Drama Fest 2023

On Thursday, May the 4th (be with you), a team of 10 students, along with two KES teachers and one volunteer, travelled to Dalhousie University for the Nova Scotia High School Drama Festival. Drama Fest is a three-day festival where students from all over Nova Scotia come together for drama workshops, masterclasses, and performances. With the cooperation of Theatre Nova Scotia, Dalhousie University, the Educational Drama Association of Nova Scotia, and an incredible team of theatre professionals and volunteers, students discover their voices, make new friends, develop new skills, and push their social skills to the limit with this non-stop festival.

Our morning masterclass was organized by a local improv troupe called Hello City. They engaged students by using improv games to get them out of their comfort zones, encouraging all 200+ students to use the entire Studley Gym to express themselves. KES teachers Ms. Hannah Maguire and Ms. Karlee Sinclair, along with volunteer Jessie Sinclair, even flexed their own improv skills with other drama teachers during the class.

After lunch, our students separated into their pre-registered workshops; voice and singing; monologues; improv; makeup; and sound. After supper, the students reconvened at The Sir James Dunn Theatre for the opening ceremonies, and to watch performances by Bay View and HRA.

Due to IB exams and Cadet Ball, we did not go to Drama Fest on Friday, but after a night of fun and dancing, the students were off again to Dalhousie for Drama Fest early on Saturday morning.

Over the course of the Wednesday Arts Program in the winter term, our KES students wrote, directed, and starred in an original play The Chronicles of the Average Highschooler. The students had just 30 minutes in the morning to go over lights and sound for their performance that night, giving them an authentic experience working with professional sound and light technicians. After their tech rehearsal, the students went to a talk by Neptune Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jeremy Webb, and watched an improv show by Hello City. Afterward, they were off to their workshops: stage combat; movement; stage management; and improv. After dinner, there were the closing ceremonies and school productions by Dr. John Hugh Gillis High School and our very own King’s-Edgehill School. Our students did tremendously well with their performance and were adjudicated by a theatre professional. Top comments were that the students were visibly having fun and had trust in each other. To end the festival, there was a dance, and despite being at Cadet Ball the night before, the students did not hold back!

The students had an amazing time despite being completely exhausted after three full days of Drama Fest and Cadet Ball, but the bonding and friendships made will last a lifetime. Our Grade 12 students, Hannah Stilwell ‘23, Qiaoman Tracey ‘23, Sean Hurley ‘23, and Allie Pape ‘23, commented on how they were happy to be able to attend a festival like this before graduating. We encourage any student interested in Drama Fest to speak with Ms. Maguire or Ms. Sinclair.