Write-On-Q
Annual Playwriting Competition
Our Annual Full-Length Playwriting Competition
Every year, Infinithéâtre organizes a Québec playwriting competition, with a submission deadline of the first Tuesday after Labour Day. We receive many innovative and exciting new plays from talented playwrights across the province, and a jury of professionals selects a series of finalists. The winning script receives a cash prize of $3000.
The winning script, as well as two or three additional plays, comprise the line-up of our annual reading series, The Pipeline, which is an animated weekend of free public play readings. After each Pipeline reading, Infinithéâtre takes its cue from the audience at talk-backs involving the actors and the playwright. These discussions provide valuable feedback for future programming and script rewrites.
And The Winner Is…
After much deliberation (we received over 50 plays!), we are thrilled to announce the winner of this year's Write-on-Q play-writing competition! Congratulations to our finalists and thank you to all who submitted; we are proud to be part of such a talented community!
Leila Roils The Seas by Lily Chang
Upon receiving news that her grandmother has fallen into a coma in Taiwan, Leila leaves her home in Canada to return to her birthplace, only to find that she alone can see and interact with Pŏpó’s consciousness outside her comatose body. When Pŏpó pressures Leila to help her spirit move on to the celestial realm of Pure Land Buddhism, Leila must suppress not only her nonbelief in the afterlife and her grief over losing her beloved grandmother but also her anger at Pŏpó’s contradictions and history of violence.
Lily Chang (She/They) is a queer Taiwanese-Canadian writer, editor, and director/producer based in Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal. She is a graduate of Concordia University’s MA program in creative writing. Their work has been published by Room Magazine, Frog Hollow Press, HerStry, Dark Helix Press, and Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop. She is a 2023-2024 Nightwood Innovator, the recipient of FringeMTL 2023's Frankie Award for Most Promising Emerging English Producer, and a finalist for the 2018 CBC Nonfiction Prize. Their projects have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Access Copyright Foundation, and Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. For their portfolio, visit lilychang.art and canasianarts.com/artist/lilychang/.
Honorable Mentions
(Because picking just one is too difficult!)
Lettuce Meat by Lily Lachapelle
Inspired (very loosely) by a reddit post about a motorcyclist who lost his leg in an accident and gathered his friends to sample it post-amputation, Lettuce Meat explores the ideas and societal reactions around the act of cannibalism.
The One by Mara Lazaris
The One is a satirical take on the reality TV show called "The Bachelor" and its portrayal of women. While I find reality TV undeniably addictive and hilarious, it often reduces women to stereotypical roles, perpetuating the notion that they exist solely to find true love. However, as we all know, women are far more complex and multi-dimensional than those kinds of narratives. "The One" operates in two worlds: one that mirrors the stories viewers are accustomed to and another that delves into the intricacies of womanhood, showcasing the richness of our minds and experiences.
Meet the Playwrights!
Join the Infinithéâtre team, our Write-On-Q Winner, and the authors of the two honorable scripts at Pipeline!
This year, The Pipeline play-reading series takes place over three action filled days!
Find us at La Cité-des-Hospitalières, 251 Ave Pins, Montréal, QC H2W 1R6
InfiniPRESS Publication Launch!
Join us in celebrating our 6 publications to date, with a night featuring live readings from our authors, and a musical performance by Montreal indie-folk duo Summersett, free of charge!
Thursday, December 14 5:00-9:00PM
Leila Roils The Seas by Lily Chang
Saturday, December 16 1:30PM
Readings and Talk-Backs!
Be part of the excitement and connect with playwrights, artists, and other community members at the play readings.
Saturday, December 16 @1:30PM and @8:00PM
Sunday, December 17 @2:00 PM
The One by Mara Lazaris
Saturday, December 16 8:00PM
Lettuce Meat by Lily Lachapelle
Saturday, December 17 2:00PM
Meet our 2023 Write-on-Q JURY!
Oren Safdie (Chair)
Sophie-Thérèse Stone-Richards
Leila Ghaemi
Murdoch Schon
Gerry Lipnowski
(check out their bios below)
Jury Chair
Oren Safdie
Oren Safdie attended the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University before turning his attention to writing. PRIVATE JOKES, PUBLIC PLACES was an off- Broadway/London sensation set in the world of academia, which sent shock waves through the architecture community. (The Wall Street Journal named it as one of the top ten new plays of the decade.) His next play, THE LAST WORD, ran off-Broadway, and starred two-time Emmy Award Winner Daniel J. Travanti. Other New York productions include GRATITUDE, UNSEAMLY, WEST BANK, UK, JEWS & JESUS, FALSE SOLUTION, THE BILBAO EFFECT and LA COMPAGNIE,which he developed into a ½-hour pilot for CBS. (5 of his productions were NY Times Critic’s Pick.) As a screenwriter, Oren scripted the film YOU CAN THANK ME LATER (Winner of Best New feature at the Newport Film Festival) starring Ellen Burstyn, and the Israeli film BITTERSWEET (Winner of the Wolgin Prize). His new film, THE MAN WHO SAVED THE INTERNET WITH A SUNFLOWER, (directed by Emil Ben-Shimon), is set for release in May. Oren has taught Playwriting and Screenwriting at the University of Miami, Douglas College, CS Arts, Interlochen Arts Academy and St. Olaf College.
