Our Presenter Spotlights are a chance for the wider sector to get to know the people and organizations bringing live performance to communities across Ontario.
This month we spoke with Sarah McKenzie with the Dryden Youth Entertainment Series in Dryden, Ontario.
Email Sarah • DYES Facebook
Close to Home
I’ve lived and worked in Dryden almost my entire life. I joined the DYES committee during COVID. As a mom of two young girls, I think it’s important to ensure they have access to opportunities in the arts. We can’t always make it to a bigger city to see plays, musicals or concerts, so joining this committee meant that I could help keep these kinds of presentations and opportunities closer to home, both for my family and for other families in Dryden.
Starting With a Group of Parents
The Dryden Youth Entertainment Series was established as the Dryden Children’s Delight Series in the 1980s by a group of parents who wanted their children to have access to live theatre and the arts. The organization rebranded in 2020 to be more inclusive of youth of all ages.
We’re a volunteer-run presenter committee organizing annual series for youth and families in Dryden, a community of about 7,500 people in the heart of Northwestern Ontario. We’re a warm community of outdoor enthusiasts, builders and creators.
The work has three parts. We scout for quality acts and presentations, pitching and negotiating with a broader regional booking block group to make them available. We present those acts, organizing the funding and logistics to make it possible. And we maintain opportunities for children and families to experience live art, partnering with other community organizations and always recruiting new members to ensure the sustainability of the committee.
A True Theatre Space
DYES presents at the Centre (The Dryden Regional Training and Cultural Centre), a 500-person theatre space and a beautiful facility that artists are always impressed by when they come to town. The Centre was established in 2003 by a group of volunteers who were passionate about having a dedicated space for arts presentation. It took a lot of partnerships and perseverance to see the project to fruition, and every season I am thankful for that group’s efforts.
Given that our community is rural and remote, we’re lucky to have the ability to present in a true theatre space. I feel privileged to be able to provide families their first live-theatre experience in such a beautiful venue. We’re supported at the Centre by a fabulous team of event professionals and could not run our series without them. We’re very lucky to have access to the equipment and expertise required to show our audience the best version of every show we bring in.
The Seeds We’ve Planted
In a small community, we wear many hats. I volunteer for several other organizations and groups, and I can honestly say the work I do with DYES is some of the most meaningful. Watching children navigate the theatre space, learn the theatre etiquette and whole-heartedly enjoy the shows we bring in is very rewarding. It’s my hope that when we send youth out into the world, they’ll continue a love for theatre and live art because of the seeds we’ve planted through DYES in their childhood.
When we curate our season, we try to incorporate shows that balance entertaining and thought provoking, from a broad spectrum of live arts media. Some of the offerings and topics can be different from something audiences would normally see or experience. I hope that when they see our shows they are first entertained, and second, that they go home and talk about what they saw. Talking with children about live arts helps them formulate critical thinking skills. What was their favourite part? What were they feeling during certain scenes or songs? What didn’t they like about the presentation?
I hope DYES inspires families and youth to seek out live arts in other communities, and to consider taking in live art as a valuable piece of becoming well-rounded people and community members.
This season I’m particularly looking forward to hosting Club Origami by Ichi Ni San. My family and I took in this show at the Vancouver Children’s Festival in 2025. Some of my favourite presentations are the ones where you don’t fully see where the artists are going initially, but once you hit the pinnacle of the show you see how it’s all come together. This is a great example of that. It also includes a lot of paper, so as a former paper-mill town, this one hearkens back to Dryden’s history.
Best Memories
One of my favourite parts of presenting in a small town is the familiarity we build with our audience. I know many of the kids’ names and see many of the same families coming out and enjoying the evening together. When we book our seasons, we do it for them. It’s also exciting to see a new family age in, watching a new group of three and four year olds come into their first show, watch the house lights go down and get captured by the stage lights and the artists.
We’ve had so many memorable moments. Last season a group of kids broke out into dance during Chris McKhool’s show. We’ve had audiences entranced by the large, water-spitting marionette in The Dragon King by Tanglewood Marionettes. Some of my favourites come from presentations geared towards the younger age groups, zero to three, as babies and toddlers take in a show like Flora and Fauna, where elaborate costumes and intentional dance give them their first taste of live theatre. During that one, my then-two-year-old daughter stood up and ran right into the fauna cave on set. We had to go and fish her out in the middle of the show.
If you’ve never been to one of our presentations, you’re going to feel cozy in the theatre. When you first come in the lights are low and you get settled into your seat with your family or guardians. At first you’ll hear a lot of excited chatter, see kids waving at each other across the room. Then, once the show begins, you’ll hear laughter, clapping and the occasional surprised gasp. In all, you’ll remember how the show made you feel: sometimes happy and cheerful, maybe sometimes frustrated or sad, but always ending on a good note. Our hope is that the experience will bring you back to do it all again at the next show.
A partnership I’m proud of is with a member of Waabigonii Zaaga’igan (Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation) who brings groups of families to come and see our shows. It’s meaningful and important, and it has helped us reach the community and helped our audience grow.
You Don't Have to Water It Down For Kids
You really need to trust children’s ability to take in theatre. There are so many times where I’ve dismissed a show as maybe being too slow, or the topic too complex, and my kids are always quick to set me straight. When we attend children’s festivals, my kids routinely surprise me with their picks of their favourite shows. Just because something is shiny or flashy doesn’t mean it’s their automatic favourite or the right pick for a season.
In planning a season, we want to make sure that more subtle art forms and topics are making their way in too. As adults, we don’t have to water down the arts too much for children. They’re capable of being entertained by and digesting new things.
When I was younger I was an avid traveller, which makes me want to give my children all the confidence to take in the experiences that I’ve had the luck and chance to encounter as I’ve grown up. I’m trying to make sure they’re well-rounded people with the emotional and critical-thinking skills to take on all the challenges and opportunities that life and the world are going to bring their way. As a parent, I try to use my time and efforts to build the community for them that I want them to live in.
A lot of my life in this season is dedicated to raising my kids, but I also have a lot of personal hobbies and interests, including painting, reading, skiing and spending a lot of time at some of the many lakes that surround us in Northwestern Ontario. ∎