The revival of The One Act Plays Festival over the June long weekend proved to be an outstanding success with theatre companies travelling to Port Macquarie from as far as New Zealand to compete.
President Peter Dransfield said it was the first time the event had been held since 1992.
He said it was exciting to see the theatre packed with over 100 people each session (afternoon and evening) despite the weather and he can’t wait to start working on next year’s event.
Mr Dransfield said the revival was here to stay and would become an annual event.
Over the weekend, five Play Groups showcased their talents, with 12 plays, keeping the audience enthralled through drama, comedy and monologues that were described at times as heart wrenching, mind provoking, emotional and hilarious.
Hunters Hill Theatre came up trumps with best director in Lynn Trainor (sponsored by the British Lolly Shop), best female actor was Ros Richards (sponsored by Paper Girls Stationery and Office Supplies), best runner-up Male Actor was Zac Turner and runner-up best production (sponsored by the Port Macquarie Independent newspaper) with its drama, Horizons.
Horizons depicted a scenario where two people find a connection and a kind of reconciliation through a chance encounter on a beach.
The best production of the weekend was won by Aranui High School (sponsored by Essential Energy).
With some help from the local community in Christchurch, students from Aranui High were able to make the journey to attend the One Act Plays Festival and its presentation of Nearly There (a short play by award wining Angie Farrow) was described as a pure delight.
With the guidance of school teacher/director Robert Gilbert, students successfully showcased the conflict between logic and order, versus emotion and creativity.
Other awards won were: new playwright’s encouragement award to Suzi Pye (sponsored by Shade and Shelter Solutions), audience choice award to Bootie Cottage (sponsored by Elders), adjudicators’ award to Karen Slater (sponsored by Viney Williams Lawyers), youth encouragement award to Andrew Cockroft-Penman (sponsored by Coast Front Realty) and best male actor to Tim Gibbs (sponsored by Olive Communications and Digital Signs).
With this first event being dubbed such a success, The Players Theatre is keen to start working towards next June long weekend’s festival being even larger and attracting more playwrights and theatre groups.
