About Fireworks Play Development Program About Fireworks Fireworks Play Development Program is an intensive, structured, and guided play development program. It is designed to assist playwrights, including artists of colour and Indigenous peoples, queer and gender-diverse individuals, to develop their voice and professional profile. Fireworks is a development program for new and original plays. Here you will gain: culturally sensitive dramaturgical support for your project development as a playwright focused mentorship as an artist We seek to create a safe space for BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and gender-diverse voices. Fireworks is a daring space for experimentation, for a new generation of writers who speak to current Canadian consciousness. Our goal is not only to increase the pool of socially engaged work, but also to assist participants in gaining a better understanding of, and connection to, the arts ecology in which they work. Applications for our 2024-2025 cohort will open soon. Submissions are open to all Canadian artists. Local applicants may be prioritized. Dramaturgs Vishesh Abeyratne Literary Manager, Play Development Vishesh Abeyratne is a Sri Lankan-Canadian playwright and dramaturg who divides his time between Ottawa and Montreal. He is the Literary Manager for Teesri Duniya Theatre and the coordinator at the Fireworks Playwrights’ Mentorship Program. He has served as playwright-in-residence at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. His plays include Exposure, Blood Offering, White Lion, Brown Tiger, and The Agony Market. Jen Cressey Fireworks Dramaturg Jen Cressey (BFA Theatre, MA Individualized Program, Concordia University) is a theatre artist and practice-based researcher living in Tiohtià:ke/ Montreal. She directs, dramaturges, devises, and co-creates contemporary performances.
Vishesh Abeyratne Literary Manager, Play Development Vishesh Abeyratne is a Sri Lankan-Canadian playwright and dramaturg who divides his time between Ottawa and Montreal. He is the Literary Manager for Teesri Duniya Theatre and the coordinator at the Fireworks Playwrights’ Mentorship Program. He has served as playwright-in-residence at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. His plays include Exposure, Blood Offering, White Lion, Brown Tiger, and The Agony Market.
Jen Cressey Fireworks Dramaturg Jen Cressey (BFA Theatre, MA Individualized Program, Concordia University) is a theatre artist and practice-based researcher living in Tiohtià:ke/ Montreal. She directs, dramaturges, devises, and co-creates contemporary performances.