Not Your Usual High School Drama at Sydenham HS

Wilma Kenny | Jun 04, 2015

This year’s SHS Drama Department production was “You Can’t Take It With You” by Hart and Kauffman. Set in the late 1930’s, the play features a happy, loving but highly eccentric family whose daughter becomes engaged to the son of a very proper and well-to-do local businessman. Complications peak when the future son-in-law’s parents arrive a day early to meet his fiancee’s family. Of course everything comes out well in the end, with a strong endorsement of the importance of quality of life, and the courage to follow one’s dreams.

It’s a good choice for a school play: large cast, room for some great over-the-top cameos, fast-paced and funny.

But this production came about in a highly unusual manner.

Typically, an annual high school play is chosen, cast and directed by the drama teacher. Other staff members pitch in with stage design, costumes, makeup and advertising.

Not this time. According to the program notes, drama teacher Rutherford had “a very ambitious grade 11 and 12 split drama class that wanted to have a challenge that would bring them together as a community.” So he suggested they produce the annual play all by themselves. He would be available for consultation.

It sounds as though consensus didn’t come easily, but finally the class chose “You Can’t Take it With You”. Three people wanted to direct and against all likelihood, three directors, Adam Brown, Melissa Pugh and Jadon Chow are listed on the final program. Auditions were held, a cast was chosen, and “the rest of the students that didn’t get a part, they became stage designers, wardrobe, hair and make-up or backstage and technical.”

To this member of the audience, it seems the drama class completely achieved their goal: the sixteen-member cast with the support of the backstage folks worked together smoothly and confidently as an ensemble, supporting and complimenting their fellow actors. Amy Walton as Alice inhabited her character with great consistency and Max Karan’s Russian accent and middle European manner were thoroughly convincing. It’s not easy for young people to play older roles: full credit to the makeup department for not falling prey to drawing a lot of unconvincing lines on their faces, leaving it instead to the actors to show their maturity through their movements and mannerisms.

Mr Rutherford deserves full credit for one of the most difficult but best forms of teaching: enabling his class to discover for themselves their ability to come together as a cohesive whole through what must have been some rocky situations, to the reward of a well-earned standing ovation.

A pity it was so modestly advertised, and ran for only three days last week!