Liverpool International Theatre Festival looks for local hosts to open homes to delegates

Deborah Raddall and Jean Robinson are part of the team organizing this year’s Liverpool International Theatre Festival. (Rick Conrad)

It happens every two years, it’s less than two months away and the organizers of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival want you to be part of it.

The festival is looking for local residents to open their homes and help welcome the almost 90 people coming to Liverpool from 10 different countries for the four-day event.

The volunteer-driven festival is celebrating its 16th edition from Oct. 17 to 20 at the Astor Theatre.

This year, amateur theatre troupes from Morocco, Egypt, the country of Georgia, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Wales and the U.S. will be putting on one-act plays in an event that celebrates theatre and international friendship. Winds of Change from Liverpool will also be putting on a play at the festival.

“For those that haven’t been to the festival in the past,” says festival chairwoman Jean Robinson, “they are one-act plays and they have to be between 25 minutes long and 50 or 55 minutes long. And so, it’s a great introduction to theatre and different types of theatre.”

Deborah Raddall is in charge of LITF’s marketing and promotions. 

“LITF is a celebration of culture and theatre and community. And it’s a chance for us, meaning Liverpool, to experience the world.”

The festival relies on 40 to 60 volunteers from the community to make it happen.

Members of the theatre troupes are billeted at homes around Queens County. This year, organizers are putting an urgent call out for people to open their homes to the actors and crews coming to Liverpool.

LITF asks hosts to provide a bed and some breakfast for festival participants. The festival looks after everything else, including other meals and transportation. Hosts also get two free tickets to the play involving their guests.

Raddall and her husband Blair have hosted troupes in their home for many previous festivals.

“It’s a wonderful experience, my experience has been really great with that. We’ve been hosting almost every year and we’ve made wonderful friendships and connections. It’s quite unique for a theatre festival.”

“All you need to do is have a bed. It’s a bed and breakfast situation. What we ask of our hosts at a minimum is to provide a bed, provide a breakfast for them in the mornings and to pick them up when they arrive, if it’s a reasonable time. … At a minimum interaction, make them welcome in your home, give them something to eat in the mornings and our festival is designed to pick up all the rest of the stuff. … We’re really looking for a welcoming space and a little bit of breakfast.”

Robinson said hosts and guests have made lasting connections.

“Hosts can be as engaged in the festival as they want to be. We know that these have become lifelong friendships and also new experiences. People have gotten to go skating for the first time with their host, even being taken to the ocean to see a beach for the first time, going out on a lobster boat or things like that that have really cemented those relationships.”

Raddall says they’re still looking for space for about 40 troupe members. Troupes and potential hosts fill out questionnaires so that organizers can help make sure the experience is as positive as possible for everybody.

“It’s a process that’s not just we’re just going to chuck somebody on your doorstep without having a conversation about what works best for you and what works best for them.”

If you’re interested in becoming a host for the Liverpool International Theatre Festival, you can contact info@litf.ca , check out their website at litf.ca or message them at their Facebook page.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Astor Theatre hires new executive director

Jerri Southcott is the new executive director of the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Submitted photo)

By Rick Conrad

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool has hired a new executive director.

Jerri Southcott takes over the full-time position on Feb. 5, the theatre’s board of directors announced Tuesday

Southcott is no stranger to the Astor. As the founder of South Shore Summer Theatre, she brought two productions to Liverpool — Jesus Christ Superstar in 2022 and Pippin in 2023.

She says she’s excited about her new role.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting some of the patrons and working with the board of directors and the staff. I really do have a passion for the arts and for this building and the theatre itself. … I’m very excited.”

Southcott has experience on stage, and behind the scenes. She is a professional actor, with voice-over work in commercials, documentaries and animated series. 

She has a family background in theatre. Her parents ran a renowned music theatre program for young people in North Bay, Ont. She says that program is still going strong after more than 40 years. 

She has also worked in various communications roles with the federal government, along with stints in journalism with CBC.

It’s been four years since the Astor has had a full-time executive director. Jean Robinson has been filling the role on an interim basis for almost three years, since September 2020, and plans to help with the transition.

The theatre began its most recent search for a permanent executive director in March 2023, when Robinson announced she was stepping back from the temporary role for health reasons.

In May 2023, the Astor announced that its successful candidate would not be taking on the role after all.

Another search resulted in the hiring of Lesli Chandler, who began the job in July but resigned in September for personal reasons.

Robinson returned to her role as interim director in the meantime, helping with the search for someone to fill the job permanently.

John Simmonds, the chairman of the Astor board, says Robinson played a vital role in the past few years in keeping the Astor afloat. 

“She kept our doors open,” Simmonds said. “The good news is that through all this, the staff pulled together extraordinarily well. And Jean, as a part-timer, was putting in a full-time load. If it needed to be done, she would be here doing it.”

He says the board is excited about what Southcott will bring to the job, especially with what promises to be a packed 2024 season, starting with the Winds of Change production of the musical Follies in February.

“She will bring that leadership component which she has had before,” he said. 

“She has done an awful lot on the artistic side. She’s run programs, she’s an actor, she’s done all of the things that we do in the theatre, plus she has had a strong administrative component in her various businesses that she’s run. So we think that will stand her in good stead to hit the ground running in February.”

Simmonds added that one of the things that most impressed the board was Southcott’s background in communications, which he hopes will help boost the Astor’s considerable promotional efforts.

Southcott and her husband moved to Mahone Bay three years ago. She said she plans to commute to Liverpool for now, but that she and her family may consider moving closer as she gets comfortable in the job.

“I do see the benefits of living in the community and working in a position like this one,” she says. 

“And I also feel like the South Shore as a whole, it’s a great opportunity for me to introduce the Astor to people in this area who maybe haven’t really experienced the theatre.”

As she takes over from Jean Robinson, Southcott says she has “big shoes to fill”, but that she’s up for the challenge.

“I feel confident that it will be a wonderful experience thanks to the support from the board and from the outgoing executive director.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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