ABOUT US
WIT’s mandate is to promote professional independent theatre in Winnipeg and connect with you, our audience! We welcome all independent theatre companies operating in Winnipeg inclusive of race, ethnicity, ancestry, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, or socioeconomic strata.
WIT acknowledges that the land upon which we gather and create theatre is Treaty 1 Territory. It is the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. The name Winnipeg is derived from the Cree name for Lake Winnipeg, win-nipi, meaning “murky water”. We acknowledge our water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation on Treaty 3 Territory. We respect the Treaties that were made on these territories, we acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past, and we dedicate ourselves to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
Winnipeg Independent Theatre (WIT) was founded in 2008 and has been operating for 13 years. WIT is established to act as the “umbrella” or “backbone” support organization for the many professional independent theatre companies in Winnipeg. WIT exists to share resources, develop marketing synergies, and foster support for independent theatre with the goal of strengthening individual and collective profiling and patronage. A representative of each member company serves as a member representative of WIT on a voluntary basis. WIT does not govern its individual companies; however, it does expect them to have the following commitments to the community in place for membership.
commitment to the community
Winnipeg Independent Theatre is dedicated to advocacy on behalf of all professional independent companies in Winnipeg. We are committed to creating an environment that fosters inclusion, outreach, and accessibility while constantly improving our practices to better serve the community.
We acknowledge that a majority of our member companies benefit from positions of privilege. We apologize for any past harms caused by any actions, words, or lack of awareness that have contributed to these systemic barriers. This is a time of positive change in our industry and we are resolved to be a part of this change.
Commitments to Action
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All member companies must be committed to the pursuit of safe and respectful workspaces for all artists and will not tolerate nor condone unprofessional or inappropriate member behaviour, such as abuse of power, bullying, discrimination, harassment, or sexual harassment, reprisal, or violence.
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All WIT member companies must have their own policies in place to commit to safer workplaces, including anti-harassment, anti-racism, and inclusion.
MEMBERSHIP
WIT activities are overseen by a collective of incorporated, non-profit theatre companies based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The companies that manage WIT initiatives (i) produce theatre annually; (ii) are incorporated or have registered names; (iii) are run by professional artists who view the discipline as a vocation and are beyond basic levels of training; (iv) operate with limited budgetary support and staff, and (v) do not own their own production facilities. At this time all member organizations of WIT do not receive government operational funding and work on a project-to-project basis.
WIT has two membership categories. Full Membership (for established professional companies) and Associate Membership (for emerging companies). Go here for more information on our membership categories.
To view our 20-22 Strategic Plan: