The Fornes Workshop with Mariló Núñez -- Citadel Theatre

DATE : May 6, 2026

DEADLINE: June 7, 2026 - 10:00 am

Collider Festival 2026 Workshop - The Fornes Workshop
Instructor - Mariló Núñez
Cost: $50 + GST
June 7, 2026
10 am to 1 pm 
David D. Bentley Salon

Register here

The Fornes Workshop, led by Mariló Núñez, is a decentralized playwriting workshop that employs Maria Irene Fornes' anti-Aristotelian approach to dramatic writing. In this method, a writer comes to the workshop with a blank slate; there are no preconceptions about what the play will be, as the process is intuitive and improvisational. Through centering movement, visualization, drawing, found objects/words, sense memory, and collective writing, participants will explore unique ways of developing characters and stories for the stage. Wear comfortable clothes you can move in, indoor runners, and bring 1-2 of your favorite plays in hard copy, as well as paper, notebooks and writing utensils.

Maria Irene Fornes (1930-2018) was a Cuban-American playwright, director, and teacher. She wrote over 40 plays and won nine Obie Awards. She taught her playwriting method at INTAR, where she founded the Hispanic Playwrights Lab in New York City.

This workshop is sponsored by Theatre Alberta as part of Workshops by Request: Hometown Series. 

Enrollment is capped at 12 people for this workshop. 

Collider is the Citadel’s New Play Development Festival that celebrates and helps bring to life new stories and scripts for larger stages showcasing a mix of local artists and artists from across the country and beyond. We hope you’ll join us for more exciting work and discussions around New Play Development all year round, and at our Collider Festival June 5-7, 2026! Learn more: https://citadeltheatre.com/artists/play-development/collider-festival/ 

Mariló Nuñez is an award-winning Chilean-Canadian director, dramaturge, and scholar. She received the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Award in Theatre (2022). Current: Unity 1918 (Director, University of Winnipeg); Director/dramaturge for the 2025 (Agency) and 2024 (Ice/Berg) TMU/Tarragon Theatre Playwright’s Project. Dramaturge-in-Residence at the 2024 Polyphonic Playwright Residency (Rice & Beans Theatre, Vancouver) and the 2024 Dramaturge-in-Residence (PARC Playwright Residency, Sackville, NB). Directing: New Wave Your Behaviour by Tor Lukasik-Foss (Hamilton, Victoria, Edmonton, Winnipeg Fringes); Understory by Treasa Levasseur & Tor Lukasik-Foss; One Perfect Day by Margarita Valderrama (Caminos Festival/Aluna), Chile Con Carne by Carmen Aguirre (Factory Theatre/Alameda). She teaches playwriting across the country using the Fornes Method. She was the founding Artistic Director of Alameda Theatre Company, a company for Latinx Canadian playwrights. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is pursuing her PhD in Theatre & Performance Studies at York University.