WORKING THE SCENE IN RAINBOW 5

EVENT DATE:

Monday, June 9th, 2025

EVENT LOCATION:

21 College Street (suite 610 – Théâtre français de Toronto rehearsal space) & on Zoom

CALL TIME:

6pm EDT (TBC)

EVENT TIME:

Reading 7pm-8:30pm EDT & Social 8:30pm-10pm EDT

Working the Scene in Rainbow: Scene Selections

Writer submissions are now closed and the following scenes have been selected.

Eleanor by Maria Barr

An elderly, widowed lesbian must redefine her sense of freedom when her overprotective daughter steals the keys to her motorcycle.

This excerpt is from the beginning of the 12-minute short film script ‘Eleanor’: In this scene, Eleanor wakes up and gets ready to go for a ride, only to find the keys to her motorcycle missing. Amy, Eleanor’s adult daughter, has taken it upon herself to protect her mother from danger, and has stolen the keys overnight. Eleanor and Amy have a tense conversation outside her house, where they are briefly interrupted by a neighbourhood girl guide selling cookies.

Cast

Sun Bug by Max Amani

In “Sun Bug”, a struggling non-binary composer living in their van in Toronto reconnects with a famous ex-friend while grappling with the emotional fallout of giving up their child for adoption.

Bug’s inability to provide for their one year old child, Remy, leads to them giving Remy up for adoption to Amanda and Jhaleil, an upper class interracial couple who can’t conceive a child of their own. They’ve had a very open adoption and in this scene we see Amanda and Bug attempting to wean Remy from chest feeding to bottle feeding. As they nurse the transition from one primary parent to another, Bug realizes they may have developed a connection with Amanda that needs weaning too.

Cast

Luck be a Lady by Katherine Arcus

When a con-gone-wrong strips her of her crew, a naive young grifter must learn to walk the line between danger and payoff in order to survive in a world where no one takes women seriously.

Excerpted from a script set in late-’90s Atlantic City. RIVKA’s most recent attempt to con a rich man for his Rolex watch ended in attempted sexual assault (she did get the watch, though). She has run to the casino area of the hotel to lay low. FINN notices her rattled state and offers protection, should Rivka need it. Rivka immediately clocks Finn’s white-knight syndrome—and the fact that Finn is counting cards—and launches into her boldest con yet as Finn walks her back to her motel: seducing Finn into becoming the first member of Rivka’s own crew of con artists.

Cast

Hockey Night in Canada by Berend McKenzie

On the final night of the Stanley Cup playoffs in Vancouver, an HIV Positive addict is summoned to the bedside of his dying ex-partner, where he’s forced to face a room full of people who despise him, and mistakes he’s tried hard to forget.

It’s the afternoon of the big game between the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers and Bakar, an HIV Positive addict who hates all things hockey, has come to manipulate Dr. Kimble to up his morphine dosage.

Cast

Hosts

Understudies

About the Writers

ELEANOR—Maria Barr (she/her) is an emerging writer based in Tkaronto/Toronto, with a keen focus on telling authentic stories through a nuanced queer lens. Her credits include co-creating and writing the coming-of-age short film Dandelion Green (VSFF Audience Award, VSFF Best Student Short Award), and writing four episodes of the iconic preschool show Caillou (2024 reboot). She has also worked in TV development, production and post-production as a script coordinator and network programming coordinator. Whether it’s a live-action film or a kids’ cartoon, Maria brings her unique perspective and balance of humour and heart to every script she writes.

SUN BUG—Max Amani (they/he) is a passionate creative spirit born and raised in Tkaronto. Max adores connecting with young people and advocating for the communities that make up the intersections of who they are. “By existing as my authentic self I hope to demonstrate that queer, trans, Black and neurodivergent folks can grow up and thrive and make their dreams come true.” Max explores identity and healing through collage, photography, song writing, screenwriting, painting and drawing. Max is a professional Actor on both stage and screen with a degree in musical theatre performance and a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual in the Theatre for Young Audiences . Max lives in Tkaronto with their sibling Echo (they/them) and dog Hunnigirl. Together, they love going for long walks, snackin’, watching movies and dreaming up stories of their own.

LUCK BE A LADY-Katherine Arcus is an emerging TV writer. In her reckless youth, she moved to Europe, ran away with the circus, and studied drama in London. She was a writers’ assistant on The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town (CBC), and story coordinator on North of North (Netflix, CBC, APTN), Less Than Kind (HBO Canada) and on several projects in development. She has worked for Mark McKinney (Superstore, Studio 60) as a development researcher, and during the pandemic she wrote a cooking show for the Stratford Festival, which is currently streaming on their platform. She is currently writing a half-hour dramedy about the unique offstage life of a touring circus.

