Northern Ontario’s first Producers’ Unit, PlaySmelter 2017

PlaySmelter Festival

Founded in 2012 by Pat the Dog Theatre Creation, the PlaySmelter Northern New Works Festival runs annually in Sudbury. It presents new works of Canadian theatre by Northern Ontarian artists, while also offering workshops with celebrated Canadian theatre makers to develop the next generation of Northern theatre creators. Previous workshops have included the first Producer’s Unit in Northern ON (2017) where emerging artists were paid to train with Industry Professionals in theatre production prior to and during the Festival. Other workshops have included:  Master Classes in Playwriting with Colleen Murphy and Calgary-based Ghost River Devised Intensive, lead by Eric Rose.  All professional supports were offered to Northern ON theatre artists at no cost.  This is a key mandate of our festival.

The Festival’s offers full productions, public staged readings, installations and other forms of artistic expression. PlaySmelter has fast become an institution. From clown to realist drama, there has been a variety of new works presented to PlaySmelter’s enthusiastic audiences. Works presented are representational of the communities living and working in Northern Ontario, including the Indigenous community, Franco-Ontarian community, the mining community, the LGBTQ+ community, among others.

PlaySmelter 2023

NOTC 2023

PlaySmelter 2022

PlaySmelter 2020

PlaySmelter 2019

PlaySmelter 2018

PlaySmelter 2017

PlaySmelter 2016

PlaySmelter 2015

PlaySmelter 2014

PlaySmelter 2013