Whenever voices are used to express thoughts, to entertain audiences, to bridge the distance between minds, the art of speech is underway.
These skills come to a fine point over this weekend and into early next week. The 34th Annual Speech Arts & Drama Festival puts on stage the city's best examples of acting, recitation and other oratory talents.
"Prince George is known for many things, but few locals know about the treasure our community offers students through the vehicle of speech arts and drama," said Carol Joy Green, spokesperson for the organizing committee. "It is not about speechmaking, but about creating confidence, strong communication skills and bringing literature to life. From mime to Shakespeare, storytelling to Canadian poetry, this (festival) will see one of the largest volunteer-run speech arts and drama festivals in all of Canada."
All sessions are held at UNBC and are open to the public by donation. Festival programmes are available in advance for $8 at Studio 2880 so you can target the session of your choice, or just drop in and enter the stream of monologues, dialogues, acted scenes and other performances.
"Students range from shy youngsters learning to 'project,' to energetic communicators and students with an abundance of 'drama' looking to have those instincts channeled into acting skills that can make a poem or story shine," said Green.
In the adjudicator's chair, the festival always brings a seasoned veteran of the craft with the additional aptitude of strong instructional skills. This year that special guest is Grant Paterson. He has been teaching theatre and speech at Mount Royal University in Calgary since 1994, and he founded and directs Mount Royal Conservatory's Young Shakespeare Company.
Paterson has adjudicated many festivals throughout Canada, including the Canadian National Festival, and has given numerous workshops on topics such as public speaking, handling text, voice and speech, and Readers Theatre for seniors. He is an examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music, and has contributed to publications of the RCM including the Speech Arts and Drama Syllabus, 2011 edition.
As an actor, Paterson has many performance and acting credits in Western Canada. His play, Rhyme Rustler: The Ballad of Robert Service, had two seasons at Calgary's Vertigo Theatre.
The Prince George Speech Arts & Drama Festival is on now until Wednesday.
On May 13, the best performers from the festival will be presented for a noncompetitive command performance. The festival's top awards will be presented at that time.
