feel like a burden for our cast ,” said McKenna , Grade 11 Drama Captain and a co-director of the show .
Cast members and Grade 9 students Angel and Lucy echoed the importance of being considerate and respectful of the production ’ s themes .
“ It was really interesting to learn about these characters ’ experiences through chemotherapy . That allowed me to grow as an individual , to understand these things and to find the right way to talk about these things with others ,” Lucy said .
“ A big aspect of acting is having empathy for your actors and portraying that on the stage ,” Angel said . “ With this topic — being put into an oncology waiting room and acting out the scenarios — it made it a lot more vivid for us , and it put that empathy into perspective .”
Grade 11 student Julie was McKenna ’ s co-director . Not only did they share the critical role of director — importantly , they were also mentors , particularly when exploring complex themes .
“ Directing was always one of my goals when I first signed up for drama because I really like working with younger individuals ,” Julie said . “ In Grade 8 – 9 , I looked up to my assistant directors , and I wanted to be that same kind of person to these girls — to be able to help them learn how to express themselves and also to have fun while doing it .”
Whether the girls were jumping into the colourful world of Dear Edwina JR . or exploring more complex themes in Waiting Girl , these productions brought forward incredible opportunities for students to challenge themselves , to work together and to put their citizenship into action .
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