Lockdown
Rated: 6 out of 10
Venue 10: George Ignatieff Theatre
It’s a situation every parent fears: the announcement that the high school is locked down after a violent incident has occurred. In this new play, that’s just the beginning before the action flashes back to the events leading up to the lockdown. This is Degrassi High with an extra edge, featuring the nastiest trio of fist-fighting, double-crossing girls (Nikola Gorolova, Chrystelle Robinson and Gena Joella Sylvester) you’re likely to see outside of prison. Written and directed by award-winning Toronto film producer Frances-Anne Solomon, the play includes a strong ensemble cast of students including bad boy Vusani (played by rapper Lameck Williams).
The fight scenes were exceptionally well choreographed and the characters sketched carefully in this 90-minute production. That said, the play could still use a good pruning, eliminating awkward scene transitions that would move the action along more seamlessly. Character motivations and relationships were sometimes confusing, especially considering there were a dozen actors.
Unfortunately the play doesn’t make full use of the talented Jamaican actress Leonie Forbes as the principal. However, Michael Miller is the glue in the play, handling the dual and opposing roles as the teacher and also the newly-paroled older brother of one of the students.
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