For students at Lasalle Secondary School in Sudbury, Ont., the show will go on without their teachers.
They're putting on a production of Oliver Twist in the midst of a teachers strike in Sudbury's Rainbow District.
For dramatic arts students who are in their final year of high school, the play is their big chance to show what they've learned so far.
"Making this play happen is the most important thing on my mind right now," drama student Virginia Gordon told CTV Sudbury.
Since their teachers started striking on May 11, the students have used their own time, resources and initiative to stage the musical version of Charles Dickens' novel. They've asked student alumni for help with the show, and until recently were rehearsing out of a cast-member's basement but were able to book the school gym as a community group.
They've also been assembling their own costumes, and scouring homes, basements and even the roadsides for props to make sure the play hits the stage from May 28-31, said cast member Amanda Moskal.
"Everyone's been pitching in, especially money-wise because we did lose all of our funds as soon as the strike happened," Moskal said, explaining that she can't help but laugh seeing practically all of her basement furniture on stage.
But it's hard to find anyone else laughing at the ongoing strike. Besides the Rainbow District School Board, teachers in Peel and Durham Region are also on strike, affecting approximately 70,000 students.
The provincial government met with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation over the weekend, but on Saturday it announced the two sides "arrived at an impasse."
This is the first strike since the School Boards' Collective Bargaining Act was passed last year, aimed at separating local from provincial issues at the bargaining table.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has sought advice from the Education Relations Commission of Ontario, and is awaiting its ruling on the legality of the strike action.
