of the wonder which lives just under the surface of our everyday lives. The Springboards New Play Festival brought a week of fresh and fearless readings expertly executed by top tier Edmonton artists. And in our season closer, Conni Massing’s Dead Letter, small unremarkable occurrences launched a hilarious soft-boiled mystery which ultimately resolved into a heartbreaking struggle about love and trust. The Shoe Project, presented with the SkirtsAfire Festival gave voice to the stories of immigrant and refugee women, allowing audiences to share space with women hailing from all corners of the globe. Our hearts were warmed by our year-end event Gala-Palooza and the outpouring of support for our mission in an evening of hilariously fun and brilliant performances.
It is a privilege to create theatre in Edmonton for all who live here on Treaty 6. I’m immensely proud of what our small and very dedicated team at WWPT has accomplished in 2023-24. Our work is truly made possible by our General Manager Jake Tkaczyk, our Technical Director Kira Franchuck, and our Communications Specialists (outgoing) Jason Hardwick, (incoming) Caley Suliak —welcome Caley! Together at the Gateway we’ve hustled hard, we’ve discussed, we’ve worked late nights, we’ve laughed till it hurt, and we’ve celebrated as we brought you a cycle of risky Canadian stories about boundaries between truth and illusion, secrecy and discretion, crisis and opportunity.
This is a theatre about community. It is a theatre about artists coming together with audiences, donors, sponsors, and volunteers who together make our vision and mission a reality. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your part in making WWPT’s 45th Season such a terrific and memorable success.
As we look back proudly on 2023-24, we are also putting the finishing touches on next year’s season and we’re genuinely excited. You can expect 2 world premieres —one by one of Canada’s most lauded playwrights, one by a fresh new local Indigenous voice —both of which will make you laugh and cry. The 2025 iteration of the Springboards New Play Festival will be back at the end of March, and we’re excited to announce an unforgettable series of guest presentations from Edmonton and beyond. Watch for our announcement in mid-September when we’ll gather at the Gateway for the launch of our 46th season of new Canadian plays. You won’t want to miss it.
Through July and August, we are moving to summer hours as we refresh and get ready to bring you another round of exceptional Canadian Theatre in 2024-25.
Until then,
~Heather
