Langham Court Theatre is hoping to get youth involved in community theatre by hosting the inaugural ACTivate festival, May 13 to 15. Through this free festival, the aim is to nurture artistic development and further the education of emerging performers by bringing numerous local theatre companies together, including Langham Court, St. Luke’s Players, Target Theatre and Where’s Noonan, alongside Esquimalt and Victoria High Schools.
All weekend, the public can drop in to the theatre, free of charge, to catch a number of free performances. Saturday features Canterbury Cocktails, performed and directed by Julian Carvello (Scrumpy Productions); The Anger of Ernest and Ernestine (selections) performed and directed by David McPherson and Melissa Blank (Where’s Noonan?); Death and Other Friends, performed by Victoria High School students, written by Kathryn Taddei; and Silver Linings, performed by Mitch and Jo Barnes, directed by Terry Roswell (St. Luke’s Players).
Sunday’s performances include Dot Con, written by Esme Gosling, directed by Judith McDowell (Target Theatre); The Smell of the Kill (selections), written by Michele Lowe, directed by Wendy Merk (Dragon Monkey Theatre); Sonnets for an Old Century (selections) written by Jose Rivera, directed by Holly Jonson (Rapid Rocket Productions); and Deliver Us Not, written by Lee Howard and Greg Gamble, performed by students of Esquimalt high school.
The doors to the theatre will remain open, and people are free to come and go as they please.
The festival will also have a number of free workshops for actors, directors and writers. Organizer Erin Hoyt says she hopes to open the workshops to the public next year if the festival is a success. M
ACtivate Festival
Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, 5pm
Langham Court Theatre
(805 Langham Court)
Free