B.C. Theatre’s Central Interior Zone Festival will be held in Kersley this week, from May 9 to 11 at the Kersley Community Hall.
The Williams Lake Studio Theatre will compete against groups from Kersley, Quesnel and Prince George to see who moves on to the B.C. Theatre Provincials in Port Alberni in July.
Sue Matheson, the chair of the Central Interior Zone (CIZ) Festival, says the festival alternates between Quesnel, Williams Lake and Prince George each year. A member of the Kersley Players — the festival hosts — Matheson volunteered to chair this year’s festival because she thought it was their turn to bring it back to the Quesnel area.
Matheson, along with a committee of about five others, has been working since January to organize the festival.
As well as working out the lineup of the shows and booking the hall, the committee is responsible for hiring an adjudicator for the event. The adjudicator will watch the productions and take notes, and following the show will give a short critique to the performers. Then the performers remove their set before meeting with the adjudicator afterwards for a more in-depth 2-hour critique.
“If there are things that he sees that could be worked on, he’ll take them apart and they can work on that, or he’ll tell them the things that worked really well or any other suggestions,” says Matheson.
The adjudicator also picks the best play to move on to the provincials. The winning show will spend 4 hours in a workshop with the adjudicator on the Sunday after the festival, working to perfect their production.
Quesnel group Paisley Players appears first in the lineup, presenting two-one act plays, Snowed and Deja Date, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night (May 9).
READ MORE: Quesnel’s Paisley Players return with new, two-play show
Their show will be followed by Prince George Pocket Theatre as they present Treasure Island on Friday night (May 10) at the same time.
The final day of the festival will feature two shows. The first is Kersley Players, performing Strangers on a Glade, at 12:30 p.m.
READ MORE: Kersley Players to perform Strangers on a Glade
The second show of the day will be put on by Williams Lake Studio Theatre, who will be performing Cherry Docs at 7:00 p.m.
READ MORE: Williams Lake Studio Theatre prepares a thoughtful drama with Cherry Docs
Advance tickets are available at K-Max Games & Videos in Quesnel. Tickets are also available at the door.
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