OBMFO Presents... SKIN
Well, SKIN, was way back in the days of grade 10! It was an awesome experience, and one I definitely will not soon forget. Here's the premise of how it all came about. Many of us tried out for the Senior Play that year, which was Harvey, however we were all in grade 10, so it was logical that we wouldn't get cast. They started a junior play called, "Voices From The High School," which was a series of vignettes, and a lot of fun to do, but we felt that we needed something else. Marisa McLennan (who played Delacy in our cast) spoke out one day in our Science 10 class (oddly most of us had science that term) and the burden fell upon myself to direct. I had no qualms as I had performed in SKIN when I attended Arts Umbrella, and so we went forth. What ensued in the next three months was a lot of bonding among our grade. It was a 99.9% grade 10 effort, we had one stage person who was in grade 9. It was a lot of fun, and most definitely a learning experience!
The Cast
Mini Kahlon as Phiroza Mehta
Krystal Teodosio as Jennifer Malcolm
Travis Woods as Tuan
Josh Joseph as Lo
Danny Brooks as Todd
Marisa McLennan as Delacy
Shalvenie Nand as Mrs. Lizard
Katheleen Pollock as Sponsor/Mrs. Paul
Drew Masterman as Hunk
Emma Carrico as The Girl/Blonde
Tessa Lowinger as ShopKeeper
Jen Schulli as Cop
Derek LaForest as Tuan's Older Brother
The Plot
The Plot revolves around three seperate stories of minority individuals adapting to Canadian life.
The first story is that of Phiroza Mehta, from Bombay, India. Phiroza is verbally harassed at school and finds inner sanctum with boyfriend, Todd, who happens to be caucasian. We follow Phiroza's story through an interracial couple life.
The second story is that of Jennifer Malcolm, from Toronto, BC. It is assumed because Jennifer is African-Canadian, that all she is good for is athletics. Her cousin, Delacy, has a very pessimistic view on life and her teacher, Mrs. Lizard, a rather racist educator, does not help any.
The third story revolves around Tuan, who has come over to Canada from Vietnam. Tuan is befriended by Lo, another Vietnamese refugee who has given up on the country that he struggled so hard to get to. Tuan, deals with problems of his own, raising money to support his younger sister and also raising money to bring his parents over from Vietnam.
The stories are about hope, hatred and love, all in the 90s. It is amazingly written by Dennis Foon, and I suggest it to any school looking to do a play.
Photos...
Unfortunately I currently have NO photos of this production, but I hope to soon! :)
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