2021/2022
New Play Development
Howling Winds by Juan Carlos Velis
This post-apocalyptic play was first drafted by Juan Carlos during the SARS crisis in Toronto. He has recently rediscovered the draft and was amazed at how much it “fit” what was happening now with the COVID pandemic and adapted it to better reflect this time in our history. The play is in the style of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and addresses themes of racism, isolation, and fear during a health crisis.
In the Spring of 2021, we intend to have a public reading of this play in development on the outdoor grounds of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre to ensure the safety of a socially-distanced audience. Stay tuned!
As part of the St. Catharines Culture Days events, ECT used our community’s words to fill in the blanks we created in some Canadian Contemporary Monologues. The hilarious results were read live by Stephanie & Genevieve Jones and presented by the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre on October 1st at 7 pm in a live-streamed performance.
2020/2021
The Season of Pause and Pivot
Our 2020/2021 season began by reopening in September after pausing operations in March when the COVID-19 crisis hit Niagara.
Quarantine Cabaret
Yikes and their sidekick The Silent Clown showcased a variety of video submissions to delight, entertain, and bewilder our at-home audience and offer a little support to artists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGbGI_DD5Z4&list=PLR-t08rJRIIikgupKA7KE19ejPysngYLz
Culture Days 2020
Live MadLib Play Readings
Women of Resilience
Short Documentary Film Based on Senior Stories Project
In September 2020, ECT started production on a documentary film creation based on our beloved Senior Stories project. Directed by Egyptian-Canadian filmmaker, Roselyn Kelada-Sedra, our documentary film Women of Resilience features the stories of some remarkable older women of Niagara. Approximately 45 minutes in length, the film will highlight four senior women from diverse backgrounds with the themes of regeneration through connection.
rip it out of my THROAT: A Play in 4 Movements with Interludes by Michael Kras
SYNOPSIS
Mona, Bradley, Hunter, and Peyton – the four members of White Oak Secondary’s elite vocal quartet – have gathered for a dress rehearsal on the eve of the most important regional competition of their high school careers. With massive cuts to the school’s arts budget hovering over them, this may be the quartet’s final year even if they can’t prove their worth by taking home the big trophy. As the quartet waits in their school auditorium for their choir director to arrive, they reckon with explosive anxieties about their futures, relationships, self-worth, and voices.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Initial writing was originally funded by an Ontario Arts Council grant recommended by Theatre Aquarius, and a subsequent OAC Theatre Projects creation grant. Currently, the play is in development with Essential Collective Theatre under the dramaturgy of Colin Bruce Anthes through residency in the 2020/2021 season, also funded by the Ontario Arts Council.