Coming to Weyburn to adjudicate a week-long festival of full-length plays was coming home for Gordon Portman, who grew up in Weyburn and got his first taste of the theatre here.
TheatreFest 2018 featured plays by seven community theatre groups, with one play performed each evening through the week. Portman provided some comments to the audience immediately following each play, and he then held an extensive adjudication workshop with the cast and crew the morning after each play.
On the final evening of TheatreFest, he provided comments with each of the awards presented, talking about why he made the selections in each category.
After Crocus 80’s Freda Lautner presented him with a token of appreciation for his hard work through the week, Portman paid tribute to those who first introduced him to his love of theatre, including Bob and Brenda King at the Comp, and after high school, the Crocus 80 Theatre group.
“This means a lot, because I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been introduced to the theatre by Crocus 80,” he said, naming people such as James Hosking as key individuals who assisted him. “Thank you, Weyburn, it’s been nice to be home.”
He added later in an interview that the Comp’s arts program gave him a great introduction to the performing arts.
“I was just very grateful to have the opportunity to learn with good support, and the community theatre group gave me a great start as well,” said Portman.
Asked about the challenge of adjudicating the entire festival of plays, he explained, “It’s not really comparing the quality of each play, it’s about comparing the quality of the production of each one, looking at what each play demanded and where the play asked for more from the performers.”
The future of live theatre in Saskatchewan is in very good hands, he added, if the productions he saw this week is any representation, knowing there are many more theatre groups in communities than are represented at the festival.
