Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 27/00) - How 'bout an Elizabethan banquet or maybe a stroll over London Bridge to throw a penny in the water and, of course, in a show in the West End, finishing the night with a bite in Soho.

An evesdropping Londoner might catch this conversation between drama students from St. Patrick high school on their upcoming trip to the old city in England.

The trip is scheduled for March 25 to April 2 next year and the 18 drama students have been hard at work raising funds.

Over the summer, students held car washes, which helped them raise $800, and have been bagging groceries at Extra Foods and the Co-op for the past 12 days.

They've raised $20,000 of the $34,500 they need to cover the costs of the trip.

Tomorrow, the students are staging a children's theatre production in the Betty Steven Drama Room at St. Pat's at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 and drama teacher Gillian Dawe hopes to get 120 people to watch the show.

"People in this city have been very generous so far,"added Dawe.

Grade 12 student Andes Herbert has raised $1,000 on so far.

"I've put in my fair share for this trip," said Herbert, adding it will give him and the other students a new perspective on the theatre.

"I'm excited to learn a facet of the art I didn't know about," he added.

And the art of drama is what has captivated these students.

"I'm excited to learn how other cultures interpret drama, " said Grade 11 student Krista Larocque.

The trip may sound light fun, but it's school for the students. In preparation, the students will study scripts for plays they will see.

On their return they are expected to write a critique on the different aspects of each production.