For the past six years, Riverside Secondary has hosted a production of short, one act plays, produced and directed by Riverside alumni.
This year’s performances featured current drama students and were presented at the River’s Edge Theatre as part of a schoolwide drama festival called Short-Shorts. Four short plays (between 10 – 60 minutes) were selected by Ms. Nicole Roberge, Riverside’s very own drama teacher. Roberge explains that the reason they present lots of short plays is to appeal to the ‘modern attention span’, and the quick pace allows for a more enjoyable experience for the audience.
Each play is directed by a former Riverside drama student who has chosen a career path in the theater. “The project is meant to be a bridge between my programs here at the school and life after school where opportunities in the theatre may be limited,” said Roberge. The plays are all student directed, but are performed by current Riverside drama students who are chosen by auditions.
Students selected to perform in the Short-Shorts 
production must rehearse outside of school hours to achieve the best outcome. “One acts are really fun because you get to be directed by former students from the same program and you also get to meet a ton of new people. It’s just one of those things I’m really glad I did and I can’t wait to do it again,” said Mara Russu, a Riverside drama student.
This year’s productions of the Short-Shorts festival took place at Riverside’s River’s Edge Theatre on the 24, 25, and 26 of November and two matinees were also performed at the River’s Edge Theatre during block D on Wednesday the 25 and C block on Thursday the 26. Throughout this week, the Riverside Drama department will also be hosting the district theatre festival, “Met-Fest” which includes all eight working high-school theatre programs in School District 43.
