Teenage Drama

Most parents and teachers, and the high schoolers themselves
Would say drama doesn’t need rehearsals or a stage
And certainly not an audience,
But every day it still flourishes.

In schools urban or rural,
From gyms to cafeterias,
Theaters to auditoriums,
In venues large and small.

Scripts reviewed and chosen, directors hired
Auditions overflow with sweaty hands, racing hearts
Shaky voices and missed dance steps,
False tears and a few real ones.

What role goes best with which actor?
Who has the work ethic, fewest tardies?
Will the onstage lovers get over
Their distaste for each other offstage?

The cast parts posted;
Tears flow again in joy and despair
Some cut altogether; others grateful to simply stand on stage
Leads panic as they read the whole script.

Rehearsals begin and the pruning starts,
Do this, don’t do that, stand here, move there.
Listen! Quiet! Louder! Turn this way!
No coach ever controlled their players so completely.

Weeks go by as  gangly adolescents transform
To gentlemen and ladies, royalty and ruffians,
Peasants and prostitutes, priests and policemen,
Becoming something completely other.

Backstage dressing room plywood barriers  conceal metamorphosis
From teenager to dowager or glamour queen,
Guys and girls stand side by side at wall length mirrors
Applying foundation, rouge and mascara.

Stage crew all in black, phantoms moving silently
Amidst the sets and props, creating scenes in shadow.
Tech crew work the sound and light boards expertly
Teaching adults how things work.

Prior to curtain opening
The cast and crew circles, holding hands
Praying together, singing “Blest Be The Tie”
Binding together before the stage drama begins.

The audience responds, the actors connect,
Emerging from the stage smiling, energized
By each round of applause, the laughter and hoots,
Bluffing through muffed lines and missed cues.

A story unfolds,  contained in two hours,
The curtain falls, the ovations begin, then
Noisy reception in the lobby of bouquets and hugs,
Finally make up and costumes come off.

Back to the word, they amble out into the dark parking lot
In sweats and flip flops,
Homework still waiting, real life resumes
But not nearly as dramatic as before.

Students  see the world from the vantage
Of a character with scripted lines,  learning how
To hold an audience rapt and grateful
To buy a ticket to witness a child grow up overnight.

photos courtesy of Josh and Tim Scholten