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The Neepawa Area Collegiate’s drama group was set to bring a production to the stage in May of 2020, a production that was ultimately derailed by the pandemic. This means that the group has not performed since 2019, and many changes have occurred in that period of time, not the least of which was the retirement of the head of the theatre program.

This year, new teacher Allison Bailey has stepped up to take over the productions, and has built a strong team to continue the school’s tradition. Bailey is no stranger to that tradition. Her father started the program back in the 1970s, and though it has gone through a couple of sets of hands since then, she now carries on his legacy.

While previously a late spring tradition, this year for the first time the production took place before Christmas, which has its own set of challenges. A spring production was always competing with the return of outdoor sports and the senior class’s preparation for graduation, but a winter production competes with Christmas and cold and flu season. Bailey says that has not deterred participation at all, however, though it has made rehearsing something of a challenge at times.

With such a large gap between productions, it means that there is virtually no overlap between the previous cast and this one, with all except the youngest participants having graduated in the intervening years. That means that it’s not just the three co-organisers who are new - Bailey, alongside backstage manager Meghan Peters and musician and choreographer Alyssa Alambra - but all of the other participants as well, which in some ways meant reinventing the production from the ground up. It was a learning experience for everyone in which, as Peters says, “you learn what balls are okay to drop.”

After all, “we can use some joy in our community right now,” says Bailey. Community response has been great to the production, as the tradition of productions was highly valued in the area and people have been waiting for the school to get back on the stage again. Bailey says it has also helped bring areas and age groups within the school together again, after a couple of years of being rigidly separated.