SDA Provincial Festival 2015: Day 1

Day 1 of the Provincial Festival started off with a bang and never let up! The day began with my playwrighting workshop, Selfie: Using Social Media to Write Scenes and Monologues. I had the great fortune to work with students from Cornerstone Christian School, Robert Southey School, and Rosetown Central School. Believe me when I say that 90 minutes was not enough with these talented young writers. They came up with so many fantastic ideas in a very short amount of time. Some videos of what they created will be posted shortly to the SDA Playwrighting Workshop Facebook Page, just as soon as the wi-fi here at the hotel co-operates and allows me to upload them.

After the workshops were over is when the competition got started. The audience was treated to 4 very different, very creative plays. Here's a little bit about each of them...

MAGNA CARTA - Miller Comprehensive Catholic High School - This was an original play, written by the students from Miller Comprehensive. It was an intriguing mix of 12 Angry Men, Fatal Attraction, and 48 Hours Mystery. There was a particularly creepy scene near the end of the play where we witnessed a murder onstage. I thought the way this scene was handled was spectacular. The actress committing the murder made very choreographed movements to music as she poisoned a cup of tea. It was a very dramatic climax that had the audience on pins and needles.

SHUDDERSOME: TALES OF POE - Clavet School - I was blown away by the extraordinary use of movement, colour, ensemble, light, sound, and voice in this thoroughly inventive staging of a Lindsay Price play that I had never seen before. This stunning production was a wonderful introduction to the piece and I can only imagine that any productions I see in the future will be measured against the very high watermark set by Clavet's ambitious visual and emotional achievement.

THE 9 WORST BREAK-UPS OF ALL TIME - Swift Current Comprehensive High School - When the cast of a play is having fun, so is the audience. Such was the case with this delightfully giddy production. Every single member of the utterly enormous cast of 28 managed to take their small roles and milk them for every laugh possible. I also loved listening to the very vocal audience reaction. Several times I heard people in the crowd respond to what was happening on stage rather loudly, which is a terrific indicator that they were totally invested in the story.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - North Battleford Comprehensive High School - I'm always impressed by the visual design of North Battleford's productions (they've been at Provincials many years in a row now) and this year was no different. The costumes, the set, the lighting, the everything was lovely. They even utilized the fly loft and hung a moon from the rafters. This simple touch, in tandem with a perfectly aimed key light, made a huge dramatic impact that made this midsummer night a dreamy one.

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SDA Provincial Festival 2015

Today is the day hundreds of students, teachers, and parents have been waiting for: Day 1 at the 2015 Saskatchewan Drama Association Provincial Festival! I've also been looking forward to this weekend of high school theatre ever since last year's festival, and after looking at the list of plays in the program I see that this year just might be one of the best ever. Starting tonight, 11 plays from all corners of Saskatchewan will begin performances on the main stage at the Dr. William Riddell Centre at the University of Regina.

The variety of plays is particularly strong this year; there's drama, comedy, Shakespeare, realism, surrealism, original plays, and even a horror in the mix. I'm also thrilled that I'll get to see one of my own plays, I Don't Want to Talk About It, which is being produced Friday afternoon by Robert Southey School. It's not very often that I get to see one of my plays performed so close to where I grew up, which gives me an opportunity to share what I do with my friends and family from home. For that alone, I'm incredibly grateful to be here.

I invite you follow this blog, as I'll be writing about all of the plays as they happen. I will also be posting pictures and video from the days ahead on my Facebook page, which you can check out by clicking HERE. And by all means, like my page and feel free to share your own pictures and comments. I enjoy hearing what each and every one of you has to say!

The SDA also has a Facebook page which you can check out by clicking HERE. From there you stay updated on all of the latest news about the festival, as well as other arts opportunities for drama students in Saskatchewan. You may also see a few familiar faces, as I'll be posting pictures and video from my playwrighting workshops.

