Theatre BC's Mainstage Festival

Theatre BC's Mainstage Festival TBC's Mainstage 2026 will take place in Vernon, July 6th to 11th. For the Love of Theatre! In 1923, Major Bill established the B.C. Come play with us!

Now over 90 years old, The British Columbia Drama Association / Theatre BC (TBC), is one of Canada’s liveliest arts organizations. TBC is proud parent to over 80 community theatre groups across the province, assisting the growth and development of what used to be referred to as amateur dramatics. TBC is a vital, thriving umbrella organization nurturing the spirit of community theatre—an associatio

n of people involved in theatre solely out of a love of the stage. TBC and its members foster the growth of professionalism, for always behind the fun is a serious-minded pursuit of excellence. TBC owes it start to one of the province’s colourful historic characters, Major “Bill” Bullock-Webster, who took up touring as an actor, stage manager and producer upon his arrival in Canada early this century. Drama Festival Association out of an office in the Legislative Buildings. Its goals were to establish as many theatre groups as possible in the province and hold festivals, the first of which was in April of 1932 at the Crystal Gardens in Victoria. By 1939, there were more than 178 member groups in B.C. and the festival was an annual event. One of TBC’s co-founders was Jessie Richardson, whose lifetime of encouraging and enriching theatre activities in British Columbia was formally recognized by TBC in 1981 with the creation of the Jessie Richardson Scholarship. During the war years TBC continued, but at a diminished level of activity. The constraints of wartime forced temporary abandonment of the provincial festival in favour of regional ones, and at this point the zones began to take on more responsibility for administering community theatre. Immediately after the war and indeed until 1952, TBC existed in name only; most of the work of encouraging and increasing community theatre was done by the Department of Education’s School and Community Drama Branch. In 1953, the provincial festival was resurrected in Vernon. Since then the festival, originally non-competitive and limited to one-act plays, has been held in all regions of the province. TBC has enjoyed a long period of sustained growth since the 1960’s. We are in Surrey this year for Mainstage, hosted by community theatre groups in the Fraser Valley Zone.

Our Backstage at Mainstage workshops are led by Kathryn Shaw this year! She will be teaching 'No Fear Shakespeare' on Mo...
06/19/2026

Our Backstage at Mainstage workshops are led by Kathryn Shaw this year! She will be teaching 'No Fear Shakespeare' on Monday, 'Monologue Mania' on Tuesday, "Be in the Moment Acting" on Wednesday, and "So You Want To Direct" on Thursday. Register on our website (theatrebc.org). Here is more about Kathryn Shaw:

Kathryn Shaw was the Artistic Director of Studio 58, the Professional Theatre Training Program at Langara College from 1985 to December 2020. She was granted Emerita status in 2022.

Known in her professional career as a director and educator, in her retirement she has taken up writing and has rekindled her acting career. Her play SUPER SENIORS was produced to acclaim by Western Gold Theatre in June 2024 with Kathryn playing one of the 105-year-old characters. She also has appeared in the feature film Hanne on the High Sea and the short films Mess She Made, Snap and Bare.

For over 50 years, Ms. Shaw directed for theatre companies across Canada and taught acting for professional and community groups in British Columbia, Winnipeg and Halifax. She has served as an Adjudicator numerous times for Theatre BC’s Mainstage and regional festivals.

Kathryn received the Canadian Actors Equity Life Membership award in 2016 and in 2010 she received the Career Achievement Award from the Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance. In 2005, Kathryn was elected into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. She is a recipient of the 1996 SAM PAYNE AWARD given by UBCP/ACTRA in recognition of “humanity, integrity and the encouragement of new talent.” Ms. Shaw has been nominated for four Jessie Richardson Awards for her directing work and has received two Jessie Richardson Awards for Direction and Best Production. Watch out for her production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night which she will be directing in Fall 2026.

This year's adjudicator is extremely experienced! We are excited to have Robinson Wilson joining us this Mainstage. Here...
06/18/2026

This year's adjudicator is extremely experienced! We are excited to have Robinson Wilson joining us this Mainstage. Here is more about him:

Robinson is an award winning Director, Fight Choreographer, Lighting Designer, Theatre Arts Educator and Adjudicator based on Vancouver Island.

He has adjudicated theatre and speech arts festivals for many years, and in 2024 was recognized for his ongoing Excellence in Drama Education, by the Association of BC Drama Educators, for his many years of mentorship and guidance to professional teachers in British Columbia.

In 2021 he acted as a consultant for Actsafe BC, the industry governing body for workplace safety in BC’s film and theatre world, in the development and improvement of safe workplace practices. A graduate of the Malaspina Theatre Technical Theatre program, Robinson was a professional theatre technician for 20 years, and over 3000 shows.

He has provided Directed Studies design mentorships at the university level, and has taught at the Association of British Columbia Drama Educators and National Theatre School of Canada Theatre Festival since 2017.

