Sears Drama Festival / BANG BANG
Sears Drama Festival / BANG BANG
On Wednesday February 25th, 2009, Assumption College competed in the Sears Drama Festival at the Light House Theatre in Port Dover. The cast and crew had been working together since the end of October 2008, and they were extremely eager to get to this point. After many hours of memorizing, and lots of hard work and dedication, the cast were proud to say that they were participating in the play, called, “Bang Bang You’re Dead.”
The play is based on a true story, where a young freshman boy kills his parents, and then goes to school with a gun and kills 5 more people. The play takes place with the young boy, Josh, in his jail cell, haunted by the people he murdered and the memories that led up to the event. It stresses the many important issues that can arise in a high school environment, such as bullying and violence. It really makes each individual think about how people are being treated, because anyone, anywhere, can react terribly due to the situations around them. It was very clear how a heartbreaking event, like the shooting that takes place in the play, can happen at any school, even one with such a great reputation.
“Bang Bang You’re Dead” had the pleasure of having Assumption alumnus, Nicole Burroughs, as its director. Her brilliant and creative ideas were clearly portrayed on the stage. All of Nicole’s hard work was greatly appreciated by everyone involved. Nicole helped to make the play a huge success. Others who helped out a great deal include Mr. Dave Allen, Ms. Lauren Konig, Mrs. Daryln Burroughs, all on staff at ACS, along with many students and other alumni.
When the cast performed for the school, a week before the performance in Dover, many students were left speechless and with many feelings that they were not expecting to have. Stephanie Davis, a grade 12 student at Assumption, said of the play, “It was very eye opening to know that something like that can happen anywhere, even in our school. I think they did a really good job getting the message across.”
The cast are now awaiting the results of the festival. There is an awards ceremony that everyone involved in the festival will be attending. During the ceremony, various awards will be given out for different aspects of the different plays, such as set design and cast. Also, the ceremony is when the 3 plays that will continue on in the competition will be announced. No matter whether the cast makes it on to the next level or not, they are so proud to have gotten to the point at Port Dover, and are even happier that they were able to get their message across. Everyone is proud of the cast and crew for their amazing efforts, and the great performances that they have given.
At the Sears Festival awards ceremony in Port Dover Friday night, Assumption's production of "Bang Bang You're Dead" won an Outstanding Production Award, which means that we will be one of three schools representing our district at the Southern Ontario Regional Festival in April. The cast and crew of the show also won an Award of Excellence for their "focussed and powerful performance." Let me tell ya, the kids are pretty thrilled to be going on to the next level. Our performance at the regionals is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23 at the Sanderson Centre.
Written By: Ashley Whalen-Brown
