Virtual Staged Readings 2021
Green Program
What You Inherit, by Jasmine Ruff
“What You Inherit” is a short play about Lilah who is looking for a sense of normalcy in her small town, but feels increasingly trapped inside her memories and the past.
Bio: Jasmine Ruff is an MFA student at the University of British Columbia. She grew up on the traditional territory of the K’omoks First Nation. Her work has been published in Plentitude Magazine, Aesthitca’s Fiction Anthology, and The Maynard.
Mr. Right, by Camille Lemire
After a cocktail of prescription drugs, the dramedy “Mr. Right” follows a neurotic bride as she grapples with the life she’s lived and the life she’s always dreamed of on the morning of her wedding.
Bio: Camille Lemire is a BFA Creative Writing student at UBC. Throughout UBC and her home-base of Seattle, Camille has worked on various productions as a Production and/or Stage Manager. In high school, Camille was recognized for her Stage Management work on a state level. Camille is humbled to participate in BNPR
The Sword on The Steps, by Emily Dallas
“The Sword on the Steps” is a TYA show about Sarah, a precocious young girl who’s best friend in the whole wide world, Emma the Angel, is stuck inside sick all summer until Sarah finds an ancient sword that could change their fate forever.
Bio: Emily is a theatre creator, actor, and educator. Recent written works include Brave Girl (Lunchbox/Forte Theatre), Privilege, The Legend of Hayley, Hatched (Pace), Duct Tape Mansion, and The Happy Prince (AMTC). She has recently acted with The Citadel, Theatre Calgary, Stage West and RMTC. All of her work is because of and for her loving family, but this piece she’d like to dedicate to her brother, who is the bravest warrior she knows.
Crit, by Barb Geiger
”Crit” is a contemporary play about a Queen bee who wants to improve, but can’t because she can’t get out of her own way yet. With puppets.
Bio: Barb Geiger writes gay paranormal fantasy and anti-capitalistic science fiction. She lives in Lethbridge, Alberta with her wife.
Afterlife’s Anomaly, by Sarp Demiral
“Afterlife’s Anomaly” is a drama about a persistent young man desperately searching for an elusive solution to save the woman he loved from living an eternity inside her memories.
Bio: Sarp Demiral is a first-year Creative Writing student at UBC. He mainly writes speculative fiction and poetry, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying his first time writing a play. Outside of the literary realm, he loves playing the ukulele (terribly), philosophizing about existentialism and losing sleep to video games.
Yellow Program
Invisible, by Omar Muñoz
“Invisible” is a mystery-drama about a homeless woman who wants to speak her truth, but the person she is trusting her story to is not necessarily who she thinks she is.
Bio: Omar Muñoz is a theatre and opera professional currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing at UBC. While his experience is primarily in stage direction for theatre, opera, and musicals, he is thrilled to be expanding his creative boundaries as he explores the endless possibilities of dramatic writing
Guile, by Jonathan Liam Kitto
“Guile” is a sci-fi dramedy where things are not what they are meant to be as a starship captain and his AI companion lead a recovery team with the mission to take back lost cargo—or be taken by it.
Bio: Jonathan Liam Kitto is a Hong-Kong based student with minimal experience in theatre. He has a tendency to play around with the medium he is working with to see what can be learned. He doesn’t think or want anything to show off as a first year Creative Writing student at UBC.
The Villain of a Romance Novel, by Kai Yang
“The Villain of a Romance Novel” is a stylized comedy about an aristocrat who schemes to avoid their scandalous fate as the villain of a romance novel by using information from a prophecy to win over the novel’s protagonist.
Bio: Kai Yang is a Chinese Canadian writer studying towards a BFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Her fiction has appeared in Ricepaper and her poetry in Above Water.
Zombies! by A.J. Birtwistle
“Zombies!” is a comedy about two roommates who need to survive a worldwide pandemic, but have some trouble coping with what that requires—such as staying inside and not getting ice cream
Bio: A.J. Birtwistle is a UBC transfer student in year one of the BFA Creative Writing Program. While A.J. has written a few plays, they’ve been for personal use and have not been performed. Having loved theatre since childhood, A.J. is thrilled to be writing something actually meant for production.
Orange Program
Bus Stop, by Marianna Schultz
“Bus Stop” is a drama-comedy about two frenemies, a popular girl and a misfit, who cross paths for the first time since high school and face-off over old grudges and fresh injuries.
Bio: Marianna Schultz is a BFA student in her third and final year of UBC’s Creative Writing program. This is her first endeavour into writing for the stage and hopefully not her last! Marianna is excited and honoured to be a part of BNPR’s unique 2021 festival.
Suspended, by Jessica Kim
“Suspended” is a family drama about a happy-go-lucky protagonist and her serious and motherly sister and their struggle to find independence from each other and their overbearing mother.
Bio: Jessica Kim is a 4th year English Literature and Creative Writing major who loves everything theatre. She has stage managed, designed, and of course written various plays and musicals and she is excited to be involved in the strange but exciting post-Covid version of Brave New Play Rites.
Summer of ‘73, by Edie Reaney Chunn
“Summer of ‘73” is a one-act play about two young women, Eve and Mira, who return to a location where Eve grew up and experience—briefly—a resurfacing of their childhoods.
Bio: Edie Reaney Chunn is in her first year of the MFA program. Recent credits include musical composer for Listen to the Wind (Steady Theatre, Halifax, 2020); and as playwright for How the Light Lies (On You) (New Pants Project, Halifax, 2019). She enjoys working collaboratively and inefficiently.
Nebuchadnezzar in the Park, by Francois Peloquin
“Nebuchadnezzar in the Park” is a dramatic re-telling of the biblical account of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who seeks refuge from his post-war nightmares in a troubled relationship with a captive Daniel.
Francois Peloquin is a nonfiction writer, poet, and playwright in the final year of his Creative Writing BFA at UBC. Born into the Children of God as the seventh of eleven siblings, Francois’ work has been staged at the Brave New Play Rites festival and featured in The Garden Statuary.
The Frontlines, by Simon Lam
“The Frontlines” is a comedic drama about an overworked retail clerk who must survive another shift at a grocery store before the full weight of a global pandemic threatens to drag his mask of sanity down to the floor. Clean up on Aisle 5!
Bio: Simon Lam is a 4th year student of Creative Writing at UBC. His short story “Me, the Soul of My Dead Turtle…” took 1st place in Fiction at the Langara W49 Magazine Writing Contest in 2019. Reading this biography, you tacitly forfeit launching legal challenges against Mr. Simon Nguyen Lam.