By Lisa Wilcox
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| Aroostook Republican Photo/Lisa Wilcox From left, Van Buren District Secondary High School’s Rylee Ayotte, Bradlee Roy, Emily Dumond Amanda Sytulek and Nicholas Violette help crew members put together the set for their production of “The Summons of Sariel,” during the Northern Regional Drama Festival held at CPAC on Saturday. |
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — High school drama was actually a welcome activity Saturday at the Caribou Performing Arts Center as Caribou played host to four other County high school drama teams during the Class B Northern Regional Drama Festival.
The event was just one of nine conducted throughout the state that weekend, with over 76 high schools taking part, according to Dan Ladner, the competition’s Maine Principals’ Association representative and clerk of judges
Besides host school Caribou, the other Northern Class B competitors were Washburn, Easton, Van Buren and Fort Kent. Schools with enrollment of under 549 students qualified for the Class B competition.
The Caribou event was broken up into two sessions. The first, which began at 1 p.m., featured Washburn, Easton and Van Buren.
Washburn District High School’s entry was an original piece written by the cast and directed by Mrs. Robin Thurston. Titled “Heinz’s Wheel of Doom,” the play told the tale of game show host Heinz Mustard, a “pompous windbag,” whose Narcissistic ways were accentuated with every line delivered.
Easton High School followed Washburn with their performance of “Odd Ball,” written by Lindsay Price and directed by Debbie Rooney. The short piece was an eclectic series of skits featuring left-of-center characters and situations. Each skit contained one common element, the character “Guy With Ball” trying to convince fellow cast mates that a box he constantly carried was indeed a square ball.
Van Buren District Secondary School concluded the first session with a performance of “The Summons of Sariel,” written by Magdalene Kessie and directed by Sue Lajoie. In this more solemn piece, a young college graduate finds herself at heaven’s door after being hit by a bus. It is there that she meets others who are on the verge of dying and have been brought to the same mysterious place to face Sariel, the Angel of Death, who will determine whether they will return to earth or pass through the barrier to heaven.
The second session began at 7 p.m. with Caribou High School performing “Us and Them,” written by David Martin and directed by Joe Zubrick. This play tells the story of two groups of explorers who simultaneously stumble upon a fertile piece of land and decide to settle there, at first living cohesively with one another, then later being driven crazy by the wall they built to separate their livestock when they begin to wonder what unsavory actions the other group is up to on their side of the wall. A war ensues, leaving the majority of the two groups dead with no good reason other than pure speculation.
The last performance was from Fort Kent Community High School, who took on “Prelude to a Kiss,” written by Craig Lucas and directed by Doug Clapp. The story follows the whirlwind romance of young couple Peter and Rita as they meet, fall in love and get married. At the wedding, Rita kisses an old man and the two swap bodies. The remainder of the play highlights Peter’s quest to retrieve his wife’s soul from the old man.
Fort Kent’s ambitious undertaking of “Prelude” won first place in the competition, with Easton taking second and Caribou placing third.
The three judges, Megan Cross, a professional theater director in Southern Maine who is originally from Aroostook County; Jim Derosier, current president of the Presque Isle Community Players; and Tamia Glidden, a Presque Isle-based actor and director, also awarded commendations to: Noah Dubay of Fort Kent for his portrayal of “Old Man;” Cody Embelton of Easton for his portrayal of “Guy With Ball” and “Brandon;” Taylor Hartley of Caribou for her portrayal of “Spokesperson A;” Rudy Martin of Fort Kent for her portrayal of “Mrs. Boyle;” Jared Michaud of Fort Kent for his portrayal of “Peter;” Bradlee Roy of Van Buren for his portrayal of “The Blind Child;” Daniel Roy of Washburn for his portrayal of “Anderson Von Snivington;” Melanie Saucier of Fort Kent for her portrayal of “Rita;” Nicholas Violette of Van Buren for his portrayal of “Sariel, the Angel of Death;” and Kristen West of Easton for her portrayal of “Ballyhoo, Shannon.”
Commendations were also given to Washburn for the Spirit of Theatre: From Creation to Production achievement; Caribou High for Set Movement; Van Buren for Lighting and Sound; and Easton for Lighting Design.
Fort Kent will go on to compete in the drama state championships at Freeport High School on March 22 and 23.
