Fireworks Play Development Program Submissions 2024 – 2025 Teesri Duniya Theatre’s Fireworks Play Development Program is inviting submissions from Canadian playwrights, particularly those BIPOC, LGBT+ and equity-seeking groups, as well as individuals writing about socially conscious themes. This 7-month guided mentorship offers a supportive and safe environment for developing plays rooted in culturally sensitive dramaturgy. Deadline to Submit: August 24, 2025, at 11:59 pm. The program dramaturges are Marie Barlizo and Ouldooz Pirniya. Marie Barlizo BIO:Marie Barlizo is a Filipino-Chinese playwright and dramaturg from Montreal. A graduate of UBC’s MFA in Creative Writing and the first visible minority to complete the NTS Playwriting Program, she teaches at NTS and mentors with Black Theatre Workshop. With over a dozen plays to her name, her work includes Unang Pasko sa Montreal (Centaur Theatre’s Urban Tales, 2017), The Little Mighty Superhero (Geordie Theatre’s 2020–21 virtual school tour), and Lucky, which toured Canada starting in 2022 after earlier runs at the Montreal Fringe and Toronto’s Next Stage Festival. Ouldooz Pirniya BIO:Ouldooz Pirniya is a writer and dramaturg based in Montreal. Born and raised in Iran, she earned over 100 medals and set multiple national swimming records before graduating top of her class in Dramatic Literature from Tehran University of Art. She wrote, directed, and acted in student productions, and collaborated with Khaneh Theater Group on politically engaged plays about Syria. In 2015, she moved to Germany, where she earned her MA in Dramaturgy from the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg and worked with Theater Bonn and Nationaltheater Mannheim. The Fireworks Play Development Mentorship will offer you: 7-month guided mentorship based on culturally sensitive dramaturgical feedback. Active feedback from other artists within the mentorship program Supporting the development of your play and your growth as a playwright. The chance to hear your play read out loud by actors to the public at the end of the program if your play is ready to be read. Playwrights will receive a modest honorarium for their participation in the program. Start and End Date:October 5, 2025 – April 30, 2026. Process:Playwrights will meet regularly with their assigned dramaturgs, either weekly or biweekly, in person. A few sessions will be online. The program will culminate in a public reading of each playwright’s script before a live audience. The public reading will take place approximately three months after the conclusion of the mentorship sessions, allowing writers time to refine their works. We will be prioritizing Montreal-based artists. Submission Details: A one-page cover letter that includes an introduction of who you are and your experience as a writer, why you’re interested in being part of the Fireworks Play Development Program and how it will benefit you. A finished first draft of the proposed play. If the play is in progress or in an early stage, please submit up to 20 pages as a sample. A description of the play in progress. A CV (2 pages maximum) and a bio. Several candidates are invited to an interview before the final selection is made. Please send your application to fireworks@teesriduniyatheatre.com by August 24, 2025 at 11:59pm.