Times Chronicle Staff
Venables Theatre was host to quite the friendly battle of the plays last week.
SOAP Theatre (South Okanagan Amateur Players), in partnership with Theatre BC, brought the Okanagan Zone (O-Zone) Theatre Festival back this year after a two-year hiatus. Six plays from five theatre groups in the South Okanagan competed for awards.
Dozens of community theatre clubs in British Columbia participated with hopes riding on the chance to take their winning play to MAINSTAGE, the annual provincial festival for community theatre groups throughout B.C.
Clubs from Oliver, Kelowna, Princeton and Salmon Arm performed their featured play every evening at Venables Theatre. The plays consisted of: SOAP’s When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs, Crimson Tine Theatre’s Above and Beyond by Robert Scot, Theatre Kelowna’s Wit by Margaret Edson, Workshop Play’s Gift from the Sea by Cara Nunn, Shuswap Theatre’s The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble by Beth Graham, and Powerhouse Theatre’s Ben Hur by Patrick Barlow.
Many awards were presented, including the Community Spirit Award that went to the cast and crew of SOAP Theatre for When the Wind Blows.
Honourable mention went to Tom Szalay for lighting/video designer and operator for When the Wind Blows.
Local actor and SOAP president Ritchie Kendrick said the festival, in the words of one visitor, was an “amazing week of theatre.”
He was thrilled that professional actor and festival adjudicator Nicolle Nattrass recognized SOAP for its community spirit and “creatively having a positive impact.”
Kendrick praised Theatre Kelowna’s winning play Wit, which also garnered the best director and best actor awards.
Acting out in Gift from the Sea by Cara Nunn.
(Photo by Tom Szalay)
