As some of you may remember, I am a huge participant in my school’s drama department, and theater is a huge part of my free time (check out my article on what theater means to me, here). In the fall, I wrote about our fall drama, a production of The Outsiders (check out that article, here, if you’re interested). Although that was not my first blog post, this is my last, so I felt that the perfect way to “come full circle” would be to write about our spring student production.
The student production is just that-- a student-directed show (or set of shows, in this case) in which four of Drama Club’s members direct and assemble all those who auditioned into a group who can really show off their talents. This year, we have four shows; Lysistrata, directed by Jamie Corter; The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Julia Miller; The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Elizabeth Bottoni; and Pygmallion, directed by Isabelle Baptista. Each piece is a comedy, presented as a cut rendition of the stories that many people know, but is set in a different 1900s decade, which adds a twist for those who are already familiar with the text.
Like I did for my Outsiders piece, I interviewed some of the cast members about their experiences with the students production. The focus of discussion quickly shifted from just this year’s student production to theater in general, and what kind of impact it has had on those who have participated in it. Most of the people quoted here met with me and discussed these topics, but some were unable to attend and instead sent me written responses to questions that I asked them.
The best place to start would be the beginning; and the beginning of all plays and performances is the characters and the actor who portray them. Without actors, characters are barely more than just names on paper; the talented people who take on their personas are the ones who make it seem real. “...acting is a way for me to take a break from being myself and explore what it is like to be someone else for a short period of time,” writes Jamie Corter, a senior who has been an active participant in performing for many years, and is also the president of our school’s drama club. Many people believe it to be hard to become a different person for every character that you perform, but, as sophomore Claire Riley said, “everyone has every piece, every character they need inside of themselves… every person has that part of a character.” The others in the room at the time seemed to agreed, although they had more to add. Zander Papandrikos related, saying, “Even if you can’t relate to that character all too much… I put a little bit of myself into that character to try and make it more unique, and that helped me to relate more to the character.”
Every time you end a show, to me it feels like you are shedding a skin; something that was you for so long is now being left behind, but it is only because you have grown and are ready for newer and bigger things. The characters that you were have become a part of you, and you left a little bit of yourself behind with them. Later, when you become a new character, you learn something new about yourself, which makes you ready for the next character and the next. But, it is not always just about relating to the character, as Owen Welsh brought up. Sometimes, “it’s more about the relationships between the people,” said Welsh, going on to bring up an example of one of his characters in this year’ student production. “It’s not yourself that you can find in a character, but expressing emotions that you have felt before.”
One of the things that I find the most interesting about theater performances is that people keep coming back. Time and time again, year after year, people continually get deeply immersed into something that they become incredibly passionate about. Curious, I asked my peers why they come back (I know why I come back, but what about others?). At first, of course, I got the sarcastic answers; “What else am I going to do?” contemplated Papandrikos, “I’d rather not sit in a room and stare at a blank wall.” Welsh jokes, I don’t have any other talents!” Allison Bottoni commented, “I love being the center of attention, as one would say.” But, eventually I got the real answers. Both Riley and Corter made similar remarks; Riley referred to her acting career saying, “Acting… is like a drug to me,” while Corter stated, “Acting is therapeutic for me but is also gives me like a runner’s high.” When people think about performing, they often don’t associate it with a rush of adrenaline and that feeling that you are on top of the world-- but it’s there, and it seems to be part of why people do this over and over again. Riley even goes on later to say, “I love the adrenaline rush you get, it’s so good. It’s better than any sport you could play.”
Speaking of sports, a few comments were made comparing the sports program to the performing arts programs. But one of them, in my opinion, offers what we get out of drama at the same time as what we don’t get out of it. Riley stated, “We’re not gonna have our own drama practice room, we don’t get that. You know, we’re not as sacred as sports, but we do get some time, and I think working together it turns out to be pretty great.” This brings up another overarching theme of the meeting; it’s about working together. As Isabelle Baptista wrote, “There’s a role for everyone, and it’s a very inclusive, welcoming environment.” Nina Strowe wrote something that kind of synthesises with this, that “it gives [her] an opportunity to share [her] voice and be a part of something greater.” Everyone in the room during my interview agreed, in their own way, that you meet so many talented people, and that is also a huge part of what makes theater such a worthwhile thing. Everybody learns from everybody, and the resulting environment is one of respect but also caring and kindness.
As Strowe wrote, “I feel that everyone can gain something from these shows no matter who they are.” This pertains to both the audiences and the actors. The actors learn about themselves and others, and the audience gets to see “someone show their true potential,” especially in someone you might not have expected, according to Baptista. So much effort is put into these shows, that the end result is phenomenal, and nowhere near a waste of your time. “There’s a surprising amount of modern jokes,” said Elizabeth Bottoni (after saying something much more inappropriate), in an attempt to get you to come see the show. Plus, in the words of Owen Welsh, “Let me be real here, what else are you gonna to do? What else are you doing? You don’t have anything planned. What you’re doing, is you’re sitting at home and you’re going, ‘Do I want to have an extra, like, two pieces of cake, or do I want to be productive and go see something I’m gonna enjoy?’ It’s a sort of outing, like ‘I don’t want to be in my house,’ so you have a reason to leave.”
The student production will be performed on 19 May at 6:00pm, and 20 May at 2:00pm at Sparta High School. Please come and see the performances that are the product of innumerable hours of intense work, put on “from the students, by the students, for the students” (Riley).
Thank you to all of the people who missed lunch so I could interview them, sorry it took so long and we didn’t get to eat. Special thanks to Nina Strowe, Jamie Corter, and Isabelle Baptista, who took time out of their nights to write about this topic for me to use.
The cast of all four productions are as follows:
Nina Strowe, Brittany Galvin, Claire Riley, Kaela Panicucci, Brent Bloomgren, Lorenzo Rendina, Steven Sullivan, Will Maloney, Taylor Brady, Lomaani Ranasinghe, Zander Papandrikos, Emma Rust, Sylvia Kloian, Henry Silberstein, Allison Bottoni, Roy DiPiano, Ryden Mederos, Juleanna Green, and Tomas Torres.
The directors are:
Jamie Corter, Julia Miller, Elizabeth Bottoni, and Isabelle Baptista
