Peace River Zone Theatre Festival starts on May 23rd

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The Peace River Zone Theatre Festival in Fort St. John will kick off on May 23rd at the North Peace Secondary School (NPSS), featuring three diverse performances by the school’s theatre program and Stage North. 

The festival, part of Theatre BC, has been ongoing in Fort St. John for more than twenty years. 

Ted Sloan, the festival chair, explained that the ‘tournament of plays’ brings the theatre community in Fort St. John together, from high school students to professionals.  

“It’s neat for us to get some education and some exposure to the pros. It’s neat that we get to see them and they get to see us,” Sloan said. 

On May 23rd, the NPSS theatre program will start the festival by performing two one-act comedy plays. 

One will feature a comedic chaos-filled Ocean’s 11-style plot, and the other will explore what happens when a squad of aliens tries to take over a high school. 

The second play of the festival, Bachelorettes, is performed by Stage North. It will be performed on May 24th and is restricted to adults only.

The night before a wedding, tragedy strikes at the bachelorette party, and the majority female cast explores the fallout of such tragic events. 

“We say it’s awesome, we just make sure that people are very aware that it is adult content,” Sloan said. 

Rounding out the festival is Don’t Fear the Reaper, a PG-rated ‘black’ comedy by Stage North about death being fired and featuring characters such as God and Satan.

During and after the three-day festival, an adjudicator will provide critique and feedback to the actors and present awards, such as best supporting actor, best set, and best ensemble, on May 25th. 

“It’s a big reason for theatrical people to get together and have fun,” Sloan said

An unspoken tradition of the festival is that performers from each play watch each play to support and learn from each other. 

“It is a competition, but in the end, it’s just kind of a big party and a big celebration,” Sloan said. 

The play that receives the ‘best production’ award will be invited to attend Theatre BC’s Mainstage Festival, which will be held in Chilliwack from July 1st to 7th. 

The Mainstage Festival will feature up to eight plays from across the province. While Theatre BC has announced the event, the exact plays have yet to be selected. 

In 2023, Fort St. John’s play, The Exquisite Hour, won awards for best ensemble, and an actor from the Energetic City who attended the festival won a special commendation award.  

Doors for each performance on May 23rd, 24th, and 25th will open at 7 p.m., and showtime will be 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on the day of, with the purchases being made by donation.

Donations go to the Peace River Zone Festival Board, which covers the costs of the festival and Theatre BC membership. 

“We wanted to make theatre accessible, so pay us what you can. If you can give us $0.25, that’s amazing. If you can’t give us anything, that’s okay, we just want you to see theatre,” Sloan said.