One Act Play Festival A Community Gem
By Tom Pearson
As some of you may know, I was recently made the President of the Very Useful Theatre Company, which we also coordinate the hosting of the Newmarket International Festival of One Act Plays. As well, our mission not only includes creating stage opportunities for local performers, but raising funds for good causes such as the Newmarket Food Pantry for which we have quietly raised thousands of dollars over the past years.
The V.U.T.C. is a regisitered charity non profit but theatre arts are not one that the public thinks of typically when donating to local causes or for volunteers, so its a constant cycle to keep up a profile out there whether that be media coverage, or goodwill sharing of content, or supporting our message.
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That said, a number of great local businesses, service club organizations, as well as the BIA, and the town of Newmarket have all been very supportive in the past - especially of our festival. In fact, we have just started having our monthly board and organizing comittees meetings out of the town's municipal offices which gives us a home base to meet in!
Theatre Arts have for centuries brought communities together, and is also not only a tremendous conduit for for lifting spirits and for individuals to express themselves, but with the addition of our new youth company which the past two years we have been giving free youth workshops where they then write their own plays for one day of the festival we provide them, it is also a proven esteem booster and confidence builder!
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Should you have an interest in supporting the arts, I encourage you to visit out Facebook pages (as shown above) and follow or like us and of course should you wish to donate you can do that as well on our website, but mostly we just want to keep being able to provide opportunities to local #Actors, #Playwrights, #Stagehands and others to practice their craft, while performing to local and international audiences... and then who knows?
Our #NIFOAP festival has not only helped local Actors, a number of which are now also featured in tv and film productions, but also we attract play entries from Playwrights who regularly work in hubs like New York City, L.A., Chicago, Australia, the UK and on and on. Some are Creators and Writers in Hollywood and elsewhere and produce for networks like Disney as well, so we know we're attracting the world's best right here to little Newmarket!
I encourage you to support this local gem so we can keep providing these wonderful world class opportunities and if you're a Writer, Director or Actor (or aspiring) follow to get involved. This year's festival is slated to run Sept 7-10 at Newmarket Old Town Hall and is now accepting one act play submissions at submissions@oneactplayfestival.com or visit the website to submit as well at oneactplayfestival.com.
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Thank-you for your interest.