The ‘Re-Working Sessions’ will pair a professional instructor/dramaturge with one of the three category-winning playwrights from Theatre BC’s 11th Annual Canadian National Playwriting Competition (see the results in article2) for three days  of intensive workshopping  (see schedule) with actor registrants. This is an exciting opportunity to work with a professional dramaturge/instuctor on a new play. The ‘Re-Working Sessions run Friday evening (April 7), all day Saturday (April 8) and Sunday morning (April 9), culminating in the ‘Staged Public Readings’ at the Pavilion Theatre on Sunday afternoon.

The ‘Finalist Round Tables’ pair a professional instructor/dramaturge with one of seven Finalist playwrights for a four-hour session to provide each playwright with valuable feedback and direction for taking their respective plays "to the next level".  Quality sight-readers will be needed for these Round Table sessions (register as a reader here!). Again, it is a great opportunity to participate directly in the process of play development.

All Re-Working and Round Table Sessions will be open to ‘Auditing’. For a very reasonable registration fee (for a daily or weekend pass to audit, register here !), auditors will have the opportunity to sit in on these workshops to observe the process of new play development and watch a professional dramaturge / instructor in action. Those who ‘audited’ last year’s New Play Festival in Victoria raved about the process. Registrants can follow one Re-Working Session right through the weekend or move amongst any combination of Re-Working and Round Table Sessions. We only ask that you respect the work in progress and not disturb the sessions. Changing sessions during breaks is preferred. With all Re-Working Sessions and Round Tables taking place at the Pavilion Theatre, access will be convenient. We will try to schedule breaks concurrently.

Also included in the weekend will be a six-hour workshop entitled, ‘Developing a Script’ featuring well-known playwright, Sally Clark. Sally was a juror for this year’s competition and also led a similar workshop at BACKSTAGE on Granville Island in November. Registration for this workshop is limited to 12 and is separate from the Festival Auditing, Acting and Reading Passes. If you are interested, please register soon. Go to the New Play Festival Registration Form . The venue for the Playwriting Workshop will be the Riverside Coliseum (Mtg. Room 2), only a few minutes away from the Pavilion Theatre.

The Comfort Inn is offering a special ‘Festival Rate’ for participants. Rooms will be $59.95 for up to four persons sharing. This price includes an extensive ‘continental breakfast served each morning in the lobby lounge. This is a full-facility hotel and includes an indoor pool & waterslide, weight room and computer & fax data ports in all rooms. More information on the hotel, including the Toll Free reservation phone number and location map, can be found here. Reserve your room now!

AND if you are flying into town, hyperlink to the Travel and Accommodation information  for Theatre BC’s ‘Convention Number’ with Air Canada for preferred airfare rates.

We have a great line-up of Instuctor/ Dramaturges. The Re-Working Sessions will be handled by David Ross, Artistic Producer for Western Canada Theatre, Lanni McInnes, resident director at WCT and Peter Hall, 20-year veteran director for Caravan Farm Theatre and a popular consultant, guest director and adjudicator for Theatre BC. The Round Table dramaturges will be Sally Clark, Kate Weiss, Ian Forsyth and Fran Gebhard. For bios and photos of all instructors/dramaturges click here or on above individual names.

The weekend will wind up with the ‘Staged Public Readings’, an opportunity to see these National Award-winning scripts in performance following three days of developmental workshopping. Each script will be given up to approximately 45 minutes on stage. Immediately following the Readings, the three winning playwrights will be presented with their Cash Awards for Theatre BC’s 11th. Annual Canadian National Playwriting Competition. The New Play Festival will close out with an informal ‘Closing Playwrights Reception’ in the lobby of the Pavilion Theatre, a chance to unwind, discuss the events and accomplishments of the weekend and say goodbye.

We hope that you will consider joining Event Co-Chairs Lenore Mitchell and Adele M. Kuyek Grout and the NPF Host Committee, David Ross and company at Western Canada Theatre, and our guest playwrights, instructor/dramaturges for what promises to be an intense and exciting weekend in Kamloops.

Check out the following New Play Festival Registration Section of this newsletter and/or check out the NPF website at www.TheatreBC.org/NPF for complete information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Theatre BC office at 250-714-0203, fax 250-714-0213 or email npf@theatrebc.org.

See you in Delta, July 1-8, 2000 for MAINSTAGE 2000!

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