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3 } | | } H i ¥ Young playwright pulls off an exhilarating coup by Cathy Robb Mike Stokes has done an unusual thing. At the ripe old age of 20, he has done what some spend their whole lives trying to do. He has written an award- winning play and nobody's more astound- ed than he is. "Just to have it PER- FORMED was enough, but to have it performed - by those KIDS .... to heck with the performance, to heck with the winning. Just WATCHING the rehearsal was enough." He's excited, alright. Sitting on the edge of his chair in a gloomy univer- sity hang-out on a Friday afternoon, Mike Stokes is speaking in capital let- ters. The week before, one of his one-act plays, a musical drama called My Spirit and I Thank You, had picked up several awards in a Peterborough area theatre festival for high school students. And he is ecstatic. The Port Perry native (he has lived here most of his life) is an honours English student at Trent University in Peter- borough, also the home of Thomas A. Stewart High School. A teacher at the school, Annie Stirl- ing, is an old friend of Port Perry High School teacher Diane Lackie, who knew Mike when he was a student there. According to Mike, the drama group at Thomas A. Stewart wanted to enter the drama com- petition but was stuck for a one-act play. Recalling his interest in writing, Mrs. Lackie gave Mike a call just before Christmas. She said, 'I need a script by January 1st. Can you doit? So I spent the first week of Christmas 'holidays writing my hands off" he recalls. The group had asked for a play about themselves trying todo a play, running into pro- blems, persevering and pulling it off. "It was a little difficult to get started because I was looking at what they wanted me to give them,' he explains, dark eyes searching behind metal-framed glasses. "Once I got that out of the way, I just started writing. Once I got on a roll, it was great." When the writing was finished he turned to fellow university student Peter Brown to compose the play's original music. Even though his play was made-to-order for an established theatre group (in most cases, a playwright writes a play and then tries to con- vince a group to peform it) there was a chance the students could have rejected his work and decided upon another play at the last minute. They could have done something else, but they didn't. As it turned out, they made the right decision. Despite competition from eight other schools, most of which were employing familiar scripts (only one other school used an original play), Thomas A. SHUR GAIN Stewart's production of My Spirit and I Thank . You, pulled off Best Ac- tress, Best Actor, Best Director, an Award of Merit for one actress and best of all, Best Play. "I thought that maybe, just maybe in my wildest dreams, the play might win something," Mike says, a toothy grin split- ting his face. "But I did not expect it to win Best Play." The win means that the group will be com- peting against other schools from all over On- tario in the Regional Showcase held in April at McArthur Collegiate in Kingston. Which puts Mike, a Port Perry High School graduate, in an in- teresting position. Thanks to a tremendous showing at the Durham Drama Festival, the PPHS Drama Club will also be competing in the Regional Showcase. So who does he cheer for, the kids at Thomas A. Stewart or his forme classmates? , The choice is obvious but one thing he is sincerely impressed with is the number: of Port Perry area young people with a genuine interest in drama. "The theatre in Port Perry seems to run in waves. You get a bunch of people who are really into it and that wave runs for awhile, until it runs out and another wave starts,'"' he theorizes. In high school, Mike was part of wave that in- cluded the talents of An- drea MacGregor, Chris The flexible NEW supplement for on-farm mixing with grain or top-dressing on haylage, silage Dormer, Steve Foote, Lea Dowson, Sue Alger, Shelley and Ed Deckert, Steve Johnson, Lisa Taylor and Lisa McKin- zie. The group became a tightly knit clique throughout high school and various productions along the way, in which all of them participated at one time or another. For Mike, it all started with a supporting role in Dracula, directed by teacher John Crocker. "I'm a real horror movie fan and after do- ing Dracula and reading Stephen King's Salem's Lot, I became a real vampire nut," he admits. He also became a real acting nut. The next year he won an Award of Merit for his role in the festival play in The Shadow of Glen. Later on he managed the stage for Doctor In The House and directed The Feast. Two summers ago, he held his breath, took a giant step forward and started School's Out Pro- ductions, a youthful com- pany which has spawned the successful California Suite and last summer's not-quite-so-successful Mousetrap. "It just seemed like the next thing to do," he says with a shrug, not sure if he'll continue with School's Out Productions again this summer. Because, now, writing is the next thing to do. Already Mike 'has decided that writing is what he wants out of life, even if it means living at the poverty level. And it looks like he's off to a good start. Some writers never live to see their work on stage, but Mike has already ac- complished that, and other writers never write more than one play -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 13, 1904 -- 15 Raa re Playwright Mike Stokes Mike has written three. His first was a children's play, perform- ed by PPHS students at a Christmas concert a .féew years ago, called The Mystical Road. His second, called The Bar, "was conceived last sum- mer during a walk. Just home from university for the season and unable to get it out of his head, Mike went out for a walk and returned home with a theme for a play about university life. "When I got back to Port, I couldn't get university from my mind, or the people I met. I went for a walk one night, came home and wrote The Bar," he remembers. "It feels good to move, to walk. I seem to be able to think more while walking, then sitting behind a desk. When I get the chance, I like wandering around." He's not sure why he wants a life behind a typewriter or why he en- joys the theatre so much, but he believes it's all 985-9585 pans APPLIANCE SERVICE Repairs to All Makes & Models (including refrigeration) fon or WITH THIS AD) " wrapped up with the spirit of fun. "The one thing I don't like is prima donnaship in theatre because it's such a hassle. It leads to bad feelings, which is wrong because everyone has to work together. And fun. It is fun or it should be fun. That's one reason why I lean towards comedies because they're fun." He leans back in his chair, for the first time, and ap- pears to relax. He sighs. "I love it. The people. I - think that's got to be it. I was talking to Annie Stirling and she said ac- tors are crazy. She's right, why would anybody want to do this?" He rhymes off a few bad things about theatre and shakes his head. "It's just such a high, that's why." CFNY videos at Irish dance If you have a little bit of Irish in your soul, then you will not want to miss our modern version of St. Patrick's Day Dance. The Gorgon Foundation is proud to present the CFNY fm 102.1 personality road- show, featuring James Scott and his ultimate dance music. This Video Roadshow is a new con- cept for the most pop- ular radio stations. CFNY sends a top "'on- air announcer" to pro- vide a most professional show that includes a full P.A., Lightshow, up to date Music Video's, on- air personality, prom- otional posters and 100 album giveaways dur- ing the course of the evening. Anyone inter- ested in "bopping"' to the whip-crack beat of the latest singles will enjoy the 2,000 watts of clean and clear sound from artists such as Duran-Duran, Culture Club, Michael Jackson and many many more. The action gets under- way at 8:00 P.M. March 27 at the Uxbridge Arena Hall. / Advance tickets are wf for $5.00 at /Strawberry Threads, Port Perry. Tickets may be pur- chased at the door for $6.00, but they will go fast, so get there early to avoid being dis- appointed. 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