Call for Fat-Identifying Designers & Stage Management

Company Overview

About Neworld Theatre

Neworld Theatre creates, produces, and tours new plays, performance events and digital works. Our activities occur primarily on the unceded, traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the xmθkwym (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Slílwta/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations but extend across Turtle Island. 

We are committed to centering stories and perspectives that seek to dismantle systems of oppression. Vital to this is an interrogation of whose stories are being told and who does the telling. We embrace the conflict we believe is inherent in any authentic consideration of power, privilege and access. Our motto is ‘plays well with others'. Collaboration and working across perceptions of difference are central to our ethic and the way we work. 

Over our 28-year history, we have produced, presented and toured 5-8 works annually at festivals and theatres in over 40 cities and 10 countries worldwide. Major awards include the Siminovitch Prize, Rio-Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award, Seattle Times Footlight Award, two Arts Club Silver Commissions, several Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards including three Critics’ Choice Innovation Awards and the Canada Council Staunch-Lynton Award. www.neworldtheatre.com

Our Values

Constant Learning. Every person is very good at some things, and not so good at others. And we believe that everyone is doing the best they can with what they’ve got and where they’re at. If and when we know better, we’ll try to do better.

Collaboration. We’re not interested in making shows all alone; we want to work together. That means listening to each other and finding solutions together. 

Curiosity. Doing our best to understand what someone else thinks, and why they think that way. 

Rigour. Making really excellent work; being thorough. Not rigid, but exact.

Vulnerability. A willingness to be in dialogue about things that might feel awkward or challenging. This might feel slightly uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t feel unsafe. 

Work/life balance. We often talk about this as capacity. We respect the agency and capacity of the people making/doing the work, and invite dialogue about what’s needed and what’s possible in the time and with the resources available.

Climate Action. We understand that we are living through a Climate Emergency that is the result of the patriarchal, colonial, extractivist structures that we live under. Humour, fun and play. What we don’t take too seriously (we hope) is ourselves. Humour is important. We’re making plays! We blur the boundaries between real and unreal and we love having good laughs together.

Job Description

Fat Joke by Cheyenne Rouleau

Produced by Neworld Theatre

Created with support from the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival 

Directed by Chelsea Haberlin 

Dramaturgy by Jiv Parasram

Neworld Theatre is seeking fat-identifying designers and stage management for our upcoming production of Fat Joke by Cheyenne Rouleau. This piece deals with fat politics, body politics, fat-positivity and body-neutrality. We are looking for individuals with lived experience relevant to the production. If this is all new to you, here’s a good article about the word ‘fat’. If you are unclear about how to self identify we recommend checking out this post.

Project Description

“As a fat person, I never thought of myself as “sexy.” Society never allowed me to. It just wasn’t in my cards. So I got funny.” – Cheyenne Rouleau

A mixture of stand-up, storytelling, and fact-blasting, Fat Joke is a one-person show which dissects the past, present, and future of fatphobia from both personal experiences and researched data.

THINK: Nanette by Hannah Gadsby meets Inside by Bo Burnham

Fatphobia is a highly underrepresented and un-talked-about subject today. Sure, we all know it’s not nice to make fun of a person for their weight, but have you ever thought about why? And did you notice the answer to that question, in your brain right now, might have been problematic, demeaning, and based on untruths?

Fat Joke by its nature is a very confronting show. Its content ranges from media misrepresentation to diet culture, from mental health to eating disorders, from medical bias to white supremacy, ableism, and income disparity. It’s basically a bunch of stuff people don’t feel comfortable talking about, all weaved into a comedy show. It loops in the perspectives of many different people and gathers many unseen perspectives, truths, and narratives and delivers them in a unique and exciting way. It is as educational as it is fun!

Positions Available

• Set Designer

• Projection Designer

• Lighting Designer

• Sound Designer

• Costume Designer

• Technical Director

• Stage Manager

Fees

Neworld Theatre pays all artists a Living Wage and above minimum fees required by professional associations or unions. For design and technical positions, the contract fees are between $2,000 and $3,000 commensurate with experience and scope of design. For Stage Management, the fee is $1,100/week for an ‘F’ house.