By Irene Moreno-Jimenez
With the lights dimmed and a piano-accompanied choir, the cast of Glashan Public School brings to life a significant part of Canadian history in a play entitled A Proud Canadian Family.
The play, which was performed Feb. 14-16 showcased the acting talents of Grade 7 and 8 students, while celebrating Black History Month.
Since 1995, February has been dedicated as the month to remember the experiences and sacrifices of black Canadians, as well as a time to recall their achievements.
The author of the play is Rick Desclouds, who teaches English and history among subjects at Glashan. Desclouds says he wrote A Proud Canadian Family (his first play) three years ago because he thought it would help his students to learn more about Canadian history.
He says recreating history in a play engages students much better than textbooks, and helps them remember what happened for many years.
“In the end, that is what is most important, (students) will remember and they will learn,” says Desclouds.
Putting on the play involved 115 students and 14 teachers on stage or behind the scenes,. Tasks included building sets, lighting, staging, organizing the choir and costumes.
“It is quite a co-operative effort, a huge venture,” says Ruth Elias, who teaches English and math, and is one of the play’s directors. She says she enjoys watching, listening and learning from the students.
The play is a story of the black loyalists, the first group of African Americans who came to Canada. Most were American slaves who were promised freedom by the British if they fought against the Americans. At the end of war, they were freed and most settled in Nova Scotia.
A Proud Canadian Family highlights the challenges of the Brown’s, a family who came to live in Nova Scotia. The play is a “story a mom tells her son about his ancestors, so we go back from present day to the past throughout the play,” says Elias.
Abdi Ahmed is a Grade 8 student who is performing on stage for the first time.
He says he finds the play interesting because “it is much about black history, about what happened in the past and what we can do to change it in the future. It is pretty cool just to be in it.”
His character, Ned Brown, is a main focus of the story. He took three weeks to practice his lines with his sister in preparation for his big night.
There were seven performances with two separate casts to give all students the opportunity to appear on stage.
To date, Desclouds has written three plays and A Proud Canadian Family is being put on for the second time.
This year he has added six new parts because he wanted every student that auditioned to have their own part.
Desclouds says he believes that the play is serving the community at large. “We are promoting something that is not very well known, and we are hopefully educating the community.” .
The school’s principal, Susan Nouvet, says the play was an effort that integrates different disciplines including history, art, drama and music. Plus, “being applauded is good for the kids’ self-esteem.”
The proceeds from the play will go to the Buxton Historical Site to preserve the history of the settlers who chose Canada as their home.