HMS Pinafore - Sir Joseph & Buttercup
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Community Theatre Festival 2010
World Theatre Day celebration - Victoria Playhouse - organized & sponsored by ACT
Monday, March 29, 2010
World Theatre Day on PEI - What a Festival!
Saturday, March 27th—World Theatre Day ... and did PEI ever have a good celebration of it! At the Playhouse in Victoria-by-the-Sea, it was standing-room-only—literally. Well, almost literally: actually people had to sit on the floor in the aisles. Besides the 30 or so players and back-stagers, 175 people packed the cozy theatre. They had a fine time.
First the Bonshaw Young Players—a cast of sixteen youngsters including cats and a parrot!—presented “Heir Repair”, written and directed and narrated by 16-year-old Rachel Horrocks. It wasn’t just cute—it was good ... and the players were rewarded with a lot of audience chuckles and adjudicator praise.
With “The Worker” by Walter Wykes, Sheep for Wheat Productions startled the house. There was laughter at some of the delightful absurdities ... but dark-theme moments of man/woman relationship and corporate wickedness had people holding their breath. Ben Rayner and Rebecca Ford delivered superb acting.
Relief from that tension came with the belly-laughs the Harbourfront Theatre Company gave us with their half-hour segment of Norm Foster’s “Opening Night”. Imagine a sort of triptych spread across the stage: in the centre the wonderfully bad acting of a silly play; on one side the frustrated director and his carping wife; on the other side as audience, a would-be sophisticate and her bored paint-store-manager husband—the often double-entendre repartee hopped back-and-forth.
Between the mini-shows adjudicator Wade Lynch interacted with the actors and their directors, and even the audience, to give compliments and helpful observations. He presented an award to each group. At the second break the audience trouped out into the lobby for refreshments (highlight: decadent cinnamon rolls) served up by the Bonshaw Women’s Institute.
ACT (a community theatre) can feel very pleased and proud for having made this Festival night happen.
World Theatre Day has been celebrated in plays, workshops and happenings around the globe for 49 years now. A scan of the Web shows 2010 events in places like Vancouver, Ghana, Indonesia, New York, Mexico, Argentina, India, Mongolia ... and now, in Victoria-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island. This year’s official WTD message came from Dame Judi Dench; among other things she said this:
“Theatre has the ability to make us smile, to make us cry, but should also make us think and reflect. All it needs is a space and an audience.” We certainly had all those things in the 2010 PEI Community Theatre Festival.
To see photos, click on Gallery (top-right of this page) and choose ‘Productions ... Community Theatre Festival’
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Community Theatre Festival a Success!!
There was a wonderfully enthusistic, turn-away crowd in Victoria last night for PEI’s Community Theatre Festival and they weren’t disappointed. The three shows on the bill had something for everyone. Bravo. What a treat to see such a wide selection of ages participating in and/or attending the performances. Congatulations to everyone involved in the Festival, on stage and off. I am looking forward to next year!!!!
- Gerry
Saturday, March 06, 2010
PEI COMMUNITY THEATRE FESTIVAL
ACT is sponsoring the PEI Community Theatre Festival - on World Theatre Day, 2010
People around the world will be celebrating UNESCO’s World Theatre Day on March 27th, and here on the Island that Saturday evening is the occasion for the PEI Community Theatre Festival. The place is the Playhouse in Victoria, and the curtain goes up at 7:00 pm.
It’s an evening of short plays presented by some of the Island’s most dynamic amateur theatre groups. This is a showcase for true community theatre—a time when for-the-fun-of-it actors and back-stage production crew get to perform beyond their usual home audience, to rub shoulders and learn from one another and get constructive feedback.
Popular theatre-man Wade Lynch will be the adjudicator, providing observations and tips. The participants will have the opportunity to socialize and discuss their experiences. Each acting group will go home with a Community Theatre Festival award.
The Festival play-bill has comedy in common, but the participating groups and their stage-works are delightfully varied.
• Sheep for Wheat Productions has a ‘dark comedy’ with an absurdist touch—“The Worker” by Walter Wykes. A young woman fashions a pretend child to cope with her loneliness; her husband is furious, and perhaps with good reason—what does this mean for his life ... literally?! The show offers the bonuses of original music and a recreation of the painting which inspired the writing of the play. With their playful name from a card-trading board game, Sheep for Wheat is a fresh and enthusiastic group—known for their all-participant collaborative approach in bringing to life the provocative drama of the mid-20th century, such as Harold Pinter’s “The Dumb Waiter” and Eugene Ionesco’s “The Lesson”.
• The Bonshaw Young Players have been honing their skills in a fun way with Ruth Lacey for four years now—learning Improv, doing workshops with professional actors, writing, directing, and presenting their own material. Their ages range from 5 to 16; interestingly, half of them are home-schooled. Their play is “Heir Repair”, written and directed by one of their members, Rachel Horrocks. It entangles an elderly spinster in a series of hilarious misunderstandings.
• The Harbourfront Theatre Company offers a half-hour excerpt from a typical Norm Foster comedy, “Opening Night”. How do you celebrate the 25th anniversary of a now-stale marriage? ... by going to the theatre, of course! Here’s a play-within-a-play, and it’s a toss-up as to which one causes more laughter. Islanders know this troupe from their days as the Jubilee Players, which they became on their move from Kensington. They have almost two decades of comedy experience.
