Drama Beat

LIFS brings local film makers together

Wednesday, 18 April 2018 08:33 Richard Amery

Horror is in the blood for local film maker Charlie Christensen.
Last April, Christensen and director /writer Thorsten Nesch entered the Straight 8 film competition, with a three minute some short called Scarlett Gloves based on a Sir William Scott short story. Charlie Christensen and Thorsten Nesch with a photo of the actors from #partytime. Photo by Richard Amery
“It is an 8 mm film competition. So you have to shoot it all on one roll of film. There are no edits. That’s part of the challenge. The deadline was last April. I couldn’t go, because I’m broke, but just to make the cut was impressive,” Christensen said, adding the winners of that were screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

They didn’t even get to see the final product as they had to send the film undeveloped.

Local composer Nick Bohl, who worked on Christensen’s full length horror feature the Harvestman, in 2009. They synchronized the music with the film without seeing it as well.
“It’s about a man who becomes so engrossed in a story that it becomes real,” Christensen said.

The duo are part of a new Lethbridge not-for profit independent film collective called LIFS (Lethbridge Independent Film Society) featuring film makers, writers, directors and producers.
They meet every month to talk about films, film making, strategies, skills, grant application and work together on each other‘s projects. The group, which formed a year ago, currently has 20 members.
“We’ve had two events to screen each other‘s projects— one in November and the other in April, Christensen said.

“It’s great, there is so much talent here,” said Nesch, who is a best selling and award winning author and playwright in Germany.
He moved to Canada with his wife and settled in Victoria and then Calgary before finding Lethbridge was not only cheaper to live, but also discovering how much talent there is here.
“I was really amazed by how much talent there is in this city of 100,000,” Nesch said.

“I have published 14 novels in Germany in all different genres. I’m a publisher’s nightmare. They want me to write the same thing over again, but I don’t want to do that. I write horror, adventure and even humour. I can be funny even though I’m German,” he laughed.

One Act Drama Festival features more original works this year

Wednesday, 28 March 2018 07:44 Richard Amery

Come to Casa, April 6 for a great night of mostly original plays during the annual One Act Drama Festival. Rita Peterson and Kate Connolly are excited for this year’s One Act Play Festival at Casa, April 6. photo by Richard Amery
Organizers received three plays right on the March 16 deadline.

“It will be an action packed feast of theatre, enthused organizer Kate Connolly, noting sponsors Playgoers of Lethbridge are excited to present the event.
All entries will be adjudicated. There will be awards for best original script, best play, best actor and best actress. The winner can go to Fort McMurray to compete in the provincial One Act Play festival, May 25 and 26.

ADFA (Alberta Drama Festival Association) covers some mileage and accommodations expenses for the winner.
There will be familiar faces from Playgoers of Lethbridge, Shakespeare In The Park and the University of Lethbridge including Cole Fetting, who is in Edward Albee‘s 1958 play Zoo story about two men sitting on a bench talking about their lives in a material world and reasons for visiting the zoo.

Auditions for Nunsense 2 on Monday

Friday, 23 March 2018 11:35 Richard Amery

Nunsense was lots of fun two years ago, so expect twice the fun with the same nuns as Lethbridge Musical theatre present Nunsense 2 at McNally School, June 13-16. Chris Peterson Rehearsoing for Nunsense two years ago. photo by Richard Amery
Auditions for the sequel to the popular comedy are Monday, March 26 at the LSCO at 7 p.m.

“ It’s the sequel to Nunsense. It’s a thank you concert that takes place six weeks after the original concert, ” said director Rita Peterson, who is excited to perform at McNally School.
“ It’s a great space. It really suits this play which takes place in a Hoboken nunnery,” she said.

“They’re excited to have us and there could be future collaborations,” she said.

“The last production of Nunsense was a success. So we wanted to do the sequel,” Peterson continued.

U of L re-examines medieval mysteries in A Barne in Bedlam

Wednesday, 21 March 2018 08:22 Richard Amery

The University of Lethbridge is exploring a pair of medieval “mysteries” but that doesn’t mean the actors are discovering ‘whodunnit” in “A Barne In Bedlam: Two Approaches to Medieval plays,” running in the David Spinks Theatre, March 20-24. Olusryi Dada, Kaitlyn Olfert and Jordan Payne, rehearse the Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. photo by Richard Amery
“It’s not a mystery, it’s a retelling of Biblical tales,” said Mia Van Leeuwen, who is directing “ The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve.”

There are two different interpretations of the plays by two different directors, working with the same cast for both of them.

“The Rise and Fall of Adam And Eve” is similar to what might have been seen 500 years ago when it debuted.

On the other hand, “Second Shepherd’s Play” is a satirical and contemporized interpretation of the nativity, where a couple pretend a lamb is their baby. It includes multi-media components of a video montage and soundscapes.

“It‘s the same cast in both,” said Jordan Payne, who is joined on stage by Kaitlyn Olfert and Olusryi Dada.
“The second play, Three Shepherds (directed by Gabrielle Houle,) is about three shepherds talking about who stole a sheep when the angel Gabriel comes downs and tells them Jesus is being born in Bethlehem, they decide ‘we’d better go to see that,’” Payne summarized.
Van Leeuwen noted creating the Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve was a collaborative process with the cast, which they appreciated being able to do.
“ Collaborating with the students was really important. We started with the themes form the play and started creating,” Van Leeuwen said.

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