Region 1 SDA Festival: Day 2 - Evening

Three more plays closed out Day 2 of the Region 1 SDA Festival, and quite a variety of styles they were. The audience was treated to a dark comedy, a political satire, and a dramedy about teenage life.

SELFIE by Bradley Hayward - Gordon F. Kells High School - This play is one that means a lot to me because so many of the issues addressed hit very close to home. Yet I worked hard to make avoid the play becoming an "issue drama," but rather a human drama. Each character has their own struggle, and while some these struggles may appear to be greater than others, what each individual is dealing with is to them just as valid as the next. The actors did a marvelous job bringing light and joy to all of the serious situations, which only served to enhance the drama. I also loved the beautiful scenic design and thoughtful, simple staging. The less is more approach had just enough variety to keep the story advancing dramatically, and I appreciate that the directors resisted the temptation to add more than was necessary. Perhaps I am biased, but I thought it was a lovely, solid, and moving production.

MISS BETH by Don Zolidis - Redvers School - Talk about a 180 degree change of pace! This dark take-off on Macbeth had a lot of funny moments and creative staging. I really enjoyed how the cheerleading scenes were accomplished, not to mention the simple but effective use of color in the costumes. There were also a number of standout actors in the show, most notably Kaley Aime, with her wickedly hilarious and evil grin, and Basi Kgobisa, whose energy radiated off the stage and had the audience in stitiches.

THE MOUSTACHE by Davis Alianiello - Lampman School - This very challenging, very political satire had a lot to offer an audience, although it required a huge leap of faith on the part of the actors that they would get all of the symbolism and historical references in the text. I was impressed to see the young cast really go for it, especially in the later passages of the play that dealt with the complete annihilation of Planet Earth. It was certainly startling how they used light, sound, and actors to portray such a catastrophic event. I know I was scared when that final KABOOM ended everything. It's rare to be frightened by a play, but this production certainly scared the hell out of me. That was clearly what they were going for, so mission accomplished.