After years of experimenting with different genres, members of the R.D. Parker Collegiate drama department continued to expand their horizons by staging an original horror-themed play titled Kingston 1989 at the Letkemann Theatre May 24.
The story of this production revolves around four teenagers who get caught up in cults, witches and other supernatural fare after their car breaks down in the mysterious town of Kingston (not the one located in Ontario or Jamaica).
The tone and content of this play was a radical departure from the group’s last two year-end projects, which tackled broad comedy and serious war-time drama.
Outside of the individual performances, this change in direction was largely accomplished through the department’s lighting crew, who went out of their way to create a creepy atmosphere by enveloping the stage in sharp reds and blues (and sometimes total darkness).
According to RDPC drama director Demaris Wilson, the writing process for Kingston 1989 was also a little bit different, since more students were involved in putting the script together this time around.
“Last year it was more of a select group that were writing,” she told the Thompson Citizen. “This time we sat down in a roundtable and hammered out each scene and what happens in each scene, a rough plot, and then the kids went away on a Google Doc and they filled in blanks.”
Wilson also mentioned that this is the first time she’s combined the Grade 11 and 12 drama classes together for their big year-end production that also doubles as their final exam.
“When you have spent multiple years working as a close-knit group with the same actors, it can be difficult to allow new groups into your family,” she wrote in the play’s program. “I am proud to say that we no longer see ourselves divided by grade levels or courses.”
The RDPC drama director also went out of her way to thank the school’s autobody and wood working departments for providing a lot of the more elaborate props for Friday’s show.
