Now give three cheers for ICS production

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This article was published 21/04/2015 (4045 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gilbert & Sullivan might not be the top of the iTunes downloads these days, but that’s not stopping a group of Transcona students  from boarding the H.M.S. Pinafore.

Immanuel Christian School (215 Rougeau Ave.) is preparing to stage a production of the classic Gilbert & Sullivan musical H.M.S. Pinafore, which debuted in 1878. Students from Grade 7 through 12 have been meeting every Thursday evening since school started in September. They added weekly Saturday rehearsals in February, going over lines and working out vocal chords, in preparation for two shows at the Prairie Theatre Exchange on May 1 and 2.

“It’s coming along quite well,” director Rob Bonefaas, music teacher at Immanuel Christian School, told The Herald.

Bonefaas explained that Immanuel Christian School does not have a drama program this year, and so all the work on the play is extracurricular. But it’s not the first production the school has taken on.

“Two years ago we did Tooth & Nail, a short play, about 45 minutes,” he said. “We made that into a dinner theatre performance.”

“We’ve also done adaptations of The Hiding Place,” added play producer Jeff Dykstra enthusiastically. “We’ve done Emperor’s New Clothes, a musical adaptation.”

They’ve also done the H.M.S. Pinafore, albeit 25 years ago, and in an abridged form.

“Rob decided it would be great to do the full version,” Dykstra explained. “The older supporters of the school are a bit nostalgic about it all.”

Staff built the sets at Premier Printing, who have been volunteering the space to store the mock ship, complete with poop deck, and large wooden shipping crates.

“In Prairie Theatre Exchange there’s only one elevator that’s eight feet tall, so everything had to be made to fit into it,” Bonefaas explained.

Grade 10 student Leanna van den Akker, is cast as Josephine, the captain’s daughter. She enjoys the opportunity to engage in drama.

“I love it,” she said, adding she most enjoys “having fun with it, playing your character the way you want to play your character.”

Isaac Devries, Grade 9, is also taken with the possibilities the stage holds for expression.

“I think it’s really fun what you can do with the role,” Devries, who is cast as the freewheeling Dick Deadeye, said.

Both van den Akker and Devries agree that while working on a large production like H.M.S. Pinafore is fun, it is not without  challenges.

“Remembering your lines, and actually expressing them as much as you can,” is one, admitted to van den Akker.

“It’s definitely hard work,” Devries said. “But I wouldn’t say it’s so hard that you wouldn’t be limited in your time. You can take five minutes a day and learn some lines or work on the songs. Or even just listening to the songs in your spare time to get the tune into your head.”

The hard work of the students and staff at Immanuel Christian School all comes together May 1 and 2 at Prairie Theatre Exchange.

Tickets are $10 for adult, $5 for children under 16, or 40$ for a family. To reserve seating, contact Immanuel Christian School at 204-661-8937.

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