Sunday 17 May 2015

Theatre Ontario Festival 2015 # 5: Wrap-Up Thoughts and Award Winners

Now that another Theatre Ontario festival is history, I just want to share a few overall observations as a wrap-up, as well as including a list of the award winners for those of you following through my blog. 

I was thoroughly impressed by the uniformly high quality of the productions this year.  That's what is supposed  to happen at Theatre Ontario, but it can't always be counted on, for any one of a variety of reasons.  In such a tight field, I would have hated to have to be in the adjudicator's shoes, trying to single out only one person or company to win each award.

My memory for Festivals reaches back to the early 1980s (some of my readers, I know, can reach back further than that!).  Today, I was chatting with a Festival newcomer who wanted to know how things have changed over the years.  I mentioned some points like the changes in awards and such, and the coming of open adjudications, and then I told her about the biggest change of all. 

When I first became involved in community theatre, festivals were hyper-competitive.  For many it was about one thing, and one thing only: the awards.  Award ceremonies were sometimes fraught as sore losers booed, yelled insults, sat on their hands when others won, left early, or even stomped out and slammed the door (yes, I did see all of these things happen at one time or another).  Detailed adjudications the morning after a show were strictly "Private" for the company only, and were sometimes (I have been told) marred by pitched arguments between participants and adjudicators.  Also, in the bad old days some adjudicators made rude, brutal and insulting comments to some individuals and groups.

We've come a long way, baby.  All the detailed adjudications from Ron Cameron-Lewis were extremely informative, and were well-attended by members of the various participating groups and other attendees of the Festival, all coming in to see how much we could learn from the interplay between adjudicator and company.  Throughout today's awards ceremony, applause was generous from all companies to all award winners.  And I like it this way much, much better.

Inevitably, with meeting so many old friends again, I am also reminded of those who have come and gone through the years.  Some have moved to other regions, some have become too busy, some have lost interest in the theatre -- and some have passed on from this mortal coil.   Right now, I am remembering and missing two of the finest theatre practitioners and human beings I have ever had the privilege to know: Joyce Johnson from North Bay, and Lee Jourard from Belleville.

I hope you've all enjoyed following the Festival through this blog.  Remember, I write here all year round with plays, operas, ballets, and symphony/chamber concerts in all seasons.  I also have my other two blogs, about rare classical music and about my travel experiences.  There are links on the left-hand side of the page to take you to those. 

Again, with apologies to Richard Howard:  "I love it when you read my blogs.  Come back and read some more soon!"

************************************

And now, the award winners, as selected by adjudicator Ron Cameron-Lewis (except for # 12):

[1]  Adjudicator's Award for the dedicated crew of 10 scene shifters from the Peterborough Theatre Guild for Born Yesterday (you had to see the size and scope of this set to appreciate the extent of their labours!).

[2]  Adjudicator's Award for a unique achievement to Frank Canino and Chris Matthews for the title projections for The Clean House from Theatre Sarnia (Ron again specifically mentioned the one we will all remember:  "The audience feels impelled to go and buy a glass of wine" -- projected on the screen right before the intermission!)

[3]  Adjudicator's Award for Ensemble Acting to the company of Agnes of God from Gore Bay Theatre (I concur -- the level of mutual support during the show among this trio of actresses was very inspiring and memorable).

[4]  Adjudicator's Award for Outstanding Performance by a Juvenile to Kayla Greenman from Gore Bay Theatre as "Agnes" in Agnes of God.  (Ron specifically predicted that she will be seen at Theatre Ontario festivals for many years to come).

[5]  Adjudicator's Award for Quick Study in Replacing Another Actor to Stephen Supaul as "Roy" and John Green as "Vinnie" in The Odd Couple from Oshawa Little Theatre.  (both original performers were unable to participate in this remount of the show, which took place on about 3 weeks' notice, six months after the original run and adjudication!).

[6]  Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role to Shari Thorne as "Gwendolyn Pigeon" and Tracy McCarten as "Cecily Pigeon" in The Odd Couple from Oshawa Little Theatre.  (Ron very wisely did not try to single out one or the other of what was in effect a duo role, the two being almost as indistinguishable as Tweedledum and Tweedledee).

[7]  Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Supporting Role to Tom Lynch as "Murray" in The Odd Couple from Oshawa Little Theatre. (He makes a very imposing police officer on stage).

[8]  Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Leading Role to James Burrell as "Oscar Madison" in The Odd Couple from Oshawa Little Theatre.  (No disagreement here!  Burrell showed us a uniquely dark interpretation of a very well-known character).

[9]  Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Leading Role to Kellie McKenty as "Billie Dawn" in Born Yesterday.  (I totally agree -- the power, depth and range of her performance was remarkable).

[10]  Outstanding Technical Achievement to Holly Wenning and Diane Hadley for the outstanding sound work in The Clean House from Theatre Sarnia.  (the three nominees here were each cited for a different aspect of their technical work).

[11]  Outstanding Visual Achievement to Andrea Emmerton and Walter Maskel for Agnes of God from Gore Bay Theatre.  (Ron specifically mentioned the simplicity and clear visual concept of their work.)

[12]  Outstanding Coordinated Production to the Peterborough Theatre Guild for their work on the load-in, set-up, set strike and load-out for Born Yesterday.  (the winner of this award is chosen by the Festival Stage Manager(s) for obvious reasons).

[13]  Outstanding Director to Ian Burns and Pat Maitland, first-time directors, for their ambitious work in Born Yesterday from the Peterborough Theatre Guild.  (In presenting this one, Ron referred to his first directing assignment, with three actors, and what he considered "traffic jams" on stage with that small cast.  I totally agree with this one -- I was really shocked when I heard next morning that the directors of this truly polished and accomplished show were first-timers!)

[14]  Outstanding Production ("The Elsie") to The Clean House from Theatre Sarnia.  (Ron stated that his decision was based on how well the entire company, from actors and directors to technicians and crew to designers and builders realized the writer's vision from the script.).

No comments:

Post a Comment