Region 1 SDA Festival: Day 2 - Afternoon

Today got off to a great start at the Saskatchewan Drama Association Region 1 Festival! There were 2 plays this afternoon, but before they got started I was thrilled to find my Auntie Donna, Auntie Bev, Auntie Joan, and friend to the family Evelyn in the audience. We had a nice visit before the plays began and then another afterwards over ice cream Blizzards at Dairy Queen. I'm also part of a scavenger hunt taking place for the drama students, so I was hunted down by several dozen teens to pose for group photos with them. I hope to track down the pictures so that I can share them with you here. Such fun to hear "Mr. Hayward, we need your picture!" And now a little bit about the 2 plays this afternoon!

DOG FLEET by Rory Panagotopulos - Oxbow Prairie Horizons School - This is one bizarre play and I loved how the cast really bought into the science fiction elements of the story and never held back for a second. High concept, high energy. There were some very strong senior actors in this play and they kept the audience's interest from start to finish. The production was also very visually beautiful. It had a great set, fantastic costumes, and phenomenal make-up. With such a strange storyline, it was cool to see how the audience really stayed with the play and it was obvious from the laughter that they appreciated seeing something so original up there on the stage.

SMARTY PANTS by Bradley Hayward - Gordon F. Kells High School - Many of the students in this play have never acted before so I was extremely impressed with their energy and charactarizations! This play was written to be an educational piece so that young actors can work together as an ensemble. One of the themes of the play is "teamwork" and the kids did such a great job working together. This is especially true for a scene involving a jump rope, written specifically to be a physical challenge on stage, and they pulled it off wonderfully! I was also thrilled to see each actor commit to their character and they all had very distinct personalities. I can see these kids moving forward in drama and really developing into awesome thespians. It was an honor to see them hit the ground (or stage, as it were) running in one of my plays.

I'm excited to see the festival continue this evening with SELFIE, MISS BETH, and THE MOUSTACHE. More on those later!

Region 1 SDA Festival: Day 1

Earlier this evening, the Region 1 Saskatchewan Drama Association one-act play festival started off with a bang, with two laugh-out-loud comedies. Let's get started!

HOW TO KISS A GIRL by Wade Bradford - Oxbow Prairie Horizons School - Student director Mackenzie Warriner did a nice job keeping this very funny show moving along at a steady pace. It was quick without feeling rushed, nicely acted, and featured a truly wonderful technical element that still makes me smile. One of the characters is a recordered computer voice (think Siri) and OPHS did a phenomenal job recording it or mixing it or altering it or whatever they did to achieve it, because it sounded absolutely authentic and was so funny that it stole the show.

27 REASONS NOT TO BE IN A PLAY by Alan Haehnel - McNaughton High School - I can think of dozens and dozens of reasons not to be in a play that I could write about, but Alan Haehnel beat me to the punch and wrote this fast paced ensemble comedy. Actually, there are well over 50 reasons in the various renditions of the play, but McNaughton plucked 27 of their favorites and brought them to life. I was impressed that McNaughton had a totally different approach to their play this year. I am used to them building huge, beautiful sets, but this year they scaled back the set to nothing but black blocks and instead created beautiful stage pictures with the actors themselves. And there were a lot of actors up there, so they had plenty of options and took full advantage of them all.

It looks like more laughter is on the way tomorrow afternoon. At 1:00pm: DOG FLEET from Oxbow Prairie Horizons School and SMARTY PANTS from Gordon F. Kells High School. Then at 7:00pm: SELFIE from Gordon F. Kells High School, MISS BETH from Redvers School, and THE MOUSTACHE from Lampman School. I can't wait!

