In partnership with Playwrights Theatre Centre (PTC), we are excited to announce that Jessica Lemes da Silva has become the latest creative to secure our much-coveted New Play Prize. Her selection will result in an 18-month period of intensive play development through PTC, and a world-premiere of the completed production as part of our 2024 Fringe Festival.
God’s A Drag will receive dramaturgy and production mentorship from Davey Samuel Calderon (Dramaturg, Public Engagement), and in-kind venue and festival costs from the team at Vancouver Fringe. Jessica joins a community of playwrights and theatre creators whose projects have continued on to be presented further in Vancouver, Canada and even some Internationally. The prize is an unprecedented opportunity that supports the work of emerging theatre artists creating exciting and exemplary works.
From Davey Calderon, FNPP Dramaturg:
”We are thrilled to welcome Jessica Lemes da Silva as our winner. God’s A Drag is a resolutely bold and inclusive play that PTC and Vancouver Fringe are excited to see grow these next 18 months. Jessica is an emerging playwright who exemplifies the spirit of our prize, and a play we know Fringe audiences will fall in love with.”
From Duncan Watts-Grant, Executive Director of Vancouver Fringe:
“We are ecstatic to once again collaborate with PTC in offering the New Play Prize. Creating spaces for emerging artists like Jessica Lemes da Silva is fundamental to our annual Fringe Festival. We are excited to see the show develop and can’t wait for 2024.”
From Jessica Lemes da Silva:
“I am overjoyed and completely thrilled to have been awarded the Fringe New Play Prize. I’m deeply grateful to PTC and Vancouver Fringe for providing such a wonderful opportunity to move this work forward with guidance and support. I’m excited to collaborate with talented local artists and to connect with audiences near and far!”
On behalf of the whole team at Vancouver Fringe, we congratulate Jessica on her deserved prize win and look forward to working with both her and PTC as they continue to develop God’s A Drag in the lead-up to our 2024 Festival.
We can’t wait to give you a closer glimpse of the show soon!
Playwright Bio
Jessica Lemes da Silva (she/her) is a playwright, sound editor, musician, and educator. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Jessica received her B.A. in Music from the University of Miami.
In 2006 she shifted gears to study Sound Design for visual media at the Vancouver Film School. Shortly after, she joined Skywalker Sound in California and worked on feature films such as Beowulf, Iron Man and Despicable Me.
Refocusing her passion for storytelling, Jessica turned to writing for stage and screen exploring themes of building chosen families and bridging the worlds of queerness and religion. She completed a creative writing certificate from Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio, where she laid the groundwork for her limited-series audio drama, Sacred Hearts. Currently, Jessica’s taking part in the Emerging Playwright’s Unit with the Arts Club Theatre Company.
Jessica is grateful to write, teach, parent, and live on the unceded, traditional lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) —hay č xʷ q̓ə [hands raised], thank you.
Jessica Lemes da Silva (she/her) is a playwright, sound editor, musician, and educator. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Jessica received her B.A. in Music from the University of Miami.
In 2006 she shifted gears to study Sound Design for visual media at the Vancouver Film School. Shortly after, she joined Skywalker Sound in California and worked on feature films such as Beowulf, Iron Man and Despicable Me.
Refocusing her passion for storytelling, Jessica turned to writing for stage and screen exploring themes of building chosen families and bridging the worlds of queerness and religion. She completed a creative writing certificate from Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio, where she laid the groundwork for her limited-series audio drama, Sacred Hearts. Currently, Jessica’s taking part in the Emerging Playwright’s Unit with the Arts Club Theatre Company.
Jessica is grateful to write, teach, parent, and live on the unceded, traditional lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) —hay č xʷ q̓ə [hands raised], thank you.
God's A Drag synopsis
Pastor Luz is a colourful genderqueer preacher and ex-gay survivor who tells the story of their young adulthood. Growing up queer and Catholic, their story takes the audience on a journey from coming out religiously, to coming out sexually, from being pushed out of who and what they know, to pushing back in and reclaiming what has always been divinely theirs. God’s A Drag is a contemporary narrative of transfiguration that celebrates the reclamation of faith through the unusual intersection of drag performance & divine worship
