A play performed by Nipawin's LP Miller Comprehensive won the Region 7 Drama Festival, held this year at Tisdale Middle & Secondary School
The regional high school drama festival, held March 16 and 17, featured seven plays performed by TMSS, Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate, LP Miller and Porcupine Plain Comprehensive. LP Miller’s M’Aidez won best overall production, with MUCC’s Our Place the runner-up.
Nicole Becker, a Tisdale student, loved being part of the festival.
“This is actually my first time at drama festival and everything is great, from all of the schools to the adjudicators,” she said. “It’s a great feeling and a great environment to be in.”
Shawn McAdam, a Tisdale student who’s been to many of the festivals, said that while it’s fun to travel away from home, it was fun to have it here too.
“It’s really cool to have it in Tisdale because there are a couple of benefits to having it here, like we can adjust the lights to be exactly what we want them to be,” he said, adding the tech crew also knew how to operate the soundboard and they didn’t have to ship off all of their props.
Tisdale hasn’t hosted the event since 2012. Kelly Andris, one of the event’s organizers, said her school was glad to host.
“For us, it’s simple because of our multi-use facility. We have so many areas. We have the theatre, we have the auditorium, we have the upstairs meeting rooms,” she said. “We barely had to disrupt school yesterday for our kids.”
The high school teacher said she was impressed with the plays performed at the festival.
“They have been really, really good this year. Really strong performances from everyone. There’s a lot of really dedicated kids,” she said.
She added the production workshops they had were amazing and the adjudicators provided constructive criticism to help in the future.
Local businesses have also donated to the event, helping offset some of the fees they have to pay. That’s why the school encouraged the visitors to go out on the town. There was also a dance and supper for all the participants.
The plays performed were Check Please: Take 3 by LP Miller, Our Place by MUCC, The Monkey's Paw by TMSS, The Summer People by PPCS, M'Aidez by LP Miller, Asylum by TMSS and First and Last Date by MUCC.
