If We Are Women with (l to r) Dalene Flannigan, Joanne Lubansky Johns, Tomara Patchett and Lucy Williams.
Two Awards and Three Nominations for If We Are Women
While the cast and crew of Theatre Woodstock’s production of If We Are Women dismantled the set on Sunday, director Bonnie Hartley and Stage Manager Kath Rathburn drove to Owen Sound to hear the results of the WODL adjudications.
The Western Ontario Drama League (WODL), which consists of 26 community theatre groups, holds an annual Drama Festival in which all member groups are eligible to participate. A preliminary adjudication is provided for each entry on their own stage. From this initial process, five productions are chosen to participate in the week long Festival, which is held in a different member town each year. In 2006 WODL Festival will be hosted by Owen Sound, March 13-18.
Groups can choose to enter “out of Festival” as well which means the play is adjudicated and eligible for awards, but is opting not to travel and compete in Festival. “As you can imagine, transporting a set, cast and crew to another location is a huge and costly endeavour”, said Hartley. Last year Theatre Woodstock entered their production of 1949 into the Festival in London. Theatre Woodstock’s participation and success in Festivals is well documented on their website www.theatrewoodstock.com. The WODL Festival was hosted here in 2004.
“It was worth the drive to hear the results first hand”, said Hartley. “I am really proud to say that we were nominated in nearly every category for which we were eligible, and won two major awards. I am sure that had we opted to move the show, we would have been selected to present in Owen Sound.”
Results:
The award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Major Role was won by Dalene Flannigan for her portrayal of Jessica.
Jennifer Paquette won for Outstanding Lighting Design and Execution.
Bonnie Hartley received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Direction.
Tomara Patchett was nominated for Most Promising New Actor or Actress for her role as Polly.
The wonderful beach front set complete with rocks, sand and grasses designed by Jim Hartley was one of three shows nominated for Outstanding Set Design.
Other Local Awards:
Dave Butcher won for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Major Role for his performance in ITOPA’s Born Yesterday.
Thistle Theatre in Embro won a special award for Innovative Set Change.
Detailed information about awards and Festival 2006 is available on the WODL site www.wodl.on.ca.
Release dated: 20 February 2006
