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Curtain goes up next week on regional drama festival

Bear Creek hosts this year’s event
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A scene from a previous version of the Georgian Bay Drama Festival (Photo contributed)

Once upon a time, when Simpson’s attracted department store shoppers in droves, there was a drama festival to which it lent its name, from which teenage actors and craftspeople got an annual buzz. The festival was soon after named for Sears, and alas, that store chain, too, is a thing of the past.

But fortunately, not the festival, still going strong into its 72nd year, and continuing to provide students with the opportunity to showcase their talents, be adjudicated by three theatre professionals from the community and possibly represent their area at the higher levels of the festival.

The local version of this footlights feast is being held next week at Bear Creek Secondary School, and James Brawn, who teaches there, says it’s perfect for kids at all levels of acting proficiency.

“Some are pretty good at what they do; others are trying it for the first time. All of them grow a great deal by their participation in the festival.”

Each evening is concluded by a brief public adjudication, followed by a longer, private adjudication for each school with each adjudicator. Brawn tells BarrieToday the judges look very specifically at what they want in each production, whether the text came from a professional or in-house.

“They evaluate each production on its own merits and what the show itself is capable of on the stage at the time of performance.”

But the keyword is “festival”, the celebration of all things theatre, and best when the kids don’t take the competitive aspect of it too seriously; when they remember there are not only judges to impress, but an audience wanting to be entertained.

And, says, Brawn, they are.

“The productions are always well received from the audiences. We have folks that come back year after year to see what the festival presents.

The festival gets underway with the host school Bear Creek, presenting Sesqui on Tuesday, and closes Thursday with Banting Memorial H.S. presenting The Struggles. The curtain goes up at 6 p.m. to showcase three productions each night. In between, Georgian Bay Secondary, St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary, St Theresa's, Orillia Secondary, Nottawasaga Pines, and Bradford District High will perform their plays.

The decision as to who moves on to represent Georgian Bay District will be announced Saturday, March 3

Tickets for this year’s festival are $5 per night. Bear Creek Secondary School is located at 100 Red Oak Dr.


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Glenn Wilkins

About the Author: Glenn Wilkins

Glenn Wilkins, in a 30-year media career, has written for print and electronic media, as well as for TV and radio. Glenn has two books under his belt, profiling Canadian actors on Broadway and NHL coaches.
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