Sparwood Secondary School is hosting its very first student-directed play in April, inspired by literary classic The Three Musketeers.
The play, showing April 24 to 26, follows musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis as they navigate love and relationships. Grade 11 student Jessica Streker is leading rehearsals for the production, and wrote the script.
The play has a modern twist, with a creative departure from the original book.
“The play follows the three musketeers on their road to finding love. Along the way they run into a lot of obstacles, they fight a lot of battles and they do end up coming face to face with their most old and sworn enemy the Cardinal,” said Streker.
“Aramis has some love life issues. She has essentially everything she could ever want except for a boyfriend. Porthos and Athos, they don’t just want a girlfriend. They want Aramis, and she does everything to refuse this idea.”
Ultimately, Aramis finds love in unexpected places.
Streker said she took inspiration from the baroque fairy-tale setting of the book moreso than the original plotline.
“I took the characters I had created and put them into these settings and the plot kind of flowed from there,” she noted.
Theatre teacher Noel Bullock described the play as being a little more light-hearted than productions they’ve shown in the past.
“This definitely hits the comedy. We’ve had some serious stuff. It’s nice to do love and laughter on stage,” he said.
Having a student create a play is something he’s always wanted to do.
“It’s been a long-term goal to have a student-directed play. I’ve often had students who were ready to be there, but they moved on, and Jessica was at the head of the curve a little bit,” he added.
The school has been working dedicatedly on the play since September. Students from all grades have roles, as well as a handful of students from the elementary school. Streker’s classmates helped her edit the script.
The cast worked with Sparwood choreographer Kelly Stoffels on their dance routines, and Calgary-based fight master Laryssa Yanchak on their dueling skills.
The art department has created some amazing props for the production, including breakable chairs and bottles.
Bullock said he’s enjoyed watching the young performers grow and develop a passion for theatre.
“We’ve had actors who have made a lot of progress. They’re a hard-working crew and it’s been exciting to see their development,” he said.
The play will be shown twice per day from April 24 to 26. The afternoon performance will be for students and the evening performance at 6:30 p.m. for the general public. Tickets will be available through Eventbrite or at the door and will go on sale roughly two weeks before the first showing, likely around April 12.