Students from seven different schools in southeast Saskatchewan showcased their dramatic abilities during the annual Region 1 Drama Festival at Redvers School from April 14 to 16.
Redvers School drama teacher Heather Sandborn, who co-ordinated the festival, said it was a “very successful” show with some really good productions.
“We didn’t have any new schools; they were all schools that had performed before at the festival,” she said. “They were all really good.”
Lampman School, Redvers School and Oxbow Prairie Horizons School each had two plays. Gordon F. Kells High School in Carlyle, Arcola School, McNaughton High School in Moosomin and Rocanville School each had one.
McNaughton High School won the top overall production award for their performance of Crazytown. They will participate in the provincial drama festival at the University of Regina from May 5 to 7.
“Moosomin always puts on a really good production,” said Sandborn. “They always have a big set. This year they even had a screen set up.
“Their play was kind of a newscast, so they had the screen with commercials and different clips. So that kind of added another element to the play. All of the clips were still performed by members of the cast.”
Gordon F. Kells High School was the runner-up for Avoiding the Pitfalls of High School Dating.
The Mary Ellen Burgess Award, which goes to the outstanding actor in the festival, was presented to Dylan Scheerschmidt of Oxbow Prairie Horizons School for his portrayal of the monster in Jealousy Jane.
Numerous other awards were presented to performers and crew members. Adjudicators from Regina selected the award recipients.
Sandborn said it’s hard to know how many hours the cast and crew dedicate to each production. In the case of Redvers, they started working on their production in November, and she admits it was later than normal.
“I couldn’t think of how many hours people have put into it,” said Sandborn.
She noted her fellow drama teacher in Redvers, Graham James, spent many hours getting the school’s gymnasium set up with the necessary lighting and sound system. He also directed one of the plays.
The drama festival alternates through different schools in the southeast each year. Redvers hadn’t hosted the competition for several years, so they thought they were due. The host for next year has yet to be announced.
