In 2026 we're celebrating 20 years of voices!

In the lead up to the 20th(!!!) Annual Women’s Work Festival in March 2026, we’re excited to feature artists who’ve made significant contributions to the festival throughout its history. Their work, talent, and heart, have invaluably shaped the organization and its community, and supported two decades of theatre by gender-marginalized playwrights, dramaturges, and actors. 

When a person helps build an organization like WWF,  the organization doesn’t so much influence your work, as much as it is your work. In the early years, WWF didn’t exist without Ruth, Sara, and Amy. I helped them build WWF as they were inventing it. In fact, I helped build what seems like countless arts organizations, just so I could  hang out with Ruth Lawrence. How much did  I learn from Sara Tilley’s faith in me as an emerging dramaturg for WWF and She Said Yes!! And how much fun did Amy “force” me to have!  WWF, despite having an incredible idea-to-production success record,  had to continually fight to convince funders that it filled a substantial need.  But we valued WWF, us feminists that came each year with our plays and ideas for plays, and found them embraced by compassionate dramaturges and talented actors. Time goes by. Most of the new playwrights have never seen my work.  I remind myself that stubborn passion that makes me question change is the very characteristic that made me hold on to WWF  when it was  struggling.  It’s complicated to get old with something that for a long time was you, and now you figure,  will out live you. Still, I find myself in the gifts I have because of of WWF: helping build this artist-centred, feminist theatre festival was an incredible passionate, consuming gift of work, friendship, equity and unity - a collective creation.  This 20th anniversary year,  I finished a full length, tragi-comedy about SAD (substance abuse disorder) called “Drinking Again” that will be produced in 2026 by White Rooster Theatre. “Drinking Again” started as a 10-minute commission to celebrate WWF’s 10th anniversary.  Dear WWF,  Happy 20th Birthday, you are a wonderful thing. - Lois Brown, 2025
"WWF gave me a stage to workshop my play “Beauty Behind the Norms” and see how it truly worked in front of an audience. It was my first chance to test the story, see people’s reactions, and learn what connected. That experience helped me find my voice and believe that my stories, rooted in Nigerian culture and womanhood have a place on Canadian stages. The mentorship and support I received made a lasting impact on how I approach storytelling today. Now, I get to return and work with the festival on the technical design side for next year’s production, and I’m so grateful for that full-circle moment." - Nicole Obiodiaka, 2025
I long admired WFF and was thrilled to be hired as an actor to workshop a new piece after moving to St. John’s with my new BFA in Theatre. Being in that room was a gamechanger for me. I finally understood that side of the creative process and was able to truly listen and take everything in. The public readings and events cultivated such a beautiful sense of community and care—a safe space where artists could share and develop their work.
It was an honour to serve on the Board for years, and I know that WFF is a rare and vital catalyst for theatre in Newfoundland and beyond. It continues to push boundaries and create pathways for new and diverse stories—and that is something we must nurture.” - Jenn Brown, 2026
"This festival has played a hugely important role in my creative life - it was where I fell in love with the development process. There’s something about being present during that essential phase of creation that grabbed me and never let go. Even before I worked at The Hall, I was involved as an actor; and as the years went on, it became a central part of my work at RCAT, first as a partnership with Ruth (White Rooster) and Sara (She Said Yes!), and as the Festival grew, as an entity of its own. Through Women’s Work I made connections with artists who became frequent collaborators, colleagues, and friends. One of the things I’m most proud of is the number of plays that have gone through Women’s Work that have had full productions - it’s an astonishing success rate! What we were doing felt necessary, creating this space for underrepresented dramatic voices; it's really gratifying to see a new generation of creators take it on and continue to hold and build it. I feel like there’s a million stories I could tell about my time with Women’s Work. If you see me there this year, ask me and I’ll tell you one. Cheers to all who make this powerful event happen, past, present and future. Here’s to many, many more!" - Nicole Rousseau, 2026, pictured at the 8th Annual Women's Work Festival
"The Women's Work Festival is a huge source of pride for me, even though I'm not directly involved anymore. As one of the founders of this festival, it brings me deep joy to see it evolve into something so much more ambitious than when we began, twenty years ago. I've participated as a dramaturge and an actor over the years, and I've had the privilege of workshopping some of my own plays through the WWF. There's nothing quite like hearing your script read aloud by actors for the first time. It's a crucial moment, it's when a script transforms into a play. The WWF provides such a warm, friendly, and supportive container to do this delicate and vulnerable work in. I hope it continues for at least another twenty years. " - Sara Tilley, 2025
"The Women’s Work Festival influenced the entire trajectory of my life as writer! When the Women’s Work Festival accepted my first play, MONARITA, in 2009, I was invited into a world of community, friendship and inspiration that enabled me to grow and learn in ways that would have otherwise been impossible. I’m based in Toronto, and at that time I was a new mother with small children and an unwell father. 
Travelling to St.John’s provided me with a uniquely intimate and vital opportunity to develop my work when I was both desperate to create and on the verge of giving up on myself as an artist. I needed both the professional dynamism of the festival alongside its nurturing safety—and I got both!

