Late on the afternoon of Saturday, May 3, the final curtain dropped on two days of student productions at E.G. Wahlstrom School.
The annual One Act Festival brought aspiring young thespians from five different northwest Alberta schools together, showcasing 13 different plays.
Over two days, each play was judged for a variety, or lack, of merits by local artist Rhonda Willis.
“I have been blown away by every show so far!” said the theatre hound.
The Leader dropped in Saturday afternoon to catch some action, and we were not disappointed.
Mistassiny School’s “Cry of The Crows” opened the afternoon with a solo acoustic guitar number by one of the performers. It segued into a story of a rumored pregnancy in a small town, and the perils of gossip.
Ultimately, the show did not make the judges cut to move on to the provincials. Suffering from a forgetful cast and poor timing, the show still proved entertaining.
Organizer Donna Ringrose gave the group credit for producing the show themselves, and having entered competition for the first time, she felt they did pretty well.
Sticking around for the next production paid off, as the group from St. Joseph High School put together a show worthy of a paid ticket.
“Final Dress Rehearsal” was their farcical take on the theatre “scene”, as a group of aspiring actors and stage hands get ready for their take on the classic tal of “Cinderella”.
Expertly acted and directed, the group made delightful light of stereotypes found backstage at amateur theatre productions. Pompous actors upstaging others, slacking set dressers, and a last minute entrance by an overwhelmed, overacting main character kept the audience laughing.
In the end, the group won “Best Ensemble” for their efforts.
We missed seeing the two winning plays that will move on to the provincials, but details provided by Ms. Ringrose indicate both comedies gave her “lots of reason to laugh.”
La Crete’s production “Words, Words, Words” was one of the winning entries.
“It was about three chimps that have been left in a lab to write the next best play,” said the teacher, “In the end, one of the chimps starts to write “Hamlet.” Three teenage girls played three very different chimps, and one ate a banana for the whole play!”
The second provincial contender came from St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Grande Prairie with their production, “The Winning Number”
“It had outstanding characterization,” said Ringrose, “A teenage girl played an elderly woman who was obsessed with bingo cards. She had come to believe her cards were a gift from heaven, and would speak with them!”
Ms. Ringrose reported, “All in all, the whole event was very well received. Every student has had something good to say about it!”
Encore!

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