RSA students host 10-minute play creation

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA) students will perform their second annual 10-minute play creation Jan. 28, fundraising for spring theatre trips to London, England and Canada’s west coast.
A silent auction will open in the BMO Studio Stage at 6 p.m., followed by the 10-minute performances at 7 p.m.
At 11 p.m. the day before, staff and students will be divided into groups. Each group will receive one prop and one line of text, which will be the basis for writing, rehearsal and performance of a 10-minute play.
“On Saturday morning at 9 [a.m.], the groups will reconvene and begin creating their play,” said Maki Van Dyke, school registrar. “Some [groups] will start with writing, others may build a movement piece, and yet others may improvise characterizations.”
Students have until 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28.
“Each group will then be ready to perform a piece of theatre, complete with plot, characters, costumes, dialogue and movement,” Van Dyke said.
“Doors open at 6 p.m., when audience and play creators mingle over a silent auction featuring donations of services, B&B stays, art, baked goods and other items.”
The largest item, she added, will likely be Rosebud Theatre tickets and an overnight at a Rosebud bed-and-breakfast.
“Seeing all the different plays is like sampling appetizers, each one short, unique and spell-binding,” Van Dyke said. “Last year, the plays spanned a full range of genres and emotions. The audience was laughing their heads off for one piece and sat intensely quiet for the next.”
They’d like to raise $9,000, and funds will be divided equally among students taking the trips. Besides making the trips more affordable, the 10-minute play creation experience “is an awesome way for students to create out of their own strengths,” Van Dyke said. “Instead of lending their talents to tell someone else’s story, the 10-minute play creation allows students to be at the creative helm of the process, writing their own work and staging it in a way that they want to.”
And of course, students grow from the theatre trips themselves.
“The theatre trips give students the opportunity to see the best of English-speaking theatre, and take workshops with professional artists in different parts of the world,” she said. “We have seen the theatre trips be an essential component to the students’ personal and artistic growth as they define their calling.”
Play creation tickets are available at the door for a suggested donation of $10. The performances will be family-friendly, with a suggested age of seven and up. Silent auction bids can be placed in person, with some items available for online bidding through the RSA Theatre Trips Facebook page. People can also donate at 1-800-267-7553, at rosebudtheatre.com under Tickets-Donations, or by mailing a cheque to Rosebud School of the Arts. Donations of $20 or more are tax deductible. To donate silent auction items, contact Beth at bethw@rosebudtheatre.com.
“Our hope is that at the end of the night, the audience feels deeply satisfied, having enjoyed fresh, fun stories, and hopefully walking away with a silent auction prize,” Van Dyke said. “We are confident that all will enjoy themselves. It’s just a super fun thing to do and will lift any post-Christmas blues.”