Students were preparing the set Monday afternoon for dress rehearsal. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Arts

Students prepare to raise the curtain on latest stage production

Nov 19, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Ecole St. Mary High School’s latest production is almost ready to go.

This year, students are performing a stage play rendition of 1984, inspired by the famous George Orwell novel. School drama director Jason Van Otterloo said the time was right to do a show like this.

“1984 struck me as something very topical with what’s going on in our current society matching up, what was happening in the play 1984, big brother surveillance and that sort of stuff,” he said.

Van Otterloo said this year’s production will be more serious in tone compared to last year’s play Jesus Christ Super Star. Van Otterloo explained the change in genre is to provide students a range of experiences.

“I look at a student that starts here in Grade 9 and over the course of the four years here, they should have exposure to all sorts of different genres,” he said.

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He added people who have read 1984 and saw the movies will not notice any major differences.

“One character in the book is a guy. In this case, it’s a girl here on stage,” he said.

Crew members working backstage Monday afternoon. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

Nicolas Tuitula plays the lead character, Winston Smith, who subtly rebels against the repressive society in which he lives. Tuitula said the play’s third act has an especially powerful message.

“It actually really makes you question everything about life and how far a person is willing to go in their beliefs,” he said.

Tuitula said the performance is quite intense. He added in rehearsal there has not been the chance for the cast to get much of a break. He said the scene where his character is being tortured has been challenging at times from a physical perspective. Tuitula added the production speaks to some interesting issues.

“It’s really interesting to kind of see what the extremes are and I hope people really enjoy that kind of aspect,” he said.

The production not only stars students but also is put on by a student crew. Brooklyn Knodel, the stage manager for the show, said a lot of work has gone into this year’s production and she is ready for the curtain to go up.

“Once you see it all come together and the show run the way it’s supposed to go it’s all worth it,” she said.

The show kicks off Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m., with the final show set for Saturday evening at the same time at St. Mary.

The crew was working Monday afternoon to get the stage ready for the show. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn