Drama Free Zone

I went on my high school website just to look at a few things. It has been quite a number of years since I graduated and I guess I was feeling nostalgic. Then I got upset. Then I got sad for the students.

I looked at the clubs and found no drama club. I looked at the list of teachers and found none specified as a drama teacher. Are these kids not getting the chance to perform? This is not a poor school in a district that is cash poor, but it seems that they have cut the drama program. And sadly, many schools have done so in the name of budget cuts.

When budgets get trimmed for schools, the arts seem to be the first to go. They are seen as frivolous and not beneficial for the academic progress of a student. However, for some reason, sports rarely get the ax, especially football.

Sure there are all the good arguments that football brings in money with sponsorships of the field and it builds school spirit and it truly does. Then there are those that talk about how sports builds good character because they have a goal, they work together and it helps with their concentration and confidence. Well, guess what – so does theater.

To work a scene in class or put on a play, you need to study, memorize, calculate and plan. Students learn more than just acting. It covers all they learn in class and so much more.

Plays are literature, language, words and poetry, all the things that are a part of an English class. Students learn pacing of dialogue and what is said. Plays contain metaphors, humor and deep emotions. Sentence structure and punctuation is vital to the delivery of the words. Many plays are also lessons in history as well.

Then there is art. The sets are designed and painted. The lights are angled and color added. The timing of a light going on or off can change the mood dramatically. The costumes must work right with the lights and the sets. The texture of the imagery on the stage draws your audience in. The music, if any, adds even more layers to this effect.

Those students that have an interest in engineering can work on hanging lights where they learn about wattage and balance of electrical feeds. They can rig the sets to make sure they are secure to go into the fly loft. They learn counterweights as they add ballast to the battens on the pin rail. And of course there is quite a bit of construction pulling the sets together. Oh, and all of this requires math.

Physical education comes into play with the long hours of rehearsals. You need to eat well and get rest and stay in shape to work on a play. A lot of strength training carrying lumber, costumes, props, furniture and more. If doing a musical, your lungs need to be in shape to sing and your body needs to be fit to dance.

But beyond all these things there is something more. A theater is a home to many students in many schools across the country and around the world. Those students that don’t feel they have a place anywhere else in the school will most likely find a place in the drama room. That is the beauty of theater, it’s acceptance. You will find the oddballs and outcasts, the princesses and frogs, the A students and the ones just squeaking by. But each of them can find something to do in drama. What’s more is they will find confidence, friendship and themselves within those walls of the theater.

Theater and drama classes and clubs are vital to schools, communities and most of all, the students.

If you like what you read, please support this former drama student with a tip. Thank you.