THEATRE ONTARIO
May 17 to 21, 2007

Festival 2007 was co-hosted by Theatre Ontario, and ACT-CO, the Association of Community Theatres of Central Ontario.  The honourary chair of the Festival was Norm Foster.

Wednesday, May 16
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee
East Side Players(Toronto)
ACT-CO
 Thursday, May 17
Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun
by Norm Foster
Gore Bay Theatre
QUONTA
Friday, May 18
All My Sons
by Arthur Miller
Domino Theatre (Kingston)
EODL
 Saturday, May 19
Ethan Claymore
by Norm Foster
London Community Players
WODL
Sunday, May 20
Awards Brunch

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.


      
Awards
On Sunday morning, Mr. Van Norman presented awards in the following categories:

The Elsie (Outstanding Production)
All My Sons, Domino Theatre

Outstanding Director
Ian Malcolm, All My Sons, Domino Theatre
(also nominated: Mark Mooney, Ethan Claymore, London Community Players)

Outstanding Performance by a Male
Jake Mackan as Robert Castle, Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun, Gore Bay Theatre
(also nominated: Robert Ouellette as George, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, East Side Players and Robert Bowes as Joe Keller, All My Sons, Domino Theatre)

Outstanding Performance by a Female
Kelly Morrison as Martha, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, East Side Players
(also nominated: Tara Bernatchez as Holly Fitch, Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun, Gore Bay Theatre and Penny Nash as Kate Keller, All My Sons, Domino Theatre)

Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Supporting Role
Geoff Johnson as Chris Keller, All My Sons, Domino Theatre
(also nominated: Chris Irving as Nick, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, East Side Players and Phil Kirchgessner as Martin Claymore, Ethan Claymore, London Community Players)

Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role
Tara Bernatchez as Holly Fitch, Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun, Gore Bay Theatre
(also nominated: Cari Haim as Honey, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, East Side Players and Tiana Meade as Ann Deever, All My Sons, Domino Theatre)

Outstanding Visual Presentation
Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun, Gore Bay Theatre
(also nominated: Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, East Side Players)

Outstanding Technical Achievement
All My Sons, Domino Theatre
(also nominated: Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun, Gore Bay Theatre)

Outstanding Newcomer (Off-Stage)
Talia Marcassa, Stage Manager, All My Sons, Domino Theatre - for work that was exceptional and appreciated by the cast and crew

Outstanding Coordinated Production (chosen by the Festival Stage Manager)
All My Sons, Domino Theatre

Special Adjudicator Awards (5)
1. For always intriguing, sometimes brilliant layers of lighting that evoked time, place, atmosphere and often even the mood of the characters: Walter Maskel, Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun, Gore Bay Theatre

2. For acting through a remarkable range of character from black comedy to gritty and harsh reality with an astonishing intensity of emotion: Robert Ouellette as George, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, East Side Players

3. For superb realism of costume and a comprehension of use of colour for effect and focus: Elizabeth Bowes, Costumes, All My Sons, Domino Theatre

4. For proving there is no role too small for an accomplished actor; truly skilled work in the 'soothsayer' role created within Miller's script: Kevin Fox as Frank Lubey, All My Sons, Domino Theatre

5. For the careful attention to detail on the set décor that revealed not only a lifestyle, but a life and a character: David Long, Set Decoration, Ethan Claymore, London Community Players

The Perry Short Award (For Set Design)
Julian Mulock, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, East Side Players
(also nominated: David Edwards & Walter Maskel, Kiss The Moon, Kiss The Sun, Gore Bay Theatre)
 

Adjudicator
The adjudicator for Festival 2007 was Brian Van Norman.  Brian Van Norman has been employed over 30 years in a variety of venues within the theatre community.  As well as being an educator, he has worked with school, university, amateur and professional companies serving variously as a teacher, director, writer and producer.  The range of his work runs the gamut of theatrical styles in the two hundred and forty (and still counting) productions he has directed and his projects have appeared in a number of professional venues including the Stratford Festival, the Arts Club Theatre in New York, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Grand Theatre in London, Theatre & Company, the Waterloo Stage and Next Level Theatre in the Waterloo Region and Theatre Muskoka, as well as in numerous amateur venues.  Brian has adjudicated for the Sears Drama Festival on multiple occasions at District and Regional levels, and twice for the Western Ontario Drama League.  He serves on the Board of Theatre Ontario and is a member of Theatre Ontario's Professional Talent Bank.  When not adjudicating, writing, or directing, Brian conducts a variety of theatre workshops in acting and directing, as well as play polishing.

Each morning (Thursday through Sunday), Mr. Van Norman gave an adjudication of the previous evening's performance.  He also lead an adjudicator's workshop on Transactional Approaches To Acting.

Playwright-in-Person
On Thursday, May 17 at 2pm, at the Best Western Voyageur Place, Norm Foster read from some of his work.  Norm Foster was born in Newmarket, Ontario in 1949.  He attended West Hill Collegiate High School in Toronto.  He studied Radio and Television Arts at Centennial College in Toronto, and at Confederation College in Thunder Bay.  Norm wrote two plays for Malcolm Black, then Artistic Director of Theatre New Brunswick.  Those two plays, Sinners and The Melville Boys were enormously successful for Theatre New Brunswick.  The Melville Boys has made Foster one of Canada's most produced playwrights.  The Affections of May, Sinners and The Melville Boys have been translated into French. Visit his website at www.normfoster.com

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This page was last updated on May 30, 2007, by Web Master Clair Bonanno

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Email: wodl@cogeco.ca