Waterfront Players Repertory Company

In addition to winning the festival, the Company received awards of excellence in costuming and set design, and a special trophy in acting to Sabrina Cox.

Some of the more significant criteria for the competition are:

· All theatre companies must meet the same eligibility standards and requirements.

· Maximum time limits are 60 minutes performance time; 10 minutes set-up time and 10 minutes strike time.

· Qualified and impartial adjudicators are essential to the success and fairness of the festival process.

· All actors, musicians and stage personnel must begin set-up and end strike either in or immediately adjacent to the "on deck" areas.

· The festival must be held in a functioning theatre facility.

· A production must be performed in the same form at all festival levels.

· The house must be closed during each performance.

· Adjudicators must not discuss productions before the first ballot.

· The Festival Commission Representative will make the final determination in all matters of dispute during a festival.

The Oregon AACT/Fest is a leg of a national competition sponsored by the American Association of Community Theatre. "We joined the Association five years ago to feel part of a larger organization, to learn some tips from some of the 7000 member theaters, and to generally keep our fingers on the pulse of national trends," according to Judy McDonald. "We never thought we would be going to competition, let alone winning."

Oregon AACT/Fest was held at the Gallery Players in McMinnville on March 14, 15, and 16, 2003. Other competing theaters were the Gresham Little Theater, the Lumiere Theater of Tualatin, and the Gallery Players.

The Waterfront Players production of In Juliet's Garden seemed like a logical submission when the Company first learned of the first state competition. The script was originally written to be part of a production called Suggested by Shakespeare that was a compilation of short one-act plays relating in some way to Shakespeare.

"We had six or seven really good female actors in that show," according to McDonald, "who had essentially bit parts in the Shakespearean ensemble. I wanted to add something to the show to spotlight their talents. So I sat down to write an all-female one-act."

The plot revolves around four of Shakespeare's heroines, Desdemona, Ophelia, Portia, and Katherina. Juliet, who, along with the others, has "issues" with her plot, invites them to lunch. She has also invited Jacqueline De Boys, Shakespeare's editor and literary agent, to see if something might be done to make their plots a little more comfortable or convenient.

The show employs one of McDonald's favorite themes: that, after 400 years, Shakespeare's heroines have become so indelible that there is really only one essential Juliet, one Portia, etc., who rushes around from playhouse to playhouse, inhabiting various actors, a kind of reverse stereotyping.

After the original production at the Waterfront Playhouse in 2000, the play was awarded production at the 2001 Festival of Inspired Shakespeare in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

When the Company learned of the State competition, it seemed natural that this existing show, written by the company Artistic Director, would be the entry.

Three members of the original cast were available for the current production: Ann Rakosi as Katherina from Taming of the Shrew, Peggy Varner-Hall as Juliet's nurse, and Toni Sanitate and the fictional Jacqueline de Boys.

Cast members new to the show are Laura Sandgren as Portia from Merchant of Venice, Sabrina Cox as Ophelia from Hamlet, Annette Miles, as Desdemona from Othello, and Emilie Wilson as Juliet from Romeo and Juliet.

According to Pat McDonald, the Company's founder and President, the experience of competition, on a level playing field with other theaters, has had a tremendous impact on the board, production staff and crew. "It was wonderful to hear the work of our own artistic director, and the talents of our cast and crew cheered by an audience of impartial observers. I can't forget it. "