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Catch the best drama productions in the province The best of Ontario’s high-school drama students will perform in Perth this week, from Wednesday through Saturday on the Perth and District Collegiate Institute stage. During these four days, 300 students and teachers from Windsor to Sudbury, to Hamilton and Toronto will take part in workshops, excursions and performances as part of the Sears Ontario Drama Festival Provincial Showcase. The showcase has never been held in Perth before. Although the PDCI drama club has hosted other levels of the Sears Festival in the past 26 years, this is one of the rare occasions when the showcase – the ultimate level of the Sears Festival of one-act plays – will take place outside of a university campus or large urban theatre. Geoff and Carolee Mason, along with Janice Walker, began the PDCI drama club in 1982. Having participated in the Sears Festival as students, all three teachers were keen to involve PDCI in this prestigious event, now in its 62nd year. Originally sponsored by Simpsons Department Store in its Toronto debut, the festival has long enjoyed the corporate support of Sears Canada Ltd. Officials from the company will be on hand this week for the opening ceremonies, along with executive director of the Sears Festival, Wayne Fairhead. Fairhead is wildly enthusiastic about Perth’s hosting of this event, having enjoyed many past Sears district and regional festivals at the school. Each year, the Wayne Fairhead New Play Award recognizes a student-written play from those entered into the festival. It does not have to be a play that has made it to the provincial showcase. Students will have a chance to work on the chosen play with a professional director, and a read-through, open to the public, will take place at the Studio Theatre this Friday at 2 p.m. This is the only performance at the Studio Theatre. It is being used to allow continued festival play rehearsals on the PDCI stage. The winner of the Fairhead award will receive $500. A wide range of workshops, excursions and special events will be offered to the visiting schools over the four-day festival. Of special interest, several graduates of PDCI, who are now working in the performing arts, will return to give presentations to the visiting students. PDCI’s own production from this year’s Sears season has the honour of being one of the 12 plays chosen from across the province. Circus Gothic, by Jan Kudelka, is a favourite of director Carolee Mason. During her work on the play, she discovered that one of the play’s characters is based on a former Perth Collegiate student, Al Stencell. PDCI drama club students are looking forward to showing the play once again on the local stage, and to welcoming Stencell as their special guest. He will travel from Toronto to see Circus Gothic on the opening night of the festival. PDCI drama club alumni are invited to attend, and visit the alumni room, where photos and memorabilia of past Sears Festival productions will be on display. Any festival grad who cannot attend, but would like to post a message on the notice board or forward photos for display, is invited to send them to lori.stewart@ucdsb.on.ca. Three one-act plays are featured each evening of the showcase. Tickets are available at the door or by calling Sue Bolger at PDCI, at 613-267-3051, or sue.bolger@ucdsb.on. ca. More festival information, including a schedule of performances, is available online at www.showcase2008.info. The public is encouraged to arrive early for the 7 p.m. performance each evening. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.Geoff Mason says that in the event of overflow audiences in the 600-plus-seat auditorium, plays will be shown live on a large screen in one of the gymnasiums. For the Masons, the Sears Provincial Showcase will be their swan song. After the plays end on May 10, they will be turning out the theatre lights for the final time. Both plan to retire from teaching on June 30.
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