For those who aren’t in the know, the Sears Drama Festival is an annual competition in which high school students perform their very best works and get really vital feedback from established theatre professionals. It’s the oldest theatre festival in Canada, and has launched the careers of stars like Rachel McAdams, David Cronenberg, and Margot Kidder. It’s also a lot of fun!
Because Sears, the company, has gone bankrupt, the Festival was set to be cancelled. Fortunately, a set of new sponsors has stepped in to take over. The Festival will now be run by the National Theatre School (Canada’s major theatre training centre, in Montreal) and IATSE (the union for theatre technicians, among others). They have really great plans, and connect the Festival with the very best that Canada has to offer in terms of theatre training and professional guidance.
However, given the very short turnaround to get the Festival on its feet, they’re running a fundraising campaign to make sure that everything proceeds as usual in 2018. If you know the value of arts education in high school, and are in the position to help them out, you can check out their campaign here. There are 15 Abelardians participating in the Sears Festival this year – they will undoubtedly be grateful for your support!
The Abelard School 