A month’s worth of this semester’s Drama 701A class culminated with their production of Head Elf by A.M. Dittman. The students put on two performances on the 20th of December, one for the school at lunch, and one for the surrounding elementary schools during Block D. This has been the second year in a row where the 701A Drama class has put on a show, following last year’s performance of Roshambo by Brian Borowka.
Both performances starred Paige Dudley as Buckles, an elf delegated by Santa Claus to interview candidates for the role of ‘head elf’, the elf that supervises the production of toys at the North Pole. The majority of the class performed in the play, while five others helped out behind the scenes.
The lunch time performance was fairly well-attended. In addition to students, several parents also signed in to watch their offspring perform. The play was well enjoyed by most in attendance, despite the fact that the script had been somewhat tweaked in order to better suit an elementary school audience.
The elementary audience was highly energetic, perhaps more like a mob or a horde than an audience. The lecture theatre was packed to the rafters with students from various schools, leaving only a handful of vacant seats for drama students not in the play.
Prior to the show, Mr. Lon Bechervaise, who directed the play and did lighting and sound, announced that, as the show was Panto, the audience could feel free to applaud, laugh, and cry if they wanted to. “Just don’t boo at anyone, unless it’s at the Grinch, because we all know that the Grinch is a terrible creature.”
The elementary audience may have taken this to heart a little too much. Mr. Bechervaise said that he knew that things were about to get crazy when he said “Okay, I’m gonna start in about ten seconds”, and the crowd began yelling: “TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!” Mr. Bechervaise then began to scramble at the controls to play the opening music.
When the opening song, ‘Barbie Girl’, came on, the crowd began to scream the lyrics without missing a beat. “I’M A BARBIE GIRL! IN A BARBIE WO-O-ORLD! LIFE IN PLASTIC! IT’S FANTASTIC!”
The crowd remained rowdy throughout the entire show booing several characters, some of which seemed completely random. Chilly (Arabella Slote) was booed after referring to the protagonist as ‘the worst’. Ball was cheered until she called Buckles ‘a jerk elf’, after which she was aggressively booed.
Overall, the class decided that both the individual and group performance was satisfactory. Students can look out for more lecture theatre productions throughout 2024.
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