The Studio Theatre’s productions of Problem Child and Mary’s Wedding both came away with top honours at the Central Interior Zone Theatre Festival in Prince George last weekend.
Problem Child, won the award for best production and was selected by the festival adjudicator for the top honour of competing at the Theatre BC Mainstage provincial festival in Vernon June 30 to July 8.
Problem Child will be on stage at the provincial festival July 1.
Problem Child stars Leanne Skellet, as Denise, who won the best actress award; Julian Ratz, as RJ, won the best youth actor award; and Chris Armstrong, as Phillie, won the best supporting actor award. Stacey Poirier played the role of the social worker Helen, in Problem Child, a hauntingly dramatic story about a young couple trying to get their baby back after recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.
Dan Patterson, who played Charlie, in Mary’s Wedding won the best actor award. Tara Sprickerhoff played the role of Charlie’s love, Mary, who, on the night before her wedding to another, dreams of Charlie, who she lost in a battle during the First World War.
Sheryl-Lynn Lewis, who directed Mary’s Wedding, and Curt Sprickerhoff, who directed Problem Child won the award for best set design for their collaborative work on developing sets for both productions.
Lewis also won the special director’s award and the award for best costumes for Mary’s Wedding.
Jeff Rankin won the best lighting design award for Problem Child.
The plays’ producer Kathleen MacDonald is thrilled with how well Problem Child and Mary’s Wedding did at the zone festival in Prince George.
“The 2017 Central Interior Zone Festival was a thrilling experience for the Williams Lake Studio Theatre,” MacDonald says. “Both of our participating productions, Problem Child and Mary’s Wedding, won numerous, well-deserved awards. And we’re very excited to be taking Problem Child to Mainstage.
“The cast and crew have been working tirelessly in the hopes of being able to present this amazing show to a wider audience and in friendly competition with some of the finest community theatre groups in the province. It will be a very special Mainstage as all shows will be plays by Canadian playwrights to celebrate our country’s 150th.”