Theatre Production: Evening of Scenes & A Midsummer Night's Dream

Welcome to the second Evening of Scenes in our Covid series. You’ll be watching the students from our Grade 9&10 Drama class, our Grade 11&12 Drama class and some of our kids from Theatre Production class. Everyone has worked really hard and followed the safety protocols, and we hope you enjoy the show.  Thank you for your support of the performing arts at Oak Park!

GRADE 9-10 DRAMA CLASS
Mattie and Julianna	Seems Odd to Me
Mayson, Cameron and Marrin	He Needs to Go
Nevaeh and Dariyn	Tuna vs. Lions (from The Other Guys)
Erin and Devin	Freshmen
Michelle	From a Railway Carriage & Virtue
Ericka and Michelle	I Have to Go! By Robert Munsch
Ericka	The Owl and the Cat
Julia and Haley	Redvines!
Sarah H and Aucienne	Wanda meets Agnes
Kaden and Julianna	Substitute Axe
GRADE 11-12 CLASS and Theatre Practicum
Konnor and Rowan	$90 Cab Ride
Chelsie	I Killed Chuck
Zach and Marie	Two Yorkshiremen
Sydney and Talia	So, I’m Dead?
Ken and Konnor	The Avengers: Loki in Germany
Zach and Konnor	The Coin Scene from No Country For Old Men
Devin S.	Hands
Liam G.	Elbow
Devin S. and Liam G	Angela’s Airplane
Sarah K and Hannah	Offers and Deals
Sarah K and Talia	A Dash of Fun
Paige	Hereditary
Konnor, Zach, Josh, Liam F	Improv
Josh and Liam	Brian and Stewie (Trigger warning for discussion of suicide.)
Liam F	Eulogy
Rowan and Marissa	Palm Springs
Emma and Katie	Miley?
Francesco, Anya and Hunter	Let It
Abby	What Does It Smell Like in the Sistine Chapel?
Jared, Aaron and Alex	Ghosts
Konnor	The Answer
Marie	Pandora

A Midsummer Night's Dream

This production was truly a testament to the dedication of our OP staff and students. 

It all started with a conversation between the Drama teacher and an education assistant. It seemed a foregone conclusion that there could be no shows. We lamented the impact this pandemic was having on our students and on the arts. We kept getting messages about things that we “couldn’t do”. Then we decided to reframe the issue; let’s think about how we “could do”. 

Art is about coming together; about growing, healing and creating. Art is about overcoming, and with this renewed spirit, a vision began to form. 

Part of this reshaping was giving up our prime date in December at the Gas Station Arts Centre. We rescheduled in May, with the hope that we could host an audience then. As the year wore on, even a date in May seemed unlikely at an indoor venue, so we switched our focus to finding an outdoor space. This included the Oodena Celebration Circle or the Scotia Bank open air theatre at The Forks. It may surprise you to know that Mr. A had several conversations with Charleswood’s city councillor, Kevin Kline, to try and lock down one of these spaces. On our behalf he contacted the booking department of The Forks and advocated for our plans. The Forks said that they would do their best to accommodate us.

Covid had other plans for us however, and public health orders prevented even an outdoor live show. 

On to the next plan! It looked like we would have to do something in Oak Park. We also realize that filming would be a necessity. Setting up a stage in our own gymnasium would allow us the space to ensure that the students could do what they needed to while adhering

to physical distancing guidelines. Believing that things were finally settled, we were set to being filming over the course of four days starting on May 17th…

But Covid had one more surprise for us. On Sunday, May 9th, it was announced that schools in Winnipeg would be moving to remote learning on Wednesday, May 12... The odds were continually stacked against us, but Oak Park doesn't back down from a challenge. 

The show was adjusted further to follow all safety protocols and filming started in the Oak Park Theatre. With the support of our staff and students, Oak Park Theatre Company filmed for 12 hours a day for two days. This incredible group of young people pulled it off. 

It is important for us to acknowledge the sheer amount of resilience, hard work, dedication, and stamina displayed by our staff and students in completing this project. This teamwork was typical of the performing arts family at Oak Park, but was inspiring, nonetheless. We need to also say that this project could not have happened without collaboration between the Dramatic Arts, Screen Arts, Visual Arts and Dance programs. In addition, this production would not have been released without the editing assistance of Rowan Lundy and Nicole Lavallee. 

Please be sure to watch to the end to see the list of our cast and crew of amazing individuals. We thank the administration and staff of École secondaire Oak Park High School for their support, and we thank you, our audience.