The Wasaga Society for the Arts would like to
invite you to participate in
Thespis
A festival of short plays
June 11 – 14, 2026, Wasaga Beach, Ontario

We at the Wasaga Society for the Arts are very excited to announce a new annual theatre festival, and we hope that we can include you in the very first edition!

Adjudicated sessions of short drama are a long-standing tradition in the Canadian theatre community. They provide an opportunity for theatre lovers to test their skills in challenging plays beyond their regular season. They are often also a way for new playwrights to have their work receive a full production, as opposed to just a reading. Participants gain exposure to a wide variety of theatrical styles in just a few days (the cast and crew of Thespis productions will have free admission to all sessions).

A few thousand years ago, an Athenian poet and singer named Thespis gained a place in arts history by becoming the very first performer to portray another character – the first actor! Theatre artists ever since have been proud to call themselves ‘thespians’ in his honour. We have named our festival for him, and in the Greek tradition, we will be staging the plays outdoors in full daylight only steps from our famous beach (although we have also booked a nearby indoor space in case of rain).

We hope to have 12-15 plays from 10-45 minutes in length, in four sessions over the weekend, contributed by companies from across Simcoe and Grey Counties – community theatres, high schools, or independent producers. The plays will be adjudicated by Carey Nicholson, artistic director of Theatre on the Ridge in Port Perry, Ontario, a director of 20 years experience who has adjudicated theatre festivals across the province. Carey will provide public adjudications for the audience after each session, as well as in-depth private adjudications for the director, cast and crew of each play. She will also present awards after the concluding session to  recognize the top productions and performers for the weekend.

What kind of play should you bring to Thespis? The sky’s the limit – comedy, tragedy, even short musicals (we’ll have power outside for an electric piano, and a baby grand at our backup indoor venue!). We are especially eager at the prospect of seeing a few new plays being tried in front of an audience for the first time… very exciting! That said, most of the great playwrights, like Shaw, Beckett, Albee, or O’Neill, wrote short plays, and there’s an abundance of Canadian material as well. Plenty to choose from. Although each play will be presented only once at the  festival, you can always put on a “Greatest Hits” evening when you get back home, inviting some of your fellow producers to take part. On the design side, short plays foster imagination. The only proviso is that because there will be several plays in each session, you should be able to install or strike your set in just a few minutes. And because the plays will be staged outside in the daylight, plays which depend on lighting effects probably won’t be the best choice. If Aeschylus and Shakespeare did their best work outside, so can we!

Once you’re ready, please register here. Until then, start reading some possible scripts, and if you have any questions whatsoever, please contact our production manager, Conrad Boyce, right away at conradboyce50@gmail.com   We hope to see you at Wasaga Beach in June!