Students from the Osoyoos Secondary School Drama Club are busy rehearsing for their upcoming performance of Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol. (Richard McGuire photo)
The old Charles Dickens staple A Christmas Carol is being modernized, put in a high school context and turned into a comedy.
That’s the idea behind Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol being staged by the Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) Drama Club.
There are two performances, both at 7 p.m., on Friday, Dec. 12 and Saturday, Dec. 13. The play is at the Osoyoos Secondary Community Theatre.
Admission is by donation at the door and there are no advance ticket sales, said drama teacher Sarah Gilchrist.
“It’s a comedy and it’s in two acts,” said Gilchrist. “It follows the story of Eddie Scrooge. He’s a 17-year-old guy in high school and he is grouchy and crotchety, just like a Scrooge kind of character.”
Eddie is visited by ghosts and taken back to different time periods in his life before undergoing a character change and learning to be positive.
Madge plays the lunch lady, who died a few years earlier after befriending Eddie the character of Jacob Marley’s ghost in the original Dickens version.
Lindsay Price, resident playwright of the company Theatrefolk, who has been a professional playwright for 20 years and has written more than 60 plays, wrote the play.
“This is the first time we’re not doing a musical,” said Gilchrist. “There are two fairly short songs in it, but it’s a straight-up play with two acts, so it’s a different challenge for the kids this year.”
Gilchrist said there are about 17 student actors, although many of them play more than one role. Another 10 students are helping out with set building, lighting, sound, costumes and other backstage roles.
A student is stage manager, while two other teachers are helping out with set construction, she said.
Work on the production began almost immediately after the return of school, which was delayed by the teachers’ strike.
“It’s been about two months now, so it’s a pretty short period of time to do something like this,” Gilchrist said.
With the two acts, the play will be a bit longer than previous ones and there will be an intermission, she said.
“It’s going to be a funny show and entertaining,” said Gilchrist. “The kids have had a different challenge this year because they’re not doing singing and dancing, which has its own challenges, but it can also be just as challenging to be just acting and maintaining a character for two entire acts of the play. We hope people will come and support their growth.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Students from the Osoyoos Secondary School Drama Club are busy rehearsing for their upcoming performance of Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol. (Richard McGuire photo)
Students from the Osoyoos Secondary School Drama Club are busy rehearsing for their upcoming performance of Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol. The two-act comedy is a departure from the usual music and dance that the drama club performs. The story is based on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. (Richard McGuire photo)
