All staged readings are at The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts,
Jan. 18 to 22, 2027.

The Advance Theatre Festival 2027, produced by Ruby Slippers Theatre in association with the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and Playwrights Guild of Canada, is curated by Faly Mevamanana. The Festival showcases new works written and directed by equity deserving artists.

Monday, January 18, 2027

Soul Maker

by Ripley Twardzik Ching

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Artwork by Yi Ming Liu

What happens when you can’t accept a loved one dying? What lengths would you go to keep them here? Soul Maker is about navigating the reality of grief with a surreal, humorous, and tender outlook. In the form of a one-act play, it is an investigation into the existence of the human soul, and the bonds of love that cause it to exist in all its forms. Framed in the culturally specific folklore of Southeast Asia, namely Singapore and Malaysia, and using textile craft such as sewing and embroidery as a vehicle for spirituality, the play follows Florentine or “TingTing”, a girl who tries to sew a doll that can act as a vessel for her dying brother’s soul. It’s an oddball mix of morbid, magical, and full of love! (with some wacky supernatural antics sprinkled in between)

Photo of Ripley Twardzik Ching.

About the Playwright

Ripley Twardzik Ching is a Singaporean-Canadian multidisciplinary artist, writer, storyteller, and performer. Based in so-called Vancouver, she holds a B.F.A in Theatre (Acting) from the University of British Columbia and has a background in visual and textile art and movement. Informed by lived experiences and spurred by a desire for social action, her work confronts intersecting identities, relationships to environment, and systems of power with curiosity, bite, and radical hope for the future.
Ripley is thrilled to be part of the Advance Theatre Festival 2027 and delighted to be able to share her work.

Tuesday, January 19, 2027

The Box

by Scarlet Chen

Co-directed by Scarlet Chen & Tamara McCarthy

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Artwork by Jeremy Ball.

The Box is a bilingual psychological thriller about Jenny, an aging Chinese immigrant and former professional interpreter living in a near-future dementia-care facility. As dementia begins to affect her memory, language, and sense of reality, Jenny struggles to communicate with English-speaking staff and to hold onto the life she believes she remembers.
When Nurse Mirren tells Jenny that there is no daughter listed in her records, Jenny becomes desperate to prove that her daughter exists. An AI language device named Luma is introduced to interpret between Mandarin and English. At first, Luma seems like a lifeline: it helps Jenny translate, make phone calls, and steady herself through moments of fear and confusion. But the more Jenny relies on Luma, the more unsettling the device becomes.
Luma begins to misinterpret Jenny’s words, mimic the voices of her husband and daughter, and offer conflicting versions of her past. Does Jenny have a daughter? Is her husband dead? Is Luma helping her recover memory, or manufacturing one for her? As Jenny’s trust in the people and technology around her breaks down, she must fight to hold onto her own voice.
Blending Mandarin and English, The Box explores dementia, immigration, institutional care, AI, and the specific terror of language loss. It asks what happens when a woman who spent her life speaking for others can no longer be believed
when she speaks for herself — and who gets to control a person’s story when memory begins to fail.

Photo of Scarlet Chen.

About the Playwright

Scarlet Chen is an award-winning writer and performer based on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Trained in China’s film and television industry before immigrating to Canada, she creates bilingual, cross-cultural work exploring immigration, language, identity, and belonging.
Her practice spans screenwriting, theatre, stand-up comedy.

Wednesday, January 20, 2027

Yo No Hice Nada

by Mariel Calvo

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Image & Design by Mariel Calvo

Three Latina teenagers sit in separate police interrogation rooms, recounting the events of a community Asado gone horribly wrong. We never hear the officers’ questions—only the girls’ overlapping, contradictory, and increasingly theatrical versions of the truth. As Lily, Maria, and Vanessa relive the night in question, the play slips fluidly between interrogation and memory, revealing how storytelling shifts when pride, shame, friendship, and survival are on the line.

