They tried to bury us. They didn't realize we were seeds.
 VISION
Community enlightenment based on the core beliefs of feminism.

MISSION
We are a non-profit, charitable (798 690 483 RR0001) organization in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada that responds to the persistent and universal need for promoting, understanding and embracing the core beliefs of feminism. Through professional theatre and related initiatives, we work to change hearts and minds.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES
  • We challenge discrimination and stereotype in all forms
  • We produce stories where at least 50 per cent of the text is spoken by women* character(s)
  • We offer opportunities to all genders with a focus towards people who identify as women*
  • We respond to issues that affect women* and girls in our community
  • We re-examine universal stories traditionally told by men, through a feminist lens
  • We strive to work through an intersectional lens for gender parity
CORE PRINCIPLE
Feminism: The belief in political, economic, personal, and social equality for women*.

CORE BELIEFS
  • Sexism exists
  • Sexism against women* (misogyny) is enduring, pervasive, systemic, cultural, and ingrained
  • All genders should have equal rights and opportunities
  • All genders are the intellectual and social equals of each other
  • All genders should be recognized and treated as equals
  • Systems of oppression and discrimination are interdependent and span all social categorizations such as race, class, gender, ability, parental status, size, age, and sexual orientation as they apply to a given individual or group

*PerSIStence Theatre recognizes the limits of using binary language. Issues facing women do not only affect cisgender women: systems of oppression are interdependent and the patriarchy affects everyone in different ways. Our activism includes those identifying as transgender, non-binary, 2SLGBTQIA+, Black, Indigenous, racialized, ​disabled, as well as people with lived experience.
PerSIStence Theatre Company Inc is an Affiliate Member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatre (PACT), a Category A member of the Association of Professional Theatre of Newfoundland and Labrador (APTNL), and an organizational member of the Playwright's Guild of Canada and the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC).

Company Herstory

PerSIStence Theatre Company was founded in early 2017 with a mission to “respond to the persistent and universal need for promoting, understanding and embracing the core beliefs of feminism through professional theatre and related initiatives.” Officially incorporated as a non-profit on April 25, 2017, the board of directors worked quickly to become a professionally run organization, with the first Annual General Meeting on June 12, 2017. The company received sustaining funding for professional arts organizations from Arts NL in 2020 and achieved charitable status in 2021.

The organization’s activities include professional theatre, professional development opportunities, special projects and community outreach.

Professional Production History

2017 2018 2019
2020
2021
2022 & 2023
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Land Acknowledgement 

We respectfully acknowledge the land on which we gather as the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk [bee-oth-uck], whose culture has been lost forever and can never be recovered. We also acknowledge the island of Ktaqmkuk [uk-dah-hum-gook] (Newfoundland) as the unceded, traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi'kmaq [mee-gum-maq]. And we acknowledge Labrador as the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Innu [in-new] of Nitassinan [ne-tass-eh-nen], the Inuit [in-new-eet] of Nunatsiavut [nu-nat-see-ah-vut], and the Inuit of NunatuKavut [nu-nah-tuhk-ah-vut]. We recognize all First Peoples who were here before us, those who live with us now, and the seven generations to come. As First Peoples have done since time immemorial, we strive to be responsible stewards of the land and to respect the cultures, ceremonies, and traditions of all who call it home. As we open our hearts and minds to the past, we commit ourselves to working in a spirit of truth and reconciliation to make a better future for all. 

Our humble thanks to First Light for sharing this land acknowledgement within our community and providing valued guidance to many organizations such as ours. You can learn more by visiting their website at firstlightnl.ca.