Speaking of workshops, it's almost time to head over to the theatre, so I'll leave it here for now. Following is a complete festival schedule, so please come out and show your support for all of the many talented students who have worked so hard to get here. Making it to Provincials is a huge accomplishment and they deserve as much applause as possible.

Stay tuned for more!

Thursday, 7pm
MAGNA CARTA, Regina
SHUDDERSOME: TALES OF POE, Clavet
THE 9 WORST BREAK-UPS OF ALL TIME, Swift Current
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, North Battleford

Friday, 1pm
I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, Southey
A.M.L., Carrot River

Friday, 7pm
NO PROBLEM, Moosomin
ROMEO REVISED, Moose Jaw
PRESSURE, Rosetown

Saturday 1pm
THE INVISIBLE CIRCLE, Green Lake
THIS IS A PLAY, Yorkton

Robert Southey School

Sunday evening I had the amazing opportunity to attend a rehearsal of I Don't Want to Talk About It in Southey, Saskatchewan. Robert Southey School is located in a small rural community about 45 minutes north of Regina, and having grown up in a town about the same size, I was thrilled when I heard that they had decided to produce one of my plays. And, wow, what a production it is!

A couple of weeks ago they won the Saskatchewan Drama Association Region 5 festival, which means they advance to the Provincial festival that begins tomorrow in Regina. I'm so proud of what these students have achieved with the play and I'm honoured that they will be representing my work on the Provincial stage.

I was immediately struck by how deeply they connected with the material (which deals with teen issues) and how seriously they've taken the responsibility of getting its message across. But what impressed me the most was how they've also embraced the comedic aspects of the play in addition to the serious moments. I was deeply moved by the way the actors were able to make me laugh one moment and cry the next. So many productions of this play, as well as many other topical teen plays, are handled far too seriously from beginning to end. This inevitably turns them into the dreaded "problem play" - preachy, didactic, and far too melancholy for an audience to invest in the characters. Such is not the case with Southey's hilarious interpretation. They managed to blend comedy with drama in a beautiful way that invites the audience into the production rather than turning them away. I was truly blown away and can't wait to see the impact they have on an audience of their peers from around the province.

If you happen to be in Regina this weekend, Southey performs I Don't Want to Talk About It Friday afternoon at 1:00pm at the Riddell Centre, located on the University of Regina campus. I will be there, front and center, and hope to see you there! Trust me when I say that this cast and crew is going to leave you with plenty to talk about.

SDA Middle Years Festival

I can hardly believe that I'm back in Regina for drama once again! This year I'm working as the Front of House clinician for the Saskatchewan Drama Association Middle Years Festival, and then I will be facilitating playwrighting workshops at the Provincial Festival over the weekend.

The Middle Years Festival is a phenomenal festival that gives middle school students the opportunity to present a play in a non-competitive setting, on the absolutely HUGE stage at the University of Regina, in front of other kids their age. This supportive atmosphere lends itself well to creativity and camaraderie, which is why I love this festival. I'm incredibly delighted to have the opportunity to meet the kids and share some tips about acting, directing, and stage craft.

 

Yesterday was Day 1 of the Middle Years Festival and I saw two really terrific productions. One was an original play written by the students (amazing!) and the other was directed by a student (fantastic!). I was blown away by the talent, energy, and potential I saw up on that stage. These young actors, directors, designers have so many important things to say and it's my honour to sit in the audience all week long and listen to their creative, wacky, interesting, inventive, thoughtful ideas.

As I took the stage to share my notes, my mind wandered for a moment and I was reminded of a young boy who once looked up at his theatre educators in awe, taking in everything they had to say as they inspired him to follow his dreams. Well, that young boy was me, so it's a little surreal and a lot rewarding to now be on the other side of things. I do not take this responsibility lightly and can only hope that something I say, something I do, something I notice, inspires these kids the way I was inspired so many years ago.

