Best Play!
Best Leading Male!
Best Supporting Male!
Portal Players Hat Trick at
Vancouver Island One-Act Festival
The Third Annual Vancouver Island One-Act Play Festival wrapped up in Qualicum Beach on Saturday night, November 10, 2007 with an awards ceremony and party that left Portal Players Dramatic Society members all smiles. From a field of 12 entries in this festival, our production of "The Marriage Proposal" by Anton Chekhov came away with three big awards. The wins are all the more impressive, as the Thursday, November 8 performance at the festival was the first public showing of "The Marriage Proposal".
Co-Directors Derek Burke and Debbie Burke, who are very recent members of Portal Players, were extremely proud of the work they'd been able to achieve in a short rehearsal period, and of the hard work the actors had done in getting ready for the festival. In winning the Best Play Award, this is the first big win for Portal Players in any dramatic festival in many years.
Sweeter still for this award is the addition of two major acting awards - Chris Arthurs took top honours for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role as Ivan Vassilevich Lomov, while Scott Lowe giddily accepted the Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role award for his performance as Stepan Stepanovich Chubukov. Rounding out the cast in an exemplary performance is Megan Cathers, playing Natalia Stepanova Chubukov. The cast and directors were cited by the jury for their ability to find and draw out the humour in this classic Chekhov script.
Audiences will have their chance to see "The Marriage Proposal" as part of our Director's Workshop Series of One-Act Plays, which opens at The Capitol Theatre on Friday, November 23, 2007. Three one-act plays will be performed each evening on Friday and Saturday nights for two weekends, until December 1. Tickets are only $5 each, and available at the box office on show nights. Doors and box office open at 7 pm; the one-act plays begin at 7:30 pm. Season ticket holders can attend the one-act plays simply by showing their season's pass at the box office on show nights.
Also on the program in this One-Act Series is "Smoking Pistols" written by Donald Kvares, directed by Teresa Kisch. This is Teresa's directorial debut after performing on-stage in various plays and behind the scenes as an assistant stage manager and crew. Two of our young actors portray a middle-aged couple in the 1970's who are at a crossroads in their relationship - Melissa Lowe plays Edie, and Tanner Zurkoski plays Woody.
Please note: "Smoking Pistols" includes adult themes, coarse language and gunshots.
"Ballerinas" written by Don Nigro, directed by Elliot Drew rounds out our series for this year. This short, jolly play gives us an insight into the lives of three "ballerinas" during intermission at their performance of "Swan Lake". Cast members include Teresa Nicholson and Carrera Schroeder, and the triumphant return to our stage of Mary-Ellen Shimell, who recently returned to the Alberni Valley after a brief flirtation with the east coast of the island. Sorry, no warnings for "Ballerinas"!
Congratulations to the entire cast and production team of "The Marriage Proposal" for bringing these great awards and honours to Portal Players. "The Marriage Proposal" also carries no warnings - enjoy the show!