This Giving Tuesday help ECT in our mission to build a canon of Niagara plays!

Giving Tuesday focuses on the positive impact we can have on our communities when we come together – it’s the perfect way to celebrate our creative community this season. 

This year donations will directly support Essential Collective Theatre's  New Play Development Program and Residency

ECT believes that storytelling is the key to understanding each other and promoting the empathy that is so sorely needed right now. The more we experience our community's unique lived experiences, the more connected we become.

Past works developed at ECT include: She’s Mine by Stephanie Jones; White Crow by Dawn E. Chrysler; Wings of Wax by Lindsay Price; Our Lady of Delicias by David Fancy; The Welland Canal Play by Kevin Hobbs; and Howling Winds by Juan-Carlos Velis.

Our Program Offers:

• A commitment to support the development of a new play’s draft and concept into a full-length script.
• A safe space to develop a Niagara playwright’s creative process through trial and error.
• Rehearsal and office space.
• Marketing and administrative support including printing, materials, and funding applications.
• Professional dramaturgy.
• Two week-long workshops in our rehearsal space and two no-tech table readings with professional actors.
• Payment of mentorship fees for actors, designers, and tech to contribute to the work and learn from their processes.
• A feedback session with invited industry guests.
• A public reading followed by a Q&A discussion with the audience.
• The completion of a final draft and the opportunity to mount a full professional production for a Niagara audience in an upcoming season.

Your generosity is the driving force behind the impact of our work. Thank you for supporting this vital program!