Alice in the French Underground
In a bilingual adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, Grade 3 French immersion student Alice falls into a Parisian dream world. Encountering an array of French-speaking characters, Alice struggles with balancing being both English and French. She has to figure out who she is, a common struggle for kids in French immersion school, according to Susan Bertoia. This theatre artist in residence at Hastings elementary wrote Alice in the French Underground with the help of her daughter, Sabine Freschi. Freschi’s entire Grade 3 French immersion class appears in the show. Teacher Natacha Corrie translated Bertoia’s words and parents and other family members fashioned the costumes and sets. An ArtsStarts in School grant and the support of the Hastings Parent Advisory Council made the production possible. The class invites the public to view their performance May 15 at 6:30 p.m. at 2625 Franklin St. Admission is by donation.
Poetry in Voice
Vancouver students topped the Poetry in Voice competition in Toronto last year, the first year the poetry recitation competition was open to students outside of Ontario and Quebec. So it only made sense for organizers to host the annual competition in Vancouver this year. The finals conclude at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at Simon Fraser University’s downtown campus May 9, with finalists performing at 7 p.m. (the first night was May 8, after our print deadline). Of the 39 secondary students from across the country who will compete, six attend high school in Vancouver:
· Laura Moberg, Gladstone
· Leo Chang, St. George’s School
· Simran Cheema, Crofton House School
· Daniel Milton, Prince of Wales
· Roan Shankaruk, Vancouver Technical
· Chantelle Schwartz, Crofton House School
The 39 finalists were selected from 30,000 students from more than 370 schools.
Poetry in Voice will bestow $25,000 in awards and school stipends for memorizing and performing poetry. The contest is meant to encourage appreciation of the beauty of language while instilling a sense of confidence through public speaking.
Scott Griffin, chairperson and founder of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, founded Poetry in Voice, which is now in its fourth year.
Students compete in one of three streams, English, bilingual or French. Poetry in Voice will award the champion in each stream $5,000, with $1,000 for their school library, half of which is reserved for poetry books.
Kyla Kane, then a Grade 12 student at Van Tech, won first place in the English stream last year.
“I had a really great time,” she said. “Hopefully another person from Vancouver can bring it home next year.”
The Poetry in Voice performance is at 149 West Hastings St. Tickets are $5 to $10 at eventbrite.ca.
