Take a break from the “Bah! Humbug!” and join us as Bert Church High School presents a fresh rendition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, directed, performed and adapted for the stage by Bert Church’s own drama students!
These talented students have worked tirelessly to bring this show to life, using extracurricular time to get in touch with their characters while experiencing the joys of performing on the top-notch stage at Bert Church Theatre.
Isaac Burford, playing Ebenezer Scrooge, points out the challenges associated with mastering Scrooge’s vernacular and physicality. “I’d have to say, getting into character for me really relies on prop,” Isaac says. “I’m enjoying walking around with the cane; it makes me feel old.”
Many of the actors working on stage hold a number of talents, such as Jordin Adams. Jordin wrote the script for last year’s original production, Memento Mori, adapted the script for this year’s production and plays the role of Bob Cratchit. When asked about the writing process, Jordin says, “This time around it was very much working with an already-completed story,” adding that working with the script provided new challenges such as matching the tone of the original story and researching the time period.
Taking on a new role this year is Sara Lahn-Jorgensen, who transitioned away from acting on the stage to directing the production. The role of director is a large shift from that of an actor, due to the responsibility of bringing an artistic vision to life and ensuring the actors understand their roles.
“I’m actually really proud of my actors,” says Sara. “Our actors are very passionate about [the production] this year, and that’s exactly what we’re wanting.”
To share the load of directing, the school invited a previous student director to return, Natalie Perdue. Natalie is an award-winning student director, having won the Director of the Year award for her work on Memento Mori, and jumped at the opportunity.
“Ever since I was a child, my family tradition was to watch A Christmas Carol during the holidays, so being able to direct it on the stage is honestly a dream come true,” Natalie says.
The students have put in countless hours of work as a collective in order to make the show a success, so come on down and bring the family to see A Christmas Carol, with evening shows Dec. 5 – 7 and a matinee show on Dec. 7! Tickets are available on the Bert Church Live Theatre website (tickets.airdrie.ca).
James Hewat is a Grade 12 student at Bert Church High School.
