DINSMORE - Students at Dinsmore Composite School got themselves refamiliar with the stage after quite a lengthy absence.
The Home of the Wildcats hosted a special dessert theatre night on Thursday, May 29 that brought out a healthy turnout of families and spectators, presenting the audience with two plays, including one production that seems to be very popular with schools in this local district.
One of the directors of the night's productions, teacher Shauna Morrison, explained to the audience that this evening marked the return of onstage performances to DCS after a six-year absence, with the last one having taken place in 2019. Since that time, the obvious culprit of Covid-19 shut down any such events for quite some time, and other things such as teacher sanctions made for additional roadblocks.
Combining tasty desserts at intermission with the live entertainment following, the double bill proved to be a hit with spectators. First up was the brief show of 'Murder Most Foul', a quick, ten-minute performance in which play director Ashley (Sidney Keeler) is trying her best to deal with the directorial mess she's been given by her teacher. Her corpse Gary (Abby Pajunen) won't stay still, her actors won't stop making up their own lines, and adding to her stress is the fact that this show was written by her assistant principal. Ashley has to try her best to turn her show into something memorable, but her actors don't seem to be on the same page as her.
Also starring Sadie Noonan, Jade Beattie, Adele Sol, Makenzie Crofts, Payton Noonan, and Kratos Gervais, the show was a brisk, laugh-filled affair that almost served as a nice warm-up to what was next.
The second show was one that this reporter was already familiar with, having seen it performed onstage at Outlook High School back on May 1. The comedy, 'Knock Knock', about the daily lives on the job for two delivery workers who end up meeting a whole cast of different characters and personalities, made for a hit in Dinsmore, who appreciated the cast's commitment to the material, including how the two delivery workers actually looked like delivery workers with matching white button-up shirts and khaki shorts. Taking on the roles of Sam and Logan were Ali Morrison and Charity Pajunen, who had fun with the roles and helped give the audience something to laugh at a heavy handful of times.
Adding to the atmosphere and the story were the supporting characters; namely, the people receiving packages from Sam and Logan and adding some insanity to their everyday work. Sidney Keeler, Makenzie Crofts, Abby Pajunen, Kratos Gervais, Archer McBain, Sadie Noonan, Payton Noonan, Jade Beattie, Harlie McNeely, and Adele Sol added to the production in their own ways, and the show made for an enjoyable night out for those in attendance.
The interesting thing about this play was that not only was it performed in Outlook earlier this spring, as mentioned before, but it was also being performed down in Beechy School at the exact same time that it was being performed in Dinsmore.
Evidently, the situational comedy and antics of 'Knock Knock' have made for a popular production for student performers in school circles all over the region.
