Dominion Drama Festival
Aired Saturday, May 18, 1963 – Host Larry McIntyre
The Dominion Drama Festival was an organization in Canada that sought to promote amateur theatre across the country. It lasted, in one form or another, from 1932 until 1978.
The Dominion Drama Festival (DDF) was devised in 1932 as a way to promote the theatre that was being created in Canada. It was an annual event held each spring in a different city across the country. It would begin with small competitions in various parts of Canada, whichever were chosen from these regional competitions, judged by a travelling adjudicator, would move on to compete in the national festival. To be as fair as possible, a separate judge would preside over the festival at the national level. Prizes were awarded for the best performance of a full-length play in either English or French, for best director, visual presentation, best actor and best actress. Prizes were also awarded at the regional level, including best presentation of a play written by a Canadian.
At first only one-act plays were presented, but by 1950 the DDF had been transformed into a full-length play festival. Recurring financial problems necessitated the controversial patronage of Calvert’s Distillers (1952-60) and the Canadian Assn of Broadcasters (1961-65), which in turn allowed an Ottawa office and the hiring of a permanent director. From 1960 Canadians were engaged to adjudicate preliminary runoffs and, after 1965, the finals as well.
In 1963, CKCO-TV broadcasted the awards and trophies ceremony. President of CKCO-TV, Carl Pollock presented the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Trophy and adjudicator Pierre Lefevre presented trophies for best actor, actress, director, etc. The Dominion Drama Festival was held at the Lyric Theatre in Kitchener.
Information courtesy – Wikipedia – The Canadian Encyclopedia – CBC Archives
April 14, 1963 – Toronto Star
May 8, 1963 – Hamilton Spectator ~ May 21, 1963 – Kitchener Waterloo Record ~ May 21, 1963 – Hamilton Spectator ~ May 21, 1963 – Toronto Star