2014 Region 1 SDA Festival

The 2014 Region 1 Saskatchewan Drama Association one-act play festival kicks off tonight in Carlyle at 7:00pm! I'm so excited to be there to cheer on the students from all 9 productions. Here is a schedule of all the plays:

THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 7:00PM
HOW TO KISS A GIRL - Oxbow
27 REASONS NOT TO BE IN A PLAY - Moosomin

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1:00PM
DOG FLEET - Oxbow
SMARTY PANTS - Carlyle

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 7:00PM
SELFIE - Carlyle
MISS BETH - Redvers
THE MOUSTACHE - Lampman

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1:00PM
TEACHERS ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN - Arcola
HAIRBALL - Lampman

Both plays from Carlyle (Selfie and Smarty Pants) and the one from Arcola (Teachers on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) were written by me, so while I love seeing plays by any playwright and by any school, it's definitely extra exciting to see one's own work come to life. I can't wait to see how they play before a large audience!

I'll be blogging about each play as the festival moves forward, so check back here and on Twitter @haywardplays for updates. And if you're in attendance, I sure hope you'l come find me to say hello. See you there!

Region 2 Festival

Well, the 2014 Saskatchewan Drama Association Region 2 Festival in Moose Jaw has drawn to a close and all I can say is that the experience was truly amazing. The wonderful people at A.E. Peacock Collegiate gave me a warm welcome and the warm welcomes continued as I met all the talented students and teachers from Cornerstone Christian School, Vibank Regional School, Vanier Collegiate, Canora Composite School, and Riverview Collegiate.

Of course I enjoyed watching the productions -- and they were all entertaining! -- but the best part for me was getting to spend time with each school in our adjudication workshops. One hour is never enough, especially for someone like me who gets excited when the students start inspiring even more creative ideas than what I had written in my notebook. I know that on more than one occasion, a student or teacher would say something that would lead me on an unexpected road of creative exploration. Thankfully I had many inventive students who were more than willing and ready to go down that road with me. It's been two days since the festival ended, but I'm still laying awake at night thinking, Oh man, I should have said this! or If only I had time to try that! Here's hoping each school has a chance to take what advice I had to offer and apply it toward a future performance.

I'd like to once again congratulate all of the students who participated on a job well done! My biggest hope is that each student returns to their home school proud of what they accomplished up there on that stage. I'm also looking forward to seeing Him & Her, winner of Best Overall Production, for a second time at Provincials in May. It's always interesting to see how a play grows and develops over time, and Vanier Collegiate's beautiful production is sure to make a strong impact at the Provincial level.

Now I am gearing up for the Region 1 Festival this weekend in Carlyle. This time I get to sit back, relax, and enjoy the productions. Although that's nearly impossible, considering how nervous/excited I get when watching one of my plays come to life. I'll be posting about all 9 plays, including 3 written by me, as the festival commences on Thursday. Stay tuned!

Drama Time in Saskatchewan

The years just seem to fly by faster and faster, as it's time once again that I'm traveling to Saskatchewan for drama festival season!

First up, I'm the front-of-house adjudicator at the Saskatchewan Drama Association Region 2 festival in Moose Jaw this weekend. From April 3-5, hundreds of students, teachers, and parents from Moose Jaw and surrounding areas will gather together to present 8 one-act plays. I'm thrilled to be adjudicating this particular festival, as all of the schools competing are known to produce truly exceptional work. In fact, last year's Provincial champ, Admissions, came out of this region. The plays are an interesting mix of comedy and drama, old and new, published and original. I've read each script several times over so I know them fairly well, but I can't wait to see them brought to life. The productions rarely ever look like what I had envisioned, which is why I love the theatre so much. It's amazing how a director's interpretation of a certain script varies from what I see on the page. The plays are as follows: Him & Her (Vanier), Snow Globe (Vanier), The Romancers (Canora), Born to be Wild (A.E. Peacock), The Substitute (A.E. Peacock), Wanted: One Groom (Vibank), Baby (Riverview), Booby Trap (Cornerstone). I've judged a couple of these plays before, but I'm excited to see them all anew. The best part, and what I'm most looking forward to, is being able to meet the students involved and offer what expertise I can to further strengthen each production. I always learn a thing or two myself from the students, so I'm eager to see what they all bring to the table...or the stage, as it were. I know it's going to be an awesome 3 days of theatre!