This is an evening of live, and lively, theatre. The public is welcome for the fun of the performances and for refreshments served up by the Bonshaw Women’s Institute. Admission (to somewhat defray the costs) is by donation.
The Community Theatre Festival—previously a successful project of Theatre PEI—is being mounted this year with the sponsorship and support of ACT (a community theatre).
The contact for further information is jshields932 @ gmail.com, 675-3672.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
PEI COMMUNITY THEATRE FESTIVAL
March 27 ... For World Theatre Day, an evening of lively comedy
“The Play’s the thing!” Drama is as old as civilization ... and it keeps revitalizing itself in every time period, in every culture. No wonder UNESCO celebrates it annually with World Theatre Day.
To join in the observation, PEI has its own Community Theatre Festival. This year it’s Saturday, March 27th. The place is the Victoria Playhouse, and the curtain goes up at 7:00 pm.
It’s an evening of short plays or excerpts presented by some of the Island’s most dynamic amateur theatre groups. This is a showcase for true community theatre—a time when for-the-fun-of-it actors and back-stage production crew get to perform beyond their usual home audience, to rub shoulders and learn from one another and get constructive feedback.
ACT (a community theatre) is offering a visit by an experienced director to any group who may want some friendly guidance as they prepare their play. Then on Festival night a professional theatre adjudicator will provide observations and tips, and the participants will have the opportunity to socialize and discuss their experiences. Each group will go home with a Community Theatre Festival award.
The Festival play-bill:
• The Bonshaw Players present “Heir Repair”, written and directed by Rachel Horrocks—An elderly spinster gets entangled in hilarious misunderstandings.
• Sheep for Wheat has a ‘dark comedy’, “The Worker” by Walter Wykes—A young woman fashions a fake child to cope with her loneliness; her husband is furious, and perhaps with good reason—the child’s existence may put him in grave danger.
• The Tignish Drama Club is preparing “Grandpa’s Twin Sister”, a good-old-standby farce.
• The Jubilee Players offer a typical Norm Foster comedy, “Opening Night”—How do you treat a stale marriage? ... by going to the theatre, of course!
It’s an evening of live—and lively—comedy.
The public is welcome to join the audience for the fun of the performances and refreshments. Admission is by donation.
The Community Theatre Festival—previously a successful project of Theatre PEI—is being mounted this year by an organizing committee of community-theatre enthusiasts with the support of ACT (a community theatre). The contact for further information is jshields932 @ gmail.com
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Theatre Festival Deadline
Hi folks,
I’ve just heard from Jennifer Shields, who is chairing the committee that is getting the theatre festival resurrected and rolling for this year.
She wanted me to let everyone know that the deadline for submissions for the festival has been extended to February 7th.
If you are interested in entering a show into the festival Jennifer will need the following information by that deadline;
-name of the group
-title of their submission and a few sentences of a description
-approximate running time
-contact email and phone number
-the fee (will be 50$ or less)(I’ll confirm the exact amount for you guys within the week)
You can contact Jennifer by email at jennifer932@gmail.com
This is going to be a terrific festival, and I’m so looking forward to seeing all of our Island’s wonderful talent.
Richard Haines
ACT President
Thursday, October 15, 2009
COMMUNITY THEATRE FESTIVAL
The PEI Community Theatre Festival is back. It lapsed with the demise of Theatre PEI ... but now ACT (a community theatre) has spear-headed its revival.
It is a series of several evenings in late March 2010 when short plays get presented in several locations by about a dozen of the Island’s amateur theatre groups. The conclusion is a gala awards evening. In celebration of UNESCO’s World Theatre Day, it is a showcase for true community theatre—a chance for scores of amateur actors and off-stage production volunteers to perform beyond their usual home audience, to rub shoulders with and learn from one another and get constructive feedback.
Dates: March 25th to 28th, 2010
Venues: three or four small theatres or community halls in different parts of the Island
Who should participate: any group—big or small, young or old—which does theatre in an amateur (not-for-profit, for-the-fun-of-it) way
What kind of show: short (45 minutes maximum) ... comedy, serious drama, avant-garde, whatever. There’s no pre-screening to assess appropriateness, although a group should be conscious of potential offensiveness. (Even so, it may be possible to have a special performance evening for more ‘mature’ or ‘cutting-edge’ plays). Choice of play could be affected by technical limitations of the performance space and the limited set-up time between plays.
Programming: arrangement depends on numbers and nature of the plays ... but each evening will probably have 3 plays, with a 20-minute set-up gap between plays.
A group is responsible for all aspects of its play—rights, costumes, props, light/sound design, special effects, transportation, etc. A technician will be provided for each evening, with whom the player-group can make specific plans. It is possible that workshops or mentoring may be offered if groups feel they need such support as they prepare.
Adjudication: an experienced off-Island professional will give constructive feedback ... and there will be awards for such categories as overall production, lead and supporting actors, costuming, set, and audience choice.
Wrap-up Gala: Sunday evening - presentation of awards, entertainment, refreshments
Finances: mostly covered by sponsors and program advertisers + ticket sales ... but it is necessary to have each group contribute an entry fee (probably $50)
Timelines: expression of intent before Christmas ... confirmation by the end of January
Organization: by the Festival Committee—9 community-theatre enthusiasts with the sponsorship and support of ACT (a community theatre)
Contact: Jennifer Shields jshields932 @ gmail.com