Last Monday we launched the Predella Open Studio. We wondered if we would have a room full of playwrights, but people from a wide range of disciplines came to The Button Factory.

Along with the expected writers, poets and playwrights, we had:

• visual artists
• photographers
• dancers
• engineers
• people from the tech community

Regardless of their background, everyone came to create. While our text-based exercises were designed for playwrights the results provided both laughs, intriguing images and raised some interesting questions about the process of creation.

Next session is March 7th. If you missed the last session, we’d love to join us.

Admission is free. If you can join us, contact Erica to reserve a spot.

Photos © Mark Walton Photography.

Pat the Dog Playwright Centre is thrilled to introduce the Predella Project, a rigorous exercise in creative development. We are currently accepting applications for a small number of spots in the first year’s program.

The Predella Project is an experiment in developing excellent writers. The project is designed to encourage highly effective, individually tailored writing practices. Working within a community of writers in the tradition of Virginia Woolf’s Bloomsbury Group and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Saturday Club, participants will engage in rigorous, exploratory creative practice. By combining social practice and work practice, Predella seeks to make participants into the best artists they can be and develop practices any artist can use.

For this project we are looking for skilled and rapaciously passionate writers. For our purposes, boldness, discipline, commitment and sense of humour trump experience. We are looking for writers, at any stage in their careers, from emerging to established, who work in any form. Participants must:

• Reside in the Waterloo Region or be willing to travel to the Region weekly
• Be able to make a significant time commitment to their own writing during the course of the program
• Be committed to regular writing and to their work as writers
• Be open to experimenting with their writing routines and practices
• Be open to experimenting with form

Participating in the project will involve a six-month commitment to vigorous, disciplined experimentation in the practice.

To apply, submit a writing sample (5-25 pages), personal statement (350-1200 words) and a cover sheet by December 15, 2010.

The cover sheet should include:

• Your name
• Phone number
• Email address
• List of works included in writing sample

In writing your personal statement, please consider the following questions:

• Why would you like to participate in the Predella Project?
• What are your goals as a writer? How do you approach achieving these goals?
• What experiences have shaped you as a writer?
• What are your writing strengths? What are your writing weaknesses?
• What special contribution do you feel you would you make to the group’s collaborative work?
• What else would you like us to know about you or your work?

The writing sample, which must not include your name or identifying features, must:

• Include a header on each page with the name of the work
• Be paginated
• Contain at least two full or partial works
• Be between 5 and 25 pages long in total
• Show your strengths and give a sense of your interests as a writer

Submissions may be sent by email to predella@patthedog.org or by standard mail to:

The Predella Project
c/o Pat the Dog Playwright Centre
The Button Factory
25 Regina Street South
Waterloo, ON N2J 1R8

More information can be found under Predella Project FAQs.

What is the Predella Project all about?
The Predella Project is an experiment in developing excellent writers. The project is designed to encourage highly effective, individually tailored writing practices.

The project is based on the idea that how we work affects what we make. By combining social practice and work practice, Predella seeks to make participants into the best artists they can be and develop practices any artist can use.

Why is it called the Predella Project?
The Predella Project is based on the principle that by structuring day-to-day practice we can create the foundation for transformative artistic work. The word “predella” refers to the base of an altar as well as to the paintings often found on it. Predella is both a piece of art in itself and the structure that supports it.

How much does it cost to participate?
There is no fee to participate in the Predella Project. However, we have a limited number of positions available.

How can I learn more?
As the project develops, more will be posted on this website. You can also contact Erica Robinson at predella@patthedog.org.

For more than a decade, a pyramid of Seagram’s barrels sat at the corner of Erb and Caroline Street in downtown Waterloo. In August 2009, the landmark barrels went up for grabs. Within hours, the kegs had found new homes but left many questions. What happened to them? Where did they go? Who are the new owners?

While the wooden slats and metal rings may be scattered all over the county, their memory remains rooted in the local community.

Over the next few months, Pat the Dog Playwright Centre will gather stories, take pictures and cooper a play about these historic kegs. The results? The Barrel Project: A multi-media collective theatre piece for the entire community.

But we can’t do it alone. If you own or owned one (or more) of the authentic Seagram barrels, we’re looking for you.

Contact Charmian Christie using the form below and put BARREL PROJECT in the subject line, or phone us at 519-886-4577.

For more details see our Barrel Press Release.