NORTH BAY—From the smallest community represented at the QUONTA Festival, the Espanola Little Theatre (ELT) vied with North Bay’s Gateway Theatre Guild, Thorneloe Theatre and Cambrian College of Sudbury, the Sault Theatre Workshop and Elliot Lake’s ELATE for recognition of its work at the hands of Gore Bay’s Walter Maskel.
The ELT play ‘Looking’ by Norm Foster impressed adjudicator Michael Hennessy and at the Awards Ceremony on Sunday, March 18, he awarded the group five of the eight major awards including Outstanding Production of the Festival, as well as Outstanding Visual Achievement, Walter Maskel and Richard Gamelin, Outstanding Actor, Jason Morrow, Outstanding Actress, Kathy Carré, Outstanding Director, Walter Maskel, and Outstanding Production, ‘Looking.’
Producer Lisa Gamelin said that the ‘Looking’ company had “felt really good” about the connection the play made with the audience. The group was especially pleased with Mr. Hennessy’s public adjudication from the stage immediately following the show and at the detailed adjudication the next morning. Ms. Gamelin went on to quote just a few of his remarks. “The production was in the hands of a very strong director (Walter Maskel) had the audience in the palm of their hands,” “production values, set changes, transitions were terrific,” “extremely entertaining and wonderful evening of theatre,” “cannot say enough about how all the aspects of this production came together,” and “all the moments were captured.”
She added, “After our detailed adjudication, everyone was coming up to us telling us to pack our stuff for the trip to the Theatre Ontario Festival being held in Kingston on the long weekend in May.”
In addition to Producer Lisa Gamelin, the company included: on-stage, Kathy Carré, Dario Laurenti, Theresa Laurenti, Jason Morrow, and in production, director/sound design and lighting design and operator Walter Maskel, stage manager Mike Carré, props/wardrobe mistress Jody Bourcier, sound operator Michael Boivin, set design and realization Walter Maskel and Richard Gamelin, and production consultant Sharon Sproule.
