Sister act
Trista and Tashal Trottier are typical teenage sisters.
They bicker, they quarrel, they fight, but eventually they make up, because they’re sisters.
Recently, the Trottier girls teamed up to perform a humorous duo at the Region 4 speech meet about what else – quarreling sisters, called “Dud Wars.”
“I’d heard of this piece before and I thought it’s kind of what we do best – fight,” quipped Trista.
“Dud Wars,” written by Ken Bradbury, is a short tale of a war breaking out between sisters over clothes and other personal possessions. The weapons of the war are Milk Duds.
While the selection was a natural for the sisters, Trista also viewed it as an opportunity to participate in a speech event with Tashal, an eighth grader.
“That’s one thing I wanted to do in my last year,” Trista said. “Perform with her.”
Tashal recalls watching her older sister give practice performances at home. “She had so much fun with it, and I knew I wanted to be in it, too,” Tashal said.
However, like any extracurricular activity, practice makes perfect, Trista said, and the ones who put in the most work usually have the most success. “You can’t cut corners…you have to be willing to put in the time,” Trista said.
Like any comedic piece, timing is a crucial element, and the performers need good chemistry. “Being sisters, we had that (the chemistry) down,” Trista said.
The sisters finished third, just missing out on qualifying for state.
Despite coming up just short of their goal, the two know they had fun performing together. “This is an experience we can share,” Tashal said.
In addition to performing the duo, the two also participated in individual events at the regional. Trista won the poetry event, qualifying for state. And Tashal was fourth in the serious interpretation category.