The Women's Script Writing Circle started in November 2024 with two aims:
1) to encourage and support more women to write scripts, and
2) to bring awareness to the paucity of female-driven, female-centered, and female-authored scripts on stage and in film and television.
After 8 months, we are excited to share excerpts from our work with you and to celebrate our success to date.
Join us on Thursday, June 19, 2025 at the Stanley Milner Library (Downtown Edmonton) in the Muttart Theatre (downstairs). Doors open at 6 PM.
TICKETS ARE FREE, but seats are limited.
To reserve your seat, please fill in the following form https://forms.gle/pQ1QJz8cnHDg4AjA7
We are grateful for the support of the Edmonton Arts Council and Edmonton Public Libraries.
PROGRAM OF EVENTS
6 PM: Doors Open, Mingle with writers
6:30 - 7:30 PM: 5 excerpts
One Drawer
Kali's Daughters
Dearly Departed
Midnight Cry
Hashtags
7:30 - 7:45 PM: Intermission
7:45 - 8: 30 PM: 3 excerpts
The Station
Chasing the Fat
Mary on My Mind
8:30 - 9:00 PM: Mingle and pack up!
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ABOUT THE WRITERS:
Michelle Todd- Michelle is an Edmonton-raised performer whose latest piece Hoodies, was commissioned for Concrete Theatre's Anti-Racism and Change project for Theatre for Young Audiences. Michelle toured Deep Fried Curried Perogies, her one woman show that she wrote and performed at various festivals and conferences in Canada and the U.S. A graduate of MacEwan's Theatre Arts program, Michelle recently performed in After the Trojan Women (Common Ground Arts Society) and you can catch her next in the Edmonton Fringe with Paloma and Joy (Whizgiggling Productions), and Carole of the Belles (100% More Girls). Heather D. Swain- Heather is an actor, writer, director, teacher and producer who in 1992 came to do a Fringe show and never left town. The majority of her writing has been ...ON DEMAND... you pay her- she writes! That positive reinforcement loop lead to writing/performing collectively. First, in Toronto, for Nightwood Theatre, Theatre Direct Canada, and Company of Sirens, earning a 1985 Dora Award for Love and Work Enough (Playwrights Canada 1992). Then Azimuth Theatre's Breasting the Waves 2000 Stirling Award nomination and A.M.P.I.A's 2003 Best Drama nomination for Pink Card Club. Her solo writing has appeared at Loud & Queer Cabaret and Workshop West Theatre's first writing circle. Heather has spent the last 2 decades completing a series of short stories that are still sitting on a shelf. She is grateful to Sandy and Sue for getting her back to the pen. Sandy Paddick- Sandy has been a theatre practitioner in Edmonton Alberta for the past forty years. Sandy’s writing credits include: Naked Lies, Back Pocket Lennie for Azimuth Theatre, Night Without Stars produced by Wagonstage Theatre in Calgary, Enchantment for Workshop West Theatre and Theatre Yes! as well as Crescendo produced by Shadow Theatre. Sandy talked to Sue one day about setting up a woman’s writing circle and here we are! Lakshmi Puttagunta (no photo)- Lakshmi is not from the world of theatre. Her world is one of morphology and colour, the world of surgical pathology. With numerous publications in the realm of medical science, her passion remains writing and the telling of stories. Kali’s Daughters is her first attempt at playwriting, and is fortunate to have her closest friend, Sandy Paddick, as her coauthor of this play. Sue Huff- Sue has written a short film for the National Film Board of Canada, a television series for Alliance Altantis, a play, 40+ pieces for CBC radio, a bunch of political speeches, and a book. She divides her working hours between supporting parents whose children have eating disorders, helping students in schools with emotional/behavioural challenges, providing workshops for teachers, and acting in films and on stage. When not working, she scuba dives with sharks and octopuses, and starts up projects like this one! Linda Grass- Linda is an Edmonton-based stage, film, television, voice actor, and nascent playwright. Her latest play, After Eve, was featured at Script Salon in June 2022. She has most recently been seen onstage with Skirts Afire’s production of Dance Nation. She has performed with almost every professional theatre in Edmonton, as well as doing stints in Regina, Winnipeg, and Fredericton. Her work has been nominated for both Sterling and AMPIA awards. In 2024, she was awarded Best Actress for her work in the Berlin International Art Film Festival for Northern Light Theatre’s film/theatre production of The Look. Linda Wood Edwards-Linda's plays have been to Australia, Washington DC, Yukon, Victoria, Saskatchewan, and across Alberta. Linda’s plays have had many accolades, two Sterling nominations, two tours, and one professional production. Audience favourites including Spring Alibi, True Grid, Trail and Error, and the Great Whorehouse Fire of 1921 (Northern Light Theatre). She is a huge fan of the 10 minute play format, and has received recognition for Almost the Pioneer Brewing Company, Gibberish vs. Genius, and Walk of Shame. Still, the writing never gets easier. Deanna Clee- Deanna is an Edmonton-based voice and piano teacher, singer, songwriter, actor and now a screenwriter (apparently). Previous writing credits include original musical theatre scripts such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and The Elves & the Shoemaker, performed at the Fringe festival, with Alberta Opera Touring and at Stage Polaris. Her favourite television role was in the Children’s TV series Be Alert Bert. She is very excited to be included in the Edmonton Public Library’s recently released Children’s album Sing it, Edmonton! Songs from the Neighbourhood. |
ABOUT THE SCRIPTS
Chasing the Fat (formerly The Mediocrities) by Linda Grass
A woman receives an unexpected social media request at a pivotal moment in her life, causing her to reevaluate her relationship with her past and her present.
