Aldergrove Community Secondary School’s (ACSS) theatre students have embarked on their final week of rehearsals for Endgame, which opens at the end of this month.
Written by Samuel Beckett in 1957, the play is an absurdist tragicomedy set after an apocalyptic disaster.
“Hamm, his servant Clov, his father Nagg, and his mother Nell are trapped together in Hamm’s home,” said Mike McLaughlin, an theatre teacher for nearly 15 years at ACSS.
“Hamm cannot stand or see, Clov cannot sit and Nagg and Nell live without legs in two, large barrels.”
Five highschoolers have boldly undertaken the unconventional story: Cade Mckenzie, Dylan Punter, Bailey Bosch, Nicole Crossen and Tamara Bot.
RELATED: School art project seeks Aldergrove’s beauty
The students are conducting the play in its classic sense; “very similar to how it would have been first staged in the 50s,” said McLaughlin, esteeming the dedication of his student cast.
“These are the kids that fought through school start-up, Christmas vacation and semester turnaround and are still going strong,” he said.
The theatre troupe has been in and out of rehearsals since early October, with as many as 6 additional hours per week spent practicing in the gym after school.
One of the actors—a grade twelve student Cade Mckenzie—has taken acting classes in downtown Vancouver this school year.
“He’s been in my acting classes since grade eight… and because of his sheer perseverance he got the lead role in the play,” said a proud McLaughlin.
“There’s been a lot of great ideas from the students,” he added. “They’ve really recognized the comedy amidst the darkness and discovered exciting new parts of their characters.”
Endgame will run February 27-March 1 through March 6-8. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The show will start at 7 p.m.
Tickets can now be bought for $5 at the high school’s main office, or by contacting Debbie Jones at DeJones@sd35.bc.ca or 604-856-2521.
