Her Words Festival

Co-Production with Harbourfront Centre

A hybrid, in-person and virtual festival of new works-in-progress from Canada’s most exciting female playwrights and emerging voices, as well as candid Community Conversations with industry leaders. Her Words puts women front and centre, discussing the future of playwrighting from the female lens.

Featured Playwrights

All events (In Person and Digital) will have ASL Interpretation – accessibility services provided by Phoenix the Fire – Gaitrie Persaud-Dhunmoon (Deaf Interpreter) and Kerry-Lee Finkle (ASL Interpreter).

Festival schedule

Friday, OctOBER 15

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION: Championing Women in Theatre (LIVE)

Saturday, OctOBER 16

New Work Showing: WILDWOMAN BY KAT SANDLER (LIVE)

Saturday, October 16 at 7:00PM
In Person – Harbourfront Centre, Fleck Dance Theatre

This is a brand new work, and with that we invite you along for the journey from early draft to hopeful production. Due to the nature of the playwrighting process, we estimate this showing to have a runtime of 90 minutes to two hours, including an intermission.

WILDWOMAN is inspired by the true story of Petrus Gonsalvus, a “wildman” originally presented to King Henry II as a caged oddity in the 16th century, and thought to be the inspiration for the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. Unlike the classic's journey of the Beast, our story explores the beastly behaviour and scandalous relationships of three women of the court: Kitty, the plain courtier married off to Petrus as a social experiment, Diane de Poitiers, the king’s much-older, ladder-climbing mistress, and Catherine de Medici, the hated (and feared) Queen of France. Told as a dark comedy, WILDWOMAN uses an historical lens to examine shifting notions of power, marriage, class, freedom, how we treat those who are different from us, and what it really means to be a beast.

Note: Mature language and themes. Reccomended for ages 16+.

Founding Member, Actor

Wild Woman will be FOLLOWED BY a post show conversation

Sunday, October 17

New Work Showing: QUEEN GONERIL by ERIN SHIELDS (LIVE)

Sunday, October 17 at 1:30PM
In Person – Harbourfront Centre, Fleck Dance Theatre

This is a brand new work, and with that we invite you along for the journey from early draft to hopeful production. Due to the nature of the playwrighting process, we estimate this to have a runtime of 90 minutes to 2 hours, including an intermission.

Queen Goneril is a prequel to King Lear. Set seven years before Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Shields focuses on Lear’s three daughters as they try to survive in their father’s unruly home. Goneril is a natural-born leader in a man’s world trying to prove that she is ready to govern. Regan pushes at the limits of her freedom. Cordelia is fed up with trying to keep the peace. Throughout, the sisters struggle to care for one another and carve out a future for themselves in a patriarchal system that was not built for them. In placing the sisters at the centre of this story, Shields works to challenge the authority and dominance of the original play and deconstruct notions of patriarchy and power. She wants to complicate these dismissible characters in order to stake out a place for the silent women of the past so that we might draw a line from those stories to our lived experiences today.

DIEGO MATAMOROS

Founding Member, Actor

QUEEN GONERIL WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A POST SHOW CONVERSATION

Friday, October 22

NEW WORK CONVERSATION WITH HANNAH MOSCOVITCH (ONLINE)

Saturday, October 23

Community Conversation: International Playwrights (ONLINE)

Saturday, October 23 at 1:00PM
Online

WATCH

Verna Myers, coined the phrase, "Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance." This metaphor for inclusion, however, assumes a static power relationship. Someone else does both the inviting and the asking to dance. Has the theatre's awareness of inequality resulted in any significant changes to the industry in your country or region over the past few years? Has this affected your work in any significant way? What do you imagine can be done to achieve greater diversity, inclusion, and a genuine sense of belonging by everyone in attending the celebration?

Moderator / Playwright

Moderated by: Djanet Sears

Fresh Ink – Live New Work Showing: STEALTH BY SANDRA CALDWELL (LIVE)

Sunday, October 24

New Work Showing: Welcome to my Home by Falen Johnson (LIVE)

Sunday, October 24 at 1:30PM
In Person – Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Baillie Theatre

This is a brand new work, and with that we invite you along for the journey from early draft to hopeful production. Due to this nature of the playwrighting process, we estimate this to have a runtime of 30 minutes to 1 hour, no intermission.

Trigger Warning: Residential Schools

As a young girl of 6, Shirley Horn was dropped off by her father on the steps of the Shingwauk Residential School in Sault Ste. Marie. Today, Shirley walks up those same steps every day to get to her office as the Chancellor of Algoma University. Award-winning playwright Falen Johnson explores the heartbreaks and triumphs of the little girl who grew up to be a leading voice for a whole Nation. 

BREFNY CARIBOU

Artist

BRENDAN OAKES

Artist

FALEN JOHNSON

Playwright, Academy Mentor

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WELCOME TO MY HOME will be FOLLOWED BY a post show conversation

Her Words is supported by Soulpepper Supporting Top Women. It is also an initiative within Project imagiNation which is supported by BMO Financial Group and Kevin and Roger Garland. Community Conversations supported by TD Ready Commitment.

Statistics show that women playwrights are underrepresented throughout our national cultural cannon of works that are published and produced. This means their voices go unheard, and their stories go untold. We are deeply committed to representing equality, diversity and inclusion, both on and off our stages at Soulpepper.
- Weyni Mengesha & Emma Stenning

Tickets: $5, $10, $20, $25, $30 – Pay What You Choose

BUY TICKETS

Flex-tival Pass: Plan your own festival schedule with ease and book everything at once! $5 or $10 per event – Pay What You Choose

BUY FLEX-TIVAL PASS

Free 25 & Under tickets will be available to book on the day of each performance subject to availability.

Box Office: Tickets can be purchased for the events at Soulpepper and Harbourfront Centre online here or by emailing the Box Office at boxoffice@youngcentre.ca.

Venues: The in person performances will take place at Soulpepper's home in the Young Centre for the Performing Arts and at Harbourfront Centre's Fleck Dance Theatre. The theatres will be seated at a limited capacity, in a socially distanced configuration. The Online events will take place on soulpepper.ca.

Accessibility: All events (In Person and Digital) will have ASL Interpretation – accessibility services provided by Phoenix the Fire – Gaitrie Persaud-Dhunmoon (Deaf Interpreter) and Kerry-Lee Finkle (ASL Interpreter). Both venues are wheelchair accessible.

Co-Produced with Harbourfront Centre

SAFETY GUIDELINES

Soulpepper, the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Harbourfront Centre have been awarded the Safe Travels Stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council. This international symbol is designed to allow travellers to recognize companies around the world which have adopted health and hygiene safety measures that ensure patron experiences are safe.

Full Vaccination: In compliance with Mandatory Provincial Requirements, proof of full vaccination (two doses plus 14 days) will be required for attendance by all patrons, artists, and staff at the Her Words Festival.
Face Masks: Patrons and staff will be required to wear masks at all times.
Reduced Contact: As much as possible, interactions between staff and patrons will be contactless. This includes ticket scanning, box office transactions, and health screenings. Staff will be equipped with masks to keep patrons safe.
Physical Distancing: Seating is be set in pods to maintain physical distance between parties.
Sanitation: Hand sanitizing stations will be available. All high-touch surfaces will be sanitized both prior to and following each performance.

Please do not attend if you have a fever or are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, have tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days of attending, or if you have had close contact with anyone suspected or confirmed of having COVID-19. The City of Toronto's current Public Health regulations must be followed.

Sandra Caldwell