THEATRE ONTARIO
May 17 to 21, 2006
Toot Fest
Festival 2006 is co-hosted by Theatre Ontario, Theatre Sarnia, and the Western Ontario Drama League (WODL).

The Theatre Ontario Festival features outstanding community theatre productions chosen from regional festivals across the province.  It’s an excellent learning experience, with workshops, adjudications and play readings by Canadian authors.


Wednesday, May 17

Jake's Women
by Neil Simon

Theatre Sarnia

WODL







Thursday, May 18

Proof
by David Auburn

The Curtain Club
(Richmond Hill)

ACT-CO







Friday, May 19

That Summer
by David French

Theatre SMC
(Sault Ste. Marie)

QUONTA







Saturday, May 20

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
by Frank McGuinness

Peterborough
Theatre Guild

EODL







Sunday, May 21

Awards Brunch





      
Adjudicated by Virginia Reh



Presentation of the Maggie Bassett Award  to this year’s recipient, Kim Renders.
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Adjudicator’s Awards

(The gift of Anne Wilson of Theatre Woodstock)

For: Outstanding Performance by a Youth

The winner is: Chloe Milne for her portrayal of Molly (age 12) in “Jake’s Women”
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(The gift of Sault Theatre Workshop)

For: Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer

The winner is:  Jennifer Gooderham for her portrayal of Daisy Ryan in “That Summer”
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(The gift of Owen Sound Little Theatre)

For:  Sensitive Musical Embodiment of Memories

The winner is:  Meghan Gardner in her role as the violinist in “That Summer”
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(The gift of Ann Busby in memory of Rita Tuckett)

For:  Ensemble Acting

The winner is:  the cast of “Jake’s Women”
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(The gift of ACT-CO)

For:   Extraordinary Character Creation

The winner is:  Christopher Spear for his portrayal of Michael in “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me”
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“Outstanding Technical Achievement” (The gift of WODL)

The winner is:  “That Summer”
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 “Outstanding Visual Presentation” (The gift of The Curtain Club of Richmond Hill)

The winner is:  “Proof”
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“Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role” (The gift of EODL)

The winner is:  Marney Austen for her portrayal of Karen in “Jake’s Women”
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“Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Supporting Role” (The gift of QUONTA)

The winner is:  David O’Neill for his portrayal of Adam in “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me”
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“Outstanding Performance by a Female” (The gift of Mark and Anne Mooney)

The winner is:  Shannon L. Aguila for her portrayal of Catherine in “Proof”
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“Outstanding Performance by a Male”
(The gift of Theatre Sarnia in the memory of George Wood Jr.)

The winner is:  Tim Caddigan for his portrayal of Edward in “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me”
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“Outstanding Coordinated Production” (The gift of the Jourard Family)

The winner is:  “Proof”
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“Perry Short Award” (The gift of Janet Short)

The winner is:  Mary Jane Boon , Set Designer of “Proof”
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“The Richard Howard Award”  (The gift of Richard Howard)

The winner are:  Joseph Lauzon and Loretta Durat, directors of   “That Summer”
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“Outstanding Director” (The gift of Don and Joyce Watt)

The winner are:  Nora Martyn and John Martyn, directors of “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me”
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“Outstanding Festival Production” (“The Elsie”) (The gift of Theatre Ontario)

The winner is:  “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me”
Adjudicator

The adjudicator for Festival 2006 is Virginia Reh.  Virginia’s multi-faceted career embraces directing, acting, teaching, theatre, music theatre, opera, film, T.V.  A former Artistic Director of the Gryphon Theatre, she has worked with the Shaw Festival, Canadian, Edmonton and Vancouver Opera Companies, Opera Lyra, Bayview Playhouse, Tapestry Singers, and Theatre on the Grand, as well as teaching at the Banff Festival, Sheridan College, the Opera School at the University of Toronto and Theatre Ontario’s Summer and Youth Courses.  She was drama coach and Production Manager for the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus for 14 years.  A transplanted New Yorker, Virginia has been a champion of Canadian theatre, was a founding Co-Director of ScriptLab, developing and workshopping scripts for film, theatre and music theatre.  She is known to community theatres around the province as a director, workshop leader, production consultant and adjudicator.  Recent adjudications include WODL, Sears and ACT-CO musicals (2003/04).  Virginia is a recipient of Theatre Ontario’s Maggie Bassett Award, for her outstanding contribution to theatre in Ontario.


Playwright in Person

Florence Gibson was born in Montreal and raised in Cobourg, Ontario.  She has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and genetics and an M.D.  She practised in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Hong Kong and Kenya, East Africa before returning to Canada to practice and eventually write full-time.

Her play Belle was short listed for a British Council New International Playwriting Award in 1996 before its premiere at Factory Theatre, Toronto, in 2000.  It was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play and won a Chalmers Canadian Play Award.  It has also been produced in London, England, Ottawa and New York.

Her dramatic monologue Riding the Roller Coaster won the short fiction first prize in the 11th Annual Short Grain Contest, 1999, and was a finalist in Lamia Ink’s One Page Play contest in New York, 2004.  The first draft of her screenplay A Man Like Me was shortlisted for a Praxis Award in 1999.  Her radio play, A Recipe for Tomato Butter, aired on CBC Radio for the first anniversary of September 11th, has since been performed at the Edward Albee Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Alaska, and in Calgary, Alberta, Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba and in Maine, U.S.A.  Her radio drama Missing You, (Love) aired in September 2001 on CBC and Florence is commissioned to adapt it for the stage for Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto in 2006.  Missing has just won the Herman Voaden National Playwriting Award, 2005.

Her play, Home is My Road, produced at Factory Theatre, Toronto in 2003, where she is currently writer-in-residence, won the Carol Bolt Canadian Authors Association National Award for drama, 2004.

Florence is playwright-in-residence at Factory Theatre, Toronto and is currently working on How Do I Love Thee?, a play about Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, commissioned by Factory Theatre.  She is also commissioned to write i think i can for Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, a play about the annual science fair told entirely in tap dance. She is completing her novel, Stout.

Florence Gibson appears with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Playwrights Guild of Canada.



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