Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Grand Bank Regional Theatre Festival
Annual summer theatre festival in Grand Bank, located on the south coast of Newfoundland and Labrador on the Burin Peninsula, founded in 1995. It is produced by the umbrella company Lighthouse Productions Inc., a not-for-profit professional theatre company.
GBRTF is the third largest professional summer theatre festival in the province, and in 2010, it entered its seventh year of development as a professional company. It is a member of the NL Alliance of Professional Theatre Producers, networking with and supporting all other professional companies in the province. GBRTF actively lobbies for the status of the artist in the province, articulating and practicing unique creation, rehearsal and performance methods. Taking traditional language and storytelling forms and combining them with innovative and exploratory theatrical methods, the Festival practises an artistic vision of “In Our Own Words.”
The Festival has a summer season of eight productions, both main stage performances and secondary shows, which run in rep from the first of July until the end of August or early Fall. Many of the company are graduates of Sir Wilfred Grenfell College's Theatre Program (BFA) in Corner Brook.
GBRTF creates, develops and produces vital and dynamic Newfoundland-Labrador theatrical works, with a special emphasis on the stories and heritage of the Burin Peninsula, including works by playwrights Berni Stapleton and Joan Sullivan. In 2010 it produced the world premiere of Gordon Pinsent’s Easy Down Easy, a co-production with Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre.
GBRTF engages in educational outreach with their playwriting competition for junior high and senior high school students on the Burin Peninsula, and with The Cassie Brown Project, a school tour and workshop series. They also tour shows such as Beauty Tips for the Vain & Deluded to the Basement Theatre in St. John’s.
Current Artistic Director of the Grand Bank Regional Theatre Festival is Levi Curtis.
Website: www.grandbanktheatrenl.com
Last updated 2021-01-08
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