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Playwrights Theatre Centre

A new play development organization in Vancouver, British Columbia, founded in 1970 by Douglas Bankson and Sheila Neville as The New Play Centre.

It originally advised on scripts and presented readings to encourage professional theatre productions. In 1972, when Pam Hawthorn became managing director, its mandate was broadened to workshops and stagings. It now offers a wide range of activities and services including writers groups, a library, a writers' room (with computer and printer), cabarets, a newsletter and an annual New Play Festival in May.

Its many initiatives include competitions to encourage women playwrights in 1975 and 1985.

Among playwrights who have presented plays at the Centre are Sharon Pollock (A Compulsory Option 1972); Tom Walmsley (Something Red 1978); Gwen Pharis Ringwood (Garage Sale 1981); Margaret Hollingsworth (Spanish Dancing in a Cold Climate, dir. Stephen Heatley 2005); and Aaron Bushkowsky (Angel Bones, dir. Martin Kinch 2005).

Martin Kinch was Executive Director and Literary Manager from 2001 to 2011. As of 2012, the Artistic and Executive Director is Heidi Taylor, who was a dramaturge at the Centre since 2005.

The Playwrights Theatre Centre is located on Granville Island in the Waterfront Theatre.

Website: http://www.playwrightstheatre.com/

Further Reading: Jerry Wasserman, Twenty Years at Play: A New Play Centre Anthology, Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1990.

Last updated 2018-01-22