Sunday, March 21, 2010Gateway Theatre Guild's cast and crew of 'Waiting For Godot' will have to hang on to their set, costumes and props for a little while longer as they are off to London for the Theatre Ontario Festival.

Director Paul Tessier and Assitant Director Leslie Stamp (pictured) picked up the Outstanding Production award Sunday morning at the 2010 Quonta Drama Festival awards brunch at the Clarion Resort.

“This is a beautiful moment,” Festival co-chair Kelly Boegel told a room full of excited yet tired actors and stage crews.

“It is the Quonta Festival experience.”

For the past week four community theatre groups (Gateway Theatre Guild, Thorneloe/Stolen Ceiling Theatre, ELATE, Sault Theatre Workshop) from north-eastern Ontario have remounted their winter productions in order to showcase their work in a competitive style in North Bay to win the opportunity to compete at Theatre Ontario.

Theatre Ontario President John Goddard, who was on hand to welcome the winning production to London, told the group that this week's festival was exactly what a theatre festival should be a nurturing environment.

“It's very easy in community theatre to make easy choices and we saw four different plays that made us think and challenged us," he said still reminding everyone that it's not all serious.

“They're called plays for a reason … make sure you have fun.”

In all this Laurel Smith, this year's Festival Adjudicator handed out 13 awards that recognized outstanding work in community theatre.

“Awards … this is not my favourite part,” she says.

“It's pretty damn hard work … so this about some moments that stood out.”


Complete list of award winners

Outstanding Production – Waiting For Godot – Gateway Theatre Guild North Bay
(Nominations: Under Milk Wood, String of Pearls)

Outstanding Director – Paul Tessier for Waiting For Godot – Gateway Theatre Guild
(Nominations: Val Horsepool)

Outstanding Male Actor – Mark Carins (Vladimir) in Waiting For Godot – Gateway Theatre

Outstanding Female Actor – Amanda Vanderleest (Beth, Zoe, Aunt Patty) in String of Pearls – Sault Theatre Workshop

Outstanding Male Supporting Actor – Ryan Demers in Under Milk Wood – Thorneloe/Stolen Ceiling Theatre Company
(Nominations: Ryan Demers~Under Milk Wood, Simon Gregory~String of Pearls)

Outstanding Female Supporting Actor – Scarlett Marenger (Cindy, Kyle's Mother & French Jeweller) in String of Pearls – Sault Theatre Workshop
(Nominations: Fran Perkins~The Dining Room, Leslie Stamp~Waiting For Godot)

Outstanding Visual Presentation – Under Milk Wood - Thorneloe/Stolen Ceiling Theatre Company
(Nominations: String of Pearls)

Outstanding Technical Achievement for Costumes – Marlene Campsall for Waiting For Godot – Gateway Theatre Guild
(Nominations: String of Pearls)

Adjudicator's Award for Festival Stage Management – Jocelyn Dotta for Under Milk Wood – Thorneloe/Stolen Ceiling Theatre Company

Adjudicator's Award for Creative Performance – Kristin Shepherd (Pozzo) in Waiting For Godot – Gateway Theatre

Adjudicator's Award Newcomer (On-Stage) – Mackenzie Willis (Boy) in Waiting For Godot – Gateway Theatre

Adjudicator's Award Outstanding Ensemble – Ran Demers, Jenny Hazelton, Natalie Lalonde, and Callam Rodya in Under Milk Wood – Thorneloe/Stolen Ceiling Theatre Company

Adjudicator's Award Festival Management – Kelly Boegel and Carolyn Samuel