SDA Region 11: Day 1

Well, day 1 of the Region 11 SaskDrama Festival has come and gone and, boy, what a heavy day of theatre it was. When I was in high school, drama festivals usually consisted of more dramas than comedies; however, in the last few years of adjudicating I have noticed a growing trend toward comedy. I can't tell you how many festivals I've attended where all the productions were laffers. So it's quite a change of pace to see so many dramas, and I have to say that I enjoyed the change tremendously (despite being a playwright of primarily comedies). So here's a rundown of what struck me as particularly strong in the 5 plays I saw today.

I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT by Bradley Hayward (me!) - Clavet High School did a tremendous job bringing my words to life. Of all the plays I've written, this one is easily the most challenging, and Clavet handled its challenges extremely well. When I wrote the script, I deliberately left out any stage directions that were not absolutely necessary, so I had no idea what to expect when the lights came up. I was immediately thrilled by their choice to have the entire cast of 15 remain onstage for the entire play. This created a strong community among the characters and gave a powerful punch to the final moments of the play. I know my heart was thumping in my chest, wondering what was going to happen, and I wrote the darn thing! There were too many wonderful performances to single out any of them here, but I had the opportunity to sit down and have supper with the cast after the show, which was worth the trip from Toronto all by itself. I am honored to have had so many thoughtful, intelligent, and creative students work so hard to make a play of mine the very best it could be. I'm so proud of them all.

TRIGGERS by Riley McLellan - I always get excited when I attend a high school festival and see a play written (and in this case, also directed) by a student. I think it's important to give students as much creative freedom as they feel they are capable of, which is something Evan Hardy is known for. Not only are all of their entries student directed, but to have one that is also student written is a testement to a terrific drama department. Evan Hardy certainly has that, so I couldn't wait to see what this original play was going to be all about. The story was a serious one, about a troubled teenager and his fractured family. Many of the scenes were very raw; so much so that I have my fingers crossed they weren't autobiographical. But McLellan certainly got across the stark reality of what it's like to grow up in a family that's anything but functional. Oh, and did I mention that one of the actors was a dog? Yes, that's right...a real dog! I don't know who trained this beautiful Boxer, but Teal'c was the best behaved stage dog I've ever scene. She hit her marks and stayed quiet, which is often hard to achieve with human actors.

CUT by Ed Monk - I've seen this play many times, and even judged it on one occassion. For a few years it was one of the most popular one acts out there, but I had not seen it for some time, so it was great to revisit a play that's been lodged in the back of my brain for a few years. Walter Murray definitely knows how to produce a great comedy (their production of The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World remains one of the best productions I've ever seen), so I was not at all surprised to see them knock this one out of the park. Also, it was a nice relief to have a full out comedy amidst the serious plays before and after it. I was really struck by the chemistry among all of the actors. They had terrific comedy timing throughout, which if you know the play is difficult to pull off because the play itself stops and starts more than a dozen times over. I remembered a lot of the actors from last year, so it played a little bit like an "all-star" cast in ensemble roles. There was also a scene between 2 techies that comes out of nowhere and stops the show cold. I've seen this scene score and I've seen it fail. Well, it certainly scored this evening. Big laughs and applause on their exit. I just wish the playwright would have brought those 2 characters back at the end because they certainly deserve a big finish.

SGANARELLE by Moliere - This is one of those old chestnuts; a play that turns up on occassion, and has ever since it was written...which was decades and decades ago. Moliere was the master of farce, so I was expecting nothing but laughs, but Evan Hardy managed to sneak in some drama as well. The actor playing Sganarelle had an extremely strong stage presence, which could not have been easy considering he wore a mask throughout. Speaking of masks, several of the actors wore beautiful ones and I would love to speak with the director to see if they made them themselves. They really added a bizarre (and effective) atmosphere to the entire piece.

GREEN MAN by Don Nigro - Carlton Comprehensive is known for its huge production values and serious period dramas. This year was no different and, as always, the students rose to the occasion. It's not always easy to be the big production when many adjudicators promote a "less is more" agenda, but sometimes more is more and I love Carlton's commitment to pulling out all the stops. Oftentimes, however, the acting gets neglected in favor of stagecraft, but not so in this production. The small cast of 5 (compared to their crew of hundreds) worked as a very tight unit, starting small and building to a gripping climax. This play is definitely a slow burn, and one that requires patience, but the payoff is huge for those willing to go along for the ride. I was particularly impressed by the actor playing the father; a raging drunk with a hot temper. Probably the hardest thing for any high school actor is playing middle aged, but the actor playing the role pulled this off beautifully. Not only did he look an appropriate age, but he carried himself in such a manner that made him appear well beyond his years. He also had a nice variety of vocal expression, although that was also true of the rest of the cast.

I can't believe the festival is half over already! There are only 2 plays tomorrow, followed by the awards ceremony. Check back tomorrow for updates on those plays, as well as how it all shakes down.