Director's Statement
(A director’s statement is a letter that the director writes to the audience, to let them know something about what the creation of the production was like, and sometimes what it has meant to the director to work with the play, and what he or she has learned from it.)
Schoolhouse’s director, Dr. Gerald Lenton-Young, University of Regina Theatre DepartmentWorking on Schoolhouse has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my twenty-five years at the University of Regina. The themes of tolerance, acceptance and understanding are so relevant to the world today, locally and globally. The students have all personally connected with the play and fully embraced the challenges presented by exploring the fears that underlie change and intolerance.
Open auditions for the play produced a very diverse cast, including students from several faculties across the university with widely different backgrounds and experience, ranging from the four first-year students to the sole fifth-year. For them, the challenge of accepting these differences and supporting one another through the six-week rehearsal process has mirrored the experience of the main characters in the play, the children in the one-room schoolhouse, ranging in age from five to fourteen, who have to learn to grow together to foster a positive force in their world.
The cast has done just that in creating this production by always working together and putting the play and the ensemble above all else.
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