The Central Alberta Theatre will be hosting auditions on Feb 1 & 2 for the Heartland Regional One-Act Festival at the Nickle Studio Theatre. (CAT Facebook)

By Alessia Proietti

Central Alberta Theatre hosts Regional Festival

From the top: Auditions Feb. 1-2 for the theatre’s One-Act Festival

Jan 7, 2022 | 12:56 PM

Red Deer’s Central Alberta Theatre (CAT) will be hosting this year’s Heartland Regional One-Act Festival for the very first time. Get your scripts ready as auditions are taking place on Feb. 1 and 2 at the Nickle Studio Theatre (4214 58^th Street).

A one-act is a play that consists of one of more scenes, adding up to just one-act out of an entire play. The festivals one-acts will each be around 10 to 15 minutes in length.

The festivals have been happening in Alberta for over 50 years.

“One-acts are a great opportunity because it showcases your potential talent to a host of directors who eventually will want to use you in a full length play,” said Craig Scott, President of the Central Alberta Theatre.

Part of the Alberta Drama Festival Association (ADFA), the province is divided into 10 regions, each holding their own regional festival. Central Alberta is considered the Heartland Region, who’s Regional Festival will be held in Red Deer this year tentatively from April 28 to 30.

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Community theatres in each city will host their own auditions beforehand.

For Red Deer, CAT auditions in February consist of a one to two minute monologue, either comedic or dramatic, and can be from an original or already existing play. Directors will then test actors’ performing skills by asking them to present their piece in a different fashion.

“When I’ve auditioned, I did a piece from Charlie Brown and they asked me to be more serious and have it as Lucy interviewing Charlie as a psychiatrist,” he shared.

CAT auditions require a membership to the theatre first, which can be acquired by signing up as an actor or volunteer.

One-acts can consist of multiple actors and some children, however, the average age between them must be 18 years of age.

For the past three years Innisfail has hosted the Regional Festival, however, the baton has been passed to the CAT for the following.

“Any time that we can do theatre right now in these times, we are more than happy to be able to do so,” he said.

At the Regional Festival, one performance will then be chosen by an adjudicator to represent the region at the Provincial Festival. Following a two year cancellation, this year’s provincials are scheduled to be held at the Bailey Theatre in Camrose on May 27 and 28.

Scott urges actors and directors with all levels of experience to audition, from Red Deer Polytechnic theatre students to those who have never stepped foot in the spotlight.

“I tend to usually pick at least one new person who’s never acted on stage before; that’s what community theatre is all about,” he said.

Scott himself has plans to audition, this time having written his own piece during the pandemic. Inspired by a post seen on Reddit, it is based on the famous newspaper comic strip “Calvin and Hobbs”, sharing the adventures of a six-year old boy and his stuffed tiger. Scott’s play portrays Calvin as an adult.

Acting from the age of 11 and with a 35 year break from the stage, Scott has since been involved in over 40 shows between directing, acting, building or designing sets.

He believes the festival provides an opportunity for all actors across central Alberta to not only share ideas but meet new people.

“You also might get the opportunity to be in a film as well because we do have a number of people that are involved in film that also come to our theatre events and they’re always looking for actors. So who knows, maybe you’ll be the next big actor,” said Scott.

The Central Alberta Theatre Society is one of the oldest non-for-profit and volunteer-based amateur theatre companies in Canada, beginning in Red Deer in 1970.

For more information, contact Craig Scott at 403-872-2544 or craig.scott@effem.com.