Welcome to PLAYBILLDER Spotlight, where Playbill highlights shows from educational institutions or regional theatres and special events around the country (who have used Playbill's program-building service). By welcoming these PLAYBILLDERs center stage, we hope to give our readers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation and the way theatre lovers are bringing Playbill along for life's big moments.
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This week's Spotlight is Dougherty Valley High School of San Ramon, California, and their production of The Laramie Project. One of the most frequently performed plays in America, this work of documentary theatre was created by the New York City-based Tectonic Theatre Project. After traveling to Laramie, Wyoming, members of the theatrical group interviewed residents about the impact of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard. Transcripts from those interviews tell the stories of the real people who lived at the site of a horrendous, anti-gay hate crime.
Drama teacher Paul Vega shared with Playbill why performing arts students make better college applicants and how theatre is teaching social media-obsessed students about longer-form storytelling.
Tell us a little about yourself. How many years have you been teaching?
Paul Vega: I'm currently in my 22nd year in education. Prior to teaching, I spent about 20 years working in theme park entertainment and visual effects editing for feature films.
Can you share a little bit about the value you see in having a performing arts program in schools?
Students today are consistently working hard to find the secret formula to being considered the ideal college applicant, often at the cost of understanding their peers or themselves as individuals. The collaboration process in the arts helps build an empathy and understanding of life that is often missing in the curriculum of other classes. The arts often expose students to their own personal skills that they never thought were possible.
What are the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of teaching the performing arts to today’s students?
The most challenging aspect of teaching students today is adjusting to the sources of entertainment they engage with the most, which is often short-form storytelling on social media. This creates a challenge with being patient in the storytelling process. However, it also leads to the most rewarding aspect of working with students. When a student is able to engage and collaborate with others to create a well-developed story that captures the attention an audience, especially one comprised of their peers, the sense of pride they feel in themselves is palpable.
Tell us a little bit about the production. What made you pick the show?
We chose The Laramie Project to show the students the powerful impact that theatre can have on the community and how it can show our audience where we are as a society. As more people close themselves off to the ideas of others, it becomes more important to show the students the value of engaging in a dialogue of different opinions and the verbatim aspect of this play demonstrates this power. Every year, we have the students complete a survey on shows that they would like produced and this production was chosen from those suggestions.
What are the kids loving about the show?
The students are loving the power that comes with having to faithfully embody the characteristics of real people and respectfully recreate their words and emotions on stage.
What message do you have for your students as they take the stage?
As the students prepare to take the stage I always like to remind them not only how much the audience is rooting for their success, but also to enjoy the excitement of this moment. They are about to take the audience on an emotional journey and that can have a lasting impact on everyone who sees the show.
What reactions do you expect to see in students when they see their name printed in this Playbill for the first time?
The students are always excited to see their names printed in a Playbill! They often want one as soon as they arrive and they spend time asking other cast and crew members to sign their Playbill to serve as a keepsake.
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