Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) was the place to go, for whacky, spontaneous and side-splitting funny entertainment, on June 15 and 16. Students, many of whom are involved in the school鈥檚 drama program, participated in a competitive, performance-based event, at ECS鈥檚 annual improv games.
鈥淲e based it off of the Canadian Improv Games. There鈥檚 a national league that does them,鈥� said Evanne Wilhem, a drama teacher at ECS. 鈥淭hey do acting situations and events that are all about improvising on stage, in circumstances they鈥檙e not prepared for. Basically they鈥檙e learning that in their drama classes, so they have to use those skills in a competitive setting.鈥�
The games involved four teams of student actors: A&W Value Meal, Bread Rises Again, Pucks and Sausage Fest. Teams were given premises to spontaneously perform in front of an audience of other students and teachers. Premises that were improvised ranged from simple gags to elaborate, zany storylines like a medical staff wantonly administering laughing gas to people in an ER. Ultimately, Bread Rises Again won with their whacky, spontaneous approach to improv and ability to come up with the clearest ideas that made people laugh the loudest.
鈥淭he one word I want to use to describe it all is whimsical. Everyone in the school can sign up to be on a team, but the majority of kids who do compete are in Drama 10, Drama 20 or Drama 30,鈥� said Wilhelm.聽
The improv games run near the end of the year, Wilhem noted, because by that time, students have been through their drama classes, and have been trained in improvisation rules and techniques.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun way of celebrating all of the things we鈥檝e learned. It鈥檚 great for kids to be able to share that with an audience, because they don鈥檛 have a lot of opportunities to do that the way sports teams would,鈥� said Wilhelm. 鈥淚t鈥檚 neat for them, when they get audience reactions and approval for what they鈥檙e working on 鈥� especially when it鈥檚 something like a fine arts-related event.鈥�
Each team was judged on a number of dimensions of their performances, by a panel of former drama teachers. One criteria for each performance included understanding of the situation being improvised, and the ability to make full use of the suggestion given to them.聽
鈥淥nce the situation is given to them, they鈥檙e judged on whether they remembered the things about the situation. They only get it once, and they only get 30 seconds to plan their performance,鈥� said Wilhelm. 鈥淭hey also need to observe rules of the stage, using a big enough voice that everyone can hear them, avoid turning their backs to the audience and use gestures and movements that are large enough for an audience to understand what they鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Creativity was another important dimension of each performance, with whatever ideas the students had being judged by that dimension, as well.聽
鈥淭he more ideas they can present, the higher the rankings are, in each event,鈥� noted Wilhelm.聽
The retired teachers judging performances were familiar with not only the lessons of drama class, but with the games, themselves. The teachers judging the games on Wednesday and Thursday were the ones who started the games and organized them as an early event, over the course of the last 22 years, during their careers at ECS. They included Allison Holzer, Kathy Brown and Colin Keess.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something the school looks forward to every year. The audience fills up more on the second day, because word of mouth spreads from the first day,鈥� said Wilhelm. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e coming out on their lunch hour, so you know there鈥檚 a definite interest there. It鈥檚 not their teachers that are bringing them. It鈥檚 a room full of people giving up their free time to come and watch.鈥�
Wilhelm said that she hopes to keep the 22-year-and-counting tradition running, now that she has taken over the task of organizing the improv games,
She added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 something the kids know about, because in some cases they鈥檙e at the point where their parents once competed in the games.鈥�
