Elena Belyea

Elena Belyea

Elena Belyea (they/she) is a queer playwright, performer, producer, arts educator, and Artistic Director of Tiny Bear Jaws.

She was born and raised in amiskwaciwaskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory and have had work produced across Turtle Island and internationally (including Hungary, Austria, Berlin, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Quebec, and...
Elena Belyea (they/she) is a queer playwright, performer, producer, arts educator, and Artistic Director of Tiny Bear Jaws.

She was born and raised in amiskwaciwaskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory and have had work produced across Turtle Island and internationally (including Hungary, Austria, Berlin, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Quebec, and Wells). Their play "Smoke" was recently published by Playwrights Canada Press. She's also half of queer sketch duo "Gender? I Hardly Know Them" (on Tiktok + Instagram at @genderihardlyknowthem).

Elena’s plays have received numerous awards, including First Place in the 2015 Wildside National Playwriting Competition with "Cleave" (which was also included as part of the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s 2018 Surefire List). Elena was also a member of Nightwood Theatre's Write from the Hip Playwriting Unit, as well as recipient of the Tarragon Theatre's RBC Emerging Playwright Award and a 2018/2019 Playwright-in-Residence.

Elena is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada's Playwriting program (2015).

Plays

  • I Don't Even Miss You by Elena Belyea
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: drama, musical
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    Keyword: Non-Binary, play with music + 7 more
    Genre: drama, musical
    Keyword: Non-Binary, play with music, musical, ai, artificial intelligence, end of the world, alone, isolation, emotional isolation
    A video recording. An electric ukulele. A Nirvana Hoodie. A dog dollar.

    Non-binary computer programmer Basil (they/them) wakes one morning to discover they are alone. They spend the next three years searching for others and build Orchid, a digital assistant, for company. Until one day, when Basil meets a companion who stays with them for a while, before leaving suddenly and without warning....
    A video recording. An electric ukulele. A Nirvana Hoodie. A dog dollar.

    Non-binary computer programmer Basil (they/them) wakes one morning to discover they are alone. They spend the next three years searching for others and build Orchid, a digital assistant, for company. Until one day, when Basil meets a companion who stays with them for a while, before leaving suddenly and without warning.

    Reeling from this loss, Basil attempts to write and record a musical that will serve as an archive of their life after they're gone. Using live music, dance, and video, "I Don't Even Miss You" is bold and multidisciplinary exploration of grief, love, and legacy, and asks how gender, identity, and friendship can exist with no one to perceive them.
  • Smoke by Elena Belyea
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: sexual assault, rape + 7 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: sexual assault, rape, rehabilitation, healing, trauma, writing, poetry, Fiction, trauma survivors
    Aiden’s ex, Jordan, appears at her apartment, seeking clarity around sexual assault
    allegations Aiden recently made against Jordan to a mutual friend. Jordan swears to have no
    idea what Aiden is talking about, but Aiden is unconvinced. Together, they work to untangle
    the events of a university party years before, attempting to find the truth, hold each other
    accountable, and figure...
    Aiden’s ex, Jordan, appears at her apartment, seeking clarity around sexual assault
    allegations Aiden recently made against Jordan to a mutual friend. Jordan swears to have no
    idea what Aiden is talking about, but Aiden is unconvinced. Together, they work to untangle
    the events of a university party years before, attempting to find the truth, hold each other
    accountable, and figure out what’s next. Smoke is an urgent, nuanced, and vulnerable
    provocation that challenges audiences of all ages’ preconceived notions of justice, trauma,
    forgiveness and love.

    This production features two casts performing the same text (Jordan is played by a cis
    female and cis male actor on different nights) to invite audiences to consider their assumptions
    around gender and sexualized violence.
  • Miss Katelyn's Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable by Elena Belyea
    Recommendations: 5
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: school shooting, panic + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political
    Keyword: school shooting, panic, anxiety, guns, gun control, teachers, students, classroom
    "You see, boys and girls... bad things happen to good people all the time. So, it’s our job to make sure we’re as prepared as possible for the innumerable threats that can and will come our way. And not just prepared prepared. Miss Katelyn prepared."

    Montreal, Columbine, Newtown, Orlando. Welcome coyotes to your last day of classes at Saint Joseph’s Elementary. Your teacher, Miss...
    "You see, boys and girls... bad things happen to good people all the time. So, it’s our job to make sure we’re as prepared as possible for the innumerable threats that can and will come our way. And not just prepared prepared. Miss Katelyn prepared."

    Montreal, Columbine, Newtown, Orlando. Welcome coyotes to your last day of classes at Saint Joseph’s Elementary. Your teacher, Miss Katelyn, knows the world is a dangerous place and her lifesaving lesson is about to begin. Winner of Best Production and Best New English Text at the 2015 Montreal Fringe Festival and recently translated into french, "Miss Katelyn's Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable" is a fast-paced comedic drama about panic in a post-truth world and one woman’s desperate attempt to keep her students out of harm’s way.
  • Cleave by Elena Belyea
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: queer, intersex + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: queer, intersex, family, Transgender, gender, youth, LGBTQ, Plastic Surgery, gender identity
    For 17-year old intersex Aaron, the new school year means a new chance at life. For Pina, another shot at head cheerleader. For Mark, open season. A stranger intersects with a family in exile from itself. Parents Paul and Carol struggle to keep their secrets from their children, desperate to know the truth. Like a surgeon’s knife before a first incision, the scalpel is poised and ready to slice.