Theatre Ontario is pleased to announce the contents of the new anthology of Canadian plays to be published by Playwrights Canada Press. Grassroots: Original Plays from Ontario Community Theatres is a collection of five full-length plays originally premiered by community theatres in Ontario. Playwrights Canada Press has previously published two anthologies of one-act plays selected by Theatre Ontario. This is the first collaboration on an anthology of full-length plays by the two organizations.
Grassroots will be launched on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at the Theatre Ontario Festival in Richmond Hill as part of Theatre Ontario’s fortieth anniversary celebrations. The 2011 festival will be co-hosted by The Curtain Club and ACT-CO, the Association of Community Theatres of Central Ontario. Thirty-eight plays were submitted to the selection committee, all of them premiered in their local community by an amateur company. The five selected plays (in alphabetical order by title) are:
$38,000 For A Friendly Face by Kristin Shepherd, originally produced by Gateway Theatre Guild in North Bay in 2005. A comedy set in a funeral home where preparations are underway for the funeral of a woman nobody really knew (including her two estranged daughters).
Hamish by Michael Grant premiered at the Elmira Theatre Company in 2007. Two Canadians on vacation in Scotland encounter the ghost of an ancestor and work with him to fend off a corporate threat to their ancestral croft with hilarious results.
Never Such Innocence Again by Michael Fay, first produced by the Highlands Little Theatre in Haliburton in 2005. A drama set in the summer of 1914 where two families watch as the Great War unfolds. Five young people consider their response to the events around them and we are given a glimpse into their future.
Staff Room by Joan Burrows debuted at The Curtain Club in Richmond Hill in 2004. Alternating between the serious and the comedic, Staff Room showcases a number of scenes in a high school staff room, examining issues that might arise in the workplace. Eight actors play a multitude of roles, adding to the theatrical fun.
A Year In Edna’s Kitchen by Sandy Conrad (music and lyrics by Ian Burbidge and Sandy Conrad) was developed for the Kincardine Theatre Guild and premiered in 2003. The play traces a year in the life of a farming family leading up to the Walkerton tainted water tragedy. Songs and comic vignettes explore many aspects of rural life.
For more information about the anthology, please visit the original call for submissions on the Theatre Ontario website, or contact Dennis Johnson, Theatre Ontario at dennis@theatreontario.org or Annie Gibson, Playwrights Canada Press at publisher@playwrightscanada.com
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