The Lampman High School Drama Club has garnered a reputation for delivering excellent productions that showcase the acting and the technical expertise of the students.
They have earned honours at the regional and provincial levels for their efforts.
The 22 students who are part of the drama club this year will be presenting two plays at the Region 1 drama festival in Redvers on April 14 to 16: Thirteen Signs You Should Stop Being a Pirate, by A.M. Dittman, and Bake Off, by Sheri Wilner.
Pirates is a comedy that lasts about 35 minutes, and is set on the high seas.
“One of the pirates starts to question her ‘pirateness,’ and then we see 13 examples of why she probably shouldn’t be a pirate any more,” said Lampman drama teacher Christine Branyik-Thornton.
Rehearsals are progressing well. There are a lot of visuals in Pirates, including a full-rigged pirate sail and blocks that are used for the ship and other parts of the set.
“The sail comes from the floor up onto the stage, and then turns into a pirate ship,” said Branyik-Thornton. “We then move the blocks around and create all the different areas for the stage, including a plank that goes out into the audience when the performers walk the plank.”
Assembling the pieces requires a lot of choreography, and the costumes are very elaborate, thanks to the pirate theme.
Oxbow Prairie Horizons School is also performing Pirates at the drama festival this year. Branyik-Thornton always finds it interesting when multiple schools perform the same play, because she looks forward to seeing how they are interpreted.
The other production, Bake Off, is a three-person, 20-minute comedy.
“Bake Off is the story of a man competing in the 48th annual Pillsbury Bake- Off,” said Branyik-Thornton. “One of the contestants he’s against is a woman who takes quite a big exception to his presence. It’s following the two bakers through the process of creating the entry during the Pillsbury Bake-Off.”
While they don’t have ovens on stage, they will mix the ingredients in front of the audience.
She noted there actually is a Pillsbury Bake-Off in Nashville, Tennessee, and it’s an impressive event.
Lampman’s drama club has some talented students this year, and several members of the backstage crew are in Grade 12, so they are hoping for some good results at the drama festival.
The drama club will perform both shows for the public on April 12, starting at 7:30 p.m. They will also perform Pirates for the student body on April 12 at 1 p.m., and Bake Off the following day, also at 1 p.m. All performances will be at Lampman School.
