Theatre BC North Shore Zone Festival of Plays, May 6-11, 8 p.m. nightly at Presentation House Theatre. Tickets: $20/$18 for individual performances; $108/$90 for weekly passes, available at phtheatre.org or 604-990-3474.
SEVEN years ago, Barry Walker was sitting in the audience at Presentation House Theatre, unaware that the bright stage lights would one day shine on him.
He was attending the North Shore Zone Festival of Plays - an annual showcase of live performances put on by local member clubs of Theatre BC. During an intermission, he got to talking with a North Shore actress who suggested he give community theatre a try.
Admittedly "way too cool in school for drama," Walker politely shrugged off the idea and returned to the auditorium where his wife promptly turned to him.
"Well?" she said expectantly. "Are you going to join the theatre and get in a play?"
Before he could respond, his wife was out of her seat and in the lobby signing him up for a membership with the North Vancouver Community Players. One day shortly after, he received an audition notice in his email. It was taking place in 45 minutes.
"I got up, walked out the door and drove over there and arrived at Hendry Hall only to see that the parking lot was empty," he said.
For a nervous moment he contemplated driving away, until he saw a friend pull in to the parking lot.
"He's going to audition for that part that I want," Walker thought to himself.
A little friendly competition was just the motivation he needed.
"I got out of the truck, went into the auditorium, auditioned and got the part."
Walker has been smitten with community theatre ever since. Most recently he played the role of Morgan in the North Vancouver Community Players' presentation of The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey. The Canadian drama, with pithy rural humour, is one of eight shows entered in this year's North Shore Zone Festival of Plays.
The festival runs May 6 to 11 at Presentation House Theatre, and features a different play (or plays) each night. On the closing Saturday, adjudicator Jay Brazeau will announce the Best Overall Production, which will represent the North Shore zone at the Theatre BC Mainstage finals to be held in Kamloops in July.
Walker says the week-long festival is a great opportunity for the public to learn more about the theatre.
"It offers them a spectrum of shows that they can see in a short period of time at an incredibly good price," he said. "You can compare and appreciate different genres of theatre - from a drama to a comedy to a one-act play to a two-woman show."
Those who purchase a weekly pass are eligible to vote for the People's Choice Awards.
Festival chair Mike Jarvis, who is past president of the Deep Cove Stage Society, says the event is also a valuable educational experience for the participating casts and crews.
"It brings together these community theatres and you see your peers at work. You are then judged professionally and it is a tremendous learning process," he said.
Making it in the world of professional theatre doesn't happen for many people, Jarvis says, but those who dream of the spotlight can always turn to their community theatre group.
"And by goodness, if they've got any talent - which often happens - then they get a lead part and away they go."
There's plenty of talent behind the scenes too, he adds.
"You would never know that these shows are amateur, I mean, they really are well done."
North Shore actor Don Mackay is anything but amateur. He has been performing for 35 years in theatre, TV and film productions. After 10 years working on the professional stage, he returned to community theatre.
"I enjoy the stage, it's a challenge and a half, you're naked out there," he said.
Mackay stars in Deep Cove Stage Society's festival entry Half Life by John Mighton. Winner of the 2005 Governor General Literary Award, the play centres on two nursing home residents who rekindle what might have been a wartime romance.
Mackay first appeared in the North Shore Zone Festival of Plays in 1980 and has twice moved on to the provincial finals. The veteran actor says the event offers a peek at the community's "sizeable" talent pool, and draws people to the theatre who might not ordinarily attend.
"I know a number of people that don't go to the theatre on a routine basis but wouldn't miss this week at the Presentation House for all the tea in China, and that's very encouraging."
SCHEDULE OF PLAYS
Shows start at 8 p.m. nightly:
- Monday, May 6: Weightless by Kelsey Blair (Looking for 143 Productions) and Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger (Kingbaby Productions Bowen Island)
- Tuesday, May 7: Half Life by John Mighton (Deep Cove Stage Society)
- Wednesday, May 8: Brilliant Traces by Cindy Lou Johnson (Well Planned Theatre Co.) and Ash Fault by John McGie (The Nicola Cavendish Doesn't Know We're Using Her Name Theatre Co.)
- Thursday, May 9: The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey (North Vancouver Community Players) - Friday, May 10: A Woman of No Importance by Alan Bennett (Two Gals Theatre Co.) and The Oblivion Series (a not-so-girlie-show) by Justine Warrington (WaWa Productions)
Saturday, May 11: Entertainment by The Comedy Company - series of skits including "The Full Mounty."
