Image: Supplied by Dave Stephen, all rights reserved by EvanRae Media / The cast of “The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble” in a family confrontation: Charlie Honeyman (L as Peter), Krysandra Wilson (as Iris), Jennifer Stevens (as Sarah) and Mary Ellen Shimell (R, as Bernice). "The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble" will be performed by the Chilliwack Players Guild on Tuesday, July 2 at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre as part of the Mainstage Festival. 

By Fraser Valley Today Staff

Chilliwack Cultural Centre

Chilliwack Cultural Centre to host week-long Mainstage Festival featuring B.C.’s best plays

Jun 25, 2024 | 6:14 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack will host a week’s worth of unique and entertaining performances in conjunction with the Mainstage Festival starting on Canada Day next week at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre.

According to Dave Stephen, marketing and communications director for the Mainstage 2024 Festival committee, each night of the festival will feature a different show, representing the play judged best in its zone. Theatre B.C. comprises regions, or zones throughout B.C.; in the past month, six of these regions held zone festivals, with groups from around that zone staging plays. A professional adjudicator assessed each performance and selected a winning production from that zone to proceed to Mainstage, to be held at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre.

The final line-up of plays consists of:

On July 1, “Bachelorette” by Stage North Theatre Society representing the Peace River;

July 2, “The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble” by the Chilliwack Players Guild, from the Fraser Valley;

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July 3, “Moonglow” by Pivot Theatre, representing the North Shore Zone;

July 4, “The Exquisite Hour” by Vernon Powerhouse, representing the Okanagan;

July 5, “The Pillowman” by Portal Players of Port Alberni, from the North Island;

July 6, “Tesseract” by the Kersley Players, representing the Central Interior.

“We are so excited to be hosting this prestigious and important event in our beautiful Cultural Centre” said Mainstage Festival committee chair Clint Hames. “We are particularly pleased that the Chilliwack Players Guild has been selected to have an entry in the Festival. This will be an amazing week celebrating the theatre arts.”

All plays will be presented in the Hub International theatre in the Chilliwack Cultural Centre. In addition to the performances, audiences are invited to stay for a short adjudication by festival adjudicator Joan MacLean, a talented actor, musician, director and teacher based in Vancouver. A bonus for interested audience members will be ‘Coffee Critique’ session held the next morning, where McLean and the previous night’s cast and director delve into an in-depth discussion and potential working of scenes from the play. The Provincial festival is being hosted by the Chilliwack Players Guild. At the end of the week McLean will announce awards for best production, acting, directing and other categories at a special luncheon event.

To obtain tickets and information about performances, contact the Cultural Centre box office at www.chilliwackculturalcentra.ca or 604.391.SHOW. In addition to individual show tickets, there are three-show and full-week passes available. Mainstage 2024 also offers a variety of acting and directing workshops, led by professionals associated with the Arts Club of Vancouver. Registration for these is available via https://theatrebc.org/workshops/