Caledon students to perform in Los Angeles

March 5, 2015 · 0 Comments

Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School (located in Caledon East) is proud to be performing Peter Shaffer’s hilarious farce, Black Comedy, in Los Angeles, California during this year’s March Break. Hall Drama is performing Black Comedy at the Hudson Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles on March 17th. Black Comedy will also be performed at Robert F. Hall as part of the Sears Ontario Drama Festival on March 6 and 9th.
“We are all very excited to be performing in Los Angeles this year,” says co-director and teacher Rob Ciccotelli. “We’ve performed in a lot of very special places over the years, but this honour is beyond our wildest imagination.”
Black Comedy is a slightly unusual farce. In it, the usual conditions of light and dark are reversed: when the lights are “on”, the audience sees nothing but darkness and can only hear the characters; when the lights are “off”, the audience can see the characters behaving as if they were in a black-out. The farcical plot involves Carol and Brindsley, an engaged couple, who have invited a millionaire art collector to see Brindsley’s sculptures, and to impress him have “borrowed” antiques from a neighbor. Carol’s formidable ex-military father is also expected. The fuse box overloads, the lights blackout, and the arrival of several unexpected visitors effectively wreaks havoc and wrecks the evening.
“The play is full of wonderful slapstick, mistaken identity, pandemonium and chaos. The light and dark reversal is a wonderful, unique premise for a classic British farce,” says co-director and teacher Frank Adriano.
Hall Drama is an internationally recognized Dramatic Arts department that has performed all over North America and Europe, and has garnered a massive volume of awards, accolades and commendations. During the last four years alone, it has performed in London, England, Macerata, Italy, Off-Broadway, New York City and the Stratford Festival. Two years ago, Hall Drama received national media attention for its original musical, In The Pink, which explored breast cancer amongst teenage girls and performed at the New World Stages in New York City. It was the third time in a decade that Hall Drama received national media coverage. Over the years, Hall Drama has sold-out venues as large as 2300 seats and has performed in some of the most prestigious professional theaters in Ontario, including the Winter Garden Theatre and Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, Rose Theatre, Brampton, Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, and Orangeville Opera House. Hall Drama’s alumni include George Stroumbolopolous, Melissa Grelo, James Hartnett, David Reale, John Sousa and Karen Knox. Next year, Hall Drama has been invited to perform at the International Festival of Theatre and Arts in London, England. Black Comedy will be a great opportunity for audiences to watch a side-splitting comedy performance from one of Canada’s most recognized theatre arts high schools.
Local performances of Black Comedy will be held on Friday, March 6th at 7 p.m. at Robert F. Hall as part of the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. And on Monday, March 9th at 7:30 p.m., also at Robert F. Hall. Tickets are $8 and will be available at the door.
Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School has been granted a Specialist High Skills Major in Arts & Culture by the Ontario Ministry of Education.
For more information, please contact Rob Ciccotelli: robciccotelli@ica.net, 905 584-1670 ext. 32256.