A Rebirth of the Theater

It is a small mid-west Bible belt community. The community is rebounding from a series of mistakes that were the result of poor decisions made by the town’s teenagers. Their actions brought negative attention to both the school and the community. The school’s lacks leadership as the superintendent resigned early in the school year. In his lame duck role, he is at a loss as to what to do and supports an attitude of riding out the year with as little resistance as possible. This whole situation has left the parents feeling like nobody is in charge. There are those among them that will be quiet happy to run the show and as human nature might have it decisions would be made to benefit those making the decisions.
The play is the first for this first year drama teacher. The theater is not a real solid stone in the school built on an athletic foundation. The script for the play was an original written by the director. While the production was an adaptation, it was written with local flavor and subtlety addresses the community status and their desire to put the things of the past in the past and move on.
The production featured a cast starved for attention and recognition. A deflated budget, meant that the entire play had to be presented with left overs. The costumes were bits and pieces from the prop closets that were designed and sewn to fit the needs of the cast. Parents, some who are strangers to the school house, helped with the sewing and built and painted sets, provided snack for rehearsals and tried to help as they could. One of the parents was a musician and composed an original score for the production.
It was the rebirth of the theater. It wasn’t the actors that made the production special. Nor was it the sets or the music. It was the message of the courageous director that made the difference. There were students and parents, working quietly together, so quietly that some didn’t even know it was happening, which chipped away at the nagging problems of the community.
People were working together to make a difference.