The actors are coming.
All across the Central Interior, community theatre groups make their art to entertain their towns and villages. Each of them has an opportunity annually to show that work off for the whole region, compete for prizes, and one standout play gets to go onward to the provincial competition in July.
This year, for the second year in a row, Prince George is hosting the Central Interior Zone Drama Festival.
One of the coordinators, Dominc Maguire, said the back-to-back opportunity was helpful.
"Last year was the first time we'd done it in many years so there were mistakes and inefficiencies," he said.
"Now we get to smooth those out and build our experience, get a better knowledge of the process, so we can host on a more regular basis. We had a head start on a lot of things, because we knew we had the event a second year."
Three plays from reputedly strong community theatre groups are vying for the mainstage awards.
Judy Russell Presents of Prince George is well known for their musical theatre history, but director Anna Russell took on 12 Angry Jurors as a dramatic production and after a successful commercial run earlier this spring she is now channeling the play into the zone competition.
Another Prince George play entered in the zones is God Of Hell by Pocket Theatre. That play is on now at the College of New Caledonia directed by Peter Maides.
Williams Lake Studio Theatre is a frequent contender in the zone competition and they are bringing the breakthrough mature-rated puppet show Hand To God for this year's zone event.
"I couldn't have curated it better if I chose the plays myself," said Maguire. "All three of them are emotional examinations of the American cultural condition."
Each play gets its own night to shine. God Of Hell will be staged May 23, 12 Angry Jurors on May 24, there will be acting and directing workshops on May 25 for the competitors, then Hand To God gets its performance night on May 26. Each night's curtain rises at 7 p.m., all at the Prince George Playhouse.
The event is a theatre tournament, but it is also a growth and learning opportunity for all involved. Workshops and critiques will be conducted to make each cast and crew into stronger theatre practitioners for the future. The adjudicator and leader of the workshops is famed director/writer/actor/instructor Keith Digby (worked with Citadel Theatre and the Stratford Festival, founded Phoenix Theatre in Edmonton, was artistic director for Bastion Theatre in Victoria, was a writer for TV series Time Exposures and movie Trunk, and is a senior instructor at Brentwood College).
Also, said Maguire, the casts and crews and organizers all get to know each other better. Despite the competitive frame of the zones, the open friendliness and camaraderie is the prevailing mood.
"As organizers, and zone representatives, my main hope now is that we can make Pocket Theatre into a stronger community theatre company, that we keep encouraging Anna Russell to continue doing drama productions, and that we keep reaching out to the other communities of the zone to be as committed as Williams Lake is to the overall health of live theatre in the region," Maguire said.
"There seems to be a comeback going on. Theatre used to be big all over the area, it drifted off for several years, but now we're feeling it drift back."
The public is invited to attend the workshops as well as the plays. Tickets are $20 general, $15 for students/seniors/unemployed. A pass for all three plays is $45/$32. The workshop can be attended for $20/$15 or $10 for non-participating observers. All categories are available in advance at Books & Company or at the door.
Anyone interested in joining the Central Interior Zone Drama board or become an active member of the organization can attend the annual general meeting tied into the festival. It happens on May 27 from 12-1 p.m. at CNC.
