Meet our Festival 2010 theatres

The 2010 Theatre Ontario Festival is a celebration of community theatre from across the province.  This year, four theatres are bringing award-winning productions to London.

Theatre Burlington is participating in our provincial Festival for the first time since 2005 in Belleville, when they represented western Ontario with their production of Morris Panych's Vigil.  Under their previous nomenclature as Burlington Little Theatre, they won the Elise Award for Outstanding Production in both 2001 and 2002.  This year, they are opening the Festival with Hugh Whitemore's Breaking The Code.

Whitby Courthouse Theatre brings Norm Foster's The Long Weekend and continues a thirteen year streak of including at least one Canadian-written play in the Festival.  Whitby Courthouse Theatre hasn't participated in a Theatre Ontario Festival in over twenty years.  Representing central Ontario, they last appeared in the 1989 Festival in Brockville, when they presented Michael Frayn's Noises Off.  Coincidentally, that is believed to be the only Festival where two groups presented the same play during the week!

The other group presenting Noises Off in 1989?  That was Gateway Theatre Guild from North Bay.  This year, they return to Festival representing northeastern Ontario with a production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot.  Gateway returns to the Theatre Ontario Festival for the first time since 2002 when they presented Lee McDougall's High Life.  Gateway won the Outstanding Production award at our second Festival in 1974 in Oshawa with a presentation of David French's Leaving Home.

Our Festival will close with a production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt by John Patrick Shanley presented by Kingston's Domino Theatre, representing eastern Ontario.  Domino has represented their region many times over the Festival's 37-year history, most recently in Newmarket in 2007 and taking home the Elsie for their production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.

Theatre Ontario Festival runs May 19 to 23 in London.  For all the information about Theatre Ontario Festival 2010, please visit the host theatre's website.  For information about past Theatre Ontario Festivals, please visit the Festivals page on the Theatre Ontario website.