Drama Class: Which Way to Hollywood?

Gabriella Wallace, Staff Writer
January 26, 2016

The lights flash on, the stage is set, the play commences, and the students become characters. This is what happens in Stroudsburg High Schoolai??i??s drama classes.

ai???I like teaching drama because unlike any other courses in Stroudsburg High School, it allows you to express yourself and become another person during the day,ai??? said English teacher Ms. Jennifer Batt.

In Battai??i??s sixth and seventh period drama classes, students read plays, watch the movie adaptations and perform scenes from the plays. Students learn drama in the auditorium and in room C-121.

The plays that areAi??usuallyAi??performed each year are Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon, The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Every Friday students participate in improvisation day, which forces them to break out of their comfort zones and let their creativity flow.

The Drama I class is scheduled during the first semester, while Drama II Is held during the second semester. Drama I prepares students for Drama 2, where students imitate a real life theater experience. Ai??

Every student who participates in Drama II proposes a one act play. During this process, auditions take place and one student is appointed student director while all other class members are assigned a character. Throughout the semester, the students learn the rehearsal process of real life theater and in May the students perform in front of a live audience. Ai??Ai??

ai???Anyone who would like to gain self confidence and public speaking, anyone who has fun playing charades, anyone willing to take risks should take drama,ai??? said Batt.

To sign up for Drama I, students would have to wait until spring, when they can choose ai???Drama 1ai??i?? as one of their electives for the fall. If students choose to take Drama II, they would have taken Drama 1 as a prerequisite. The stage is always welcome to newcomers interested in becoming thespians for Stroudsburg High School’s drama class.