After over 70 strong years, the Sears Drama Festival may be closing curtains for good after their next season of productions in early 2018.
It was announced that the Festival’s main sponsor, Sears Canada, will be pulling its support from the province-wide drama festival, which has been a showcase for the talented young actors, writers, and directors of the stage before taking their love for the arts to the next level.
“Dear Festival Friends, Teachers, Students and Alumnae,” the Sears Ontario Drama Festival Facebook page declared on August 26. “By now many of you have heard that Sears Canada has had to end its sponsorship of our beloved Festival. There are many people working diligently toward finding one or more new patrons so we may continue beyond this year and next. In the meantime, the District Festivals will be mostly unaffected and will continue to run this upcoming season in February and March of 2018. Hopefully, this crisis will be resolved by then. We ask for your continued support. If you have any leads for a corporate sponsor please let us know in a private message. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your summer and see you soon.”
Each year, the Festival has grown and continued to showcase productions across the Province. The Festival was founded by the late Ken Watts in 1946 with three schools participating. Over the years, it has grown and evolved into a renowned showcase, spotlighting spectacular performances and productions. In 2012, more than 12,000 students shared their talents, creativity and energy in over 350 productions across Ontario.
Locally, the Festival has been a time to celebrate the young talents across the high schools across the region. For some people, like Joshua Pride, the Sears Drama Festival has been a part of their lives since a young age.
“I grew up watching my mom direct Sears shows ever since she started teaching at SJSH,” Pride said. “That made me want to be a part of it. When I was in high school, I participated every year, went to provincials twice, and it gave me the chance to direct, and perform in a play that I wrote, "TXT or Die," which went to provincials again this year with West Ferris.”
He expressed his disappointment with the news, explaining how great an impact the Festival has had on his life, as well as on the growth of theatre in North Bay and surrounding areas.
“That kind of competition almost lends a ‘legitimacy’ to theatre,” Pride said. “Schools take sports so seriously, so having a competition with an OFSAA or NOSSA equivalent likely helped a lot of theatre departments grow and got school admins taking theatre arts seriously.”
He said it was unfortunate the Festival may cease, because of the friendships and support structures made between casts and crews within schools, as well as the cross-provincial travel for productions.
“I just hope somebody takes over,” Pride said. “There are a lot of smaller communities too that benefitted from this festival, like Cobalt and students from Almaguin. The Sears Drama Festival offered students a unique opportunity to explore dramatic arts through a competitive lens. More importantly, this teamwork created a lot of unforgettable memories and friendships. I am hoping that the festival is able to find a new source of funding and that a new institution steps up to support student theatre.”
Since the announcement, people have been expressing their support on avenues, such as their Facebook page, and the Sears Ontario Drama Festival page has responded with their hopes.
“Thank you, everyone, for your love and support. We will continue to fight to find new sponsors,” it reads.
