Theatre BC and the
NORTH ISLAND ZONE
FESTIVAL 2025

ECHO Players are delighted to be hosting the North Island Zone Drama Festival at the Village Theatre from May 13 to May 18, 2025. Each evening highlights a different performance from the clubs in the North Island Zone, from Campbell River to Nanaimo, and this year, we are delighted to welcome Leon Potter, as our adjudicator. The Festival concludes with an Award Ceremony and the Best Production is entered in the provincial Mainstage drama festival held by Theatre BC in July with participating community theatre groups from all over the Province.

An estimated 2,000 people participate in the Festival from all over the North Island, including club members and audiences, many of them spending the week in Qualicum Beach and Parksville patronising local hotels, restaurants and other businesses. Our club, as host, ensures that the visiting groups are made to feel welcome in our community.

This season ECHO Players will not only be hosting the Festival but also celebrating 50 years of being in the Village Theatre and 50 years since they first hosted the Festival!

Whether as participant or audience member, we look forward to seeing you during this exciting week.

Lesley McVey
Chair, North Island Zone Festival 2025

Leon Potter

NORTH iSLAND ZONE FESTIVAL 2025 adjudicator

Currently the chair of the theatre department at Vancouver Island University, Leon has been working in the industry since 1989. Originally trained as a set & lighting designer at U-Vic, and later completed his MA (w/distinction) Text and Performance in Directing at the UK’s esteemed RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) and Kings College, London.

Over the years, Leon’s credits span a myriad of positions including Director, Actor, Designer, Writer, Technician and Producer among others. He began working as a director in 1994, was the founding Artistic Director of the Looking Glass Theatre and later was AD of Blue Peanut Productions. Leon is a professional member of the DGGB (Directors Guild of Great Britain) and of CAEA (Canadian Actors Equity Association.

In more recent years, Leon has been working as a professor at the university teaching Acting, Theatre History & Public Speaking. He has also been busy performing workshops, and adjudication around the province among other contracts.