Next, I'm thrilled to be traveling back to my hometown of Oxbow. The Region 1 festival is taking place April 10-12 in Carlyle, which is just a short drive from where I grew up, and I will have the extreme good fortune of seeing 3 of my plays in competition. Smarty Pants is being presented by Gordon F. Kells Junior Drama on Friday, April 11 at 2pm. This comedy was inspired by my sister, who is the best teacher I know because of how much she loves her job and students, and I'm delighted to have the chance to see such a young cast bring the play's zaniness to life.  Later that same say, at 7pm, Gordon F. Kells Senior Drama will be presenting Selfie. This is a brand new play that I wrote specifically for this group of actors and I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to see how they bring the characters to life. Many of the actors in the cast are graduating, and they've been in a handful of my plays over the years, so it was important to me that I send them off in with an important play with an important message. They've been keeping me updated throughout their rehearsal process, while also keeping many of their choices a surprise/mystery, but from what I can tell so far, they are all very committed to making it the very best it can be. I'm so proud of these students and know they will do a great job. Then on Saturday afternoon, at 1pm, Arcola High School is presenting Teachers on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. I have yet to see this play with an audience, but it has quickly become my most popular play this year, so I'm really looking forward to sitting back and (hopefully) watching the sparks fly. It's one of my sillier plays, and Arcola did a phenomenal job with another of my goofy plays a couple of years back (Note to Self), so I'm sure it will be a hoot! The other plays being presented are: The Moustache (Lampman), Hairball (Lampman), Dog Fleet (Oxbow), How to Kiss a Girl (Oxbow), Miss Beth (Redvers), 27 Reasons Not to Be in a Play (Moosomin). Region 1 is another region that consistently has strong productions (Lampman's excellent showing of Boy Meets Girl was runner-up to best production at Provincials last year), so I'm geared up for another excellent roster of plays this time around.

Naturally, the very best part of traveling back to Saskatchewan is getting to reconnect with so many of my friends and family. While I love living in Toronto and all it has to offer, there is nothing quite like coming home and feeling the safety that comes from knowing exactly where you are and how it shaped the person you've become. My family means the world to me and I'm most looking forward to spending time with them and sharing the experience of my plays together. I'm so proud of what I do for a living and I hope by seeing my plays they will realize what a huge impact they've had on me since the day I was born. A writer writes about what inspires them, and my family inspires me, so I hope they see pieces of themselves, and the influence they've had on my life, up there on the stage.

Check back for updates as the next 10 days unfold!

Now Published: SELFIE

Earlier this year, The Oxford Dictionary named "selfie" as Word of the Year.

selfie

Pronunciation: /ˈsɛlfi 

(also selfy)

noun (plural selfies)

• informal A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website: occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself every day isn’t necessary

Spending so much time working on plays with teenagers, I could not help but notice how they would whip out their cameras and phones whenever they had the opportunity to snap a picture to document their day. This inspired me to write the play Selfie, which is now published by Playscripts, Inc.

Synopsis: It's senior year and problems are mounting for a group of high school students as they prepare for the future. Facing bullies, parents, pressure, sickness, and their own self-judgment, the characters search for ways to stand out. As they document their year, one click at a time, they come to realize life is not about what other people see -- it's about the pictures they have of themselves.

Cast: 3 females, 1 males, 4 either. Easily expandable.

Set: Bare stage, with a large screen, upon which photographs are projected.

Running Time: 30 – 35 minutes. 

I could not have written this play without the support, inspiration, and encouragement of the students and teachers from Gordon F. Kells High School in Carlyle, Saskatchewan. Directors Darcy Howe and Kevin Dyck have produced 7 of my plays in as many years and they always add to my work far more than I ever could have accomplished without them. The same is true of Selfie and I am so proud, not to mention honored, to have developed such a strong partnership over the years. It is truly a match made in heaven -- they take my words and elevate them, every time -- and one that I hope continues for a long time to come. Their talent and creativity means more to me than they know.

World Premiere Cast of "Selfie" / Gordon F. Kells High School

To read a free preview of the play, or to request a complete script, click HERE.