Drama Xchange at Rosebud School of the Arts
By Laureen F. Guenther Times Contributor
Photo Courtesy of Rosebud School of the Arts
The Grade 7 to 12 students were from Calgary’s Glenmore Christian Academy, Prairie Christian Academy in Three Hills and Kootenay Christian Academy in Cranbrook, BC. Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA) coordinated the event in partnership with Association for Christian Schools International.
The high school students attended workshops on singing, choreography, drama ministry, devised theatre, photography, stage combat and improv, presented by RSA faculty, graduates and students, and other theatre professionals. They also participated in a panel with theatre professionals discussing theatre careers.
The students took part in a “performance showcase,” where each school performed a theatre piece, for which they were adjudicated, focusing on their strengths. Glenmore Christian Academy students performed a selection from Little Women. Students from Prairie Christian Academy performed a Sherlock Holmes segment. Kootenay Christian Academy students performed a comic version of 12 Angry Jurors, based on the Three Little Pigs.
The students also attended a Rosebud Theatre performance of Driving Miss Daisy and engaged in a talk-back with cast and crew members.
“At every turn, students had a chance to rub shoulders with artists who make their living in the theatre,” said Maki Van Dyke, RSA’s registrar.
During the Driving Miss Daisy talk-back, Tom Pickett, the actor who plays Miss Daisy’s chauffeur Hoke, was queried by foreign exchange students who are, like Pickett, persons of colour.
“They asked about the elephant in the room: ‘what’s it like to be you and do this play?’” Pickett said. “Translation: how do you feel having to perform this play in front of white people and say the N-word and talk about Jewish-Christian racism and bias against other people of colour?”
“Firstly, I thanked them for their courage to ask the question,” Pickett said. “I told them the first two times I had done the play (Driving Miss Daisy), I was in my ’50s and I felt shame and embarrassment having to say those words. And I didn’t own them as my truth. I backed off. I didn’t serve the play, the story.”
“Now, at nearly 70 (years of age), I realize that in order for the audience to get the message, I have to slap you across the face (or) hit you over the head with these issues so you can get it. And then you get to take it any way you want but you must clearly understand what is at stake,” Pickett said. “(People) don’t think they are wrong until the playwright writes that discovery, that insight. And then you play that truth.”