Moosomin hosting regional drama festival in April
March 10, 2025, 4:14 pm
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
For the first time in six years, Moosomin will get the chance to host a regional drama festival.
“We are very excited,” said Sherrie Meredith. “It’s on April 11 and 12th, and we haven’t had a drama festival in this region since 2019.”
The last drama festival hosted in the region was at Rocanville.
“After the pandemic, it kind of shut down festivals for a little bit, and then our region got really small,” Meredith explained. “For the last couple of years, we’ve been traveling to different regions. One year, we went to Esterhazy and it has been in Indian Head, and Yorkton, but this year we are bringing it back.”
The regional festivals see different schools bringing a one-act play to perform before an adjudicator backstage plus a front of house adjudicator. A rubric to evaluate each performance is used.
“But really, it’s just a chance to share your plays with other schools and with other teenagers,” Meredith explained. “After the sessions of plays, then they go into workshop with the adjudicator, and then we work things through.”
There’s even an awards banquet to follow with everyone focussed on who will be named Best Overall.
“At the award banquet, there’s a number of awards, kind of like the Oscars,” Meredith said. “There’s a Best Overall—that’s the most coveted award, because the winner of the Best Overall will then go and represent the region at Provincial Drama Festival in May.”
There’s also Best Technical Production, Best Visual Production, acting and crew awards.
“There’s many awards to be had, but the most coveted is Best Overall.”
Across the province, there are 11 regions each hosting drama festivals within the first two weeks of April, then the Provincial Drama Festival from May 8-10 in Moose Jaw.
Judging criteria
Each production is more fast-paced than one might assume, racing against the clock every step of the way.
“They’re one-act plays that will be chosen, and they have to be under an hour,” Meredith explained. “You get 10 minutes to set up, so all of your set’s on the ground, and then they will time you. You have 10 minutes to get everything set in place, and then you have to perform your play, which has to be under an hour. Then you have five minutes at the end to strike, and they will time that as well. It’s a pretty interesting thing to come and watch, for sure, but you get to see five plays that weekend from the different schools.”
With Friday night and Saturday afternoon sessions at the Moosomin Community Theatre, the public is welcome to attend and enjoy all the action. On Friday, April 11, the doors open at 5:45 pm with the McNaughton High students performing The Mysterious Case of the Mysterious Case (directed by Meredith and Tannis Schwean). Indian Head High School is next with their play The Visitors, and Yorkton Regional High School wraps up the evening with their play 4 am.
On Saturday, April 12, the doors open at 12:45 pm with the McNaughton students bringing their play Selfie (directed by Chace Bock and Hanna Konowalchuk) to the stage. Rocanville School closes the festival with The Price.
“That same weekend, there’s a wonderful, huge dance competition happening down at the MCC so it will be an arts weekend in Moosomin,” Meredith said of the Eclipse Dance Experience event at the Moosomin Conexus Convention Centre April 11-13.
As for the workshops and award ceremonies for the Region 1 Drama Festival, they will be held at McNaughton High School in the gym.
Drama vibrant in town
Moosomin has a history of a healthy drama scene, even boasting a recent Provincial title in 2018, but with the devastating blow Covid dealt many aspects of life, that youth drama component is in rebuilding mode.
“That pandemic really did put a damper on things where it was for probably two years we couldn’t rehearse the same way that we once had,” Meredith explained. “We’re definitely not alone. Most schools are what we call in a rebuilding season. But they’re very excited to have this festival to work towards.”
There’s also room for camaraderie, and a fine example of this is in the social evening that usually happens when a centre hosts a regional festival.
“When everybody hosts the festival, they always have what they call a social evening on the Friday night. After the first set of plays are done, they have a social evening,” Schwean explained. “So all the towns, the actors, and actresses, get together.”
Usually, this gathering is a dance, karaoke night, or trivia night—an excuse to bring everyone together and have fun.
“So it’s not just about competition,” Schwean said. “It’s about building relationships too.”
