When Graeme Wilgosh heard that Betty Tomilin would once again be writing and directing the CCS (Canora Composite School) Drama Club production this year, the Grade 12 student knew right away he wanted to be in it.
Tomilin wrote and directed the drama club’s 2017 comedy, Pirates of the River Saskatchewan, which was very well-received.
The same can be said for this years” production, A Roman Wedding, performed at CCS on March 20 for an audience of approximately 110.
Tomilin said the one-act comedy is set in ancient Rome.
“A very young man is sent on a quest to find a bride. Unfortunately, the bride he seeks isn't interested in him. With the help of a number of memorable neighbours and through a series of questionable plans, consisting of love potions, sleeping potions and a very hungry lion, everything is happily resolved with the arrival of the bride's father.”
The character searching for a bride was named Anoingus, which seemed appropriate because, as Wilgosh quipped, “He was always annoying us.” Anoingus was played with an intriguing level of immaturity by Brody Harrison.
The bride he sought, Decima, played by the multi-talented Felicity Mydonick, had no interest in him whatsoever. Mydonick doubled as a choreographer for the production. Jacob Danyluk filled the role of her father Decimus and played a smaller part as one of the senators.
Decimus chose Quintus (Derek Barteski) to keep an eye on Decima and make sure she wasn’t led astray. But Quintus was having a hard enough time dealing with his bossy wife Vespa. Played with an appealing comedic edge by Kami Kuhn, she often made it appear that her husband only had a two-word vocabulary, “yes dear.” But eventually an accidental, potion-induced transformation made her much more appealing to her husband.
Wilgosh played the role of Marcus, who had to go through a variety of twists and turns along the way, but eventually got his happy ending with Decima, which culminated in a slick dance sequence inspired by the movie Grease.
Other characters included Marcus’ buddy Dumascis (Logan Statchuk) and Olympia (Avigail Korolski), the daughter of Quintus and Vespa. Sabrina Moshenko played three different roles: the owner of the local magic shop, one of the slaves, and Sybil Leader, whose prophecy helped Anoingus get started on his quest.
Sybil No.1 was played by Maranda Donovan, who was also one of the slaves. Grady Wolkowski and Maxwell Mydonick showed their versatility in filling numerous supporting roles as senators, Egyptian litter carriers, bosses and delivery assistants.
Emma Mykytyshyn found out only a few days before the production that she would be one of the slaves, since another actor was suddenly unavailable. Mykytyshyn took on the extra responsibility, even though she was already the stage manager. She said being the stage manager was an enjoyable and challenging responsibility.
“I had to give the cues for lighting and sound, and at the same time make sure the props are all set up and that the actors know what to do with the props and when to do it.”
Mykytyshyn and Wilgosh are each in their third year with the CCS Drama Club, and agree that being part of a group involved in this type of a productions is well worth the time and effort.
“It’s like one big family. You get to hang out with people you might not normally spend a lot of time with, but everyone gets along great. We feel like we can tell each other anything, and we’re always trying to help each other,” said Wilgosh.
Others involved in the production were Carson Barteski (lights and sound), Rebecca Hort and Paul Geerdts (set construction), Megan Tomilin (choreographer) and Andrew Hoffman (stage safety).
After the Canora performance, the group was scheduled to present the comedy again at the Saskatchewan Drama Association Regional Festival in Saskatoon on March 22.
