By Adam MacDonald
Fernie Secondary students entertained audiences last week with three performances of this year’s drama production, Little Shop of Horrors.
Although most musicals have a happy ending, where all the conflicts get resolved and all the characters fall in love, Little Shop of Horrors took audiences through a rags to riches love story that ended in everyone getting eaten by a, literally, blood-thirsty plant. The prop-dependant play had students backstage manning large puppets, while their colleagues acted and sang out front. “I think this is the best ensemble we’ve had in a long time,” said director, Lorie Sinclair. “We had a lot of really talented kids who enjoyed what they were doing.”
After some difficulty in locating the puppets for the show, Sinclair was finally able to rent the puppets from a school in Prince George and have a relative pick them up. “We’ve worked with them, changed them, added to them, and stuffed them with more foam,” said Sinclair, noting that the used puppets needed some love after sitting in a closet for years.
“The performances were awesome,” said male lead, Liam Faucher, noting that the students had a rocky dress rehearsal. “We just kind of went right into it and each night we got more confident and everybody brought up the energy. It was a lot of fun.”