At long last, the 2011 Saskatchewan Drama Association provincial festival is upon us. When I was a teenager it felt like an eternity before the festival would roll around, but now it feels like I was just here for last year's festival. I started out the day at a delicious luncheon with a few of the adult directors and SDA staff. I have to say that the SDA staff and volunteers are some of the most awesome people I know. Their dedication to providing arts education is awe inspiring. Lunch was followed by a workshop I facilitated about how to write a collective play in five days. The teachers and volunteers in that workshop were fantastic, making me believe more than ever that students in Saskatchewan are extremely lucky. Especially considering the lack of interest in theater arts I have seen elsewhere.
Then came my favorite part of the festival...the performances themselves! I remember sitting in the audience when I was 15 years old, my eyes agape at all of the high quality productions. I learned so much from all the shows that advanced to the provincial level and continue to think about them whenever I am writing a play. I thought perhaps it was my untrained eye that made them seem so magnificent, but I am happy to report that it not the case. So far they are every bit as creative as ever.
There are 10 shows in the festival this year and tonight got off to a terrific start...
TWITCH by Stephen Gregg, presented by Campbell Collegiate - After what seems like self imposed exile from writing high school plays, Stephen Gregg of This is a Test fame has returned with a wonderfully funny and rather bizarre new comedy. What could easily have been a script for The Twilight Zone, a suburban couple is pitted against their two extremely deranged neighbors. What I enjoyed most was the breezy pace of the production. Rather than race through the material, as happens quite often at the high school level, the actors found a unique rhythm that suited the material perfectly. All four players were terrific and the titular "twitch" was hysterical. Also, there was a really cool puppet involved and I am rather partial to puppets.
TO BURN A WITCH by James L. Bray, presented by Vanier Collegiate - Much like This is a Test, this is another play that turns up regularly at festivals. And for good reason. It's a phenomenal piece of writing that tells a tale similar to The Crucible, but in a bite sized portion. The actors appeared very confident with their interpretation of the material, which helped tremendously in drawing in the audience. The visual impact of the set was huge, adding to the atmosphere without swallowing the action. A very solid production from top to bottom.
ROMEO AND JULIE by Bill Comeau, presented by James Hamblin School - Parodies of Shakespeare's plays seem to be sprouting up like dandelions and now I know why. It was a terrific choice of material for this particular group. So I am told, the entire cast was comprised of sixth to ninth graders. In a festival that is generally made up of senior high students, this junior high group was far from in over their head. They had gobs of energy that spilled over into the audience. The play also had an 80's theme, which is always a good thing.
OMNIPOTENCE AND THE WHEELBARROW MAN by Alan Haehnel, presented by Swift Current Comprehensive School - I am partial to comedies about the theatrical experience, so I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a narrator on a power trip. In particular, there was a young couple in love that was played to absolute perfection. They had sensational timing and pitch-perfect reactions. I also enjoyed the group's clever use of the entire playing space, from every corner of the stage to out front in the audience. I would have loved it even more had the omniscient narrator appeared in even more locations; perhaps from under the stage or way up in the balcony.
Obviously the first evening was a huge success, so I look forward to more great plays tomorrow!
Then came my favorite part of the festival...the performances themselves! I remember sitting in the audience when I was 15 years old, my eyes agape at all of the high quality productions. I learned so much from all the shows that advanced to the provincial level and continue to think about them whenever I am writing a play. I thought perhaps it was my untrained eye that made them seem so magnificent, but I am happy to report that it not the case. So far they are every bit as creative as ever.
There are 10 shows in the festival this year and tonight got off to a terrific start...
TWITCH by Stephen Gregg, presented by Campbell Collegiate - After what seems like self imposed exile from writing high school plays, Stephen Gregg of This is a Test fame has returned with a wonderfully funny and rather bizarre new comedy. What could easily have been a script for The Twilight Zone, a suburban couple is pitted against their two extremely deranged neighbors. What I enjoyed most was the breezy pace of the production. Rather than race through the material, as happens quite often at the high school level, the actors found a unique rhythm that suited the material perfectly. All four players were terrific and the titular "twitch" was hysterical. Also, there was a really cool puppet involved and I am rather partial to puppets.
TO BURN A WITCH by James L. Bray, presented by Vanier Collegiate - Much like This is a Test, this is another play that turns up regularly at festivals. And for good reason. It's a phenomenal piece of writing that tells a tale similar to The Crucible, but in a bite sized portion. The actors appeared very confident with their interpretation of the material, which helped tremendously in drawing in the audience. The visual impact of the set was huge, adding to the atmosphere without swallowing the action. A very solid production from top to bottom.
ROMEO AND JULIE by Bill Comeau, presented by James Hamblin School - Parodies of Shakespeare's plays seem to be sprouting up like dandelions and now I know why. It was a terrific choice of material for this particular group. So I am told, the entire cast was comprised of sixth to ninth graders. In a festival that is generally made up of senior high students, this junior high group was far from in over their head. They had gobs of energy that spilled over into the audience. The play also had an 80's theme, which is always a good thing.
OMNIPOTENCE AND THE WHEELBARROW MAN by Alan Haehnel, presented by Swift Current Comprehensive School - I am partial to comedies about the theatrical experience, so I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a narrator on a power trip. In particular, there was a young couple in love that was played to absolute perfection. They had sensational timing and pitch-perfect reactions. I also enjoyed the group's clever use of the entire playing space, from every corner of the stage to out front in the audience. I would have loved it even more had the omniscient narrator appeared in even more locations; perhaps from under the stage or way up in the balcony.
Obviously the first evening was a huge success, so I look forward to more great plays tomorrow!
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