Guelph students from John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute won two provincial awards at the Ontario NTS DramaFest Provincial Showcase, held May 20 to 23 at York University. Their play ‘Here’s What You Missed’ earned Outstanding Stage Management and Outstanding Direction, with the latter marking a clean sweep across all three competition levels this year.
Greta Z. received the Outstanding Stage Management award, while co-directors Grace M. and Quincy K. took home Outstanding Direction. The directing prize is especially notable because the team had already won it at the district and regional events, making for a complete trifecta in the festival’s 80th anniversary year.
Provincial adjudicator Mike Payette, Artistic Director of Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre, praised the students’ work and talent during the showcase. The Guelph production was among 12 student shows from across Ontario that reached the provincial level.
The play itself is based on true stories collected from seniors at the Elliot Community in Guelph, turning local oral history into a stage performance. Now, residents will have a chance to see it close to home. The production has been invited for a community presentation on June 13 at Knox Presbyterian Church in Guelph. The event will be pay-what-you-can.
NTS DramaFest, presented by the National Theatre School of Canada, has been running since 1946 and now involves more than 12,000 secondary school students each year. John F. Ross CVI’s drama program, which started in 1970, hosted the Waterloo-Wellington District festival earlier in March, where ‘Here’s What You Missed’ won Outstanding Production and began its journey to the provincial stage.
