Calling all cars, calling all cars, major theatre incident at College Heights secondary school. Please respond, and bring backup.
The fledgeling drama department at CHSS is raising the curtain on the first play in their theatrical renewal. The school hasn't had a dedicated high school drama program in many years, but 25 students from Grades 9-12 have joined forces for a production of Squad Room, a comedy built in the same fashion as TV shows like Barney Miller or Brooklyn-Nine-Nine, where cops and crooks collide with hilarious results.
It is an ensemble play, perfect for the big class full of dissimilar students.
"I only have one Grade 12 student and three Grade 11 students. Only a few have ever been in a play before," said first-year CHSS teacher Audrey Rowell, a veteran drama teacher in School District 57 who was tasked with reestablishing a program at the school. "All the rest of them are in Grade 9 or 10, most of them have no prior experience, and they have worked so hard, they have been so dedicated to it, and they are just shining."
Rowell said there is a sense of passion for theatre arts being felt around the school. College Heights doesn't have a dedicated theatrical auditorium, but that has only meant all the more pride and passion to make it work among the staff and students, she said. This performance will also be watched during school hours by elementary students from CHSS's feeder schools, to help ignite the desire to take part in drama when those children grow into their "big school" and her challenge is to have a program ready for that when they get there, and for the younger cast members of this play when they come back hungry for more next semester.
"It's an exciting time. I'm so lucky to get to be a part of it," Rowell said.
"The value to the school is huge. It teaches self esteem, respect, being comfortable with who you are, it is a bit part of teaching the ways of becoming a better human being, a positive member of society, it can translate into any job you ever have later in life and it can even be the job you have later in life. There are hundreds of professions directly linked to theatre. The obvious one is acting, but many high-tech, trades and administrative professions are needed as well.
"Look at Gracey Syme. I taught Gracey, I had her in two plays at Kelly Road, she was my lead in The Jungle Book, and this month she plays a leading role in a Leonardo DiCaprio movie," said Rowell.
"I've had a lot of students go on to be in commercials, television shows, movies. A lot of them come back and visit me, they love to talk about it, I love to hear about it, because theatre is so much about relationships. It's a skill that involves other people, at every stage, and those are lifelong relationships. And it is something we really value as a society. Look at your own home. You have a TV, you have a laptop, you go out to see movies, or there's all that stuff on iTunes and Netflix and Shomi, and all of it - all of it! - was created by people who were once in high school drama classes themselves."
Squad Room will be performed at CHSS today and Friday at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.).
Tickets are $5 at the door.
