From musicals, to battle of the bands; the incredible, reputable talent Dover students have to offer is showcased here! BAY THEATRIX HISTORY: By Hugh Anderson
Dover Bay Secondary opened in Sept. 1992. Department heads had been hired the previous year to assist in planning for the opening, and Mr. Hugh Anderson, then teaching at John Barsby was brought in to head up the Fine Arts Department. In
Dover’s first year of operation, there were a total of six Drama classes, although by the third year,
a second teacher, Mr. Robert Boyd was hired to teach half time drama. Within a couple of years, Dover’s population had soared, Mr. Boyd were both full time, and Mrs. Martha Parker had joined the department as a half time teacher. Boyd’s retirement and Mrs. Parker’s move to NDSS, Ms. Pamela Schwarze took up the position. Because of declining enrolment, the department shrank to just a two person staff. Anderson retired in June of 2011. Interestingly, both current teachers, Ms. Schwarze and Mr. Norcutt had early exposure to the department as TOCs. Musicals have always been a main focus of the department as they are a synthesis of all the arts—Acting, Music, Visual Arts and Dance—and demand a great deal of technical input. It is not uncommon to have over 150 students involved in the production of a musical. Because we have always striven to run our theatre program as professionally as possible, Bay Theatrix was created as the production arm of the department; all shows for a public audience are produced under the Bay Theatrix logo. The first musical was Grease, and over the years the school has treated audiences to lavish productions of such shows as Little Shop of Horrors, Anything Goes, Crazy for You, Footloose, Cinderella and many more. But musicals are not the only shows we put on; in fact, on average, Bay Theatrix mounts 7 to 9 shows a year from full length dramas and comedies, one act evenings and student written shows. Festival competition is also a major component of the program and Dover has competed in the North Island Regional Drama festival every year but one
of its existence, and has been selected to appear on the Provincial Festival stage 15 times in the last 20 years, either as a mainstage show or as a winner of the Provincial student playwrighting contest, Youthwrite. There have been a couple of times when the school has had a show in both mainstage and Youthwrite. We have a strong tradition of creating shows that concentrate on social justice using playbuilding, a process in which students tackle a topic of social interest and create a show based on the research they have done. Some of the shows, like Code of Silence
and i have a name have gone on to tour around the region at the request of outside organizations. I have a name, a show based on the stories of some of the missing women of the Downtown Eastside, finished its touring at the Vancouver East Cultural centre, a point of pride for the girls who created it. It was because of the reputation we had built for producing quality shows that Ms. Marilyn Epps, then vice principal, suggested we apply to the district to become a “choice” school, offering a performance academy program focused on giving students more intensive Acting training. In May of 2006, the first auditions were held for the Dover Bay Performance Academy, a process that is now repeated every spring, as the program’s reputation continues to expand.
