Theatre SKAM seeks applications from Canadian Performing Arts Companies and Artists for new 10 minute works to be performed outdoors in Victoria, BC: July 11-13, 2025

DEADLINE: Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024 @ 12:00 PM PST

For accessibility/accommodations or any other assistance, please contact Artistic Producer Logan Swain (He/Him) at logan@skam.ca or 250-386-7526 

Theatre SKAM is seeking applications from Canadian artists for SKAMpede 2025. In its seventeenth year, this live performance event features original short performances by artists stationed outside along paved commuter and recreational trails, including the Galloping Goose Regional Trail and the Songhees Walkway. Performances are repeated over the course of the day as audiences roll, walk, or stroll their way in groups of 15 from show to show. SKAMpede is a multi-disciplinary performance festival. We encourage applications from all performance disciplines; in the past, the event has featured comedy, drama, storytelling, spoken word, improv, music, opera, puppetry and dance. 8 short works will be programmed for this all-ages festival.

We strive to present both local and national artists at SKAMpede. We are committed to programming 75% Provincial (with 50% being Vancouver Island-based) and up to 25% National.

Accessibility

Theatre SKAM is committed to creating a more accessible environment for artists and our audiences. SKAMpede includes ASL interpreted performances and we encourage artists to integrate accessibility while they create their shows. If you have access needs, please let us know so we can provide proper accommodations.

Use of Setting

Performers are encouraged to be creative and consider the physical landscape of downtown Victoria, the green spaces along trails, and the harbourfront when crafting submissions. Some shows are site-specific, requesting a particular location or creating their show to suit the one we assign them. All shows are site responsive: performing live and in public outdoor spaces, subjected to whatever mother nature and the city throw at them. Shows take place in various settings, both urban and more natural. Picture rows of trees, large swaths of grass, rocky beaches, concrete gardens, bridges, and natural rock formations all brought to life with innovative new performances! Traditionally we receive applications for many environmental and nature-based shows. As we expand along the City’s downtown waterfront, we have increased opportunities for urban-based show locations. SKAMpede has no theme but performing outdoors! We are looking for site-specific and Site-Responsive performance creation that demonstrates innovative thinking.

Artist Fees, Travel & Additional Support 

Successful applicants are paid a professional fee to be part of the festival.  Successful applicants from outside Victoria may also be provided accommodation and travel, contingent upon funding. If you/your group already have accommodation, please inform us in your application. Our goal is to assist artists in applying for grant funding to provide for travel and accommodation. We request that any out-of-town artists apply for funding through applicable arts councils and other funding bodies.

We set fees according to the number of participants in each show. We pay each company $650 per company member, so a company of 3 artists (regardless of how many roles each artist has in production) would be paid a total of $1950.  (We cannot hire a full production team to make a ten-minute show, please consider the scope of the festival when deciding on production team numbers. It is usual in the festival for team members to wear multiple hats.)

Festival Dates

All companies must be available for all five days of the festival:

• Evening Dress Rehearsal: Thursday, July 10, 2025

• Evening Preview Event: Friday, July 11, 2025

• Daytime Performances: Saturday, July 12 and Sunday, July 13, 2025

Out-of-town companies should be prepared to spend up to four nights in Victoria (Arrive on Thursday morning and depart the following Monday.

Future Prospects

In the last several years, 15+ shows created for this festival have found further work or paid development elsewhere, and one author has been commissioned to create a full-length version of her 10-minute piece.

How to Apply

To make the process of applying to the festival more accessible, there are multiple ways that you can submit your application for SKAMpede 2025. 

• Google Form - the answers to the questions can be done in point form if that is more accessible for the applicant

• Audio File (the audio will be transcribed to keep anonymity for the jury) - the file can be the applicant reading aloud their answers to the questions provided in the Google Form link

• Video File (the video will be transcribed to keep anonymity for the jury) - the video can be of the applicant reading aloud their answers to the questions provided in the Google form link [This is not meant to be a creative video submission but rather another format to send in the submission]

• Interview with a Theatre SKAM staff member (In person/phone/video) - the Theatre SKAM staff member will read the questions aloud and record the answers of the applicant in an anonymous fashion to keep in line for the jury

Do you have artistic questions related to your project that you’d like to discuss? 

Contact Artistic Producer Logan Swain (He/Him) at logan@skam.ca or 250-386-7526.