Drama students at Ursuline College in Chatham performed their entry for The National Theatre School Drama Festival Feb. 26 at the Chatham Capitol Theatre.
The one-act play titled “Tracks” by Peter Tarsi is the story of a group of strangers who meet in a subway station. What follows is the group trying to figure out why they are there, a reflection on their lives and what constitutes being good or evil.
“A group of strangers wake up in a subway station and slowly come to realize they come from all different walks of life and different paths,” explained Grade 12 student and director Jack Knowler. “It gets into morals and ethics and who is good and who is bad. It’s an interesting look at each character. For instance, there is a homeless girl who has gone through such hardships in life – does she deserve to go to heaven? She is also stealing, so does she deserve to go to hell?”
The play has a cast of 10 and a crew of four from Grade 9 to 12, along with teacher advisor Jordan Matteis.
“Jordan is a guidance counsellor at our school and has been working with Sears for the past two years, and he has a lot of experience working in drama,” Knowler said. “It’s been great working with him and get a bit of an edge.”
“Even though he is our teacher advisor, he’s very much, ‘You go ahead, this is your performance,’ which I have very much appreciated. He lets me do a lot of things and he’s just there to keep things on track and make sure everything is legal properly.”
The UCC entry was one of eight from local high schools performed at the Festival, which ran Feb. 25-27 at the Capitol Theatre.
