By Tallula Russell – Contributor

Turner Studio exploded with activity the first weekend of February this year, with the TheatreActiv theatre festival. From the Bishop’s drama department, the annual student-run festival ran from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. MJ Blackmore and Sage Offer managed this year’s festival, which featured four plays, one musical revue and performances from the Bishop’s Improv Troupe.

Night A’s roster included Porcelain and Pink, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 4 a.m., written by Johnathan Dorf and select songs from Come from Away, written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. Porcelain and Pink, a short play about a woman (played by Lily Roque) in a bathtub bothering her sister (Samira Bergeron), was directed by Shaney Harvey. The bathtub set piece, a delightful over-the-top yellow washbasin, was built specifically for this play. The performances in this play were fantastic, especially Tom Lajeunesse’s ridiculous Parisian accent.

4 a.m. is a dark and funny exploration of the people awake in the world at 4 a.m.. With only a cast of six people for a show that could easily have ten, every performance, scene transition and quick change counted. Fortunately, under the tutelage of director Leia Shea Ranger-Drouin and stage manager Rocky Fettu-Manningham, everything came together for an engrossing show with excellent timing. No shout-outs can be made because every single performance stood out.

The selected songs and scenes from Come from Away were astonishing. One truly felt like you were in a Broadway theatre watching the professionals do it exactly like they do every night. When asked about the most fun part of the production, Musical Theatre minor Shannon Gaskarth said: “The most fun part was the community. The entire musical theatre concentration was on stage tonight. This was born out of the idea of getting all the musical theatre students together for a shared experience. Getting to support each other and be together doing what we love, which is musical theatre.”

Night B offered stellar performances of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell and a showing from Bishop’s Improv Troupe, BIT. The Raven, a poem about a man and a crow that will not leave him alone, was adapted and directed by Tomas Peck. This production was completely enthralling. With the simple and effective set design, immaculate blocking of characters and set pieces and gorgeous, moody, and inventive lighting, Kasimir MacDougall becomes Poe and Shannon Gaskarth the raven. Trifles, directed by Chris Brydon, is a pseudo-detective mystery in which two 1910 housewives figure out what happened behind the murder of their acquaintances’ husband. Presented with immersive and period-accurate set design and costumes, the audience is transported into the lives of Mrs. Hale, played by Eva Rachert and Mrs. Peters, played by Rachel Matthews. When asked for comment, Matthews said “It was a good play, and it was fun to find the play with your cast. There’s lots of double meanings in this [story] and it was fun to find them.” 

The Bishop’s Improv Troupe closed out the night with classic improv games like Four Square, Freeze and Worst Ever. The chemistry and wit of these performers could not be overstated. TheatreActiv is one of the many productions the Bishop’s drama department puts on every year, like the New Plays Festival. Populated by new plays written by bishops’ students, New Plays in TheatreActiv’s fall semester twin. Coming up soon this year will be Le Petit Prince, running Mar. 12-16 and a Musical Theatre Revue running in early June.