More recently, I was in St.John’s promoting a new book of illustrated poems for children—and it was my friends from the Women’s Work Festival who were there to welcome me back, help facilitate readings and school visits, and cheer me on for continuing to make art, even when life (and that nagging insecure voice in my head) gets in the way. 

I am so grateful to the festival and all those who make it possible. You are making sure new work gets 
discovered, that multi-generational artists get to work together and inspire each other, and in many cases, that overwhelmed caregivers (like me!) don’t get left behind."
​- Shannon Bramer, 2025​
“When I started looking for ways to break into the arts sector in NL, I found it overwhelming. There was so much to learn. I couldn’t afford arts school, and I felt like I didn't know where to start or what to do. Festivals, like the Women’s Work Festival, provided a path. Arts festivals provide a space and opportunity to learn and grow without going into massive debt. They provide workshops that open art up to the community. They diversity and grow networks. 

Festivals like this help emerging artists grow and become more comfortable sharing their work. They promote the work of established artists. They make art accessible. The more we share, the more we connect, the stronger our ties become.

I felt really shy and lacked confidence in my abilities when I started out. I’m sure that’s a common feeling for young artists, no matter who they are. This festival was very open and supportive and I gained that confidence. I may soon become too confident and become some sort of playwright supervillain. That’s the risk you take when you support women!”
​- Veronica Dymond, 2025
The WWF invites aspiring and established creatives to forge an invaluable connection with written work. While the connection is unique to each individual, in its entirety it stimulates artists (including myself) from all mediums and realms to pursue their creative trajectories with foundational knowledge and practical examples.

My decade-long involvement with the festival allows me to maintain my personal connection to the world of literature and dramatic arts (which I value highly). Through readings and rendezvous with artists from the world of theatre and beyond, I get the chance to be introduced to new story topics for the stage and tried-and-tested practices in playwriting. This annual association with the festival's itineraries and festivities allows me to constantly polish and hydrate my own work and world views. The various workshops and social events that the festival plans each year entice me to peek at concepts and writing strategies that I collect and further develop in my own time and way.
Without a doubt, whatever playwriting that I've been involved in so far has WWF cheering on from the sidelines, and I eagerly await the day when I can submit a play so that the magic of craft and passion can continue on. 
- Nabila Qureshi, 2025
"While I've slowed down in the arts industry to focus on my family life, I have always loved the WWF and can't wait to someday be more involved again. Some of my fondest memories in the business stem from the work I did with WWF. I started out as a reader for the workshops, later became part of the board, and hosted the first Bring Your Own Baby coffee chat over Zoom at the height of COVID. It was a safe space for me to grow and learn, and it gave me the confidence and inspiration to start writing my own scripts. Even though they still sit in a box, I’d consider that a win!"
- ​Kimberley Drake, 2025
When the festival was conceived of in 2005, I was the Artistic Animateur of RCA Theatre Company and we were consistent financial and in-kind supporters of this important festival in the Newfoundland and Labrador Theatre ecosystem. 

The Women’s Work Festival gives female playwrights the opportunity to workshop their plays at a crucial time in their development; and after the workshop, to hear the play read by experienced performers in front of a live audience. This is an incredible gift  to a playwright, and an amazing growth opportunity for the play and all the artists involved. The development work generated during the Women’s Work Festival gives many playwrights exactly what they need to get to the next level of development, in many cases a future production. On several occasions I have also been privileged to be an actor/reader in these workshops. In whatever capacity, it has always been a rewarding experience for me to be involved in the Women's Work Festival.  It is a most wonderful way to celebrate International Women's Day each year. 
- Amy House, ​2025