The Dashwood sisters, Marianne and Elinor – played by Gabi Jezierski (L) and MaryJane VanderHulst (R)
Photo: Jenny Baklinski
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College (SWC)’s Don Bosco Drama Club presents its sixteenth play production, Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility adapted by Jessica Swale. The SWC students will perform at Madawaska Valley District High School on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. Directed by Jenny Baklinski, this romantic comedy is a lighter production to follow last year’s Shakespearean tragedy. In keeping with its genre, the play will be performed just before Valentine’s Day.
The two performances give Valley residents a rare opportunity to experience live theatre close to home. Sense and Sensibility tells the story of the Dashwood sisters’ quest to find husbands, an adventure full of trials and tribulations that ultimately ends in wedded success. Austen’s work explores the complexities of love, marriage, wealth and happiness in Georgian times. Jessica Swale is an Olivier Award winning English playwright, theatre director and screenwriter who adapted Austen’s Sense and Sensibility for the stage in 2014. Moviegoers will remember the 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility which received overwhelming critical approval.
The students at SWC audition at the beginning of the fall semester and rehearse weekly until performing in February or March. The Don Bosco Drama Club has 52 student members plus their director. Studying full-time with the heavy workload of a liberal arts education, they still devote hours towards their lines, costumes, sets and the various jobs that go into staging a play. A particular challenge of rural theater is transporting everything from the college buildings and St. Hedwigs’ basement to the high school for rehearsals and performance. SWC students also earn credit through their extra-curricular participation and work on the play.
Director Jenny Baklinski, who studied at Ave Maria College in Michigan, has successfully directed a number of plays for SWC in the past, including Shakespeare’s Tempest, Molière’s The Learned Ladies, and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.
Tickets: $12 in advance by calling SWC reception to reserve (613) 756-3082. $15 at the door. Immediate family rate is $45.
Don Bosco Drama Club, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College (2018, Feb.3) Sense and Sensibility – Play [Press Release]
Looking forward to another great performance by the SWC students, always impressed by their talents. VG