ARTICLE:

Nearly 300 students from Charles Dickens Elementary School were given an award-worthy performance today about what it means to be a sustainable citizen, and how to better care for our environment. 

The play entitled "The Essay" was written by 16-year-old Olivia Rempel, a student at Abbotsford Virtual School. She was the winner for the junior prize for the Act NOW!  National Playwriting Competition, which was announced April 23, 2009. A proud supporter and a shining example of sustainable citizenship, Rempel plans to attend university for theatre and journalism studies.

The play takes its dramatic shape as a group of students is given an assignment that involves explaining the meaning of sustainability. The "lifestyle of recycling" as one young student in the audience described it, environmental sustainability is becoming a larger conversation, both in and out of the classroom.

From a very young age, Rempel has grown increasingly concerned about the environment, and bringing these issues to her work came as an easy, organic process for the aspiring writer.

"I wrote "The Essay" in a few hours," she said. "When I was younger I began to notice how the snow got thinner and thinner each winter," she explains.

The play was performed by the Jai-Ho! Theatre Troupe, a Surrey-based dramatic group who is largely made up of enthusiastic, young volunteers. 

The cast — Taylor Harrison, Fara Shah, Kristina Dosanjh, Matthew Furtado, Ravi Sall and Nasan Furtado — ranging from eighth grade to university education, were excited to be a part of the production. They excitedly told us after the show that not only did the script get them thinking about sustainability more seriously, but also that it was valuable in giving that gift of knowledge to the children at the schools. The play will be performed in schools until October 2010 where it hopes to reach some 10,000 children.

The performance, run entirely by volunteers, was made possible by the NOW! Organization, a Vancouver-based group that runs grassroots campaigns to engage youth on issues of health, finding solutions and spurring positive, interdisciplinary conversation.

The play was directed by Trisha Dulku, a grade 12 student at Fleetwood Park Secondary School. She recently won an award with her production of "Finding the Suitable Boy," which she wrote and directed and submitted to the Surrey Youth Arts Council.

Dulku's experience with "The Essay" not only was a great learning opportunity for her burgeoning directing career, but also a great learning experience. 

"It was very interesting from an outsider's perspective, because I could see how my cast was learning things about the environment," she said.

"We all volunteered to be a part of this event, and before we became involved we didn't know a lot of the things that the play talked about."

Dulku is currently writing the sequel to "Finding the Suitable Boy" and hopes to showcase it in the fall.