Strike or no strike, the play must go on

Some high school students affected by the three-week-old Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation strike might be taking the opportunity to relax and get some extra sleep, but not Virginia Gordon.

Along with some of her peers, the Grade 12 student at Lasalle Secondary School has been hard at work for the last few weeks to make sure the school's production of “Oliver!” goes ahead, strike or no strike.

The young actors have been practising in the basement of a cast member's home, and have booked Lasalle's gym as a community group for the play's staging, which runs May 28-31.

They've even brought in a few Lasalle graduates now attending Cambrian College for backstage help.

Gordon said she was really disappointed when she heard her teachers were going on strike. “For most people, their first worries were prom and graduation,” she said. “For me, that stuff was never as important as putting on our final musical.”

Along with fellow Lasalle drama student Amanda Moskal, Gordon has become the play's de facto director. It's been a real learning experience, and one that's made her better appreciate the work that Lasalle drama teacher Geoff Rayburn does.

“The last month has been one of the most stressful months of my life,” Gordon said. “Every day, you either have to yell at your own friends, because someone has to take charge, or you have people yelling at you, because you don't know what you're doing, either. Sometimes I forget that I'm still in the play.”

With a chance that the Ontario Labour Relations Board could soon end the teachers' strike, Gordon said if that happens, she'd be glad to have the support of her teachers in putting on the play.

“Oliver!” is a British musical by Lionel Bart based upon the classic novel “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. It features the world of impoverished Victorian child pickpockets.

“We would like anybody who is interested in coming to see it to come and see it now,” Gordon said.

“We need as many people as we can get. We're sure people are going to enjoy it. It's been a rough, rough time trying to put on a show by ourselves, but we're proud of how far we've gotten.”

The play runs at Lasalle at 7 p.m. May 28-30, as well as at 2 p.m. May 31, after the picket lines have packed up. Tickets cost $15, and are available by phone at 705-822-3760 or 705-822-5252.