Sophie-Thérèse Stone-Richards
Sophie-Thérèse Stone-Richards (she/elle) is a bilingual, biracial and multicultural performer & theatre artist. A graduate of Concordia University’s Theatre Performance BFA (Fine Arts Valedictorian, Summer 2018), and an actor recently nominated for a META, Sophie-Thérèse is driven to making theatre she cares about and can connect to others with.
Leila Ghaemi
Leila Ghaemi (She/Elle) is a proud MENASA theatre maker. She returned to her hometown of Montreal, Quebec during the COVID-19 pandemic after a decade of working for various theater companies in the United States, including American Conservatory Theater, New Repertory Theatre, and Boston Playwright's Theatre; where she grew her love for and skills in new play development. Leila received her BFA in Theatre Arts and MFA in Theatre Education & Direction from Boston University's School of Theatre and currently serves as dramaturg & artistic producer at Playwrights' Workshop Montréal and co-artistic director of Persephone Productions Montreal. Her artistic pillars include: responsible MENASA representation, radical theatre empowerment, and arts advocacy. Recent projects include but are not limited to: creative consultant for POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive (coming soon!), dramaturg for The Flick at the Centaur Theatre (Persephone Productions Montreal)cultural consultant for English at The Segal Centre for Performing Arts, teaching artist at The Study School, and co-director for Pool No Water at The Segal Centre for Performing Arts (Persephone Productions Montreal).
Murdoch Schon
Murdoch Schon (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary director and theatre educator. Born and raised in Treaty One Territory (Winnipeg), they have been involved in the Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) English theatre scene for over a decade. As a multidisciplinary theatre maker, they use puppetry, movement and technology to build unique and immersive worlds. Murdoch is fascinated by provocation, vulnerability, and the role of risk and failure in art making. They believe that theatre rises to its true power through the practices of ritual liminality, community and imagination. Murdoch insists on the wondrous nature of theatre as a transformative space where rulers fail, heroes rise and monsters seem more familiar than angels. Murdoch graduated from the Nation Theatre School Directing Program and has a BFA, Specialization in Theatre and Development, from Concordia University.
Gerry Lipnowski
A life-long Montrealer, Gerry Lipnowski worked in Communications with the largest corporations in Canada for nearly 40 years. During his career, he was frequently recognized with numerous provincial, national and international awards. A long time patron of the arts, he continues to provide support to a number of musicians in Canada, the US and China. He has served on the Infinithéâtre Board of Directors for over a decade, primarily in the role of President. Now retired from corporate life, Gerry is also a certified teacher of yoga and martial arts.
Write-On-Q winner 2022
Hung Up by Tyson Night
Hung Up is a raw snapshot of life as an indigenous person. It explores the desire to move to the city, as well as themes of family, friendship, suicide and finding love as a queer two-spirited person
Tyson Night. Photo by Andres Photography.
“After so much time and support I’ve had on this story gives me great affirmations of what I have to offer as an artist and the potential it has to empower.”
“Tyson Night is a powerful, new Canadian voice who weaves a call to action into his riveting storytelling. Hung Up is a raw, unapologetic glimpse into the life of a two-spirited young man attempting to leave home, the rez, behind. On one sloppy night, Seth is pressure-cooked into the chaos of agonizing memories. He reckons with rez suicide after rez suicide, and asks himself, what is my life worth if I stay here? Will I ever feel loved? Hung Up is a comedy darker than the darkest of nights. It punches you in the gut and doesn’t release.”
Past Successes
Previous Write-On-Q winners.
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Fix by Joy Ross-Jones
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Vierge by Rachel Mutombo.
Premiered with Factory Theatre, 2023. -
Conversion by Alyson Grant
Premiered with Infinithéâtre, February 2018. -
Unseamly by Oren Safdie
Premiered with Infinithéâtre, February 2014. -
Extra / Beautiful / U by Michaela Di Cesare.
Premiered with Infinithéâtre, 2023. -
The Elephant Song by Nicholas Billon.
Premiered at the Stratford Festival. -
GAS by Jason Maghanoy.
Premiered with Infinithéâtre, 2008.
Remounted in Toronto, 2009.
Translated for a 2010 Japanese production in Tokyo. -
Blessed Are They by Bruce M. Smith.
Premiered with Infinithéâtre.
Winner of two MECCAs (Montreal English Critics Circle Awards), 2009 for Best Production and Best Actor. -
Rabbit Rabbit by Amy Lee Lavoie.
Tied for MECCA - Best Text, 2010.
Winner of Revelation MECCA, 2010. -
Disappeared by Leah Jane Esau.
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Trench Patterns by Alyson Grant. Premiered with Infinithéâtre, 2012
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Hangman by Jason Maghanoy.
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Life Here After by Alexandria Haber.
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Fatherland by Arthur Holden.