Terra Novella Theatre’s newest adventure, Obstacle Fest, is built on the simple, unspoken fact that some of the best theatrical moments happen when something goes horribly wrong. A single, unexpected mishap has the make-or-break ability to change the course of a play.

Obstacle Fest is a mixed-bag in terms of its comedic highs and lows. Written, directed, and acted by both newcomers and veterans of the stage, the event features many delightful actors who carried their scenes despite their particular limitations. In other moments, actors went overboard with hammed-up performances and mugging to the audience, which ended up proving that some obstacles can end up working against a play as a whole.

Which leads me to the question I know you’re all thinking, “What about the obstacles, Carey?” Well, let’s just say that the challenges crafted by the devious minds of Terra Novella’s artistic team, Nick Cox, Audrey Eastwood, and Jessica Oliver, either kinda just kept the play the same or elevated their scripts into another realm of humour. A solid example of the latter would be the event’s first play Changes, in which actors had to transfer eggs on spoons, which married well with the work’s accompanying dialogue. Additional stand-out obstacle-induced moments included watching Nick Cox sweat it out onstage under 20 pounds of extra clothing in Forgive Us Our Sins, and fantastic blindfolded performances by Emma Vaasjo and Sam Vigneault in Boxed In Walheart.

There’s a lot of promise for Terra Novella’s event, which has been hinted at possibly becoming an annual festival. With one performance left tonight with a slew of all-new obstacles, the night has the potential to be a more even-rounded occasion. For any theatre company, this event could’ve just crashed and burned, but if the audience last night was any indication, this might just be a tradition worth keeping alive.

Obstacle Fest is presented by Terra Novella Theatre at Bus Stop Theatre, May 19th-20th.