On Sept. 22 and 23, Student Budget Productions hosted their rendition of School for Scandal, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan written in 1777. Unlike most comedies in his time, Sheridan had taken the focus from court life and put it onto the newly influential merchant class.
When the play opened in the eighteenth century, it had filled houses and quickly became recognized as a smashing success. Today, with Student Budget Productions performance, the sentiments are the same.
Before I continue my five star-review, do you know what Student Budget Productions is? Because I didn’t before this week.
You would think, because we have theatre auditoriums, that the space would be used for play productions and not exams. But Wilfrid Laurier University doesn’t actually put on play productions. We do, on the other hand, play host to a pretty mean opera.
So, a few years’ back, two keen students took it upon themselves to bring more art into Laurier.
“Student Budget Productions started two years ago and it was founded by Rachel Kalap, who graduated last year. She was a voice major at the faculty of music, and she and her friend Aidan Tessier who is still the director of our shows, they founded this group together,” explained Mike Fan, current president of Student Budget Productions.
While plays do feature original music written and performed by the cast members, all are welcome to try out. Are you intrigued? Because if you are, you’re welcome to try out for the January show.
Their first play had been Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
“I was one of the four people who originally auditioned for the show, obviously that’s not enough … We told this one girl that there’s just a small part we wanted her to read for and she actually turned out to be the female lead for the show.”
From those small origins, Student Budget Productions has earned a bona-fide spot at Laurier in association with the faculty of music. School for Scandal was their fourth show and, as aforementioned, they did a wonderful job.
As the title of the club suggests, they don’t have a lot of money to operate with. The costumes seen throughout the play were of their own making.
“A lot of it is Value Village,” Fan said.
But the actors and actresses also used clothes from their own closets. And since the actors and actresses are students, they have schedules to work around. Which meant a mere two weeks rehearse.
Do I sound impressed? Because I am. I’m a sucker for multifarious art groups. And that’s what Student Budget Productions is; it isn’t just music students who have a monopoly on the play.
While plays do feature original music written and performed by the cast members, all are welcome to try out. Are you intrigued? Because if you are, you’re welcome to try out for the January show.
As for the Sept. show, well that ship has sailed, but it won’t soon be forgotten. School for Scandal was entertaining and a refreshing change from Shakespeare. You would think, because there’s no theatre program at Laurier, any attempt at a theatrical performance would be a hatchet job.
However, need I remind you that Laurier’s waterloo campus doesn’t have a journalism program, and yet here we are. Student Budget Productions proves that all you need is passion and it’ll see you through.