Region 1 Drama Festival

Last weekend I had the great honor of attending the Region 1 Saskatchewan Drama Association One Act Play Festival in my hometown of Oxbow, Saskatchewan.  As I mentioned before, there were 7 plays in competition and 4 of them were written by yours truly.  (I also contributed an alternate ending to one of the other plays, with the blessing of the original playwright of course.)

I cannot begin to describe how moving it is to watch students bring my words to life.  I compare it to the way a skydiver must feel as they leap out of an airplane and fall toward the ground.  The adrenaline rush is so overwhelming that I lose all track of time and place.  Then when the play is over, I find myself exhausted and out of breath.  Perhaps this sounds a tad melodramatic, but that's exactly the way I feel when the lights come up after one of my shows.  So to have had the chance to see 4 of them within a 24 hour period is a once-in-a-lifetime event that I will treasure always.

A little bit about all of the plays...

NOTE TO SELF - Presented by Arcola High School - I've actually seen this play of mine produced a few times, but the students in Arcola attacked each of the vignettes with more confidence and enthusiasm than I have ever seen.  All of the actors were terrific, but I have to send a special shout out to Miranda Greening, Juliana Schlenker, Riley James, and Savanna Bryce for really going 100% with the various characters they played.  Thank you to directors Graham James and Whitney Paul for keeping the play moving at a brisk pace.  Amazing!

The cast and crew of "Note to Self" from Arcola

THE AUDITION - Presented by Lampman High School - This comedy/drama by Don Zolidis is one of the most produced one-act plays of the past couple years and it's easy to see why.  It involves a large cast, with roles large and small to accommodate actors of various experience levels.  I was particularly blown away by the visual presentation, from the lighting design to the phenomenal costumes, which was all seamlessly assembled by director Christine Branyik-Thornton.  Special mention to Maya Branyik-Thornton for her gutsy portrayal of Yuma, Morgan Jones for her beautiful singing voice, and Samantha Paxman for breaking my heart into a million pieces during her moving dramatic turn.

GARGANTUA - Presented by Oxbow Prairie Horizons School - This comedy by Carl Grose is the one that I provided a new ending to (the original was rather bleak for high school) and I applaud directors Mike Jozsa and Tamara Risto for their bravery in choosing such an ambitious script.  This bizarre story about a 600 pound baby that takes over the world was a lot for this junior group to handle, but they really grasped the weird British humor (it was very Monty Python-esque) and went all the way with it.  Young Dylan Scheerschmidt really knocked my socks off and it was clear the rest of the cast also had a lot of fun with this strange and theatrical tale.

WITH REGARD TO COOPER CLAWSON'S CONSCIENCE - Presented by McNaughton High School - Directors Sherrie Meredith and Nancy McLeod certainly held nothing back when it came to the production value of this over-the-top comedy.  There was a lot of flash in the technical elements, including some creative set pieces and glitzy effects.  Trevor Poole as Cooper's conscience really had a handle on the audience and made a very fitting narrator to the wild and crazy events happening around him.

SPLIT - Presented by Gordon F. Kells High School - Split is one of the plays I've written that I'm most proud of and I cannot begin to express how proud I am of the students in Carlyle for bringing it to life better than I ever imagined in my wildest dreams.  The pace, presentation, and polish of their production was on a level that I rarely see in high school theater.  The cast worked so well as an ensemble that I can hardly pick out one or two for special mention, so I'd like to recognize all of them here: Rachel Corrigan, Santana Pylatuik, Emily Klatt, Nick Schmidt, Brittany Vogel, Brook Zacharias, Cody Slykhuis, Kady Reaves, Tavia Williams, Austyn Steffenson, Desiray Weber, Mariah Blohm, and Marijke Meyer.  A special thanks to directors Darcy Howe and Kevin Dyck for their encouragement and support.

The cast and crew of "Split" from Carlyle

SPLIT - Presented by Redvers High School - Not only is it extremely rare to see one of my plays produced, but to see two productions of the same play in as many days is something I will likely never experience again.  In my personal opinion, Redvers' presentation was hands down the best visual production of the entire festival.  There is a particular challenge at the end of this play - building an entire house from the ground up - that can be interpreted an endless number of creative ways.  Directors Maureen Boutin and Heather Sanborn came up with a structure that took my breath away.  Utilizing plywood and string, they created a house that required the entire cast of characters to work together in order to construct it.  The entire cast was also very strong, especially Alaina Hoff as Hype and Steve Boutin as Strange.  I also liked the ensemble of performers they employed to play the many secondary roles.

LIP SERVICE - Presented by Gordon F. Kells High School - This play came as the biggest surprise of the festival.  I had intended this play to be strictly for adults, so when I heard that this junior group had chosen it, I was surprised to say the least.  Well, I shouldn't have been!  The young cast absolutely nailed the comedic timing that a farce requires and added a ton of physical business that had me on the floor laughing.  My family members commented that this was their favorite play of the festival, which made me quite happy, given that I really wanted this fast paced comedy to be a crowd-pleaser.  The two leads, Nathen Schmidt and Megan McAuley, as well as directors Dean Zacharias and Justine Stephanson, even came up with a few hysterical ideas that I have since incorporated into the script!  Like a refreshing after-dinner mint, Lip Service was a wonderful way to end the festival.

The cast and crew of "Lip Service" from Carlyle

I have to thank everyone in Oxbow for welcoming me back home with such open arms.  It was great to catch up with the many people who always supported me when I was in high school.  Also, a number of my family members that I have not seen in years turned out for the plays, which meant more to me than they will ever know.  It wasn't an official family reunion, but it sure was close!

My wonderful family in attendance

In the end, none of my plays ended up advancing to the provincial festival in May, but that's not what it's all about anyway.  Although for those interested, Carlyle's production of Split was awarded runner-up to Best Overall Production and Best Overall Production was awarded to McNaughton's production of With Regard to Cooper Clawson's Conscience.  A number of actors and tech personnel also went home with various certificates of merit and a few awards.  Congratulations to them all!

It was a very special weekend that I will never forget.  Perhaps next year I'll be back again, cheering on the new play I started on the airplane back home - one that was inspired by the many students who made this years' festival such a smashing success!