Kanata (Ottawa), Ontario
May 13 to 17, 2009

The annual Theatre Ontario Festival is a showcase of outstanding community theatre productions chosen from regional festivals across the province.  The Festival brings together theatre lovers from across the province, and is an excellent learning experience, with adjudications, workshops, and play readings.

Visit Kanata Theatre's Theatre Ontario Festival 2009 webpage.

Hosts

Festival 2009 is co-hosted by Kanata Theatre, the Eastern Ontario Drama League (EODL) and Theatre Ontario.  The Festival Chair is Dorothy Beak.

Festival Performance Schedule

All performances are at 8:00pm.  There is a public adjudication in the theatre immediately following the performance.  After each performance, a "Happy Hour" celebration is held at the theatre. The Awards Brunch is being held at 11:30am at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Ottawa Kanata. The schedule of productions is:

Festival Event Schedule

All of the following events are free to attendees of the Festival:

Venue and Box Office

Festival 2009 is being held at the Ron Maslin Playhouse, which is operated by Kanata Theatre.

Tickets are available on December 1, 2008 by calling the Box Office at 613.831.4435. Ticket are available for each show at $20 each, or $75 for all four shows. Awards brunch tickets are $25. Happy hour tickets are $5 each.

Adjudicator

The adjudicator for Festival 2009 is Chris Worsnop. In his secret life, separate from his career as a curriculum specialist in Ontario public education, Chris has been connected with community and student theatre for more than 50 years. He made his debut in a 1955 church youth club play in Blackpool, Lancashire. It is now forty years since he played his first adult role with Ottawa's Phoenix Players. Chris has done almost everything theatrical in that time. He has played all kinds of roles on stage in both dramatic and musical productions. He has directed, written scripts, worked in numerous technical roles, presented play-polishing workshops, and organized and hosted festivals. He knows and understands community and student theatre from the inside. He has adjudicated at various levels of the Sears Drama Festival over the past twenty years, has adjudicated the Meadowvale Music Theatre Festival three times, and has adjudicated for the Association of Community Theatres - Central Ontario (ACT-CO) in two consecutive years (2006- 2008) in the drama, then the comedy category. In 2008 he is the adjudicator for the Eastern Ontario Drama league (EODL) One Act Play Festival, and in May 2009 he will adjudicate the Theatre Ontario Festival in Kanata. He is the proud winner of two ACT-CO Thea awards for acting, and has awards also from EODL and (somewhere) one from that 1955 performance in Blackpool. His academic qualifications include two undergraduate and two masters degrees, from Cambridge University, Ottawa University and Queen's University. In his adjudications, Chris enjoys developing a dialogue with the theatre practitioners to explore the triumphs and challenges of community and student theatre. He promotes his own community and student theatre roots to advocate a rigorous form of peer review.

After each performance, Chris will give a public adjudication of the evening's performance.  The following morning, he will give a detailed adjudication.

Adjudicator's Workshop

Chris Worsnop will lso lead an adjudicator's workshop, "It's not just the acting...It's everything!"

How can the director:

• include everyone's imagination in a single vision through the production and rehearsal process?
• encourage exploration and challenge without losing focus?

Chris will lead a "cracker barrel" session, where participants (actors, directors, producers, designers, builders, stage managers, audience members, and all others) pool ideas and experiences.

Playwright-in-Person

Douglas Bowie has written a wide range of stage, film and TV dramas over his thirty-year career and has been recognized with Gemini and ACTRA Awards. He was raised in Ottawa, lives in Kingston, and is currently playwright-in-residence at the Thousand Islands Playhouse. His website is www.douglasbowie.ca

Accommodations

Accommodations are available at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Ottawa Kanata at 101 Kanata Avenue, Kanata.  Rooms are $139.95/night for a double room, $149.95/night for a queen suite. Reservations can be made at 613.271.3057 x.6009 or 1.800.465.4329. You must refer to Kanata Theatre and quote the group code KTB when making your reservation. All rooms must be guaranteed by credit card. Check-in time is after 3:00pm and check-out time is before noon. Reservations must be made by April 13, 2009.

Accommodations are also available at the Comfort Inn Ottawa West at 222 Hearst Way, Kanata. Rooms are $104.95/night for business double or business queen. Reservations can be made at 613.592.2200. You must refer to Kanata Theatre when making your reservation. All rooms must be guaranteed by credit card. Check-in time is after 3:00pm and check-out time is 11:00am. Reservations must be made April 13, 2009.

Awards

On Sunday, Chris Worsnop presented awards in the following categories:

• The Elsie (Outstanding Production)
• Outstanding Director
• Outstanding Performance by a Male
• Outstanding Performance by a Female
• Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Supporting Role
• Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role
• Outstanding Visual Presentation
• Outstanding Technical Achievement
• Outstanding Coordinated Production (chosen by the Festival Stage Manager)
• Special Adjudicator Awards (5)
• The Perry Short Award