High school presenting two plays this year after student pens script

By Dan Walton and Greg Amos

Pioneer Staff

An ambitious drive by a teenage playwright will see two dramatic plays this year at David Thompson Secondary School, as Grade 12 student Alaya Simpson wrote the script for Say

Something, a play in which shell be performing.

Its a tragedy its about depression, and it deals with mature subject matter, Alaya said. Its not recommended for children.

She compared the extent of its edgy content to that of a 14-A movie. Say Something is set in present-day, and will allow the audience to experience a friendship between two people which goes awry after one develops depression.

This one girl feels so alone and she spirals downward, she said. And the other friend distances herself.

After brushing up her knowledge on the subject by speaking with counsellors and peers going through struggles, Alaya wrote the play hoping most people will be able to be relate.

Its a delicate subject that Im dealing with in this play, and I tried to be really careful and to be politically correct, she said. Its kind of confrontational, but I want to bring the issues to light and have people discuss it.

The entire play will run in one act, which will run for about an hour in duration. Eleven actors will be taking part while the two main roles in the story revolve around the two good friends, Hazel (played by Alaya Simpson) and Reese (played by Grace Webber).

Im really happy with the cast that we have, said Alaya.

Students normally perform just one play at the end of each school year. But with encouragement through teacher Shelley Little, who teaches drama and English at the high school, Alaya prepared Say Something in her free time for an additional production in the winter.

I want to make people think and understand that their actions; things they do and say, whether knowingly or not, can really affect someone, she said.

The first performance is on Thursday, March 6th, with an encore presentation on Saturday March 8th both at 7 p.m. at the David Thompson Secondary School theatre. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.