Playwrights Lab 2027
Playwrights Lab 2027 supports Canadian playwrights through a two-week residency, funding time, space, mentorship, and creative exchange to develop new and in-progress English-language theatrical scripts.
Funder: Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Due Dates: November 25, 2026 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: $4,123.35 scholarship covering tuition, accommodation, and meals for the two-week residency
Summary: A residency supporting Canadian playwrights developing new or in-progress English-language scripts through mentorship, experimentation, and creative exchange.
Key Information: Full-program attendance is mandatory; recent Banff Centre residency participants are ineligible.
Description
The Playwrights Lab at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a two-week residency offering playwrights dedicated time, space, and resources to develop new theatrical work. Experienced faculty provide mentorship and dramaturgical support focused on structure, language, and character. The program emphasizes artistic process, encouraging experimentation, rewriting, discovery, and risk-taking rather than treating failure as an obstacle to development.
Faculty talks, group dialogues, seminars, workshops, and informal exchange complement individual writing time. Participants can share work in progress and build lasting artistic relationships. Emerging playwrights receive structured instruction with a faculty mentor, while established playwrights follow a more self-directed approach. Alberta Theatre Projects and the National Arts Centre support the program.
