Home, however we define it, is a place filled with stories – stories that define us, and that we define ourselves against. These stories keep the memory of home alive when it is lost, and are the foundation of new/renewed communities and chosen families. In the unheard stories of the lands we share and call home, there are new histories to be told. New histories with old roots.

Staging Our Histories is  now accepting performance submissions for our Spring 2019 event. Artists and performers are asked to explore the themes of home, land – and homelands – in local, community or personal histories via short original pieces of  theatre, poetry, dance, film, music, other performing arts or multimedia presentations. ‘Histories’ may be recent, or still unfolding. Submissions may engage with (but are not limited to) the following questions:

• How do our homes, or memories of a home or land, define us?
• What kinds of memories does a local community keep? Or forget? And how is this accomplished?
• How do we as individuals, chosen/families, and chosen/communities deal with separation, rejection, exclusion from “home”?
• How can histories of migration, displacement, and movement encompass the richness and complexity of homelands – alongside the experiences of new homes?
• What does it mean to contend with generational memories or definitions of home?

Professional and emerging artists are welcome to submit proposals. Proposed performances or multimedia pieces must:

• Present original work (script, choreography, etc.) created by the individual or group submitting
• Be relevant to the theme of this year’s event: ‘New Histories/Old Roots’
• Run 5-20 minutes **

Proposals can be submitted in written (max 1.5 pages) or video/audio (5 min. max) formats. In your proposal, please outline the subject matter and logistics of your idea, your performance style of choice, and the technical equipment/support you would require. For pre-existing works, you may include a copy (audio-visual recording, script, film, etc.) with your submission. If you are proposing a new work, we encourage you to include detailed description of your piece with stage directions, or a sample of your work-in-progress. Please include the names and contact details of all of your members if you are submitting as a group.

Performers will be compensated.

Please send your proposals to staginghistories@gmail.com by midnight (Eastern Time), December 4th 2018. Artists will be contacted regarding final decisions by January 4th, 2019.

Staging Our Histories welcomes submissions from anyone who has an untold history to share, or an alternate perspective on a story already told. We encourage submissions from artists and groups who identify as First Nations, Metis or Inuit, persons of colour, and/or LGBTQ, particularly those with ties to Southwestern Ontario, and rural or remote communities.  

**If your performance or film is better served by a shorter or longer running time (e.g. is a video installation that runs on a loop, or an excerpt of a full-length play) please indicate this in your proposal.

Staging Our Histories (SOH) is a not-for-profit public history initiative that seeks to put diverse histories and voices in conversation with each other on the same stage, in front of a live audience. SOH is a platform that aims to change our assumptions about whose histories we accept and whose we dismiss because of the way they are told. Our volunteer organizers have previously collaborated with artists in Canada and India for performances and workshops that showcase thoughtful and vibrant representations of history  ‘off the page and on the stage.’ Goderich, ON will be the location of our 2019 event.

Questions? Between now and the December 4th deadline, please feel free to contact us with your questions. We also welcome informal proposals for feedback until the submission deadline. We look forward to taking your stories to the stage!

 

You can see the profiles of our 2015 artists (here) and 2016 artists (here). We also profile public history projects from around the world, which you can read here. If you know about a project we should know about, write to us at staginghistories@gmail.com