Announcing the 2020/21 Paprika Participants

Paprika Festival is thrilled to announce its new cohort of participants for the 2020/21 year! Over 20 young and emerging artists will join our training programs, led by some of the industry’s most exciting artists, to learn, create, and share new work in the 20th Paprika Festival this Spring at Theatre Passe Muraille. 

After receiving a record-breaking number of submissions, 22 participants have been chosen to work with Paprika over the course of the year to develop new skills and work in playwriting, directing, collective creation, sound and lighting design, producing, and arts administration. This year we welcome artists from across Ontario, British Columbia, and India. 

All seven of our training programs will return this year - reimagined on Zoom. Participants will work alongside a stellar line-up of artist-mentors, facilitators, and guest artists to receive one-on-one mentorships, hands-on training, and develop new professional connections. Bilal Baig, whose new TV show Sort Of was just announced by CBC, returns as the Playwrights Unit facilitator; Katrina Darychuk oversees the Directors Lab; Kevin Matthew Wong returns to facilitate the modified Festival Creative Producers + Administrators program (formerly Festival Administrators); PJ Prudat, currently a resident artist at Theatre Centre, supports the 2-year Indienous Arts Program; both Steph Raposo and Miquelon Rodriguez return to mentor the second year of the Design Lab; and, Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks leads the collaborative creation process for the Creators Unit. 

Several participants from last year’s programs return this year to showcase their work. Productions program artists Con Queso Collective (Jeysa Caridad + Adriana Moraes-Mendoza) and Rose Goodwin return; in addition to Directors Lab artists Aly Gouveia, Rochelle R, and Abigail Whitney who will offer virtual adaptations of their work. River Cecil Oliveira, Lucia Linares, and Emily Townshend return from the Design Lab as lighting and sound designers to bring projects to life. 

Can’t wait till Spring? Throughout the year, we will continue our Hot Topics programming offering free workshops and artist panels. Upcoming events include workshops with Ange Loft, Akosua Amo-Adem, and Marcel Stewart. Additionally, Paprika partners again with THESPO Festival, based in India, to offer workshops this Winter and programming in the new year. 

We can’t wait to share more news with you as this year’s participants develop their ideas and work. Get ready to meet the future at Paprika!

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