BEAUTY BEHIND THE NORMS DESIGN WORKSHOP
MORE INFORMATION COMING IN EARLY 2026!
For the first time in the Women’s Work Festival's history, we are hosting a Design Workshop for one of the plays previously developed at WWF. For the 20th Annual Women's Work Festival, Nicole Obiodiaka's Beauty Behind the Norms was chosen to be the first participant of this program. Obiodiaka's play was featured in our 18th Annual Women's Work Festival, the 2024 PARC Playwrights Retreat, and is in line for production with TODOS in the near future.
Beauty Behind the Norms is an evocative drama set in West Africa, vividly portraying the clash between traditional cultural norms and the burgeoning desire for change. The play centers on Ada, a young woman who becomes a symbol of resistance and transformation in a society bound by strict expectations for women. Thrust into a polygamous marriage, Ada's journey is marked by her struggle for self-determination against the backdrop of a community deeply rooted in customary practices. Through Ada's eyes, the audience witnesses the emotional and social complexities faced by women navigating these rigid societal structures.
The WWF Design Workshop will offer an opportunity for a playwright to explore and develop the design elements of their play, and it will also serve as a training program for emerging designers by pairing them with mentors from January 2026 to March 2026. This program was designed to support a playwright to bring their play close to production and emerging artists in building practical design skills, expanding their professional networks, and working within a supportive creative community grounded in anti-racist, culturally informed storytelling.
Through hands-on exploration, mentees will receive mentorship from experienced designers to experiment with set, lighting, sound, and costume concepts that reflect the play’s cultural depth and emotional landscape.
To support Obiodiaka's vision of Beauty Behind the Norms, we are selecting 4 women and gender diverse artists, following the eligibility criteria below:
- Emerging and middle-career black or racialized/migrant artists.
- Identify interest or experience in design (no prior experience required).
- Open to artists residing in St. John’s, NL, and its surrounding areas.
- The selected artists must be available for approximately 95 hours of mentorship, meetings, and design work between January 2026 and March 2026
- Direct mentorship from professional designers;
- Hands-on design training in one of the design departments: set, lighting, sound, or costume design;
- Participation in festival showcases during the 2026 Women’s Work Festival.
- Portfolio support, including professional documentation of your work;
- Connections and networking with artists, producers, and arts organizations.
- Payment of $25 per hour for 95 hours.
Selection Policy
- Priority will be given to Black emerging artists, followed by applicants to The New Stage Project and other racialized, and/or migrant artists.
- If the selection pool does not allow us to fully meet these criteria, we reserve the right to select additional participants who demonstrate a strong commitment to equity, inclusion, and community impact, while maintaining the program’s newcomer focus.
This program is made possible through the support of our funders and sponsors: NLSIP (Department of Jobs, Growth and Rural Development), AIPF (Department of Tourism, Arts, Recreation and Culture), The College of North Atlantic and Centra and in partnership with PARC, TODOS Productions, and the Resource Centre for the Arts.
If you have any questions, please contact Oluwatoyin Awosanya, the Production Coordinator, at [email protected].
