Five days of workshopping and rehearsal culminated in an afternoon of entertainment at Parkland secondary.
Kaleidoscope Theatre Company, a Greater Victoria company dedicated to theatre arts for youth, hosts the annual Vancouver Island Young Playwright’s Competition and Festival.
Student playwrights, actors, and stage managers work, with a professional dramaturge, professional directors, and directors in training, to mount the winning plays for a public presentation, explained Patrick Rundell, marketing and development coordinator.
Though usually they do six plays during the annual festival, there were only four this year. Peninsula student Amy Collier, of Parkland secondary, will be on home turf for her play presentation.
The other three were written by Zoe Brimacombe, Jazmyn Mari and Sophie Underwood.
“We also have several Parkland students in the festival as well,” Rundell said of the actors participating.
Experienced directors Leslie Bland, Kirsten Van Ritzen and Ian Ferguson workshop the plays.
“They work with the writers to create their plays, they help with the dramaturgical process. Then they workshop with the actors,” said Rundell who enjoyed that process when he was a student.
“They’re getting to create a new role … they are the first actors to play these roles,” he said. “It’s a real learning experience and we work in a professional environment.”
The one-act plays each fit into a 20-minute time slot.
The show ran Sunday in the Parkland school theatre.
