Holy Redeemer wins the most awards at Zone Drama Festival
The Holy Redeemer Drama Department had an extremely successful weekend at the Senior High Zone 2 West Drama Festival winning a total of six awards between their two plays.
“The cast and crew had by far their best performance,” says grade 12 student Kaitlyn Krebs who directed one of the plays, The Song of Louise in the Morning. “This has been such a great experience and to receive the recognition that we did was incredible.”
The HRH plays The Song of Louise in the Morning, along with Portrait of a Madonna, were showcased at the Zone Festival that featured 17 plays from schools in Barrhead, Buck Mountain, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Westlock, Whitecourt, and of course, Edson. Both shows received high praise from the adjudicators and received standing ovations from the audience.
The Song of Louise in the Morning won the most awards of any play at the Festival. It won Best Actor to Quinn Larder (his second Best Actor award in as many years), Best Actress to Ava Simmons, Best Director to Krebs, and an Honourable Mention to Rena Fakhreddine for Growth During Adjudication. It also received the award for Runner Up for Best Production.
“In all my years of going to Festival, I’ve never had this many people walk up and congratulate me on my performance,” says Larder. “I felt like a celebrity. That was the biggest compliment I received.”
“I’m so used to playing young children or teenagers in shows,” says Simmons. “This character asked me to play an emotionally distraught 30-year old who lost her child. It was such a challenge, but Kaitlyn (Krebs) guided me through it. I couldn’t be happier right now.”
Fakhreddine’s Honourable Mention came from her willingness to learn and ask questions during her adjudication, which is something the Adjudicators appreciated.
Portrait of a Madonna also had a very successful performance at the Zone Festival winning two very prestigious awards. The first one was for Best Visual, which was handed out for the outstanding set design created by student director Ethan Tobin and grade 12 student Erin Rogers. “I knew this set had to be very detailed,” says Tobin. “Thanks to Erin we were able to find some old Victorian furniture combined with a lot of messy papers and clothes to create what is supposed to be a disastrous apartment.”
The other award was to Austin Frazer who won Best Actor for his portrayal of the sincere and empathetic Porter. “This was just a total surprise,” says Frazer. “I thought we had our best performance at Festival.”
In total, both shows won a total of six awards and one honourable mention, the most of any school at the Festival. “This goes to show that these students can continue to create top-tier theatre,” says Drama Teacher Peter Taylor. “And I look forward to seeing our program continue to grow and to see what they can do next.”
With another Festival complete, the HRH Drama Department now turns to preparing for their next main stage production that will be announced sometime in May. Stay tuned for the big announcement.