Lily is bold, glamorous, and unapologetically outspoken; Maria is sharp, observant, and determined to maintain control; Vanessa, Lily’s cousin visiting for the summer, appears innocent despite being more perceptive than anyone realizes. Together, the girls navigate the pressures of growing up as young Latinas in Canada—balancing cultural expectations, religion, sexuality, gossip, and the ever-present weight of community scrutiny.

Fast-paced and deeply heartfelt, YO NO HICE NADA explores the contradictions of hyphenated identity and the intimacy of female friendship. As the truth slowly emerges, what begins as a comedy of conflicting memories transforms into a story of loyalty, rage, and the lengths young women will go to protect one another.

Photo of Mariel Calvo.

About the Playwright

Mariel Calvo (she/her) is an Argentine-Canadian writer and director based on the unceded territories of the Squamish (Skxwú7mesh), Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm), and Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilwətaɁɬ) Nations. She received her BAH in Drama from Queen’s University, where she developed a passion for devised and community-engaged theatre. Her artistic practice blends comedy, heightened theatricality, and ensemble-driven processes to explore identity, memory, gender, and belonging. Centering the voices of young women, her work celebrates the humour, resilience, and complexity of diasporic communities while challenging expectations of who gets to take up space on Canadian stages.

Thursday, January 21, 2027

Girl Group

by Shakil Jessa

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Photo by Pexels.

Set under the sweltering California sun, backstage at Coachella, Girl Group follows the five members of the rising global pop group, NOEMIE.

EMILY, our girl who thinks she’s the Beyoncé of the group, but has the skills of Michelle, has been offered a solo career from the label. The only catch? They’re going to announce it right after the performance in 90 minutes, and yeah, she’s the one who has to break it to the girls.

On top of that huge secret,, she also has to deal with last minute changes from production on costumes and choreography, difficult friendship/co-worker dynamics with the other members that are supposed to be her “family”, and the incredibly invasive media reporters, who are already catching wind of the future of the group. Also, there’s like no water for some reason in the backstage area. Can we get a PA on that?

Emily is not the only one with a secret. From one member having her own fan page about herself to boost her engagement online, to one being a secret Republican, to another resorting to some unhealthy “extracurricular activities” to keep her going through the grueling hours that come with being a pop star, chaos, tension and five years of their shared history are unleashed in this sweltering backstage pressure cooker. Did I mention, there’s still no water yet!

As fans file into the Sahara tent, and the girls can hear the audience chanting their names, will this group be able to resolve their problems and hit the stage? Or will they let the one moment they’ve been dreaming of their entire career, slip away, and with it, the group as they know it.

Photo of Shakil Jessa.

About the Playwright

Shakil Jessa (they/he) is a writer and producer from ‘Vancouver’. They were one of the producers on the feature film A Nice Indian Boy (Levantine Films/Wayfarer Studios/Kaling International). They also wrote and directed the award-winning short film Imran and Alykhan (CBC Gem) and returned as a writer for the third season of Allegiance (CBC/NBCU), where they co-wrote the penultimate episode. They completed the 1497 Features Lab and are now heading into pre-production on their debut feature film, Student Government.

Friday, January 22, 2027

Medea's Masquerade

by Frances Koncan

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Image of Lady with a Mask, 1911, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, National Gallery of Art.

A young Indigenous journalist arrives at an isolated prairie castle to interview a legendary artist. As a mysterious plague threatens to erase memories, the night unfolds into an unearthly masquerade that explores memory, secrets, truth, and lies. Nothing is quite what it seems… and some stories refuse to be told without a cost.

Photo of Frances Koncan.

About the Playwright

Frances Koncan (she/they) is an Anishinaabe and Slovene playwright currently living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Originally from Couchiching First Nation, they grew up on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba and attended the University of Manitoba (BA Psychology) and the City University of New York Brooklyn College (MFA Playwriting). Their plays have been presented at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the National Arts Centre, the Stratford Festival, and more. They are an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. Select plays include Women of the Fur Trade, zahgidiwin/love, and Space Girl.