Theatre Saskatchewan Inc. (TSI) and Warman Scared Scriptless Players co-hosted TheatreOne 2017 over four days in Warman, November 9 to 12, and Kamsack was represented.
The Kamsack Players Drama Club sponsored three members to attend this event which was previously held in Kamsack, but was a first for Warman.
James Perry and Nicole Larson of Kamsack, and Ellen Amundsen-Case of Roblin were the three members of the drama club to attend the event as apprentices, and as such were enrolled in a variety of drama workshops.
“TheatreOne is so much more than an opportunity to witness drama presentations from theatre companies across the province,” said James Perry.
“There is a broad range of talent and theatrical experience, as well as a diverse quality of theatre,” he said. “It is also an opportunity for the members of the theatre groups to reconnect socially and share ideas.”
“The Kamsack Players is a well-established group of a dozen members and there exists that opportunity for two or three members to enroll in TheatreOne as an apprentice as well. This lends a hands-on component to the event.”
There were seven one-act plays presented over three of the four days. In addition to the members of theatre groups in attendance, tickets were sold to the general public who were welcomed to not only watch the plays, but to sit in and witness the adjudication process.
David Buckingham, MLA for Saskatoon Westview, was in attendance for the shows and awards on Saturday evening.
Former Kamsack resident Leanne Keys, now of Yorkton, was with the Impavido Theatre Group, a very new theatre group based in Yorkton, which presented the play Between the Sheets.
Keys played the part of Marion in the one-act drama which won an award for technical merit. Lynn Wagner, the play’s director, was awarded best director honours.
Nicole Larson is president of the Kamsack Players Drama Club, which typically presents two community theatre plays annually. One is a spring production and the other is a Christmas dinner theatre which will be presented this year at the OCC Hall on December 8 and 9.
TheatreOne is held every fall and TheatreFest, an annual festival of full-act plays hosted in various communities throughout Saskatchewan, is held every spring and both are hosted by Theatre Saskatchewan. TheatreFest will be held April 1 to 8, 2018, in Weyburn.
There is an opportunity for any member of the theatre groups in Saskatchewan to be nominated by his or her club and sent as an apprentice to these events, all expenses paid, courtesy of funding from Sask Culture and Saskatchewan Lotteries.
Anyone interested in joining the Kamsack Players Drama Club may contact Larson.
