Next on stage...

Tickets are selling for our fall production of The Kiss & Conversations with Cows... Two great locally-written plays in one evening, opening September 25th!
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​>> Get Your Tickets

Submit your one-hit-wonder!

We're currently accepting submissions for our Second Wind Series, which takes plays that have previously had only one production and gives them that next important step towards entering the canon of Great Canadian Plays!
​>> Learn More & Apply

Become a Director!

Master of the craft Tanya Ryga is accepting a limited cohort of proteges until October 31st... Attend lectures, select a play, and debut your work in a local festival. Take charge of your local theatre scene.
​>> Learn More
​>> Apply Today

Wash, Rinse, Spin

Drop in for free on February 21st and catch the spin-cycle of Fran Kimmel's Delicates... a brand-new, never-before-seen play all about airing one's laundry in front of your neighbours.
​>> Learn More

What's On...

Two Plays, One Place
The Kiss & Conversations with Cows

📍Scott Block Theatre, Red Deer
Sept 25, 26, Oct 2, 3  - 7pm
Sept 27, Oct 4 - 2pm
Get tickets here

Come join us as our talented casts and crews tell two stories on one stage, sharing a space in an Alberta landscape 100 years apart, yet with struggles and connections that exist through time.

“The Kiss” will have its World Premier, written be our own exceptional local playwright Fleur Jacobs. An Amish woman discovers a temptation beyond her marriage and culture when a traveling Tinker man arrives in town. She must decide between desires and traditions to discover what her life will become.

Alberta playwright Blaine Newton’s “Conversations with Cows” will follow as a married couple takes on a significant life change together when the husband’s new job in the oil industry reveals a culture that changes their lives in unexpected ways.

***Themes are for mature audiences***, 18+, includes implied violence, mature language and sexual misconduct discussed onstage

SECOND WIND SERIES

Building the Canadian Canon

Do you have a great play that's been previously produced exactly one time? We'd love to consider it for production!

​Getting a play produced once is hard enough, but industry research shows that getting a play produced twice is almost impossible. Many new-works companies want to claim the elusive "world premiere"... And yet, for a play to enter the canon, it needs to be produced again. (And again, and again!)

Let us help your play catch it's Second Wind. Submit to [email protected] your manuscript along with a topsheet or coverletter giving a brief overview of your play's development and production history, along with any other info you think may pique our interest.

Riverbend is especially interested in plays that:
  • Tell authentic Canadian stories
  • Bring representation to underrepresented populations
  • Are easily produceable by smaller independent theatres
  • Have local playwrights: Canadian, Albertan, and/or small-town Central-Albertan
Submissions are open on a rolling basis and are currently open until 11pm on September 30th, 2026.
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The Director's Bootcamp

Your crash course in the craft, chaos, and confidence of directing!
​
Learn to direct, then put your first show onstage! The one and only Tanya Ryga with Sylvan Lake Theatre is now accepting a limited number of protégés to learn the art and craft of directing… then put their new skills to work bringing to life a festival of fresh-director short plays! This incredible opportunity is very rare in Central Alberta… don’t miss your opportunity to step into a leadership-level of theatre expression!

​Head over to the application page to learn more.

CONTACT

let's stay in touch

email
[email protected]

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