Second annual Greek Night set for May 13; Tickets selling fast

Gordon Edgar - Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com

Last year’s inaugural Greek Night was brought to life by the Downtown Moose Jaw Association and Tourism Moose Jaw and proved to be a riotously enjoyable night of eating, dancing, music, plate-smashing, and Greek culture.

The 2023 Greek Night will be on Saturday, May 13. Tickets are $125 each or $900 for a table, with the capacity increasing to 300 people from the inaugural 250.

Tickets are available from Tourism Moose Jaw by calling 306-693-8097. Like last year, a ticket purchase also enters guests into a prize giveaway for a trip valued at $5,000.

According to John Iatridis, a quarter of the tickets were sold before anything was announced, and about half are gone since the official announcement on March 1.

Iatridis owns the Mad Greek Restaurant, sits on the board of the Downtown Moose Jaw Association (DMJA), and celebrates his family’s culture and heritage every chance he can get. As one of the organizers of 2022’s Greek Night, he said its success guaranteed a repeat.

“The thing about Greek heritage is that it’s very inviting, you know? They want to make their house feel like your house, and you feel that with events like this,” Iatridis said. “So, we are fundraising for things like beautifying our downtown, the Moose Jaw Trolley, etc. … But it’s just a really fun time, I mean, who doesn’t have fun smashing plates?”

Iatridis noted that he and his friends and family have attended Greek events in Regina, Saskatoon, and Swift

The first Greek Night last year was such a success that guests and sponsors were asking John Iatridis about round two before it was even announced (John Iatridis/Facebook)

Current for many years, leading him to wonder why Moose Jaw wasn’t joining in. Now that the event has been established, he’s confident it will continue far into the future.

The food will consist of traditional Greek dishes such as Greek salad, souvlaki, roast potatoes, stuffed chicken, and, of course, pitas and tzatziki.

Music is being provided by Greek-Canadian band Arkadia, formed in 1997 out of Regina.

“Actually, a lot of my cousins are in that band,” Iatridis chuckled. “They’re very talented … When they first started, I thought, ‘OK, this is just my cousins doing a Greek band,’ which is nice, you know, we all speak Greek fluently.

“But then they started getting quite a bit of credibility, like regular play on radio stations in Toronto and Greece … we’re lucky to have them, and lucky that they’re nearby.”

There will be Greek dancers from Regina as well, providing entertainment and excitement — especially when the plate breaking begins.

“The Daughters of Penelope from Regina come in and do some more traditional and then some more modern stuff,” Iatridis said. He laughed, “I know they scared a few people last year when one of the young guys did a backflip off the stage into a pile of broken plates.”

The dancers also make it their mission to dance through the tables grabbing people and getting them up and moving.

“We hope that (Greek Night) grows every year,” Iatridis added. “And this year, you know, we have more than six weeks to plan it, so we’re trying to add a few things, there’ll be some surprises.”

Local retired drama teacher helping provincial association renew outdated trophies

Moose Jaw’s Lyle Johnson is spearheading a project to find new partners to sponsor trophies that the Saskatchewan Drama Association hands out annually because the awards are over 40 years old.

Since 1979, the association has handed out the trophies during its one-act high school drama festivals. However, it is currently rejuvenating the awards because they are old and have run out of space for winners’ nameplates.

Johnson, a retired high school teacher who taught drama at A.E. Peacock Collegiate, is the association’s festival chair. He has maintained that position since he stepped away from educating pupils two decades ago.

“Drama and culture is a lifelong thing. You don’t have to stop after you’re done teaching. You can continue on and participate,” he said.

Johnson has been speaking with community businesses — he has plenty of time to chat since he’s retired — to determine if they would sponsor new trophies. He has already found some willing sponsors, while he is still searching for others.

The trophies include best technical crew, technical production, visuals, characterization and overall performance. Many awards are sitting in a corner of the drama room at Peacock Collegiate, waiting to be presented.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea that we have to do it because it shows the continuity and the support that’s lasted for over 40 years,” Johnson said. “That’s pretty good to have something last that long. But time marches on, and we just have to keep with the support for the culture and one-act festival.”

The next regional drama festival — Moose Jaw is in region 2 — occurs Thursday, April 20 to Saturday, April 22 in Peacock’s Centennial Auditorium, with Cor- nerstone Christian School as the event host. Community high schools have already registered seven one-act plays for the regional festival.

The winners from each of the 12 regions will attend the Regina provincial drama festival from Thursday, May

4 to Saturday, May 6, at the Riddell Centre at the University of Regina.

The winner will receive a trophy that the University of Saskatchewan has sponsored.

“Moose Jaw has (always been) a strong representative to the provincial festival over the years. And schools have won provincial recognition,” said Johnson.

He was unsure how many trophies Moose Jaw schools had won but knew Peacock, Central and Vanier had done quite well. Riverview had “a really strong program” in the 1970s, but the program has faded away. However, one teacher is attempting to revitalize the program.

“One of the good things we have in Moose Jaw is every school has good drama instructors and they do wonderful work with their productions that they stage,” Johnson. “So it’s always a good experience for people to go and watch the festivals … because they’re very challenging and the level of talent is very high.”

One neat fact about this year’s regional festival — and something that doesn’t happen often —is two schools are performing the same play, he continued. He thought it would be interesting to see how each interpreted the drama.

Johnson recalled a similar situation about 20 years ago, where five schools across the province performed the play “Why do we laugh?” during regionals, while two performed the drama during provincials.

“The directors (had) different concepts of how they wanted to express what the author tried to write,” he added.

For more information about this year’s drama festivals, visit https://saskdrama.com.