I received this letter from a wonderful friend this week. As I read it I couldn't help but cry. So many talk about 'these kids today' and 'how bad teens are'; however, every day I get to witness what is good, true and right with 'those teens'...obviously my friend does as well. My students teach me so much every day...and these students (living about 12 hours from where I do) have taught me as well.
May I never grow too old to learn...
Hey all,
Hang with me on this one folks…. It’s worth it. On Friday night, Michael Marks from Hattiesburg High School in Mississippi emailed me a script for a new show they are trying to produce: The Katrina Project; Hell or High Water. It is based on survivors’ stories from the Katrina Disaster and uses the same techniques that the Tectonic Theatre Project used to create “The Laramie Project” Their school has approximately 200 New Orleans evacuees as new students, a great deal of their own students displaced or without permanent homes, and their shop was devastated, although their school was spared. The school and theatre represents a point of stability for those still dealing with the aftermath of Katrina. Michael and his students had no way of creating a set for their show and were seeking help in doing so…Their show is December 3rd.
Now I get to brag on my students: When I told them about the situation these fellow theatre students were facing, they responded by saying, “why don’t we build the set for them?” I wasn’t sure we could do it. I didn’t want to take time away from prepping for state, and I certainly didn’t want to spend the week doing another set for a show that we weren’t even doing. They convinced me. They offered to work around the clock, and were as good as their offer.
I spent Saturday developing a concept for the scene design, and Sunday developing shop drawings.
Monday rolls around and I had 24 students show up for after school work on the “new Orleans” set. We worked until 10pm.
By the end of the day we had the biggest part of the set built, the secondary elements started, and a very tired crew.
Tuesday – we worked some during the day, but all afterschool stuff was cancelled due to weather. I worked for a little while, but got little done without my crew.
Wednesday – 30 students show up afterschool and we work late again. Now we have a dressed set for the major pieces, the smaller elements are in process and we are rolling along.
Thursday – Scott (one of the directors), from Hattiesburg is going to be here by three…I have never seen a group of kids more motivated. They worked their little butts off. I am so proud of them. We not only did a last minute design change, but created a whole new set element that was needed in a little under 6 hours.
Scott shows up…At first he was very quiet and said little. I thought he was disappointed in the set. He later told me that he didn’t want to cry in front of my students because he was so overwhelmed by what they had done for his students. He told me stories about the kids of New Orleans and what they have gone through…the devastation of homes, and lives along the coast and in his area, as well as the hope they had…
Tonight, we rehearsed our play for the first time since district. It was fine. Not great but fine…
Tonight, I learned more from my students than I think they will ever learn from me. Tonight, they told me that they are more proud of the fact that we created a set in three days, for total strangers, just because they needed it…and that they were ok with however our play did as long as the kids from Hattiesburg did well.
Tonight, I was taught a lesson in humility and grace by a group of teenagers, who could have been selfish, who could have been anything but willing to sacrifice. Instead, they gave of themselves and created something for someone else.
Isn’t that what theatre is really all about?
You give of yourself and create something for someone else. We never see the shows we are in, or that we stage manage, or that we run as set crew. We only see the audience afterwards and gauge our success by them.
My students taught me a lesson in humility, compassion, and what being a TRUE theatre artist really means.
“be true to thine own self” has never meant more to me than tonight when I watched my students leave after they finished the last details on someone else’s set…
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