The Day Aliens Attacked Fairfield: The Town Where Nothing Ever Happens was originally supposed to be a 2020 drama production at St. Michael School but due to the pandemic it was postponed — director Lisa Mitchell is happy to be picking up where they left off.
The production takes place May 31 at 7 p.m. at the Mae Wilson Theatre. Tickets are available from the St. Michael School website for students and their families.
Mitchell’s co-director Sheena Johnson and Ben Sackville from Vanier Collegiate have also lent a hand to the production.
Mitchell said they were able to get three of the cast members from the original attempt at The Day Aliens Attacked Fairfield — everyone else is new to the show.
The play is a silly, fun comedy about a humdrum town that is almost unimaginably boring.
“Fairfield is a fictional town in the United States,” Mitchell explained. “Their biggest news story was 10 years ago, when Billy Meyers got a paper cut, and it was all over the news.”
One day, a young couple having a picnic spot a flying saucer, which sends the town into a frenzy.
Mitchell didn’t want to spoil the plot by revealing too many details, but she did say that “We do actually see the aliens. But there’s a twist as to the reason why they are on Earth. And I don’t want to say too much more than that.”
St. Michael’s has done a drama production every year — COVID aside — and Mitchell said the school is very supportive.
The families of the cast members have pitched in with a will, helping to find costumes and driving kids back and forth from rehearsals, which have been going since the last week of March. There are 23 students participating, from grades five through eight.
This is the first year that the drama production has had students as young as grade five.
“It’s been great. It’s a really positive experience for the kids and they get excited about it. They just love the idea of performing on the stage,” Mitchell said.
The elementary school typically chooses light-hearted comedies for their yearly production. Some past plays have included knights and kings, fairy-tale characters, pirates, and cowboys. Fun-to-play characters help younger students engage their imaginations and learn that drama can be fun.
