For the first time the Peace River Zone Theatre Festival will be represented at Mainstage 2013 by an original play written, directed, and acted by high school students from Fort St. John. The winners of the regional theatre Festival were announced Saturday night at the closing of the three day competition among community theatre clubs. The winning play, written and directed by local high school student Mason Temple, won the Best Production among other awards. Adjudicator Stephen Drover of Vancouver praised the group from the Spectacular Chair Factory theatre club for their insight, character development and bravery in staging the show.

The Best Production Award went to Hallways, a festival entry by the Spectacular Chair Factory Theatre Club. The club is a newly formed young people’s theatre club that entered another show in the festival as well. Three additional awards went to Hallways. The entire cast won Best Ensemble and Best Set (Cameron Wilson and Terrence Zhou). Plus Mason Temple won the Best Newbie for his role as a first time playwright and director of a show.

Adjudicator Stephen Drover emphasized that he is awarding Exceptional Awards rather that Best Awards. He said that all the shows had elements of exceptional and the choice is sometimes not easy to make.

Best Director was won by Ted Sloan for The Breakfast Club. This play, also an entry of the  Spectacular Chair Factory received more awards than either of the other shows: Best Technical (Jenn Merrett and Ted Sloan), Best Costumes (Melissa Baumeister), Best Supporting Actress (Carli Vance), and Best Supporting Actor (Braden Lock). Braden Lock, a local high school student, adapted the show for the stage which had never been done before.

The Stage North Theatre Society’s Take Five won three awards with Runner Up Best Production. The Runner Up is eligible to represent the Peace River Theatre Zone at Mainstage in Kamloops in July if the winning play cannot go. Stage North won Best Actress (Jamie Lock) and Best Actor (Dennis Szalai).

Spectacular Chair Factory will be fundraising in the next month to raise enough money to get the cast and crew to Mainstage in Kamloops to compete among other selected performances from throughout the province.Hallways will perform Friday, July 12, at 12 noon in Kamloops. The Peace River Zone committee kicks off the fundraising efforts with a $2000 grant.

For further information please contact: Mason Temple (Hallways) 250-794-8088, Braden Lock (Spectacular Chair Factory) 250-263-2201 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Dale Hillman (Peace River Zone Theatre) 250-793-6715 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Northern Lights Youth Choir & Special Guests Present...
"Spring Sing!" - a delightful afternoon concert of choral, concert band and string ensemble music!
Sunday, May 12 @ 2:00pm at the North Peace Cultural Centre
Adults $15, Seniors (65+) $10, Youth (0-18) $5
Tickets online at npcc.bc.ca or call box office 250-785-1992

Preparations for the second annual Sand Sensations sand carving event are well underway and it promises to be even bigger and better than last year.  Six international carvers have been invited to participate and they will be hard at work at Peace Island Park from July 27th to August 2nd.  The sculptures they create are guaranteed to be truly spectacular and they will remain on diplay through the World Gold Panning Championships and throughout the rest of the summer.

This year, as well, there will be opportunities for local residents as well as visitors to the region to try their hand at carving with a carving workshop and a family competition. 

Planns for 2013 include:

Theme: “A Walk on the Wild Side”
Date: July 27-August 2, 2013
Place: Peace Island Park, Taylor, BC.

Invited Sculptors: David Ducharme and Peter Vogelaar of BC, Canada
Ray Villafane of AZ and Andy Bergholtz of CA, USA
Arianne van Rosmalen and Merielle Heessels of GL, Nethernlands

Activities: Pre-work July 17-26
Summer SAND STAGE Music and Mixes July 27-28 & August 1-2
Professional Guided Tips & Tricks Workshop July 26
Family Competition July 27
Profession Judging & Closing Ceremonies August 2

The generosity of the community made last year's success possible, and once again we are inviting local businesses and individuals to join us in putting on an event that will make the region proud and provide an outdoor activity that can be enjoyed by local residents and visitors of all ages.

SAND SENSATIONS SPONSOR PACKAGE

After months of hard work and practice, hundreds of performing artists are ready to take the stage at the North Peace Cultural Centre for the 2013 Peace River North Festival.  Professional adjudicators will be arriving in Fort St. John from Vancouver, Edmonton and Quesnel to evaluate, encourage and inspire the musicians, singers and dancers of all ages and levels; from children whose feet don't quite reach the floor when they sit at the piano, to dancers in their teens who are already seasoned veterans of many festivals. 

All sessions are open to the public we encourage Fort St. John to come out and support these young performers, see what kind of talent we have in our community and welcome visiting bands and dance troupes from Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson and Quesnel.   

Schedule                                                                                                                                                                         

 All packed up and nowhere to go. Stage North Theatre Society has scouted out suitable spaces for rent and discovered, as a non-profit organization, they cannot afford any of those available spaces.

As of March 30, Stage North no longer has a home to rehearse shows nor build sets. This could mean no season of productions for Stage North next year in the North Peace Cultural Centre. With no place to mount a production, which takes about 3 months preparation, Stage North will have no shows to perform.

The membership of the theatre society has been sorting and packing set pieces, costumes and tools since they were given 30 days to vacate the basement premises of the old COOP. The 30 days notice was no surprised since it was part and parcel of the affordable rental agreement. Previous to moving into the Coop about 4 years ago, Stage North found similar affordable arrangements with Tracker Contracting before they also opted to renovate their premises.

After nearly 15 years of development, Stage North is homeless. Packed into two C-cans with costumes stored in a dry temporary location, Stage North is searching for a heated space of about 2000 square feet with a washroom. Stage North President Oliver Hachmeister said that a shared space is possible. “Our rehearsals are in the evenings and on weekends since everyone is a volunteer with a career job elsewhere or is a student. However, sets are constructed early and they remain in place until we truck them to the Cultural Centre for performances.”

Stage North has few options. Finding affordable, suitable space is the best answer and an immediate solution. The problem is the affordability. Stage North’s fundraising capabilities are already stretched to the maximum and commercial rents in Fort St. John are not within Stage North’s range. Hachmeister said, “Stage North can afford about $25,000 per year to rent rehearsal space.” He explained that rehearsal space, the cost of each production and the fees for performance space are the major line items in the annual Stage North budget.

Another option is pursuing the construction of a permanent space which would involve the purchase of land and a long-term fundraising program plus sustainable funding for operation. Stage North is a volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to providing quality theatre for residents and visitors and mentoring youth in presentation and technical skills of production.

Without on-going support from the community, this major project is not possible.

A third option is to return to the days of producing plays with small casts in make-shift locations only when a space is available for rehearsals. Theatre in Fort St. John, as far back as the 1940’s, found nooks and crannies to rehearse and perform. The casts were small; there was no program of mentoring youth; and technical instruction was non-existent.

It has only been in the last 20 years since the North Peace Cultural Centre opened in 1992 that a proper theatre facility has been available for performances. Local theatre has taken huge strides with larger musical productions, youth theatre summer schools, acting workshops, and instruction in production and technical aspects of theatre. Stage North provides production support for other community organizations and costumes for schools shows, talent shows and more. The opportunities for honing personal presentation skills for the young and the not-so-young provide another benefit to the community.

Stage North pays $30-40,000 each year in performance fees to the North Peace Cultural Centre. This, along with all the other indirect economic benefits to Fort St. John, will be lost if Stage North cannot mount a season of shows.  

Stage North is open for suggestions and partnerships with other organizations in solving the problem of lack of space for non-profits in this community. Contact Oliver at 261-1639 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any possible solutions.