Members of Saugeen District Secondary School’s Drama Club celebrate their achievements at Rabbit Dash April 3 following their performance of Emotional Baggage at the Sears Drama Festival.

Hub Staff

A one act play sans dialogue earned Saugeen District Secondary School’s (SDSS) Drama Club a merit award for its ensemble cast following their performance of Emotional Baggage at the Sears Drama Festival held in Listowel March 24.

“It’s just about people and how they can’t let go of their past,” said first time Student Director Fiona Miller. “One person comes into the mix who is at peace with their baggage and tries to make a change. It’s kind of about how our baggage weighs us down and we really gotta make a change to be free of it, it’s hard.”

The play, written by Lindsay Price, featured 10 cast members, with some new actors experiencing the feeling of the stage without having the added pressure of remembering lines. Actor and Grade 10 student Mikhayla Messer said her fellow actors had to rely on body language.

“Usually in plays...you pick up on verbal cues but you had to really pay attention to the actions of others.” Messer said that without dialogue the audience had to figure things out on their own and thought that created a greater emotional aspect to the play.

Miller said that she was happy to volunteer for the position and would do it again as it was an “interesting experience and a way to get a different look at theatre.”

She credits the cast and crew who worked hard as a team and said she relied on them to get the job done, making specific mention of Stage Manager Teagan Allen-Gryberbauer. “Our tech people just jumped into it. We threw them in the deep end,” said Miller with Drama teacher Leslie Turcotte admitting that everyone learned very quickly.

Turcotte said the students received positive feedback at the Festival and that “there wasn't a main character or main characters in the play so it was a true ensemble play.”

Five students from the school’s Drama Club are currently rehearsing alongside Turcotte for SDSS’s upcoming production of Mary Poppins, with many Drama Club crew members taking what they learned from their time behind the scenes of Emotional Baggage and putting it to use for the spring musical.

The actors and crew won an ensemble award at the Sears Drama Festival in Listowel March 24.

Bryanna MacLachlan was in charge of lighting.

Technical Director Samantha Cowan was also in charge of sound during SDSS Drama Club’s performance of Emotional Baggage in Listowel at the Sears Drama Festival.

Stage Manager Teagan Allen-Gruberbauer (right) assists actor Elspeth Irwin before the performance.