Three local schools prepare for Region 3 Drama Festival
By Joan Janzen
Drama students from three local schools are busy preparing for the Region 3 Drama Festival, which is scheduled for April 4th and 5th in Swift Current. Students from Swift Current Comprehensive High School will be joined by their peers from Westcliffe Composite School in Marengo, Eston Composite School, and Leader Composite School at the festival.
Students from Leader will be performing The Monologue Show (From Hell). Pamela Sifert, one of the directors, said they will go ahead with this play, which they had selected last year; unfortunately, last year’s festival was cancelled. Their team will begin practising in March.
Their play portrays a drama class that spent three long months preparing for their monologue show. But everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and plans fly out the window as a collection of hilarious tall tales plays out on stage.
There’s nothing better than a murder mystery, which is why the students at Eston Composite School will be performing Crab Cakes and A Murder. Rebecca James, one of the directors, said ten students from grades 7 - 11, assisted by five crew members, will be performing the play at the ECS gym on March 27 for their local fans.
During the play, the cast reels in members of the audience to help the Sheriff sift through the evidence and catch the guilty culprit. The mystery begins when the captain goes missing during a surprise storm. The wreckage is found, but there’s no sign of the commercial fisherman who they assume is dead. The hated captain’s demise would not be surprising, even for his daughters Misery and Calamity.
The students at Westcliffe Composite in Marengo have been meeting weekly to practice their play: 10 Reasons You Should Have Stayed Home Sick Today. They have tentatively scheduled a hometown presentation for April 2 before heading to the Region 3 festival.
Their play depicts the everyday mishaps at a local high school, from the dreaded surprise test to the battle for a bus seat. The cast plays everyone from a tone-deaf choir kid to a teacher who talks at a snail’s pace. All the scenarios are reasons why you would wish you took a sick day.
It looks like local fans are in for a treat as these local drama teams share their talent on stage in the days to come.