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the quality of creative engagement in the Okanagan through publications and events.
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The Play’s the Thing
PAST IS PROLOGUE
» Thursday 29 January 2009 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing people and ideas featured in Okanagan ARTS. Join us as Margaret Gobie, Sean Newton, Estelle Shook, Eric Hanston and Debbie Helf lead a lively roundtable discussion on the development of the theatre in the Okanagan.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
The Theatre Community Takes Centre Stage
Playwright George Ryga forever placed the Okanagan on the Canadian map for excellence in theatre. Since those heady days of the 1970s, the Okanagan theatre community has evolved and grown, experimented and, in some cases, struggled. But what has continued is a thirst for live events both big and small, professional and amateur.
For the first time ever theatre experts from across the valley, both past and present, will gather together on Thursday, January 29 at 5 pm as part of the ongoing weekly Okanagan Institute Express series at the Bohemian Café for The Play's the Thing - an examination of what makes the stage come alive in this region.
The event is part of the Okanagan Institute's Past is Prologue series of presentations. Since July 2008, the series has taken a close look at the individuals and groups who have shaped the Okanagan cultural scene since the 1970s, including key players like Canada Council of the Arts member Ruth Schiller, and the development of Ballet Kelowna.
Speaking at the event on Thursday will be representatives from Many Hats Theatre in Penticton, Theatre Kelowna and Sunshine Theatre in Kelowna, and Caravan Theatre in Armstrong.
 Eric Hanston is the president of the Many Hats Theatre Company, which emerged at the end of 2007 as an actors' co-operative. Seventeen individuals with various theatre backgrounds and experience from around the South Okanagan form the nucleus of the company. The company operates out of the Cannery Stage in the Cannery Trade Centre. During its first year, the company produced five successful packed-house shows and have another five lined up for this year's season.
 For half a century, Theatre Kelowna Society has been lauded as one of the best community theatre groups in the province frequently winning awards at the provincial drama festivals. Debby Helf has been a member of the society's board for 25 years, currently serving as vice-president. Over the years, she's worked as actor, propsmaster; lighting operator, stage manager, set painter, costume maker, producer, publicist and "mopper of the stage".
 Sunshine Theatre launched in 1977, and today makes its home at the Rotary Centre for the Arts. As artistic director for the theatre, Margaret Gobie brings with her a background in both live theatre and film. Highlights include working at the Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival for many years and the Toronto International Film Festival. She was also the director and co-producer of Glass Hammer Productions, a live theatre company in Toronto focusing on new works and literary interpretations.
 Located just outside Armstrong, the Caravan Farm Theatre has been wowing Canadians with its professional outdoor theatre productions since 1978. As artistic director, Estelle Shook has produced, developed, designed and directed more than 27 original productions for the company, most recently the The Secret Sorrow of Hatchet Jack MacPhee, by Judd Palmer and Mercedes Batiz-Benet. She has worked in theatre in New York, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.  Sean Newton joined the theatre last year as general manager following an eclectic career in arts. A graduate of the theatre arts program at Douglas College, Sean has worked as a freelance photographer based in Paris, developer of an artisan clothing and jewellery line, and even operating a restaurant which opened doors to event planning and a position as director of the CRIR Rodeo, Calgary's second largest rodeo.
The Play's the Thing: Past Is Prologue is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 75th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and others from a wide range of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Where Enquiring Minds Gather. Okanagan Institute at the Bohemian Café A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan Institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home. Express is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Publishing, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna.
The Okanagan Institute is a group of creative professionals that have gathered around the goal of providing events, publications and services of interest to enquiring minds in the Okanagan. We partner with individuals, organizations, institutions and businesses to achieve optimal creative and social impact.
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
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