Paul Kane High School swept up seven of 12 awards at the Zone E One-Act Festival, a major coup for the school and a strong endorsement of the drama program.
“They were very proud of themselves. They were wound up. They were so energized cheering for themselves as well as other kids. It was a good end to the festival,” said drama teacher Lisa Whitson, describing the competition held at the Timms Centre from April 15 to 17.
The Best Play went to The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note directed by Grade 12 students Jamie Jukna and Keegan Goerz. “When our name was announced, I felt such an explosion of pride for my cast,” Jukna said.
In Suicide Note, a teen finds a suicide note in his mailbox and he tries to find who left it. Jukna added the directing duo selected Suicide Note from a stack of scripts for its content. “We like plays that communicate a meaning and have something to talk about. It is something that affects everybody, directly or indirectly.”
One of the perks of this particular win is that the play moves on to provincials. “We want to make it even better by then. We hope everyone at the provincials likes it and comes away with what we have learned. We really want to communicate the message of the show.”
A second play, Cinnamon Cookies, might not have won Best Play, but it came away with two top awards, Best Actress and Best Student Director. The Best Student Director award went to Dylan Rosychuck and Jeff Punyi.
“They started from the ground up. They physically wrote it, designed it and directed it. They did the complete package,” Whitson explained.
And Samantha DeChamplain, who plays a deranged mother, received the Best Actress nod. “The dynamics of her character were very strong. She starts off as a 1950s housewife and as things go out of control, there’s eye twitching, convulsing and murder. She covered the full range of emotions.”
David McIntyre, who tackled the role of suicidal adolescent Ken in Suicide Note, carried home a Best Supporting Actor award.
In addition, there were three Honourable Mentions: Best Actor went to Jarrett Krissa, Best Actress to Samantha Sinclair and Hayley Craft, a genuine theatre trouper, received the Technical Theatre citation. “We found out 20 minutes before the show that the stage manager couldn’t make it and Hayley stepped in.”
Provincials will be held in Red Deer from May 12 to 14.
