That’s so fetch!

Posted on: Staff Writer

S12D5

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter

 

The popular movie ‘Mean Girls,’ which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is coming to the Strathmore High School (SHS) stage.
It’s a production some of the drama students have been asking teacher Paula Richardson to put on for a few years. This is the graduating year for a couple of those girls, and so she decided this year was the year for it.
“The message in it is very pertinent to high school students now. We have been trying to get students to stop putting themselves in harmful categories, to stop speaking in a negative way to each other and this is just a reaffirmation of that message and the bullying that has been so pragmatic and so difficult to deal with, it’s still the same message,” said Paula Richardson.
“I think the students are finding that they saw ‘Mean Girls’ as something fun to watch but I don’t know if they understood the concept of portraying the message until they actually started into the script and then they sort of realized that ‘oh, it’s our turn to give this message instead of just being entertained by the movie that we all are familiar with.'”
The movie follows the story of Cady Heron, played by Taylor Stewart and Caitlin Swan, as she adjusts to going to public school for the first time, and being accepted by ‘the Plastics,’ a group of four shallow and cruel girls.
The play has similarities to the movie, but doesn’t follow the script exactly. Rebecca Richardson, who is also playing Regina George, did almost all of the edits to the script, which took some time to get ready for the stage.
Some of the students are playing double roles, and there are some who play five or six stand-in roles. The cast is made up of a mix of Drama 20 and 30 students. Because of the time of year it can sometimes be tough to get the audience they would like; Paula Richardson is hoping there will be a good attendance for this show.
‘Mean Girls’ runs on the SHS stage Dec. 15-18 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at the door or by calling the school at 403-934-3135.