Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work

Kindly supported by the RBC Foundation

The Stage One Festival provides playwrights developmental workshopping with professional actors, directors, and dramaturges. Each workshop concludes with a free public reading and moderated audience feedback.

June 13 Reading

Brown Eggs by Judith Clark
When Danny and Annalie Callahan's youngest son Konrad and his new wife Lauren arrive for what will be Danny’s last Christmas, family traditions lead to an unexpected neighbour feud. Danny contemplates an important decision as Lauren and Annalie bond over misadventures and Konrad learns about storing up joy in sorrow.
Reading time: 3pm MT
Director: Shari Wattling
Cast: Joel Braun, Rebbekah Ogden, Roberta Mauer Phillips, Luigi Riscaldino
Stage Manager: Dianne Goodman

Evergreens by Madeline Hunter Smith
ER doctor Natalie Green and triage nurse Sean Halcomb are stuck with the night shift on Christmas Eve at Evergreens County Hospital in their sleepy Alberta town. As the end of the shift approaches and it seems like the pair might make it through the night without any major incident, Natalie and Sean are caught by surprise when an older man arrives at the emergency room through the heavy snow. The medical team work to treat him and, as Christmas morning draws near, so do each of their unspoken truths.
Reading time: 4:30pm MT
Director: Katelyn Morishita
Cast: Daniel Briere, Sepidar Yeganeh Farid, Hal Kerbes
Stage Manager: Chandler Ontkean

June 20 Reading
Rupert's Land by James Hart
Life is piling on Rupert. It’s too much. He escapes to a remote atoll in the South Pacific leaving everything behind, including Penny. A kind of peace and quiet happens after that but it’s not exactly peaceful or quiet. Conversing with nature takes a different spin. And in the end, there’s a beginning.
Reading time: 3pm MT
Director: Steven Conde
Cast: Braden Griffiths, Camille Pavlenko, Garret Smith
Stage Manager: Meredith Johnson

The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge by Anna Leslie
While curmudgeonly former librarian Jean seeks food in a climate disaster-induced wasteland, the eccentric Frankie seeks information to save. When they meet at a Little Free Library, Frankie recruits Jean to help preserve knowledge. Friendship forms between the unlikely duo as they establish the first post-apocalyptic library.
Reading time: 4:30pm MT
Director: Bronwyn Steinberg
Cast: Kat Armstrong, Shawna Burnett
Stage Manager: Chandler Ontkean
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