Dearly Departed-NOT. by Heather D. Swain
Heather's piece is about the state of our current modes of communication and how they don't meet everyone's needs.
This piece is set on this stage in this exact moment or somewhere in the mind of the writer.
Hashtags by Michelle Todd
Snippets of parenting multi-racial boys in the time of hashtags, social media, and too much technology!
Kali’s Daughters: by Sandy Paddick and Lakshmi Puttagunta
Four generations of women from a small village in Southern India, four women defined and entrapped by the societal restrictions of their time and culture, four women struggling to safeguard their family against poverty and ignorance. This play takes you from the heart of village India to the boardrooms of industry and enterprise. The trials and tribulations of their journey are fortified by an enduring love and gratitude for those who have gone before, and upon whose shoulders they stand.
Mary on My Mind by Sandy Paddick
Five women want to do Jesus Christ Superstar but can't get the rights. So they decide to write their own, from Mary's perspective. How hard can it be? They are about to find out.
Midnight Cry by Sue Huff
Sue started with a blank page on the first day of the Writers' Circle and wrote this film script entirely due to the support and deadlines of the Circle. It weaves two true events together: an evening in 1954, when UFO cult members waited for a spaceship to save them from a world-ending flood, and a morning in 2021, when Sue waited for MAiD nurses to arrive to end her mother's life. Themes include: doing hard things for love, the unbearable pain of waiting, clinging to hope, and cognitive dissonance.
One Drawer by Linda Wood Edwards
A 10-minute play about a nearly-universal problem for people over a certain age – how to deal with all our “stuff.”
The Station by Deanna Clee
When her estranged mother-in-law Sheelagh, now struggling with dementia and failing eyesight, is moved into an extended care facility, Trina unexpectedly finds connection and healing through the whimsical, heartfelt stories of Sheelagh’s childhood growing up in a train station.
Chasing the Fat (formerly The Mediocrities) by Linda Grass
A woman receives an unexpected social media request at a pivotal moment in her life, causing her to reevaluate her relationship with her past and her present.
Dearly Departed-NOT. by Heather D. Swain
Heather's piece is about the state of our current modes of communication and how they don't meet everyone's needs.
This piece is set on this stage in this exact moment or somewhere in the mind of the writer.
Hashtags by Michelle Todd
Snippets of parenting multi-racial boys in the time of hashtags, social media, and too much technology!
Kali’s Daughters: by Sandy Paddick and Lakshmi Puttagunta
Four generations of women from a small village in Southern India, four women defined and entrapped by the societal restrictions of their time and culture, four women struggling to safeguard their family against poverty and ignorance. This play takes you from the heart of village India to the boardrooms of industry and enterprise. The trials and tribulations of their journey are fortified by an enduring love and gratitude for those who have gone before, and upon whose shoulders they stand.
Mary on My Mind by Sandy Paddick
Five women want to do Jesus Christ Superstar but can't get the rights. So they decide to write their own, from Mary's perspective. How hard can it be? They are about to find out.
Midnight Cry by Sue Huff
Sue started with a blank page on the first day of the Writers' Circle and wrote this film script entirely due to the support and deadlines of the Circle. It weaves two true events together: an evening in 1954, when UFO cult members waited for a spaceship to save them from a world-ending flood, and a morning in 2021, when Sue waited for MAiD nurses to arrive to end her mother's life. Themes include: doing hard things for love, the unbearable pain of waiting, clinging to hope, and cognitive dissonance.
One Drawer by Linda Wood Edwards
A 10-minute play about a nearly-universal problem for people over a certain age – how to deal with all our “stuff.”
The Station by Deanna Clee
When her estranged mother-in-law Sheelagh, now struggling with dementia and failing eyesight, is moved into an extended care facility, Trina unexpectedly finds connection and healing through the whimsical, heartfelt stories of Sheelagh’s childhood growing up in a train station.