It's all about love for Jean Vanier's drama students.

The Grade 12 drama class will perform We Could Have Had it All, a film the students wrote and directed, Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Drama teacher Julie Morin picked the theme "faith, love, and hope" and played Adele's hit song "Rolling in the Deep" as a starting point for the students' short plays.

Morin says all the scripts featured the theme of love, and the class narrowed down the selection to create a five-act play strung together by musical interludes.

Some acts are dramas, such as Kelly Ironside's It was a Murder not a Crime; Abbey Gallagher's The Real Prom Queen of New Jersey is a slapstick comedy. Others are romantic comedies, such as Brad Sinopoli's A Precarious Predicament, and Tylin Major's My Kind of Party.

Each playwright was required to hand over ownership of their play and let the actors and directors put it together.

"You don't write for yourself, you don't write for your friends," said Morin.

She says the students are also responsible for the costumes, props, and set.

"It becomes an on- and off-stage experience," said Morin, adding the students have a month to pull everything together.

She points out teenagers, drama students especially, are highly emotional and people need a place to express those emotions.

"Art is a wonderful way to channel their feelings," whether it be through visual, performing art, or music, said Morin.

She says performing for family and other students is a wonderful experience for the class.

"You tell a story and you only have so many minutes to do it," she said, adding it's also an opportunity for a captivated audience.

-kristen.smith@sunmedia.ca