PLAMONDON - Instead of simply singing popular holiday carols, students at École Plamondon School put their acting abilities toward a series of colourful, hilarious and zany Christmas-themed skits for the school’s annual concert, which took place on Dec. 13 in the school gymnasium.
The theme for the event was ‘Christmas Around the World’ and through dramatic routines, students acted out how the holiday season is practiced in different countries across the globe.
Lisa Meheden, an administrative assistant at Ecole Plamondon School, said the students got some help with their performance from Calgary-based theatrical company Trickster Theatre. Members of the theatre group spent the week leading up to the concert at the school working with various grade levels.
“Actors were working with different groups, and they basically wrote the play together,” she told Lakeland This Week.
According to Meheden, the school’s annual Christmas concerts typically only feature students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 6 performing in front of their family and friends. However, for this year, with Trickster Theatre in town, staff decided to incorporate the entire school. While pre-kindergarten to Grade 11 students did the acting, their peers in Grade 12 took care of props and technical work behind the scenes.
Having a theatre company at the school, Meheden explained, was a pretty unique Christmas gift for the kids and provided them with a unique opportunity to work with professional actors. It also gave kids who normally wouldn’t be interested in taking part or perhaps are a bit shy to get on stage a chance to get involved.
“It’s been nice to see some kids who are not typically engaged or interested in doing these kinds of things being engaged and interested and you know, wanting to help in different ways, either with tech or making props, or being part of the show because they’re excited to have something at the end of the week to showcase,” she stated.
