At a lavish National Arts Centre gathering last week in Ottawa, the Classic Theatre Festival’s Roger Schultz was honoured with a Best Technical Set Design award for his work on the professional Perth theatre’s production of the mystery thriller I’ll Be Back Before Midnight.
“It could just as easily have been any of the three sets Roger designed last summer at the Classic Theatre Festival,” enthused veteran critic Iris Winston. Some of Canada’s top theatre reviewers had honoured the Classic Theatre Festival with a record-breaking five awards nominations in the professional theatre category for the 2017 Capital Critics Circle Awards.
In an emotional acceptance speech, Schultz praised the whole artistic team behind those productions – director Laurel Smith, costume designer Renate Seiler, lighting designer/production manager Wesley McKenzie, and associate producer Matthew Behrens – and saluted the Festival as “the little company that could.” Schultz’s innovative designs for the thriller, along with his work on the Shaw comedy Candida and the Bernard Slade comedy Same Time, Next Year, produced a “wow effect” for audiences entering the theatre, which produces hits from the golden age of Broadway and the London Stage.
For Artistic Producer Laurel Smith, the critical attention being paid to the Classic Theatre Festival – which last year racked up four award nominations – is “a tribute to the remarkable talent that puts these plays on every summer. We are so privileged to host some of this country’s finest talent both onstage and behind the scenes, and I really believe these award nominations speak to the team effort that is required to put on the shows, whether it is stage management, lighting design, costume design, set design, the front of house folks who do such a great job making our guests feel welcome and at home, and the young people in our theatre training program who are at the forefront of what it means to be a Perth ambassador.”
Smith is busy planning the 2018 summer season which, in addition to three golden age of Broadway and the London stage classics, will also include a brand new morning walking play, a new ghost walk, and a show surprise that will be announced in December.
Advance Super Savings Flex Passes are now on sale for the 2018 summer season, providing guests a 25% discount and the flexibility to pick their dates next year. Those are now available at www.ticketsplease.ca or 1-877-283-1283.