ECHO Players are thrilled to be hosting, once again, the Vancouver Island One Act Play Festival, from November 5th – 9th , 2025. Originating in 2005, this Festival has become an annual tradition at the Village Theatre. This year will feature a mixture of established plays and fresh new works from up-and-coming playwrights, with different performances each evening by theatre groups from across central and northern Vancouver Island.
This Festival is an adjudicated competition, with awards presented in multiple categories, including Best Play and Best Original Script. This year, we’re honored to have as adjudicators Eliza Gardiner and Ward Norcutt. Each evening of the Festival will feature two different one act plays. Following each play, the adjudicators will briefly share some public remarks about the performance with the cast and audience.
At the end of the evening, a more detailed private critique will be given to the cast and crew of each play. The Festival will conclude on Sunday afternoon with an Award Ceremony, to which all are invited.
This is an exciting competition for playwrights, performers and audiences alike. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience a variety of plays, discover new voices, and enjoy insightful feedback from the Festival adjudicators. We look forward to seeing you there!
Festival Chair
Charlie Whelton
ELIZA GARDINER
Adjudicator
Eliza Gardiner teaches in the Theatre Department at Vancouver Island University. In 2024, she received the VIU President’s Award for Excellence in Education: Access and Inclusion. She is past Chair of the Theatre Department, and Manager of VIU’s Malaspina Theatre.
She is a proponent for the transformative power of arts-based education, and has facilitated theatre projects in prisons, seniors’ residences and schools. She is a past children’s theatre director with her company Red Room Studio, Artistic Producer of Western Edge Theatre, and General Manager of Nanaimo’s professional theatre company, TheatreOne.
Eliza’s original creative works include the folk rock musical Concessions of a Wannabe Rock Star and the Vancouver Island Symphony commissioned play for young audiences, Making it Reel.
WARD NORCUTT
Adjudicator
Ward Norcutt is a writer of prose, poetry, and stage plays. He also works professionally in set design, lighting design, acting and directing.
Before becoming a teacher of Dramatic Arts and English, he worked in various theatre and television productions like Danger Bay Productions, Citadel Theatre, Arts Club, and SCTV.
He taught high school from 1992 to 2018, directing, producing, designing and building over one hundred shows. He has been directly involved with over twenty musicals and one act/full length plays.