GFESS brings back award-winning play for one night before regionals

The student cast of ‘High School Is Killing Me’ will perform their award-winning one-act play one final time at Greater Fort Erie Secondary School (GFESS) on Thursday, April 16 at 7 p.m., before travelling to Hamilton to compete at the National Theatre School (NTS) DramaFest South Regional Showcase.

The encore comes weeks after the all-original production won Best Original Production at the Niagara Region district festival in February, earning GFESS one of two spots advancing to the South Regional Showcase, set for April 20 to 24 at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton.

Written and directed by Grade 12 students Gabrielle Cudmore and Morgan Young, the play centres on a student narrator who believes she has died and observes classmates as they navigate a class president election and social conflicts.

Costumes were primarily sourced from Value Village, with set pieces built by students and donated materials from community groups. Props and set pieces will be transported to Hamilton via U-Haul ahead of the festival.

The production also won the Press Theatre Award for best new play and the NTS adjudicator award for outstanding director for Cudmore and Young.

Gage Allan and Addie Letkemann received an award of excellence for acting, and Liam Barszcz received an NTS award for Merit.

Drama teacher Samantha Caldwell told Fort Erie Radio the best original production win was a significant milestone for the program.

“To be one of two schools to receive the original production award, that is a big accomplishment for us,” said Caldwell.

NTS DramaFest is in its 80th year and involves more than 12,000 secondary school students and educators across Ontario annually. Two productions from each of six regional festivals advance to the Ontario Provincial Showcase, which this year takes place in North York.

“I’m not pushing them to make provincials,” said Caldwell. “If they make provincials, it’d be like the icing on the cake, but right now our overall goal is to rehearse, go have fun, and do our absolute very best.”

Tickets for the April 16 encore performance are available at the door and through School Cash Online.

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