A collection of theatrical performances brought fans intrigue and dramatic storytelling following a regional competition between multiple schools.

The regional competition drew in audiences to see high school drama teams bring their productions to life, including two produced by the Swift Current Comprehensive team.

Regionals for the Zone 3 Drama Festival took place at Swift Current's Comprehensive High School, making use of the facility's drama infrastructure during Friday and Saturday.

Maple Creek Composite School, Unity Composite High School, Warman High School, Westcliffe Composite School, and the host school itself all took part in a series of six performances.

Stefan Rumpel, a drama teacher at the Swift Current Comprehensive High School, said that the festival is a learning experience for his own students.

"The students get to participate in the festival, which means you're watching plays, you're performing for your peers, and you get an adjudication workshop which helps you work on your acting skills, and gives you feedback for next year's [performance], or if you move on to provincials."

The adjudicator who was present at the Comp's performances gave the school high praise, according to Rumpel.

Earlier in the year, the drama club put on a production of The Sound of Music in preparation for regionals.

"We use that fall production as a fundraiser to be able to keep the costs low to students to be in this festival," said Rumpel, who also helped co-direct a play performed at regionals. "[To} get that learning experience, and get to meet other peers from across the province who are interested in the same things they are."

One student involved in Swift Current's productions was Sara Booth, who said that their ingenuity was one of their most significant assets in the competition.

"It's amazing. When you look around at all of our sets and some of the props that we have lying around, I'm like 'where did we even get any of this stuff?' and everybody is so dedicated and committed and no matter what happens, we always manage to pull something off in the end."

Jessica Morstad, who acted in the SCCHS production of The Chasm, said that competition was fierce this year.

"I think everyone brought it up a level this year that I just think we haven't seen in a really long time. Everyone was a really good actor, and [had] really good projection, and the sets were incredible, even if they were minimalistic, they were really good and really detailed too."

Preston Cormier, another Swift Current drama club member, said that he took some pointers from other school's performances.

"Watching the other plays really gives you ideas of how to bring your own acting skills up to another par. We have so many great actors at our school, but when the Region 3 comes along, you realize what other schools bring too."

"When you see somebody else do something on stage, you be like 'I want to do that now,'" Cole Johnson, SCCHS drama club member, said. "It really inspires you for next year, and you really want to improve, and so you just get better and better."

All four students said that through drama, their lives had been impacted positively.

Students who received recognition in the form of merits and awards for their roles in the productions include Karma Lefebvre, Teagan Budd, Eliza Switzer, Sarah Hilts, Shia Flaterud, Tasha Krahn-Nagy, Milan Yeo, Laticia Beaulieu, Sara Booth, Jaiden Beaudoin-Kwan, Olivia Grant, Peyton Johnson, Lesley Levorson-Wong, Jayden Stolhandske-Dale, Justine BijouMilan Yeo, Laticia Beaulieu, Sara Booth, Jaiden Beaudoin-Kwan, Olivia Grant, Peyton Johnson, Lesley Levorson-Wong, Jayden Stolhandske-Dale, Justine Bijou, Zach Elliott, Zoë Foster, Blayne Anderson, Lexi Boss, Hannah Kitchen, and Peyton Johnson.

Awards that SCCHS Drama won as a group include Runner Up to Best Overall Production, Best Visual Production, Best Technical Crew, and Best Technical Production.