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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, February 26, 2014 | 14 Local students prepare to shine at Sears Drama Festival Four Oakville high schools are among the nine Halton schools entered into the competition by Dennis Smith Special to the Beaver Artscene "Connected to your Community" Themes will range from The Brothers Grimm to a lockdown to a debate over genius at the Halton District Sears Drama Festival. "There's every mix of ideas," said Amanda Raposo, the festival's media volunteer. "There's everything from social issues to the use of technology to the acceptance of individuals." Performances for the 2014 festival run from tonight (Feb. 26) until Friday (Feb. 28) at Burlington Central High School. Four Oakville high schools are among the nine Halton schools entered into the competition. "Everything is student-driven," said Raposo, who teaches geography at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School on Dorval Drive. "The plays are student directed, performed and crewed." Raposo is also overseeing her school's festival entry, Lockdown, which hits the stage tonight. "It's bigger than a school play," she explains, noting how the students are taking their upcoming performance a little more seriously. The play is a comedy about a group of students sitting in a dark classroom because of a lockdown. Students are unsure if the situation is an actual emergency or if it is just a drill. Also performing tonight is Holy Trinity Secondary School on Sixth Line. Students are performing Werner Trieschmann's comedy The Cell Phone Rings for Thee, which is a collaboration of comedic plays that address the latest technological gadgets and their control on society. T.A. Blakelock High School on Rebecca Street takes the stage Thursday (Feb. 27) with a studentwritten play. A Ruthless Undertaking is about a family who owns a funeral home and begins committing murders in order to increase profits. White Oaks Secondary School on McCraney Street East will perform on the final night of the festival. Students will put on the production of Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector, a spoof about the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia, which satirizes human stupidity and greed. Each night's performances start at 7 p.m. Tickets to the shows cost $10 at the door each night. Central H.S. is at 1433 Baldwin St. Call 905-6347768. The top Halton schools will ad- T.A. Blakelock High School will perform its original production A Ruthless Undertaking at the Halton District Sears Drama Festival at Burlington Central High School Thursday (Feb. 27). Here, cast members rehearse a scene. From left is Meghan Teague (Mary), Jason Laskis (Ted), Max Chamberlain (Ned), Olivia Fisico (Susan) and Natalie Skov (Carrie). Kneeling on the floor is Nicole van Zutphen (Sherry). | photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www.facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) vance to the regional showcase (the time and place is to be determined). With the festival workshop and being critiqued by industry adju- dicators, students benefit greatly from the experience, said Raposo. "They can strengthen their skills and talents and work on issues," she said. "It's not just getting up and performing, you get feedback." Raposo added festival scholarships help students moving towards theatre careers. - with files from Julia Le Oakville artist to exhibit bicycle art at Toronto show Oakville-artist Luigia Zilli's passion will be on display at the Toronto International Bicycle Show this weekend. Zilli, who has been painting for nearly 25 years, will be exhibiting and selling her bicycle and cycling paintings and prints at the Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, in Toronto, from Feb. 28-March 2. "I paint bicycles because they have been my passion since childhood," she explained. "I grew up in a family of cyclists and in a place, Italy, where cycling is very popular. The inspiration has a lot to do with my personal experience and having been involved in the cycling world since I was very young." Zilli, who recently exhibited her work at the Montreal Bicycle Show at Place Bonaventure earlier this month, started painting bicycles after she stopped riding for a few years. In 2005, her first cycling painting Tour de France was used as the logo for the Giro di Burnaby Criterium Cycle Race, a professional cycling race in British Columbia. She also created the bronze trophy awarded to the race winner that year. For more information, visit www.bicycleart.ca. Oakville-artist Luigia Zilli will be exhibiting and selling her work at the Toronto International Bicycle Show Feb. 28-March 2 at the Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, in Toronto.| submitted photo