High School Theatre Observation

OPRF high school is brimming with diverse cliques, groups, and clubs. But one particular cohort seems to stand out from the rest. The theatre department, overseen by Michelle Bayer, can be described as a whirlwind of activity, with 10 official productions each year. My group researched it for the education unit, but the majority of them were unfamiliar with the activity, and I felt the overall presentation was unrepresentative of what high school theatre is. It can be characterized, primarily, by an abundance of drama, both in the acting sense, and in the social sense. Theatre kids are infamous for their diva-like attitudes, and occasional entitlement. I had the opportunity to observe these behaviors up close and personal with my shows I participated in this year.

I started theatre in sixth grade, when I was in the ensemble of the Music Man at CAST Summer. From there, I gradually became more interested and I started auditioning for every play season. When I got to OPRF, the stakes exponentially grew. We had kids coming in from BRAVO, Ovation academy, all highly prestigious youth theaters in Oak Park. Acting became less of a pastime for me and more a defining way of life at OPRF. This year, I was lucky enough to get cast in a play, a feat I told myself I could never accomplish.
Within a cast, there were subgroups. Those groups were usually composed of people in the same year and people who had the same attitude regarding the play we were in. For example, a clique within Radium Girls contained several sophomores who did not enjoy being in the play. This was I suppose, partly due to the fact that they were disrespected by a senior castmate who complained about them behind their backs frequently. These subgroups directly contribute to the divide between the cast, which in turn leads to the typical drama and gossip one thinks of when they hear about high school