An emotional 40-minute monologue by an Okotoks actor dominated last weekend’s regional one act festival in High River, resulting in three awards for an Okotoks theatre group.
Dewdney Players Group Theatre’s Alien Boy received rave reviews from adjudicators at the Foothills Zone Regional One Act Play Festival. Okotoks actor Stephen Buoninsegni was awarded with outstanding actor, director Florence Maione with best director and Alien Boy with outstanding play.
The play will move on to the Provincial One Act Festival in Fort McMurray in May, making it Dewdney’s third time at provincials.
“That was a big sweep for one play,” said Dewdney director and Okotoks Coun. Ed Sands. “We feel very good. Most years we have won but the last two years we didn’t win best play.”
Not only was the competition tough, said Sands, it was also the biggest festival he’s seen since his time with Dewdney. There were 15 plays compared to the typical 10 to 12, and each of the six theatre groups had at least one original play, he said.
“It was a huge festival with a lot of comedies,” he said.
Sands said the triple win validates Dewdney’s choices and the skills of its actors and technical crew. Sands himself stepped in last minute to assist with the technical aspect of Alien Boy after the play’s technician was called into work. Sands and Okotoks playwright Reg Gothard took over the duty just one week before the play was ready for its first local performance in Okotoks.
“This was a very tech intensive play,” he said. “There were quite a number of sound effects and lighting effects. It had elevation changes and strobe lights and sirens with reds and blues flashing. It ended with a dream sequence of a fire. We had to recreate fires one stage with red and yellow lights.”
Maione, who directed the play, said the technical aspect of Alien Boy was complicated with various sound, light and music cues and various things happening at different times.
“It was a lot to take on and learn,” she said. “We couldn’t have done this without them and the support of Dewdney. Reg and Ed really saved the day.”
Alien Boy is a coming of age story of a 13-year-old boy as recounted by his adult self.
Maione, who selected it, said she often looks for plays with depth and challenges.
“I’ve been told I have an eye for picking plays that will be potential festival winners that have a lot of depth and reach as far as the where the actors will go with it as well as what we can do with the physicality of the stage and all the technical components,” she said. “We like to pick extremely challenging pieces as far as an actor and director standpoint. The first thing we look at is how in-depth the characters are, how evolved are they. We want characters that got a lot of oomph to them and have a play that’s very impactful.”
Initially hesitant about the subject matter due to its old-fashioned stereotypes, after a second read Maione said she felt the play presented some subthemes that connected to racism, fear and hatred.
“It all tied together of what damage can be done by society,” she said. “It also has the capacity to go really far with the lights, sound and music.”
As a director, Maione said she looks at the script sentence by sentence and attempts to determine the intent and direction for the actor at each moment.
“I focus a lot on character development and the actor’s objective at that moment,” she said. “Stephen is very open to suggestions and feedback. We trust each other. That’s why it works so well. We are always on the same team.”
Alien Boy is Maione and Buoninsegni’s 10th production together and not the first time they’ve come away with awards.
“We work really well together,” she said. “He’s got a massive amount of talent and ability. He’s just a brilliant actor. The adjudicators said he’s an actor who acts with his entire body.”
Last weekend marks Buoninsegni’s sixth outstanding actor award through the One Act Festivals.
“It means everything,” he said. “It’s just an affirmation for a passion that I have and what was fostered in me at a young age by my wonderful parents and what has been supported by my wife and my family.”
Buoninsegni, a drama teacher at Bishop O’Byrne High School in Calgary, attributes his success to a lot of prayer, struggle and trying his best.
“I always defer to the audience,” he said. “It’s not what you feel, it’s what the audience is telling you. You can tell by the immediate response of the comedic moments and the heavier sections if there is dead silence. You feel that also in those moments.”