a successful short play festival celebrates port perry

Our first Port Perry Snapshots Short Play Festival is a wrap!
 
This year, Theatre on the Ridge chose to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the settler incorporation of Port Perry by inviting playwrights to submit to the first Port Perry Snapshots Short Play Festival, held October 14 – 16, 2021.
 
For the Festival’s first slate, we put out a call for plays that celebrate the moments that can define a single life and/or life in a small Ontario town. Such moments are the subject matter of three paintings by Scugog visual artist, Carol Matsuyama – Reflection, Bingo Ladies and Doris Shoes. Each of our six selected paintings were inspired by Carol’s work and captures a snapshot of a genuine moment in Port Perry, or possibly anywhere in small town Ontario.
 
We have just closed the Snapshots Short Play Festival and it was definitely a success; enjoyed by artists, playwrights and audiences. We received wonderful feedback, including:
 
“ really well done, such talent. The characters were well rounded…a lot of great dialogue.”
 
“…took me to the heart of of living in a rural community – the relationship between community members.”
 
“Wonderful evening. Well thought out plays. Loved the creativity from the artist, playwrights and actors. An unforgettable evening of live theatre.”
 
We agree completely! The Snapshots Short Play Festival may have just closed, but we are already making plans for another festival next year and will be presenting a virtual encore performance of the 2021 Festival early in the new year.
 
In addition to the public presentation, playwrights had the opportunity to workshop with our casts and further develop their scripts. Through the generosity of a private donor, three plays (one/painting) received a cash award of $100. An Audience Choice award and a TOTR Presidents Award, each for $50, were also presented.
 
Awards
Inspired by the painting Doris Shoes – Three Inch Heels by Ron Davies, for creating a deep authentic relationship between two people and the community they share.
 
Inspired by the painting Bingo – Wild Turkey Bingo by Peter Paylor, for its ability to take the audience on a rollercoaster filled with small town dynamics and characters, and conveying a strong sense of place with very few words.
 
Inspired by the painting Reflection – Old Buds by Nathan Simpson, for bringing the authenticity and rawness of a youthful voice to its characters and for its depth of resonance to the source material.
 
Audience Choice – Wild Turkey Bingo by Peter Paylor, with Three Inch Heels by Ron Davies as a very close runner-up.
 
TOTR Presidents Award – “I” On The Prize by Trudee Romanek, for capturing 1) the belief of Theatre on the Ridge in the power of theatre as a universal language and medium of entertainment, self-expression and communication to broaden understanding and empathy between individuals and communities; and 2) our mission, through theatre, to tell stories that contribute to our community’s sense of well-being and connection.
 
Port Perry Snapshots Short Play Festival Awards Selection Panel
Carey Nicholson, Artistic Director, Theatre on the Ridge, theatre adjudicator
Trevor Lundy, President, Theatre on the Ridge, director
Joseph Szekeres, Theatre Reviewer, Inside Looking Out, Toronto Theatre Columnist/Critic/Reviewer for OnStage Blog
 
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