Ever have . . . one of those days?

That's a line from a great show I saw this weekend at the Fringe Festival (running until next Sunday, mostly on Granville Island).  The play was called "Radio: 30" and is about an actor recording a 30 second commercial spot.  He's a very skilled and confident actor who shows what it's like to work in that environment, but of course, that's not all there is to the show.  The actor/writer of the show is the very talented Chris Earle, whose performance was absolutely rivetting.  The other show I saw was a huge contrast -- "Hockey Night at the Puck and Pickle Pub".  It was performed by Ryan Gladstone and John Paterson and was about a bunch of people in a pub watching the final gold medal hockey game at the 2014 Olympics (here's a hot prediction -- it's Russia and Canada!)  Both actors play all the characters -- old men, "cougars", two actors planning a hockey play, and a couple on a date all the way to Jim Hewson and Kelly Hrudy doing the play-by-play of the game.   It was lots of fun.  Gladstone and Paterson are pretty great improvisers and invested a lot of energy into the performance and even though they struggled a bit with the material (which requires a deft hand, I think) they certainly were entertaining.

If you're interested in taking part in the Drama Club, we had our first meeting today (I had planned to meet tomorrow, but I won't be able to do it).  We're going to do Midsummer Night's Dream and the audition sheets are on the theatre bulletin board, along with a signup sheet for audition times.  Make sure you memorize the piece.  If you want to work backstage, listen for the announcements or let Alyssa, Paige or Mark (or me) know.

Your journals are due tomorrow.  Grade 8's, make every effort to hand yours in, since most of you will be away at camp for three days.  Have a great time!  This is an experience you'll remember for your whole high school career!

Grade 9's and 10's -- you're going to be working on mime for the next couple of days.  Remember, it's so important to concentrate when you're miming and really think about communicating to the audience. In groups, it's important to listen to everyone's ideas before you charge ahead with your own.  Sometimes an idea that seems too complicated at first or is hard to understand is just the thing to make your play special.  The theatre is predicated on the principal that two (or three or more) heads are better than one and that many hands make light work.  (Sometimes cliches are true.)

See you all on Wednesday.