Co-Writer
SMOOTHIELAND Performance Projects
March 2018
“Everyone is weird. I think making friends is just about finding someone who’s the same kind of weird as you”.
The students at Valley Park Middle School are now in Grade 8, and that means more drama, more laughs, and a lot more at stake. Two new students at the school start to disrupt the status quo and things start to go a bit crazy.
400+ students over 2 days saw the show custom-blended for the Grade 8’s of Valley Park Middle School. Conceived by the brilliant Marie Beath Badian, SMOOTHIELAND was a responsive and episodic play built from the real lives of students at Valley Park Middle School. Whatever they gave us, we put on stage. It resulted in an incredibly specific and relevant piece of theatre. I have rarely seen students so engaged. I’ve never worked on a play like this before, and I feel so lucky to have been in the “Writers’ Room” with some brilliant artists.
Written by Julia Lederer, Rob Kempson, and Marie Beath Badian
With Lucy Campbell, Jason Houle, Curtis te Brinke, and Shayna Virginillio
Set and Costume Design by Landon Carletti
Sound Design and Composition by Deanna Choi
Performed by Lucy Campbell, Chris Cruz, Jason Houle, Mirabella Sundar Singh, Curtis te Brinke, and Shayna Virginillio