What the kids might not realize, however, is that I'm just as inspired by them.

The Writing Process

Playwright extraordinaire Lindsay Price (of such plays as Among Friends and Clutter, Hoodie, betweenity, and many, many, many more!) invited me to take part in a #bloghop that asks writers to answer four questions about about their creative process and post those answers to their blog. (Be sure to check out her thoughtful responses here.) I'm honored that she passed the torch on to me, so here goes...

What are you working on?

Right now I'm playing around with the idea of expanding my one act play I Don’t Want to Talk About It into a full length piece. The more it is produced around the world, the more I hear from students, teachers, and parents about other issues that they would like to have addressed. I was truly humbled by a teacher who said the play was like a teenage version of Angels in America. Obviously I would never compare my work to that masterpiece (Thank you for your brilliance, Tony Kushner), but it did open my mind to the idea of taking the play and growing it into something broader that might make a bigger impact on the lives of a greater pool of teenagers. After being in a production of the play, or having seen it as an audience member, I have had many students confess things to me that they needed to talk about – things that are not in the play and things I’m not sure I could handle as an adult – and so I feel compelled to see if I can open the play up to include these new ideas. The original one act took me the better part of two years to get right, so tackling such a project would be a major undertaking, but something in my heart tells me that it’s one worthy trying.

How does your work differ from others in your genre?

Back when I was in high school there was a major lack of material specifically written for teenage performers. Basically, there were a few staples that every single school would produce on a rotating basis. The poor drama teachers of yore must have been bored out of their minds! And these plays were either “classics” that students probably had a difficult time relating to, or “modern” issue plays that were corny and overly didactic. Thankfully, with the advent of publishing companies such as Theatrefolk and Playscripts, there is now a wealth of material out there that has been specifically generated for this huge market that had previously gone untapped. Trying to keep up with the swath of new publications each year (mostly to make sure an idea I have has not already been done) is a huge task that takes up a large chunk of my time. Yet the process of doing so has allowed me to read some really great plays by talented playwrights that would not have seen the light of day in years past. I admire the work of many of my cohorts, and as is the case with admiration, influence follows. I have been inspired by so many of these contemporary plays, thinking to myself, “I wish I wrote that!” Challenging myself to come up with new ways to tackle thoughts others may have already written is not easy, particularly with the market as saturated as it is now, but that’s what makes sitting down at my computer each morning so much fun. 

Why do you write what you do?

I write plays for teenagers because of the fearlessness in which they attack the material. I find that as people get older, particularly artists, they get increasingly self conscious about what they are creating. As we see more, experienced more, we become more aware of our own work, which sometimes leads to damaging self-criticism that inhibits the creative process. In life and in art, I find that teenagers are far more open to taking risks because they have yet to experience the aftermath of failure. I love seeing this boldness applied to my words. I also think teenagers have so many wise and wonderful things to say that it is my honor to provide them with a platform upon which they can express themselves. If what I write encourages a student to express themselves, whether in theater or in life, I consider what I’ve done a success.

How does your writing process work?

I have to strike while the iron is hot and write my ideas down the moment I have them. If I think about an idea for too long, I inevitably lose my passion for it and then I end up putting too much pressure on myself to find the creative spark I had initially. For this reason I typically write my plays to completion in a day or two. I find that I can always go back and fix things that might not work, but having a completed draft takes a huge weight off my shoulders that allows me to think more critically about what I have on the page. I also try not to fuss with the words as I write them. I just throw as much as I can out into the ether, with reckless abandon, before going back to see if it’s brilliant or gibberish. Quite often it’s the latter, but I’ve discovered that gibberish can make great theater sometimes!

Now it's my turn to pass the baton on to a writer whose work I enjoy very much. Bobby Keniston wrote the brilliant and bizarre comedy Confession: Kafka in High School, among others. It's one of my favorite one act plays out there, so I look forward to hearing more about what keeps his creative ticker alive!