Directorial credits include: Blackbird, The Tempest, Misery, URINETOWN, and his adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Selected Lighting Design: Vancouver Island University, Theatre One, Touchstone/ Carousel, and Arctic Action, as part of the Nordic International Theatre Festival in Harstad, Norway. He has lit over 40 musicals.

Selected Fight Direction and Instruction: Arctic Action Norway (Oslo, Norway), 360 STUNT (Copenhagen, Denmark), and the Nordic Stage Fight Society (Stockholm, Sweden), and Arctic Action Iceland, in Reykjavik.

He has worked as a Historical Weapons advisor and consultant for Hallmark Television and independent film, and as a Martial Arts consultant for the Final Fantasy anime and video game franchise. He is a graduate of Langara College/ Studio 58’s Film Arts Program.

In 2019 he was Fight Director/Co-Choreographer and Creative Consultant for Bard on the Beach’s 30th anniversary season production of Coriolanus, which he also pitched and adapted from the original text, during his directorial apprenticeship there, the previous year.

What's a workshop play? Each year, plays that participated in a Zone Festival can apply to have their play looked at by ...
06/17/2026

What's a workshop play? Each year, plays that participated in a Zone Festival can apply to have their play looked at by a professional. Generally, the applicants are usually from the zone that is hosting Mainstage that year, but it is open to all clubs.

The first day (Monday, July 6), the facilitator watches the play along with the public - tickets are only $10! They will then work with the facilitator in exploring the play deeper. It's similar to a coffee critique, just much longer and more intense! Then, on the Wednesday (July 8), there will be an 'after' performance - again, open to the public for $10.

This year, our Workshop Play is "Alice in Wunderland" by Cara Nunn, presented by Powerhouse Theatre at the Powerhouse Theatre! See you there July 6 & 8 at 3:30pm!

What's a green room?In theatre, the green room is the place that actors (and techs) get ready for the play, then hang ou...
06/17/2026

What's a green room?

In theatre, the green room is the place that actors (and techs) get ready for the play, then hang out after as they get ready to go home. But at Mainstage, it is the party after the show! It's where we gather to talk about the show, meet up with friends, and congratulate the cast and crew for their hard work that day.

This year, we have a 'dress code' - nowhere to wear. Wear whatever you want - especially if it is an outfit you love, but you don't have anywhere to wear it!

Spent a lot of time on your creation and want to show it off? Wear it!
Is Hallowe'en your favourite holiday, and you don't think enough people saw your costume? Wear it!
Spent a lot of money to only wear it once? Wear it!
Just love that one outfit in your closet, but don't want to 'overdress'? Wear it!!

Some examples:
- Wedding Dress because you only wore it once
- Cap and Gown because you spent a bunch of money on that degree
- Cosplay because that takes a lot of time and money, and there isn't a Con for awhile
- Costume from your favourite play, but only if the costume manager agrees
- High school grad outfit because it somehow still fits... ish
- PJs because you want to go straight to bed after this
- Vintage clothing because you loved the style of the 1950s, or 1800s, or early 2000s

So feel free to wear whatever you would like in a judgement free zone! See you there, with bells on!

What is a coffee critique?Each morning (Tuesday to Saturday), Robinson Wilson will be talking with the cast and crew fr...
06/15/2026

What is a coffee critique?

Each morning (Tuesday to Saturday), Robinson Wilson will be talking with the cast and crew from the previous night's performance. He will be talking about design and acting choices, and may get them on their feet to try out some scenes in a different way. Join us for this educational conversation while treating yourself to complimentary coffee and snacks! Free to everyone who had tickets to the previous night's show!

Registration is now open for our 'Backstage at Mainstage' workshops. All workshops will be facilitated by Kathryn Shaw, ...
06/12/2026

Registration is now open for our 'Backstage at Mainstage' workshops. All workshops will be facilitated by Kathryn Shaw, and will be held at the Vernon Curling Club (same place as the registration desk, coffee critiques, and green rooms) at 1pm to 4pm.

Find out more information at: https://theatrebc.org/workshop-registrations-for-mainstage-2026/

Reminder: there are a lot of scams out there. You should never send someone an e-transfer unless you have met them in pe...
06/12/2026

Reminder: there are a lot of scams out there. You should never send someone an e-transfer unless you have met them in person and have physically seen the item you are buying. When it comes to tickets, always check with the ticketing agent to see their policies.

Our ticketing agent's policies are:
- Ticket re-sellers will have tickets VOIDED.
- All Sales Final. There are no refunds or exchanges.
- Be sure to have ID to pickup your tickets. The name on the tickets should match your ID.

So, make sure you don't buy tickets through social media sites - always go directly to the source!

Congratulations to Williams Lake Studio Theatre Society for their winning production of "Escaped Alone" by Caryl Churchi...
06/08/2026

Congratulations to Williams Lake Studio Theatre Society for their winning production of "Escaped Alone" by Caryl Churchill. We will see you at Mainstage!

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3800 33 Street
Vernon, BC
V1T3C8

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