Each year, the Western Ontario Drama League holds a "Minifest", where participants from across the region rehearse and perform the same play, each in their own way. It's meant as a workshop, a way to separate the stagecraft from the material, but it's also very entertaining on its own merits.
The play this year, Autumn Blooming, written by Fred Jacob in 1923 and billed as "a domestic comedy in one act", was actually a melodrama, telling the story of a woman who has lived all her life for her husband and children but was never appreciated for it. Then the children came back, and all they wanted was to sell the farm.
I played Skelton Spiller, one of the three children, in the London Community Players' Minifest entry. I got an award, too: the Innocent Fish Award. I was hoping for Best Actor, but you take what you can get!
The Minifest took place in Aylmer, with the following schedule:
| Friday, 21 July | 8:00 p.m. | St. Thomas |
| Saturday, 22 July | 10:00 a.m. | London |
| Saturday, 22 July | 11:15 a.m. | Kent |
| Saturday, 22 July | 2:00 p.m. | Elmira |
The Saturday events also included an evening banquet and social…with karaoke!
Partial Cast+Crew List: