UNITY — The Unity Composite High School drama club put on It’s Murder, Eh? for the public May 4 and 5. The play, written by Michael Park and directed by Kyle Wood, Heather Poitras and Kyra Huber, took place at “Confederation Chateau,” where delegations from each province attended, hoping to be awarded the secret treasure of former Prime Minister St. Laurent.
The students acting as provincial delegates all did a great job of representing their respective areas in stereotypical fashion, aided by the script which, for example, referred to the British Columbia delegate as a hippy more than once.
Jada Poitras as Quebec and Anna Grace Deck as Newfoundland deserve extra credit for mastering the Quebecois and Newfie accents.
Who was murdered? Eventually it was determined the victim – Claire Moscrip slumped on stage – had been the Ontario delegate and Hailey-lynn Aldred, posing as Ontario, was actually the United States after Canada’s treasure.
Once the treasure was revealed by chateau manager Bitterman to be a stuffed beaver, suddenly the provinces lost interest in taking it back home. Bitterman, very well played by Ron Cordita throughout, was delighted to conclude the play by claiming the beaver for the colonial treasure trove of the United Kingdom.
Annie Pitura played the administrator who organized the conference, while maid Lucy, portrayed by Kelsey Grant, turned out to be a CSIS agent.
Willem Hoogstad, bundled up in winter clothing, represented all three territories, while Mayla Williams as Alberta was dressed as a cowboy. Ara Kendrick was instantly recognizable as Prince Edward Island with her long red braids and 19th century long dress although, as it turned out, she was representing all three Maritime provinces.
Jaxx Schurman played often overlooked Manitoba, while somehow Saskatchewan ended up with two representatives – Hailey Sacher and Cole Ducherer, both sporting Roughrider gear.
The final performance, May 5, saw cast and crew say their farewells to two graduating members: actress Hailey-lynn Aldred and hard-working, long-standing sound and light technician Naycie Feser-Surine.
Elisha Avena was stage manager, with other crew members including Naycie, Brooke Bartley, Alexa Goring, Elise Avena and Jailyn Reiniger.
Congratulations to all cast, crew and directors on providing another entertaining evening of live theatre in Unity.
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