AMERICAN THEATRE: As some kids grow, they shrink. Standing tall and speaking loud can become impossible when every morning you wake for a school theatre curriculum that denies or defiles your existence. Stories, you quickly learn, can harm as easily as they heal. There are stories that crack open a teenager’s mirror with an outreached pale grip binding them to centuries of tropes and words like barbarous, savage, exotic, ethnic, sexy to the white male gaze.
9 comments:
This article brings up an issue that is definitely not talked about much. Although the professional industry is moving forward and taking emotional health more seriously, implementing better guidelines and resources surrounding stage intimacy such as the Chicago Theatre Standards, these are not things that necessarily trickle down to the high school level. It really depends on the school and the teacher. I was in some programs where I felt very safe and the director was aware of best practices for intimacy, and others where the director didn’t really seem to follow or care about those standards. I remember a high school spring musical where the actors were literally actually slapping each other instead of having choreographed stage combat. The movement is spreading slowly, and it needs to be addressed much more rapidly on a high school level, because for many young artists that is where the tone is set for their theatrical careers.
I came from a really small school, with an even smaller theater department so we pretty much had only a handful of actors to cast. And I think often enough we fell into some of the traps that this article is talking about. It wasn’t justified but I think someone just always played a certain role, so they kept playing the same roles again and again and I think while it might not have been purposeful I can think of some casting choices that might be considered questionable in retrospect. And I think in our community especially because it was a k through 12 school it's even more important to put in extra thought into what we are putting on stage because so many young and impressionable minds are going to be seeing our shows. And I think that especially when it comes to not instilling stereotypes and other harmful presumptions. For the most part, I don't think it was as rampant as it was in other high schools but I do understand the argument of this article and i really wish more people took it into consideration when casting and creating shows.
I came from a really small school, with an even smaller theater department so we pretty much had only a handful of actors to cast. And I think often enough we fell into some of the traps that this article is talking about. It wasn’t justified but I think someone just always played a certain role, so they kept playing the same roles again and again and I think while it might not have been purposeful I can think of some casting choices that might be considered questionable in retrospect. And I think in our community especially because it was a k through 12 school it's even more important to put in extra thought into what we are putting on stage because so many young and impressionable minds are going to be seeing our shows. And I think that especially when it comes to not instilling stereotypes and other harmful presumptions. For the most part, I don't think it was as rampant as it was in other high schools but I do understand the argument of this article and i really wish more people took it into consideration when casting and creating shows.
(Sorry to post twice, forgot to put my name)
Thank god somebody's talking about this. and she said in the article, this is a very common experience. I was lucky enough to go to a high school where I did not have this experience, and seeing as how I am no longer from presenting, and white passing, I am privileged to be free of that experience. However High School theater is not without its flaws, and I think that there can come many issues with sexualization and other stuff like that for young kids. Even if they are teenagers or nearing 17 or 18, they are still children. I'm really sad to hear that a couple people have had such negative experiences in high school like this, but I am not shocked. Which is honestly even more sad. I am very glad that somebody is talking about this, and that they are sharing their story. The pictures in this article are drop dead gorgeous, and I love the sentiment of sharing this story being so powerful.
I think that this article brings up some super important points that are not mentioned nearly enough. When I was in high school, I did theater both at my school as well as helping out with a few others, and it was wild seeing how distinct the differences between them were. It really seems that almost everything is in the hands of the director/head of the theater department, and they have a massive sway on things regarding gender, race, sexualization, etc. as the article discusses. Some directors are very diligent about these things and want to be as respectful as possible, but others could not care less even ignoring the requests of students. I think since high school theaters are often less popular than professional ones, they are free from much public scrutiny, meaning the director can go in any direction they want, which often can be very harmful. I think this is a conversation that needs to be had more so that high schools can be more respectful and allow students involved in theater to come up with the correct ideals and expectations.
I think it’s difficult that often drama teacher positions at the average Highschool level are often just untrained freelancers, friends of a friend, and sometimes even parents who promise they can teach. The theatre teaching positions of directors can cause dangerous environments where boundaries are crossed, limitations and consent are overridden in the name of “art”, and all the while the school students don’t often know how to express themselves or consent at younger ages. I appreciated reading the ways the teachers at the bottom of the article explained how they are attempting to change that narrative and making sure students are comfortable and safe. I think in one of the sectors of the Highschool education that lends itself to being the most vulnerable the department heads and resources tend to be the most skimped/not cared about which is dangerous. Also sometimes I think Highschools should just avoid certain plays and musicals that are above their age range/maturity range for no reason other than that’s what the “director” wants.
I am glad that this article was written, because it discusses really important information on issues that really need to be addressed. I completely agree that while industry is moving to create a more diverse and safe workspace for people, school’s should be working to do the same. I was thinking the other day about how much abuse students take from high school theater because you’re in a school environment so it feels like you can’t stand up for yourself. I know that at my high school we had three theater teachers and they were all white, which made my experience there challenging. There were things and acting classes that made me uncomfortable, but I felt like if I voiced my opinion, my teacher wouldn’t understand. One of my acting teachers specifically was kind of awful. She made us do things that made us extremely uncomfortable and even when we voiced opinions, she didn’t care and did not take our feelings into account. I think this is partially why I did not continue acting in college.
This is a super important topic to be discussed. Many high schoolers are impressionable as well as have high-stakes mindsets. High school just isn't a fun place to be, it was the worst time of my young life and another form of some kind of oppression is completely unnecessary and unfair. My sister and a 16-year high schooler auditioned for her last year's play Clue, and she was greatly disappointed when she received the role of Mr. Green when she auditioned for one of the female leads. Not that it is a big deal– gender can be seen as a suggestion in theater, men and women as well as noncis- gender people have played each other flawlessly. However, it was who wasn't dismayed by this. There was an obvious bias in who was cast, and it was the ‘conventionally pretty’ girls who got Scarlet White and Peacock. I saw the show and they could hardly get the lines out. My sister was super hurt by this and felt inferior. Nothing should cause a high schooler more stress than they are already under.
Wow, this article is an important one. I always joke that my high school will have a Netflix documentary in the next ten years for all the craziness that went down in the theatre department. While I won’t share others specifics of went down, the leaders would have benefited from an article like this. While working on techs outside of school, I observed the difference that exists between professional and educational theatre. Somehow the stakes feel higher in high school theatre which is so silly. But there’s an odd social and accountability stress that doesn’t in the real world. Perhaps this is because there’s not the professional standard that exists in the real world. However, more specifically, there’s a fine line in assigning difficult characters to students. We want to challenge them to do well, however, at the same time if intimacy coordinators and proper staffing cannot occur it can become a harmful environment.
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