2020/2021 Season

U of T Drama Festival 2021

Mar 27 – Mar 31, 2021
  • Adjudicated by Nicole Eun-Ju Bell, Will Dao, and Laura Phillips
Season Sponsors:
Run Time: 5 days
Door Sales / Will Call:

  • The Will Call window is located through the main theatre entrance.

  • Opens at 5 pm for evening performances and 11 am for matinees.

  • 416-978-2452

Event Ended

Overview

Fully Virtual, Fully Adjudicated, Fully Fun

We are changing the format to create an inclusive and accessible virtual environment. Any U of T Student can submit this year either individually and/or as part of a group. This year’s Festival will be Adjudicated by a panel of Drama Festival Alumni.

The University of Toronto Drama Festival is a competitive Festival intended to provide an encouraging platform for the development of student talents, promotion of creativity and the recognition of excellence in theatrical performance and production. This year’s Festival provides an opportunity for U of T Students from all campuses to meet on a level virtual playing field, provided by Hart House Theatre, to compete for fun and adjudicated awards.

The University of Toronto Drama Festival has spawned numerous performers who have gone on to become stars of stage and screen: Ted Follows, David Gardner, Don Harron, Arthur Hiller, William Hutt and Donald Sutherland – to name a few. Over 80 years since its inception in 1936, and since Trevor Rines resurrected it in 1993, the U of T Drama Festival has provided a high profile showcase for up-and-coming theatrical talent and, when the doors are open, an accessible avenue for U of T students to perform and direct on the historic Hart House Theatre stage.

Festival Dates

Join us in celebrating World Theatre Day on March, 27 by watching the first part of the U of T Drama Festival! Our first episode will be launched on World Theatre Day and it will showcase our Play Creation Contest entries. The second episode will launch on Sunday, March 28, and features our Monologue and Short Scene submissions.

Adjudications and interviews with past Drama Festival alumni will also be included in the virtual festival. Both episodes will be available on our YouTube channel following their premiere weekend. Celebrate World Theatre Day this year by diving deep into the creativity of the virtual realm and supporting the emerging voices in Canadian theatre!

Festival Adjudicators

The 2021 Show Participants

Original Monologues 

  • Shelley Mayer

Established Monologues 

  • Karina Dulabh
  • Shelley Mayer
  • Anoushka Prasad

Original Short Scenes

  • Jordan Chan 
  • Shelley Mayer
  • Alyssa McCullough

Established Short Scenes

  • Hannah Cheetham
  • Shelley Mayer

Play Creation Contest

Group 1:

  • Tianna Dang
  • Hannah Cheetham
  • Sydnie Phillip
  • Leila Tjiang

Group 2:

  • Maya Fleischmann
  • Cass Iacovelli
  • Abby Kaneko
  • Shelley Mayer
  • Valeria Venturo

Awards

2021 Awards for Individual/Short Scene Submissions

  • Adjudicator's Choice Award: goes to Karina Dulabh for Bend It Like Beckham

Adjudicator's Awards of Merit 

  • Award for Vulnerable Writing goes to Shelley Mayer for Lockdown writing

  • Technical Achievement goes to As You Like it for their seamless edited transition (Hannah Cheetham and Shelley Mayer).

  • Acting Award of Merit for Anoushka Prasad for Story from Malcolm and Marie

Play Creation Contest Winner

Featherhead (Hannah Cheetham, Tianna Dang, Sydnie Phillips and Leila Tjiang)

Viewer's Choice Award

Do Ya Got A Fast Heart? (Cass Iacovelli, Abby Kaneko, Maya Fleischmann, Shelley Mayer and Valeria Venturo)

For more information please contact the Festival Coordinators.