1999 - Revealing Christ Through Drama

The Sixth Annual Drama Improvement Conference was rated “the best ever” by several of the participants. Attendees came from Oregon and Washington as well as Canada, Colorado and Kentucky! With 32 workshops to choose from, people learned everything from Improv to Directing to Mime to Writing. Bill McNeil’s book table did a thriving business, several different groups performed sketches or scenes, and a couple of structured networking times got folks together by locations and then by ministry type. CITA award-winning writer Wayne Harrel provided one-on-one writing consultations.

The highlight of this year’s conference was Friday night. The worship time featured the Power and Praise Dance Company, Jason Nightingale, and some of the most talented worship leaders in the city. This was followed by a provocative keynote address by Julisa Rowe, titled “Onions, Oranges and Other Revelations.” Then Jeff Berryman provided a powerful ending to the evening with his one man show, Leaving Ruin.

Response to the conference was positive. “I received spiritual as well as intellectual food at this conference.” “Very valuable! I was repeatedly encouraged.” “Fabulous! Wonderful! Keep up the good work!!”

1998 - Celebrate Drama!

The celebration started with a bang on October 9th as the Fifth Annual Drama Improvement Conference got underway with a record-breaking 200 participants. People from as far away as Colorado and Canada gathered at West Hills Covenant Church in Portland, Oregon for the 5th Northwest Regional CITA conference co-sponsored by Artists in Christian Testimony, Covenant Players, Tapestry Theatre Company, Theatron Productions, Village Players and CITA.

Workshops were offered in 6 tracks - Acting 1, Acting 2, Directing, Production, Writing and Youth - and participants were free to follow one track or skip from one interest area to another. This year featured several new workshop leaders. As usual, Bill McNeil of Theatron Productions put together a comprehensive resource center with hundreds of scripts, books and catalogs. And of course there were performances by solo actors and drama troupes throughout the conference.

Friday evening’s gathering began with a worship service, followed by a keynote address by CITA’s Executive Director, Dr. Dale Savidge about John 15. The evening was completed by a production of Lloyd Arnett’s one act play, Devotion, directed by David Ian and featuring several of the conference sponsors - Rene Mauck, Bill McNeil, Andy Rice, and Julisa Rowe.

There were some changes to the usual conference format. A “Resources General Session” on Friday afternoon highlighted samples of several different authors’ work. Later that afternoon, participants gathered by “interest groups” to share war stories and make connections with others doing the same type of drama. Saturday’s lunchtime was also a question and answer forum, with lively participation from audience and panel alike.

1996 - Unleashing Drama's Power

For the third year in a row, the Northwest Region of CITA combined efforts with Artists in Christian Testimony, Covenant Players, Tapestry Theatre, Theatron Productions, and Village Players to sponsor the Drama Improvement Conference. With 135 people in attendance from Spokane, Everett, Bend as well as Portland and Vancouver, the weekend was a rousing success.

Almost 90 people were able to attend the “Early Bird” workshops on Friday afternoon which covered several areas of acting and directing. The evening session began with a worship service of songs and dramatic offerings by Gethsemane Ministries, ACT, Proverbial Players, Covenant Players and Village Players. The service was followed by the premiere of a new work by Terry Spivey and John Rekart - Thy Brother’s Keeper.

“Technical rooms” were a new addition to the conference this year. Mel Schroeder and Jo Lewis from George Fox College brought costumes and set pieces while Dan Elsner of Tapestry Theatre set up a computerized lighting system. During the breaks, conference attendees toured the rooms and spoke with the designers. As always, Bill McNeil carted in boxes of books and resource materials for the book tables which were popular for browsing and for using plastic!

Twenty workshops were available throughout the day on Saturday. Topics ranged from “Messianic Dance” to “Subtext” to “PR” to “Character Analysis.” The beautiful September weather enabled everyone to have lunch outside and a rousing session of Theatre Games rounded off the afternoon. The Saturday evening session was a small group of “Actors InterActing” - a time of sharing joys and frustrations and “this has worked for me.”

Comments were overwhelmingly positive. "Thank you for this delightful, inspirational weekend!" "Thank you! Thank you! Several members of our drama group attended and they’re all excited and anxious to share what they’ve learned." "Great job! Had no idea so many people were into this." "I look forward to next year!"

1995 - More Tools! More Power!

The Northwest CITA regional conference, co-hosted by CITA, Artists in Christian Testimony, Covenant Players, Master's Image, Tapestry Theatre, Theatron, and Village Players was a rousing success again this year. With 120 people in attendance from Vancouver, B.C., Northern Washington, Central Oregon and the greater Portland area, the conference brought folks together for all-day sessions on Friday and Saturday. The Friday morning workshops were an experiment in reaching out to pastors and worship leaders who were interested in learning how to start a drama ministry, and the response was positive. Others joined in for the "Early Bird" workshops on Friday afternoon, which were then repeated on Saturday.

On Friday night, Scott Nolte, the Producing Artistic Director for Taproot Theatre Company in Seattle, spoke eloquently of our need to persevere in offering the "red wine" of the gospel to our communities and our culture. Versatile David Shelton, the special guest performer, had the audience in stitches with his mime - The Second Date, She Served Him Liver, and later presented a moving account of the Easter story as the character of John.

Based on the high demand for learning about acting, each time slot included two acting workshops, focusing on aspects such as character development, conflict, mime and improvisation. Other workshops included diverse topics such as writing, stagecraft, directing, pageants, costuming and makeup.

Response to the conference was enthusiastic and positive: "I was delighted. I expect great dividends in several areas for my church." "I thought it was great. I'm going to encourage more from our congregation to go next year."

1994 - Drama Improvement - Tools for Building your Ministry

Tim "the cardboard man" Taylor greeted participants as they entered Village Baptist Church on October 7 and 8 for the first ever "Drama Improvement Conference" in Portland, Oregon this fall. Co-sponsored by CITA, Artists in Christian Testimony, Covenant Players, Tapestry Theatre Company, Theatron Productions and Village Players, the conference exceeded all our expectations. 150 energized and excited people attended, and came away with ideas, books, brochures, new relationships, and the desire for more networking possibilities.

Lloyd Arnett came from Vancouver, B.C. to deliver the opening remarks. Encouraging us to seek truth and creativity in the work we do, he underscored the importance of continually improving our work. Performances that night were given by Village Players, Bill McNeil and our special guest, Chuck Neighbors, who performed In His Steps.

Saturday was filled with workshops designed to give "tools for building your ministry." Participants chose from twenty different options - from The Blueprint (writing) to Nuts and Bolts (acting) to Work Lights (lighting). Halfway through the day, we met as a large group and discussed how to keep the networking going throughout the year. The early afternoon was our Drama Showcase, featuring performances by several local actors. And throughout the day, conference attenders browsed the well-stocked booktables, resource table and displays. Saturday evening featured an open-ended forum, followed by performances by Village Players, Bill McNeil, Judy Urschel, Julisa Rowe, and Andy and Alison Rice.

Evaluation comments were overwhelmingly positive. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. More, more, more!" "The performances provided the inspiration to learn the mechanics of "how to." "I liked the hands-on approach of the workshops and the willingness of the instructors to share their knowledge." "Thanks for putting this together. Make sure it happens next year."