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA-Berend McKenzie (he/she/they interchangeably) is a Treaty 13, Toronto-based, award-winning playwright, screenwriter, producer, actor, and published author.

Berend began writing short plays in 2004 for the Loud & Queer Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, including Fashion Police, Meet the Munts, Bloodbath at St. Paul’s, and Tassels. These pieces led to their first full-length play, the outrageous, award-winning queer puppet show for adults, Get Off the Cross Mary! In 2009, Berend wrote and performed in their groundbreaking, autobiographical, one-person show for young people titled, NGGRFG (Would you say the name of this play?)

Berend is a 2021 inductee in the Warner Brothers. Discovery X Global Access Writers’ Academy, the 2024 Emerging 20 Mentorship Program, the 2024 BSO Writing Mentorship Program as well as the 2024 Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative.

Berend’s film and TV acting credits include Life or Something Like It (Angelina Jolie), Andromeda, Connie and Carla (Nia Vardalos), Jeremiah and the feature film, Catwoman (Halle Berry).

Call for Performers

WTSR5 Call for Perfomers is now closed!

Performers of all ages, diversities and abilities, who self-identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community are welcome to submit for WTSR. Performers must be ACTRA Toronto members in good standing (Full, Apprentice, or AABP). The deadline to submit was Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 11:59 pm EDT

Call for Writers

Scene submissions are now closed!

Working the Scene in Rainbow is looking for:

• Ontario-based writers who self-identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to submit new or previously unproduced works to be read as part of outACTRAto’s Working the Scene in Rainbow. 
• Writers do not have to be members of WGC or ACTRA.
• Writers must be available in-person/Zoom for the reading event and subsequent Q&A on Monday, June 9, 2025.

Goals: 

• Giving space to established and emerging 2SLGBTQIA+ writers to have new scripts read live by professional actors, and for their work to be seen and heard by members of the industry.
• Giving 2SLGBTQIA+ actors a space to perform in roles they may have less opportunity to work with in the industry, and to be seen and heard by industry members.

What to Expect:

• A hybrid in-person and live Zoom scene reading that is open to writers, actors, and industry partners.
• 4 scripts will be selected to be read by ACTRA members, cast to match roles as authentically as possible based on actors who apply.
• There will be a Q&A for the writers. Actors are welcome to sit in as well.
• This is a community event run entirely by volunteers, and all participation is unpaid. But every year Working The Scene In Rainbow provides a great opportunity to meet and exchange with other professional creatives in our 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

ELIGIBILTY:

• Writer must self-identify as a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
• Writers who have applied to previous sessions are welcome to re-submit.
• Only one submission per writer will be accepted. 

SCENE REQUIREMENTS:

• Writers may submit one self-contained scene OR an excerpt from a larger work. Scripts in any stage of development are accepted.
• No more than 5-6 pages, should be no more than 5 minutes long.
• This opportunity is for Film and TV scripts only – No theatre.
• Script must be one scene only in a read-ready state. No alterations will be allowed before the read.
• Must be formatted in professional film script formatting. See example here
• Must be submitted as a PDF.
• At least one character in the scene should identify as a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
• Scripts that explore queerness through an intersectional lens and/or feature diverse queer and/or trans/non-binary characters are strongly encouraged.
• Scripts will be assessed by overall concept, artistry/writing ability, characters, representation, and grammar/formatting.

Submissions must include:

• 5-6 page script
• Writer bio
• Cast/character breakdown
• Scene synopsis

Questions, queries, concerns: wtsr@actratoronto.com

On behalf of the outACTRAto committee, we look forward to reading your work, and thank you in advance for your submission!

About outACTRAto

The outACTRAto Committee is dedicated to raising awareness about queer performers, our stories and our place in the industry and society. We value diversity and equality and we aim to be recognized, supported and valued as queer performers. We aspire to educate and inform our industry about realistic queer representation on screen as we seek a more accurate and balanced reflection of our rich and multifaceted community. We denounce and will work to end harassment and stereotyping of any kind. We will work to achieve true-to-life queer onscreen visibility of our culture and our stories, and to realize change in our industry.

For more information visit the outACTRAto page on the ACTRA Toronto website.

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About Working the Scene in Rainbow:

Working the Scene in Rainbow builds on the work of writer/artists Jessica Meya and Louis Taylor and their original project showcasing the work of creators, Working the Scene in Colour.

Many thanks to Louis, Jessica and to the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for sharing the Working the Scene in Colour template, their vision, and their valuable work and time with us.

Working the Scene in Rainbow Archive: