Drama weekened

This semester's drama weekend featured three one-act plays presented by members of the High School drama class. The performances took place in the intimate atmosphere of the Media Centre auditorium. The common theme was the exploration of reality. Compère Rachit Malhotra set the scene with some strange existential jokes. Example: "Do you know the time?" "Yes, but not just now." Unsurprisingly, the Middle School students at the Saturday matinee were suitably bemused.

The first play, Car Wash, by Louis Phillips, explored the reactions of someone who was faced with the inexplicable disappearance of his Mercedes from a car wash run on Japanese management principles. A long conversation about the nature of reality ensues, at the end of which all three protagonists have themselves disappeared into the ether. Directed by Jivika Mehra; Pfeiffer -Taj Sangha; Joe-Maari Watanabe; Darlene-Nicole Young; Customer-Sachika Mehra.

Shubhashish Bhutiani and Hilary Smith then gave a virtuoso performance in a two-hander called "Universal Language", by David Ives. A fraudster tries to sell lessons in a new language which he has himself invented. In the end, despite knowing it to be a fraud, the customer is so entranced with the language that she joins him to sell it to the world. 90% of the dialogue is in this hilarious invented language, with verbal jokes at every turn - a real feat of memory and presentation. Directed by Kyrie Rotolo; Dawn-Hilary Smith; Don-Shubhashish Bhutianti; Young girl-Pritha Rajouria.

The final play, "Mere Mortals", also by David Ives, featured three high-rise construction workers on their lunch break.It slowly emerges that each one believes themselves to be someone other than their apparent identity - the lost, kidnapped son of Charles Lindbergh, the Romanov princess Anastasia, and the reincarnation of Marie Antoinette. Are our everyday lives special enough, or do we have to invent alternate lives for ourselves? For this play, the Media Centre seating was reversed, with the audience on the stage watching the action in the balcony. Directed by Raveena Gill; Charlie-Kabir Sarkar-Ali; Franky-Pema Rapten; Joe-Caitlin Eby-McKenzie.