FORT MCMURRAY TO HOST PROVINCIAL THEATRE FESTIVAL

“We’re incredibly excited to host this year’s Provincial Festival” says North Zone representative Hanna Fridhed. “The Provincial Festival offers a wide range of different types of theatre, there’s something in there for everyone. This is a fantastic opportunity for us here in the North to experience theatre from across the province, while showing the rest of the Albertan theatre community what the arts in our region has to offer.”

The winners of the North Zone Regional Festival, Justin Shaw and Pattie Dwyer, will be remounting their original clown piece “Mooda & Tula Go Camping”. In this hilarious journey, wayward travellers Mooda and Tula embark on their most daring adventure - camping in the great outdoors! Encountering the perils of the wilderness, these clownish comrades soon discover that the outdoors isn’t as ‘great’ as it seems.

“As a newcomer to this community, I felt immensely honoured by the privilege to represent the North Zone with this piece that began as a passion project between me and Pattie” says Justin. “The theatre community here has been nothing but welcoming and supportive. I truly feel blessed to be able to hone my craft as an artist as part of the ADFA festivals.”

The festival showcases the winners of Outstanding Production from seven different regions. Notable examples are “Yūgen”, Calgary’s entry produced by Reckless Daughter Creative, an original collective creation piece that showcases three women and their stories. It is a journey through movement and creative speech that explores what it's like to live in the world as a woman and how we are socialized to believe we must race against the clock, race against others, and battle ourselves to achieve perfection. You also don’t want to miss the Edmonton production and original piece “Almost the Pioneer Brewing Company”, a short play about a woman’s entrepreneurial aspirations that are frustrated when her grandmother reveals a family secret in public. This play is dedicated to the playwright’s late grandmother and the brown patch of land in a favourite B.C. town that is finally a brewery.

From the Foothills region, or Okotoks for those who know Alberta well, comes “Alien Boy”. The one-man drama is a "coming out" and a "coming of age" story of a thirteen-year-old boy recounted by his adult self. The Heartland entry is “The Actor’s Voice”, a dark comedy/drama featuring a cast of three. Grande Prairie/Peace Country presents “Fading Joy”, a play of the absurd about a sunbather who is interrupted by a travelling salesman on the run from a conspiracy. The Leduc Drama Society of the Yellowhead region brings the two-hander “A Blooming of Ivy”.

Join the ADFA as we celebrate high-quality and diverse community one-act theatre from all corners of our province at this two-day festival in the Keyano Recital Theatre. A professional theatre artist will adjudicate the plays and present awards for Outstanding Actor, Actress, Technical Achievement, Director, New Work, and Overall Production. Individual tickets are $25, or you can get a Festival Package at $50 (all three showtimes), available for purchase at keyano.ca/theatre.

About the ADFA: The Alberta Drama Festival Association (ADFA) is a non-profit umbrella organization for adult amateur drama activity in the province of Alberta. Ten different regions of the province each organize an annual Regional One Act Play Festival where local theatre artists are given the opportunity to independently produce and showcase their work. From these festivals, one production is chosen by an adjudicator to represent each region at the annual Provincial One Act Play Festival, where another adjudicator evaluates their work and presents achievement awards.