FemFest

Sarasvàti Productions, often stylized Sarasvati Productions, was a Canadian feminist theatre company. Sarasvati hosts several annual events including the International Women's Week ''Cabaret of Monologues'', ''One Night Stand'', and FemFest.

History

Sarasvati Productions was founded in 1998 in Toronto and permanently relocated to Winnipeg in 2000. The company was founded by Hope McIntyre who named it after the Hindu goddess, Saraswati.

In 2003, Sarasvati launched their International Women's Week ''Cabaret of Monologues.'' The cabaret features monologues from local artists pertaining to the annual theme. In 2008, the ''Cabaret of Monologues'' expanded to include touring across Manitoba. In 2017, Sarasvati relaunched their ''One Night Stand'' series. ''One Night Stand'' features ten-minute snippets from plays written by local playwrights.

In 2020, McIntyre stepped down as artistic director and Frances Koncan was appointed the incoming artistic director. Koncan resigned in March 2021. In 2023, the Board of Directors announced the closure of the company.

FemFest

FemFest was founded in 2003. The Winnipeg Free Press described FemFest as "Canada’s main festival for female playwrights". FemFest is a two-week festival that features plays and readings from female playwrights from Manitoba and around the world.

The festival also features the annual Bake Off competition, in partnership with the Manitoba Association of Playwrights. Bake Off launched in 2012 and features several local playwrights who create ten-minute scenes with a surprise set of three "ingredients". The playwrights are given eight hours to write their scenes. The winning playwright receives dramaturgical assistance to develop their scene into a full play which will then receive a staged reading at the next FemFest.

FemFest celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2012 from September 15 to 22. The theme of this iteration of the festival was "Staging Identity". This FemFest was decidedly national and featured artists from Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal in addition to Winnipeg-based artists. As part of the 2017 FemFest, Sarasvati collaborated with the Winnipeg Public Library to create a Human Library, partially inspired by Denmark's Human Library. The "library" featured 24 human books.

Select production history

Sarasvati generally produces only one main-stage show per year in addition to its programming with FemFest, the ''Cabaret of Monologues'', and ''One Night Stand''.

* ''Hunger'' by Hope McIntyre (1998)
* ''Revisioning'' by Hope McIntyre (1999)
* ''Missiah'' by Hope McIntyre (2000)
* ''Death of Love'' by Hope McIntyre (2001)
* ''Fire Visions: Poems'' by Bertolt Brecht (2002)
* '' One for the Road'' by Harold Pinter (2003)
* ''You Whore'' (2003) - collective creation, performed at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival
* ''Jill's War'' by Victoria Loa Hicks and Nancy Kruh (2004) - performed at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival
* ''Impromptu of Outremont'' by Michel Tremblay (2005)
* ''Ripple Effect'' by Hope McIntyre (2008) - touring production at various Manitoba high schools
* ''Bone Cage'' by Catherine Banks (2009) - reading, part of Carol Shields Festival of New Works
* ''Fen'' by Caryl Churchill (2010)
* ''Eden'' by Hope McIntyre (2012) - directed by Sharon Bajer
* ''Jail Baby'' by Hope McIntyre and Cairn Moore with Nan Fewchuk and Marsha Knight (2013) - directed by Ann Hodges
* ''Fefu and Her Friends'' by María Irene Fornés (2014) - directed by Hope McIntyre
* ''Giving Voice'' (2014) - created with VOICES: Manitoba's Youth in Care Network, touring production at Manitoba high schools
* ''Miss N Me'' by Catherine Banks (2015) - directed by Hope McIntyre
*
* ''Shattered'' (2016)
* ''Breaking Through'' (2017) - directed by Kevin Klassen
* ''New Beginnings'' (2018) - directed by Cherissa Richards

FemFest productions

2020: "Engaging Community"

* ''Alice and The World We Live In'' by Alexandria Haber
* ''Monstrous'' by Sarah Waisvisz (livestream only)

2019: "All the World’s a Stage"

*''Like Mother Like Daughter'' - directed by Rose Plotek
*''To Kill A Lizard'' by The Launchpad Project
*''Raising Stanley / Life with Tulia'' by Kim Patrick - directed by Bronwyn Steinberg
*''4inXchange'' - organized by xLq
*''Baby Box'' by Eva Barrie, Miranda Calderon, and Michelle Polak - directed by Hope McIntyre

2018: "Staging Resistance"

* ''Sound of the Beast'' by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
* ''Burnt'' by Norah Paton
* ''White Man’s Indian'' by Darla Contois
* ''The Game'' by Manohar Performing Arts of Canada

2017: "Coming of Age"

* ''Tomboy Survival Guide'' by Ivan Coyote
* ''Two Indians'' by Falen Johnson

2016: "Transformation"

* ''Morro and Jasp Do Puberty'' by Heather Marie Annis and Amy Lee
* ''Miss Understood'' by Antonette Rea
* ''The Seduction Theory'' by Sherry MacDonald
* '' Mouthpiece'' by Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken

2015: "Hear Her Roar"

* ''The Dance-Off of Unconscious Coupling'' by Frances Koncan
* ''The National Elevator Project''

2014: "She’s Got the Power"

* ''The Naked Woman'' by Rebecca Gibson
* ''Launched'' by Tyler White
* ''Skin Deep'' by Alison Mclean - reading
* ''German Silver'' by Priscilla Yakielashek - reading
* ''8 Ways My Mother Was Conceived'' by Michaela Di Cesare
* ''Herewithal: A Paranormal Comedy'' by Jim and Tara Travis
* ''River Story'' by Rubena Sinha

2010: "On the Edge"

* ''she'' by d’bi young.anitafrica

2007: "We've Come a Long Way"

*''The Dance of Sara Wiens'' by Joy Eidse{{cite magazine, last=Falk, first=Teresa, date=2007-10-15, title=New play challenges Mennonites to celebrate diversity-and dance, magazine=Canadian Mennonite, publisher=University of Waterloo, volume=11, issue=20, page=29, via=ProQuest

References

Feminist theatre
Women in theatre
1998 establishments in Manitoba
Theatre festivals in Manitoba
Theatre companies in Manitoba
2023 disestablishments in Manitoba