Copyright 2001 by Edward Willett

Saskatchewan Community Theatre's annual full-length festival of plays, hosted by Regina Little Theatre, will offer local play-goers a week of fine theatre by groups from all over the province.

It's been a while since I've been involved with the festival, but back in the 1980s, when I was active with Crocus 80 Theatre in Weyburn, I attended several festivals. We also hosted the festival twice that decade.

The festival is an exciting event for the clubs involved, and particularly for the host club. Seven community theatre groups will descend on the Performing Arts Centre for seven consecutive nights of theatre. Each group arrives the morning of their play and builds their set, rehearses (if they're lucky), presents the play, then tears down the set--and then, the next morning, faces the adjudicator to hear what went right and what went wrong with their production.

At the end of the festival, awards are presented in categories such as Best Director, Best Visual Presentation, Best Actor and, of course, Best Production.

It's a hectic and heady time for everyone involved. The first time I had the opportunity to appear in a play in the festival was in 1982, right here in Regina. (That year the plays were presented in Darke Hall.) Our choice was a 1940s gothic melodrama by Walter Mills (Hayley Mills's father) entitled Duet for Two Hands. I, at the ripe old age of 23, played a drunken Scottish surgeon twice my actual age, who had sewed the hands of a convicted murderer onto the wrists of a concert pianist who had lost his own hands in an accident, and now the hands seemed to be haunted with the spirit of their dead owner and threatening too...oh, never mind. It was all pretty silly.

We had fun, anyway, although I still remember clearly the opening words of the adjudicator: "Isn't it wonderful," she said, "the plays we all thought were so good when we were young..." That and some comments about how perhaps "drawing-room pink" wasn't the best choice of colors for the set of a gothic potboiler and a comment that I, who had been dramatically emoting my heart out, should really be cast in a comedy have all been lodged permanently in my mind--proof of the level of emotion surrounding each group's performance in the festival!

There's more to the festival than the plays and adjudications; there are also three theatrical workshops: one on paint decoration techniques with Rick Harvey on Tuesday, April 17, one on Scene Study with Kathryn Bracht on Wednesday, April 18, and one on Comedy Improvisation with The General Fools on Friday, April 20. (The price for these workshops is definitely right; each is only $10, or you can attend all three for $25. Contact Michael Emond at 585-4187 if you're interested.)

However, at the heart of the festival are the plays themselves, seven plays in seven days. They are:

The Stillborn Lover, a Canadian drama by Timothy Findley, presented by Regina Little Theatre, Sunday, April 15. (Traditionally, the host group performs on opening night of the festival so they can concentrate on running the festival for the rest of the week.)

Boiler Room Suite, a drama by Rex Deverell, presented by Humboldt Community Players on Monday, April 16.

Greater Tuna, a comedy by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, presented by Chocolate Moose Theatre, of Moose Jaw, on Tuesday, April 17.

Who's on First?, a comedy by Jack Sharkey, presented by Crocus 80 Theatre of Weyburn (my old group--yay!) on Wednesday, April 18.

The classic farce No Sex Please, We're British, by Anthony Marriott, presented by Prince Albert Community Players on Thursday, April 19.

Gwydian's Cross, a Canadian play by L.M. Chalmers, presented by Saskatoon Ageless Players on Friday, April 20.

Finally, The Hand that Cradles the Rock, a Canadian comedy by Warren Graves, presented by Milestone Prairie Players on Saturday, April 21. The awards gala follows the final play that evening.

All performances are at the Regina Performing Arts Centre.

You can attend all seven plays for just $80--roughly the cost of a single ticket to a mega-musical. Or, you can buy individual tickets for $12 per show before April 12, or $14 per show at the door. (Visit the Performing Arts Centre to purchase your tickets ahead of time.)

Seven days, seven plays, seven Saskatchewan community theatre organizations. They've worked hard to prepare for this festival; they deserve a full house every night.

Do your part!

Posted September 22, 2004