By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Burlington may not be Stratford, but that doesn’t mean its inhabitants don’t have strong theatre aspirations. For our city’s ambitious writers especially, who may be in a restless state of creativity in light of this year’s Burlington Literary Festival, which starts in November, Theatre Burlington is offering a unique opportunity to take a step forward. In June 2025, Theatre Burlington plans to host its second annual Playtime Short Play Festival. The Play Reading Committee is currently looking for submissions of original one-act plays for consideration, from any Canadian playwright within and outside of the Burlington area.
A one-act play is a tricky undertaking. Limited time, limited characters, and a full story to tell, all while keeping an audience enthralled in their seats. There are also limitations for how many props and set pieces you can use, especially in a community theatre setting. Local theatre notables Janine Heaven and Mark Collis fully appreciate the challenges of the craft, and are eager to work with new playwrights in order to produce and stage this region’s untold stories. Both were happy to speak out about their hopes and expectations for their year’s batch of submissions, and their ideas for their second festival (answers have been lightly edited for flow and clarity).
How many plays are you accepting for production, and what is your overall vision for the annual short play festival?
Collis: I’m personally hoping for at least thirty submissions for this season. Last year, I believe that we had twenty submissions, and out of those twenty, we selected eight plays. Last year, we ran only one weekend and did shows on Friday, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening. This year, it depends on the number and quality of the shows that we get. I’m hoping we can get in two weekends and do sixteen shows. My personal vision is to see this go to multiple weeks with multiple shows, similar to the Fringe Fest in Hamilton.
When you read a newly-submitted play, what qualities in the writing do you look for?
Heaven: We do have a chart that we follow. It’s a numbering chart. Which plays have the most numbers? We’re looking at how strong the opening is. Because they’re short plays and because we’re doing so many plays in one evening, they need to be ten minutes [in length]. And they need to be what we call a “black box theatre.” It’s going to be very simple staging. Three or four chairs are allowed to be used, and sometimes the chairs have to be a park bench as well. We’re hoping that for ten minutes it’ll hold the audience right from the beginning to the end.
Collis: We currently have a spreadsheet for entries. How powerful was the opening? Does it sustain engagement throughout the entire play? We don’t want people falling asleep. Obviously, we want them engaged with the characters that are being built. Does it have an enduring message? Does it leave the audience with something? Is there character development over those ten minutes of the production? Is the play production ready? That could be something as simple in that it requires only two chairs, versus a play that has half a dozen characters and would have to have a full set. The thing with a ten-minute play, it’s like a short story. You don’t have time to develop it. It has to punch. It has to say something. It ideally should give you a bit of a twist, or leave you thinking about something. It has to be impactful.
How involved are the playwrights in the production of their own works?
Heaven: They can be very involved. In particular, we’ve made sure that they let us know if they want to direct their own play, which they often end up doing. Sometimes, they even end up acting in them if they don’t want to direct it. Are they able to find their own director? We will help them in the end if they can’t, but that is our first request to them. They can be as involved as much as they want to be. We’ve had some plays given to us from people who are physically too far away. Last year, we had somebody out in Windsor, and we did help him out. He did end up coming to see the play. We encourage the playwright’s involvement for sure.
Collis: We’re focusing on the playwrights. If they want to direct, they can direct. If they want to act, they can act. If they don’t want to do that, then we’ll work it out. They can do as much as they want to do, as much as they feel comfortable doing.
Heaven: If they have actors in mind and they want to cast their own play, they can do that as well. If they don’t, then we do hold auditions for those plays that need actors.
What words of advice would you give to a new playwright in Burlington who is struggling to produce their first work?
Heaven: We would certainly ask them to submit their play to us and we would take a look at it and give them feedback if they want feedback. We’d be willing to do that for anybody.
Collis: We encourage people to submit stuff. I know last year, during one of the Q&As I had, there was a fifteen-year-old who was very interested in submitting something. I’m waiting to see [that] play show up. I’m actually looking forward to it. It’s part of the spirit of “do-it-yourself” that we’re trying to encourage for our festival. Keep writing and keep submitting.
All submissions for the Playtime Short Play Festival are read blind, which means that playwrights must omit their names from the scripts in order to ensure fair and unbiased readings of the texts. This is standard practice in the literary world, so writers can be evaluated on their talent alone and not for their pre-existing popularity or status. Playwrights are encouraged to submit plays in any genre, and on any subject, as long as the works abide by the rules listed on the Theatre Burlington website. Mature themes are permitted, but the committee prefers appropriate, discretionary content that is mindful of its audience.
All plays can be submitted to OneActPlays@TheatreBurlington.on.ca or for more information, contact TBShortPlayFestival@gmail.com. The deadline is strictly on January 12, 2025. It must be submitted on that day before midnight.
